# Elizavetpol Governorate

Part of a series on the :
History of Azerbaijan :
Prehistory Stone Age  • Bronze Age  • Iron Age
Shulaveri–Shomu culturec.6000–c.4000 BC Chalcolithic culture of Nakhchivanc.4945–c.3800 BC Leyla-Tepe culturec.4350–c.4000 BC Kura–Araxes culturec.3400–c.2000 BC Nakhchivan culturec.3000–c.2000 BC Talish–Mughan culturec.1400–c.700 BC Khojaly–Gadabay culturec.1300–c.700 BC :
Antiquity Kingdom of Iškuzac.700 BC–c.590s BC Achaemenid Empire550 BC–330 BC      • Satrapy of Mediac.550 BC – 323 BC Seleucid Empire312 BC – 63 BC Parthian Empire247 BC – AD 224 Caucasian Albaniac.200 BC – c.AD 800 Roman Empire 27 BC – AD 395 :
Early Middle Ages Sasanian Empire 224–651      • Satrapy of Albaniac.252–636 Khazar Khaganatec.650–969 Rashidun Caliphate632–661      • Islamic conquest633–654      • Arranc.650–705Umayyad Caliphate661–750      • Arranc.650–705      • Emirate of Arminiya 705–884Abbasid Caliphate750–1258      • Emirate of Arminiya705–884 Shirvanshahs861–1538 Sajids889–929 Shaddadids951–1199 Sallarid dynasty919–1062 :
High Middle Ages Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231 Eldiguzids 1135–1225 Mongol Empire1206–1368 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Chobanids 1335–1357 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Qara Qoyunlu 1374–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1378–1503 :
Early modern history Safavid Iran 1501–1736       • Safavid Shirvan 1501–1736       • Safavid Karabakh 1501–1747       • Chokhur-e Sa'd 1502–1736 Ottoman Empire 1299–1922       • Shirvan Eyalet [az] 1578–1607       • Ganja-Qarabagh Eyalet (I) [az] 1588–1606       • Revan Eyalet (I) [az] 1583–1604           • Nakhchivan Sanjak (I) [az] 1583–1604       • Ganja-Qarabagh Eyalet (II) [az] 1725–1735       • Revan Eyalet (II) [az] 1724–1736           • Nakhchivan Sanjak (II) [az] 1724–1736       • Tiflis Eyalet (II) [az] 1723–1735           • Kazak Sanjak (II) [az] 1723–1735 Afsharid Iran 1736–1796       • Division of Afsharid Empire 1747 Khanates of the Caucasus 1604–1844       • Elisu Sultanate 1604–1844       • Kazakh sultanate 1605–1801       • Djaro-Belokani c.1600s–c.1800s       • Shaki Khanate 1743–1819       • Ganja Khanate 1747–1805       • Talysh Khanate 1747–1828       • Nakhichevan Khanate 1747–1828       • Qutqashen Sultanate 1747–1841       • Baku Khanate 1747–1806       • Shamshadil sultanate 1747–1801       • Quba Khanate 1747–1806       • Karabakh Khanate 1748–1822           • Treaty of Kurakchay 1805       • Shirvan Khanate 1748–1820 Zand dynasty1751–1794 Qajar Iran1789–1925       • Fourth Russo-Persian War 1804–1813           • Treaty of Gulistan 1813       • Fifth Russo-Persian War 1826–1828           • Treaty of Turkmenchay 1828 Russian Empire 1721–1917       • Second Russo-Persian War 1722–1723       • Caucasus Viceroyalty 1801–1917           • Baku Governorate 1846–1920           • Erivan Governorate 1849–1917          • Zakatal okrug 1859–1918           • Elizavetpol Governorate 1867–1920       • Special Transcaucasian Committee 1917 :
Modern history Transcaucasian Commissariat 1917–1918       • March Days 1918 Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic 1918 Baku Commune 1918 Centrocaspian Dictatorship 1918 Republic of Aras 1918–1919 Mughan Soviet Republic 1919 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic 1918 - 1920       • Armenian–Azerbaijani War 1918–1920           • Battle of Baku 1918       • Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan 1920Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic 1920–1922       • Treaty of Kars 1921Soviet Union 1922–1991       • Transcaucasian SFSR 1922–1936           • Azerbaijan SSR 1922–1936       • Azerbaijan SSR 1936–1991           • World War II 1941–1945           • Black January 1990       • Republic of Azerbaijan 1991 :
Contemporary history Republic of Azerbaijan 1991–present       • I Nagorno-Karabakh War 1988–1994           • Bishkek Protocol 1994       • II Nagorno-Karabakh War 2020           • Ceasefire Agreement 2020 :
Topics
Name
Heads of state
Genetic history
Economic history
Military history
Jewish history
Wars :
Historical regions
Sakasene
Utik
Arran
Cambysene
Gardman
Shirvan
Maskut
Mughan
Balasagan
Caspiane
Paytakaran :
Azerbaijan portal :
vte :
The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate stretched 38,922.43 square versts (44,296.15 square kilometres; 17,102.84 square miles) and was composed of 1,275,131 inhabitants in 1916. The Elizavetpol Governorate bordered the Erivan Governorate to the west, the Tiflis Governorate and Zakatal Okrug to the north, the Dagestan Oblast to the northeast, the Baku Governorate to the east, and Iran to the south.

## Geography

The area of the governorate includes the southern slope of the main Caucasus range in the northeast, where Mount Bazardüzü and other peaks rise above the snow-line; the arid steppes beside the Kura river, reaching 1000 ft. of altitude in the west and sinking to 100–200 ft. in the east, where irrigation is necessary; and the northern slopes of the Transcaucasian escarpment and portions of the Armenian Highlands, which is intersected towards its western boundary, near Lake Sevan, by chains of mountains consisting of trachytes and various crystalline rocks.
Elsewhere the country has the character of a plateau, 7,000 to 8,000 ft. high, deeply trenched by tributaries of the Aras. All varieties of climate are found in the snowclad peaks, Alpine meadows, and stony deserts of the high levels, to that of the hill slopes and of the arid Caspian steppes.

## History

Elizavetpol Governorate was created by the decree "On the transformation of the administration of the Caucasian and Transcaucasian region" dated December 9, 1867. The province included the Elizavetpol uezd of the Tiflis Governorate, the Nukha and Shusha uezds of the Baku Governorate and part of the abolished Ordubad uezd. By the same decree, the Kazakh and Zangezur uezds were formed as part of the province. In 1873, three new uezds were formed in the Governorate - Aresh, Jebrail and Jevanshir. The governorate included lands of the former Ganja Khanate, Shaki Khanate, and Karabakh Khanate. It bordered with Baku Governorate, Tiflis Governorate, Erivan Governorate, Dagestan Oblast, and Persia.
From 1905, there were attempts by Armenian intelligentsia of the Russian Empire to separate the highland areas (commonly known as Mountainous Karabakh) from the rest of Elizavetpol into a zemstvo (self-governing rural community) province.
On the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in May 1918, the Elizavetpol Governorate was renamed Ganja Governorate to de-Russify the region. The neighboring Democratic Republic of Armenia claimed the entirety of the western highland sections of the governorate which as a whole formed a small Armenian majority, however, Armenian control did not exceed the western parts of Zangezur, Kazakh and Karabakh. In 1919, the entirety of Karabakh south of the Murov Range with British support was separated into the Karabakh General Governorship, following the subjugation of the Karabakh Armenian Council.
The governorate provincial system was abolished in the early 1920s after the Sovietization of Azerbaijan. In early 1921—after the Sovietization of Armenia—a Dashnak Armenian revolt that spawned in Yerevan spread to the Zangezur uezd, becoming known as the Republic of Mountainous Armenia. The rebels led by Garegin Nzhdeh finally departed Zangezur in the summer of 1921 after receiving guarantees the district would remain part of Soviet Armenia.
In the present-day, the territory of the former Elizavetpol Governorate forms the bulk of western Azerbaijan and adjacent areas of northeastern and southeastern Armenia.

