Later, Ismayil Safavi, who defeated the Shirvanshahs state, built a tomb on his father's grave, attacked the Shikhlar village and declared the mausoleum a sacred sanctuary. Sheikh Heydar Shirvanshah died in the Battle of Tabasaran (1488) and was buried in the area opposite the sacred Beshbarmak mountain. In order to prevent further strengthening of the positions of Sheikh Heydar, Sultan Yagub helped Shirvanshah Farrukh Yasar to resist him. In 14 he made two campaigns - in Dagestan and Shirvan, which frightened all the rulers of the region, including Sultan Yagub. According to some sources, Sheikh Heydar's tomb is the grave of Sheikh Heydar, the father of Ismayil I, the founder of the Safavid Empire. This tomb is likely to be the Sheikh Heydar's Tomb (X-V century). There is a graveyard dating to 300–500 years in the former Shikhlar village cemetery located near the village of Tikhli. The Candy Cane Mountains are also located in Khizi. The mountain's name is a reference to the resemblance of the mountain to an open palm.
The district is famous for the Beshbarmak mountain. Mammals are found in species such as European caterpillars, brown bear boar, rattan rounds, grey rabbits, foxes, hawthorn, wolves, poultry, quail, shepherd, wild aneurysm, grey gooseberry and thrush. The riverbeds consist of ordinary pomegranate, Pallas nectar and Russian herpes.
In the sparsely-sparsely wooded forests, trees and shrubs such as spruce pear, hawthorn, blackberries, rabbits, germs, ordinary peas, hips are growing. The forest dendro-flora consists mainly of Iberian oak, eastern oak, eastern peanut, pine tree, juniper, pearl, common. There are forest, forest-desert, steppe, desert, grey mountains, subalpine and alpine ecosystems. The area has a rich biodiversity, landscape and ecosystem diversity. Khizi District is one of most forested districts of Azerbaijan with about 9,931 hectares (24,540 acres) or 6% of the district being converted in forests. There are Altiagac National Park and Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in the district. The main rivers are Atachay, Jangichay, Kanda, Tugchay, Dizavarchay, Kerban and Garabulag rivers. The main mountains are the Dübrar (2205m), Kemchi (1026m), Sharaku (958m), Beybayim (935m), Shihandag (801m) and Great Siyaku (786m) mountains. The region is surrounded by the Varsat ridge, Takhtayilak ridge in the north, and Aladadash ridge to the east. Khizi, the centre of the district, is 104 kilometres (65 mi) from Baku. The eastern part of the Khizi plateau flows through the Gilazi to the Caspian Sea. The national park is home to the rare East Caucasian tur, a mountain-dwelling goat antelope found only in the eastern half of the Caucasus Mountains. Around 10 km west of Khizi town, the green, heavily forested hills around Alti Agach which has been declared an Altyaghach National Park. West of Gilazi, the Khizi road climbs through the colourful semi-desert landscapes known as the Candy Cane Mountains. On the flat Caspian coast there are irrigated cattle and chicken-breeding lowlands around Shurabad. A large part of the district territory is covered with forests. The climate of the district is mild and the air is dry. According to another version, the Turkic word "khyz" - quickly, rapidly, hastily gave the name of the area. The Khizi tribe lived in the northern part of Azerbaijan in the II century BC. As the 8th-century Arab historian Ibn Fadlan writes, the Muslim part of the Turkic-speaking Khazar people was headed by one of the representatives of the Khizi tribe. From history it is known that for several centuries the Khazars dominated the territories of the Caspian, Black and Baltic seas. The name was gradually transformed into the form of Khizi in our time.Īccording to another version, the toponym Khizi is derived from the word "Khazar". The tribes who moved here were mainly from Khuzistan. This process further strengthened after the Shirvanshahs were defeated by the Safavids. In the early Middle Ages (III-VI centuries), the Iranian tribes were transferred here to spread the Zoroastrianism, the official religion of the Empire, in northern territories of the empire, to combat Christianity and protect the northern borders from Hun, Peach and Khazar tribes. Many experts assume that this name is from the Sassanid Empire. There are preconceptions about the etymology of the word "Xızı" which was previously used to represent a small village. Azerbaijanis and Tats compose the main ethnic background of Khizi.