Gajars have a special place in the history and culture of the Azerbaijani people. Gajar Turkic tribes were registered in Azerbaijan during the Mongol marches. Already in the 15th century, the Gajar tribal union became a serious political force in the region, and in the early 16th century, it supported Shah Ismail I, the leader of the Safavid state. During this period, the Gajars were considered an Azerbaijani tribe and played a major role in the ethnogenesis of the Azerbaijani people.
The Gajar tribal union had a strong position in the territories of the Karabakh and Chukhursaad principalities of the Safavid state (especially around the city of Iravan), and the nobility was appointed from the representatives of this generation. Gajar military nobles were the mainstays of the Safavid dynasty.
Shah Abbas I, who strengthened the central government and limited the power of large feudal lords, moved the Gajars to different regions of the empire, especially in Khorasan and Astraba, although part of the tribal union managed to maintain leading positions in Ganja, Karabakh and Irevan.
As a result of the active participation of the Gajars in the military-political struggle in the early 18th century, Agha Muhammad khan Gajar, a representative of this union, defeated his main rival in the struggle for power in 1785, the Zend dynasty. From this period, the de facto rule of the Gajar dynasty, a new dynasty, began (although the title of shah was officially adopted by Agha Muhammad only in 1796). The state created by Agha Mohammad Shah Gajar is considered to be the Gajar state, however, some researchers suggest calling it the Gajar Empire. The Gajar Azerbaijani dynasty ruled in Iran until the 1925 coup.
The Gajars were also accepted by the neighboring peoples as the Azerbaijani Turkic tribe. Even today, Azerbaijanis living in South Azerbaijan (Iranian Azerbaijan) are called "Gajars". The peoples of the North Caucasus, the Karachays, the Balkars, the Chechens, the Ingush, the Kumyks, the Laks, the Dargins, call the Azerbaijanis "fugitives." The Gajars, who preserved their traditional way of life and culture until the beginning of the 20th century, form a sub-ethnic group of South Azerbaijan (Iran-Azerbaijan).
However, during the reign of Fatali Shah Gajar, in the early 19th century, the representatives of the dynasty tried to imitate the rulers of the Achaemenid and Sassanid states of ancient Iran, adopted the title of Shah, wore a long beard and wore long ceremonial clothes.