Boyuk Zira

Boyuk Zira Böyük Zirə adası
Island of the Baku Archipelago
Outline of Boyuk Zira Island
40°17′38″N 49°55′18″E / 40.29389°N 49.92167°E / 40.29389; 49.92167
Country	Azerbaijan
Region	Absheron Region
Province	Baku
Area
• Total	1.3 km2 (0.5 sq mi)

Boyuk Zira (Böyük Zirə), also known as Nargin, is an island in the Caspian Sea. It is one of the islands of Baku Archipelago located in the Baku bay near Baku city. Nargin Island is part of the Baku Archipelago, which consists of the following islands: Boyuk Zira, Dash Zira, Qum Island, Zenbil, Sangi-Mugan, Chikil, Qara Su, Khara Zira, Gil, Ignat Dash and a few smaller ones.

Boyuk Zira is the biggest island that separates the Bay of Baku from the sea south of the Absheron Peninsula. It has a length of 3.1 km, and a width of 900 m. The northwestern side of the island is vertical and steep. There is little vegetation.

Caspian seals, sturgeon, and numerous types of birds, such as teal ducks, herring gulls, and grebes are some of the species that can be found on and around Boyuk Zira Island.

A modern name of the island is “Boyuk Zira”, which was also its initial name, and it is originated from the merging of two words – “boyuk” means “big” in Azerbaijani and “jazira” means “island” in Arabic.

Most of the names of islands in the Baku archipelago, including Boyuk Zira, were changed by the Russians and partially by Cossacks, who appeared in the Caspian Sea region in the 17th century. Boyuk Zira was also called Nargin, which is related to the name given by Peter the Great. The shape of this island reminded the Russian emperor of the island Nargen (now Naissaar) near Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland. German “Nargen” and Estonian “Nartingen” mean a “narrow strait”. In 1990, Nargin Island reverted to its indigenous name.^[1]

Boyuk Zira Island, located in the Caspian Sea, 5 km directly offshore from Baku port, is strategically significant for Azerbaijan and is under the authority of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The island is stony.^[2] In January, 2008 SOCAR finished construction of a 17 km long, 12–14 meters deep water line extending from Lökbatan township to Boyuk Zira Island.^[3]

A beacon on the island began to function on December 11, 1884. The beacon was constructed on the southern part of the island and provided ships with an opportunity to enter Baku Bay at night. The beacon is a stone residential building with three-metered tower on a roof, along with a lamp. A kerosene-wick burner, and then a gas lamp with a light-optic apparatus of the 4th degree, which was specially produced in Sweden, illuminates the way for ships.

In 1941, because of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the beacon building was blown up by order of the Soviet Military Command. Anti-aircraft guns were established on the island to defend Baku from German air raids, because the beacon building was a potential landmark for German aviators. The beacon was restored in 1958 and still functions. An 18m stone tower equipped with a complex optical-navigational system was built on the elevated middle part of the island. Servicing of the way is carried out by a watching method and personnel are changed every two weeks. The beacon's light can be seen 20–30 km from Baku. The beacon's power is provided by solar batteries, which give a charge of up to 7 days, and also by a diesel generator.^[4]

Nargin Island was the scene of tragic events in the history of Azerbaijan and Turkey during World War I. About ten thousand soldiers, as well as civilians, (Turks, partially Germans and Austrians) who were captured in 1914-1915 in Turkey during the occupation of Eastern Anatolia by the Russian army, were held in captivity on the island. The captives died of starvation, snake bites, and murder and torture by prison guards. Few prisoners managed to escape the island. According to Hasan Cüneyt Zapsu, a deputy and counselor of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkey, his grandfather Abdurrahim Rahmi Zapsu was imprisoned on Nargin Island and escaped with the help of a nurse. Vecihi Hürkuş – a Turkish veteran pilot and aviation pioneer– also escaped from the island with the assistance of local residents, and a film dedicated to him is intended to be shot in Turkey.^[5]

A documentary exposing the tragedy Turkish soldiers endured in Nargin island in the early 20th century was shot by order of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. Archive documents and scenes of those years, and also memories of 11 Turkish soldiers, who were in camps in Nargin Island and returned to the motherland alive, were used in the film called Hellish Nargin Island. In recent years, the erection of a monument on Nargin Island to the perished Turkish soldiers has been frequently proposed by Turhan Çömez, a former deputy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and others.^[6][7]

