Baku Governorate
Jafarov was born on March 14, in Baku, in the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Azerbaijan). He was the younger brother of a prominent professor and journalist, Ali Isgender Jafarzadeh. After completion of his secondary education, Jafarov studied in at Moscow State University graduating with a cum laude degree in law in 1912. While in Moscow, he was one of the organizers of regular ethnic Azerbaijani concerts and co-founders of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations.