Amongst his many accreditations, he was a holder of a PhD in history, a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences, head of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan SSR (1952 – 1958 and 1967 – 1969) and an honored member of the Czechoslovakia-USSR Friendship Society.
Aliovsat Najafgulu oglu Guliyev was born in the village of Kyzylagach, located in the region of Salyan District, Azerbaijan.
In 1935, he continued his education in the pedagogical college in the town of Salyan, whilst simultaneously teaching history in Middle School No.
After graduating in the same year from the pedagogical college, he was accepted into the faculty of history at the Azerbaijan State University.
In 1945, he was chosen as the chairman of the trade union for workers in higher education and science and continued to work there until 1950.
He was the first chairman of the toponymical commission at the Presidium of the Supreme Sovietof the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1948, Guliyev defended his dissertation on the subject July General Strike in Baku in 1903 and became the dean of the Faculty of History at the Azerbaijan State University.
While he was head of the Academy of Sciences, and in all his subsequent roles, one of his great passions was to arrange to send young Azerbaijani scientists abroad to study and obtain internships at the academic institutes of Moscow and Leningrad.
A number of his articles on the history of Azerbaijanis were included in encyclopedias published in India, Czechoslovakia and many other countries.
In his honor, the Salyan Culture House, a school in his hometown and a central street in Baku were named after him; a commemorative plaque has been installed at the building where he used to live.