Aydin Mammadov, the chief curator of the Sabit Rahman House-Museum and an independent researcher collaborating with Sheki Regional Scientific Center, has come across a photograph in Ganja that is believed to belong to the Sultan of Ilisu, Daniyal Bey. We present Aydin Mammadov’s information about the photograph and the photograph itself to the scientific community.

“Until now, we have known only two portraits of the last Sultan of Ilisu, Daniyal Bey (1803-1871), painted by an artist, and they were very similar to each other. However, there is also a photograph believed to be of Daniyal Bey, which was unknown to anyone except the members of the Yelisuyski family living in Ganja. This photograph has been preserved in their family archive for a century and a half, and with their consent, for the first time, we will now make information about this photograph public.

The name of the photography studio in French is engraved on the back of this photograph in the middle: “Atelier photographique T. Michailides”. Later, above this name, in black pencil or ink, in Arabic letters, “Muhammad Mukhlis Pasha ... my father-in-law (i.e. father-in-law) Daniyal Sultan”, and below it, in Russian, in ink, “Daniyal Sultan Ilisun last khan hakim 18 (Даниель Султан последний владетель хан Елису 18)” is written.

It is known that Daniyal Bey, a major general of the Russian army, was awarded 3 orders: 1). 3rd degree cf. Stanislav Order; 2). 3rd degree cf. Vladimir Order; 3). 2nd degree cf. Anna Order. The person in the picture is also in the rank of major general of the Russian army (at that time, major and major general shoulder straps had two stars, not one, as is the case today), and each of the orders awarded to Daniyal Sultan is on his chest. There is only one discrepancy: we do not know whether Daniyal Bey's orders had swords, but all the orders in the picture have swords. Eldar Ismayilov, a well-known expert in this field and the founder of the “Azerbaijan Historical Genealogical Society News”, told us that a person who received an order without a sword could be awarded the swords of that order after some time, and then small swords were attached to that order. “This is a month or it could be in a few years. But it had to be a supreme decree. And the emperor's order should have been a military distinction awarded with swords”. However, we have not yet come across any information about Daniyal Bey's orders being awarded with swords.

The photograph is in the possession of 73-year-old Vagif Yelisuyski, who currently lives in Ganja. However, he is not a descendant of Daniyal Sultan, but of Mahammad Mukhlis Pasha, whose name is mentioned on the back of the photograph; he is the grandson of Mahammad Mukhlis Pasha's grandson - Adilkhan. Mahammad Mukhlis Pasha was the chief of militia in Sheki in the mid-19th century, then emigrated to Turkey and rose to the rank of major general in the Turkish army (his younger brother Seyfulla Pasha became a colonel general in the Turkish army). Mahammad Mukhlis Pasha had two or three wives. One of his wives was the daughter of Daniyal Sultan, and the other was the daughter of Iskender Khan Khoyski. He had two sons: Jafargulu and Ahmed Khan. The first was Karaca Ahmed in Istanbul cemetery, and the second is buried in the Khan cemetery in Sheki (you can see our article "The Known Grave of the "Unknown" Ahmed Khan"). Vagif Yelisuyski is the grandson of Ahmed Khan, who is buried in the Sheki Khan cemetery.