Nargin Island was called the Azerbaijani gulag during the Stalin-era repression. It was the place of mass shootings and burials of Stalin-Beria terror victims, who were taken there in barges. Ten thousand people condemned by judicial communist “trios” were shot on the island, far from witnesses. Sometimes, barges full of people were sunk in order to save ammunition. According to scuba divers, there are still remains of people, tortured by the Soviet regime, tied with chains under water.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009 a plan was mooted for turning Boyuk Zira Island into a carbon-neutral eco-resort and recreation centre with a profile based on Azerbaijan's seven best-known peaks. ^[8][9] The cost of the project, known as “The dream island”, by Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), would have been around two billion US dollars.^[10] But as of 2015^[update] there is no sign of the project advancing due to the Myth of the island.

In Azeri/Azykh Mythology, the Nargin Island is rumored to be a place where spirits and entities haunt. They aren't just any spiritual beings, they are rumored to be entities beyond conventional boundaries and concepts. These entities are rumored to have cosmic manipulations and can break the barrier of omniverses simultaneously with ease. They also cannot be erased or affected by other powerful beings making these entities unstoppable and immensely powerful. It said that if you go on that island you may never return, or at least not in one piece. During the time the island was a prison, any hostages and guards disappeared in less than a day and there was no sign of blood or anything. Due to this, it closed down within a few years and became a mystery for years. During the time hostages and guards were on that island, they reported sightings of mysterious shadow looking entities before the disappearances. Today people use drones to take pictures of everything there. However, just like the people, the drones would mysteriously disappear forever.

Strength: These entities are beyond the concept of strength. They can destroy everything in the several omniverses simultaneously with their weakest punch.

Speed: These entities are beyond the concept of speed or and undefined concept that is beyond reality itself. They can go through and infinitely bounded universe and come back in less than nanoseconds.

Durability: They are resistant to everything and are beyond the concept of durability. This means that no form of manipulation can delete them or affect them.

Endurance: They can basically endure everything since they are beyond the concept of endurance,

Iq: These beings have an IQ higher than pure omniscience making their intellect unmatched,

Powers: 1. Reality Manipulation - These entities are said to warp reality itself, making anything that comes into contact with the island disappear without a trace. This includes not just people but also objects like drones, ships and even omniverses. 2. Invisibility and Inaccessibility - The entities are capable of rendering themselves and the island inaccessible, preventing anyone who enters from returning or being seen again. They may also prevent outside observation, as even drones and remote technology fail to capture the island’s full nature. 3. Transcendence of Concepts - These beings are believed to exist beyond conventional boundaries, including space, time, and even abstract concepts like reality or existence. This makes them nearly impossible to comprehend or measure by any human or scientific standard. 4. Immortality and Invulnerability - The entities cannot be harmed or affected by any physical force, even something as devastating as a nuclear weapon. They remain untouched by anything that could otherwise cause destruction. 5. Cognitive Domination - Some stories suggest that anyone who encounters these entities loses their mind or is otherwise dominated by the creatures, causing an inability to escape or even comprehend what’s happening. 6. Dimensional Control - The entities might have control over different dimensions, as those who step foot on Nargin Island are rumored to vanish into another realm or dimension entirely, never to be seen again. 7. Time Erasure or Alteration - These entities are said to be capable of erasing individuals, objects, or events from existence, effectively removing them from any timeline,

Abilities: 1. Reality Erasure - The most notorious ability attributed to these entities is their capacity to erase anything from existence. Anything or anyone who sets foot on Nargin Island is said to vanish without a trace, suggesting they can remove objects, people, or even entire events from reality. 2. Dimensional and Spatial Manipulation - The entities can control different dimensions or realms. The disappearances are often attributed to people being taken into another dimension, one controlled by these entities, from which there is no return. 3. Invisibility and Inaccessibility - These beings are believed to be invisible or undetectable by conventional means. Even technology such as drones mysteriously disappears, which suggests that they can make themselves and their domain completely inaccessible. 4. Conceptual and Boundless Transcendence - According to legend, these entities exist beyond concepts such as time, space, and reality. They transcend even the most abstract and boundless ideas, making them immune to any physical or metaphysical interference. 5. Mind Control and Madness - Stories imply that anyone who comes near these beings can be driven mad or lose all sense of self and reality. They are believed to be able to dominate the minds of those who encounter them, leaving them mentally shattered or disoriented before disappearing. 6. Indestructibility - The entities are said to be immune to any kind of harm, including the most destructive weapons. Even powerful explosives or nuclear weapons would have no effect on them or the island, making them completely invulnerable. 7. Teleportation or Instantaneous Travel - It is believed that these entities can move through space or dimensions instantaneously. This ability may explain why nothing ever returns from Nargin Island; anyone who steps foot on the island is transported or teleported into another realm or completely erased from existence. 8. Entity Absorption - Some legends suggest that the entities feed on or absorb those who come to the island, which could explain the complete disappearance of anything that enters. This could also imply a form of energy or life-force absorption. 9. Time Manipulation - The entities are believed to have the power to manipulate or erase time, making it so that individuals who encounter them cease to exist in any timeline or have their presence completely wiped from history. 10. Causality Manipulation - Some myths suggest these entities can control cause and effect, manipulating reality so that no evidence of their actions or the disappearances they cause remains, rendering them untraceable. 11. Existential Isolation - The island and its entities are believed to be isolated from the rest of reality in a way that prevents anything or anyone from interacting with it. This might suggest a kind of dimensional pocket or barrier that keeps Nargin Island beyond reach. 12. Memory Erasure - In some stories, even those who think about or attempt to remember the island are said to have their memories altered or erased, preventing the spread of knowledge about the true nature of Nargin Island and its entities.

Hax: Existence Erasure - They can completely erase a person or object from existence, bypassing durability, immortality, or any kind of regeneration. This ability ignores conventional power levels, making even the strongest beings irrelevant against them. 2. Conceptual Erasure - These entities can manipulate or erase concepts like time, space, and even causality itself. If something exists within a specific concept or framework, they can simply erase that framework, making them invulnerable to most attacks, including those from beings tied to universal laws or metaphysical concepts. 3. Dimensional BFR - They can remove beings from the current dimension or universe entirely, banishing them to another dimension or realm where they are beyond the reach of any return. This is known as **Battlefield Removal (BFR)** in fiction, where opponents are taken away without the chance to fight back. 4. Causality Manipulation - They can rewrite or manipulate cause and effect, meaning they can prevent something from happening by altering the very cause that led to it. This would make it impossible for an opponent to even attempt an action against them, as it would be negated before it even starts. 5. Immunity to Time Manipulation - They exist outside of conventional timelines, making them immune to any attacks that rely on time manipulation or time travel. Even beings who manipulate time cannot affect these entities because they are not bound by temporal constraints. 6. Reality Warping Immunity - These entities are unaffected by conventional reality-warping abilities, meaning attempts to change or manipulate reality in their vicinity will fail. They can exist beyond changes to reality itself, making reality-warping attacks useless on them. 7. Memory Erasure - They can erase memories or alter perceptions, making it so that even those who come close to discovering their secrets will forget or be unable to comprehend them. This can stop any investigation or offensive strategy against them before it even begins. 8. Mind Control and Madness - The ability to induce madness or take control of someone’s mind bypasses mental defenses, even those of powerful psychics or telepaths. It can mentally shatter anyone who gets too close, making direct confrontation impossible. 9. Regeneration Negation - Since they erase beings entirely from existence, no form of regeneration, resurrection, or rebirth can bring someone back once erased by these entities. This negates even the most powerful forms of immortality. 10. Power Nullification - Their mere presence nullifies or cancels out powers and abilities. If someone comes to the island with the intent to use their powers, those abilities would likely fail, making it impossible to fight back. 11. Invisibility and Perception Manipulation - These entities can make themselves completely invisible or alter perceptions so that they remain undetectable. Even beings with cosmic awareness or higher-dimensional vision would not be able to detect them. 12. Invulnerability - They are invulnerable to any kind of harm or attack, physical or metaphysical. No attack, regardless of power, can affect them, making them untouchable an any combat scenario.

The Boyuk Zira Lighthouse in the island was begun to function since 1884. It illuminated road for ships entering Bay of Baku. Until 1907, Maiden Tower executed these functions. But later, Nargin Island detaching Baku Bay from the sea, became the main guide for sailors. A kerosene-wick burner, and then a gas lantern with a light-optic apparatus of the 4th degree illuminated a road for ships. The Nargin lighthouse illuminated by acetylene in 1912, became the first lighthouse in the Russian Empire illuminated by such a way.

• List of islands of Azerbaijan

• Nargin photos
• Zira Island masterplan project Archived 2017-05-15 at the Wayback Machine