## Administrative divisions

The counties (uezds) of the Elizavetpol Governorate in 1917 were as follows:
| Name | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Administrative centre | Population | Population | Area |
| Name | | 1897 | 1916 | 1897 | 1916 | Area |
| Aresh uezd (Арешскій уѣздъ) | Aresh (Agdash) | 528 | --- | 67,277 | 99,400 | 2,318.16 square versts (2,638.21 km$^2$; 1,018.62 sq mi) |
| Jevanshir uezd (Джеванширскій уѣздъ) | Terter (Tartar) | 752 | --- | 72,719 | 75,730 | 4,654.06 square versts (5,296.61 km$^2$; 2,045.03 sq mi) |
| Elizavetpol uezd (Елисаветпольскій уѣздъ) | Yelisavetpol (Ganja) | 33,625 | 57,731 | 162,788 | 272,477 | 8,726.00 square versts (9,930.73 km$^2$; 3,834.28 sq mi) |
| Zangezur uezd (Зангезурскій уѣздъ) | Gerusy (Goris) | 1,450 | 2,201 | 137,871 | 226,398 | 6,742.92 square versts (7,673.86 km$^2$; 2,962.89 sq mi) |
| Kazakh uezd (Казахскій уѣздъ) | Kazakh (Qazax) | 1,769 | --- | 112,074 | 137,049 | 5,096.52 square versts (5,800.16 km$^2$; 2,239.45 sq mi) |
| Karyagino uezd (Карягинскій уѣздъ) | Karyagino (Fuzuli) | --- | --- | 66,360 | 89,584 | 3,276.81 square versts (3,729.21 km$^2$; 1,439.86 sq mi) |
| Karyagino uezd (Карягинскій уѣздъ) | Jebrayil | 520 | --- | 66,360 | 89,584 | 3,276.81 square versts (3,729.21 km$^2$; 1,439.86 sq mi) |
| Nukha uezd (Нухинскій уѣздъ) | Nukha (Shaki) | 24,734 | 52,243 | 120,555 | 185,748 | 3,685.03 square versts (4,193.79 km$^2$; 1,619.23 sq mi) |
| Shusha uezd (Шушинскій уѣздъ) | Shusha | 25,881 | 43,869 | 138,771 | 188,745 | 4,423.28 square versts (5,033.97 km$^2$; 1,943.63 sq mi) |

## Demographics

The 1886 population estimate was 728,943, living in 3 cities (Elizavetpol, Nukha, and Shusha) and 1521 villages. According to 1886 statistics reported in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, the Orthodox Christians constituted 0.21% of the Governorate's population, and various sektanty ("sectarians") around 1% (~7,300 people). This means that most of the ethnic Russians in the governorate at the time (1.11% of the Governorate's 728,943 population in 1886) were members of various sectarian communities such as Doukhobors and Molokans.

### Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Elizavetpol Governorate had a population of 878,415 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar to be their mother tongue, with a significant Armenian speaking minority.
Linguistic composition of the Elizavetpol Governorate in 1897 :
| Language | Native speakers | % |
| Tatar | 534,086 | 60.80 |
| Armenian | 292,188 | 33.26 |
| Kyurin | 14,503 | 1.65 |
| Russian | 14,146 | 1.61 |
| Udi | 7,040 | 0.80 |
| German | 3,194 | 0.36 |
| Kurdish | 3,042 | 0.35 |
| Belarusian | 2,868 | 0.33 |
| Tat | 1,753 | 0.20 |
| Georgian | 1,239 | 0.14 |
| Ukrainian | 861 | 0.10 |
| Polish | 616 | 0.07 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 581 | 0.07 |
| Greek | 558 | 0.06 |
| Avar-Andean | 461 | 0.05 |
| Persian | 338 | 0.04 |
| Jewish | 185 | 0.02 |
| Lithuanian | 116 | 0.01 |
| Romanian | 106 | 0.01 |
| Other | 534 | 0.06 |
| TOTAL | 878,415 | 100.00 |
Religious composition of the Elizavetpol Governorate in 1897 :
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | Both |
| Faith | Male | Female | Number | % |
| Muslim | 308,927 | 243,895 | 552,822 | 62.93 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 155,257 | 143,428 | 298,685 | 34.00 |
| Eastern Orthodox | 7,150 | 3,279 | 10,429 | 1.19 |
| Old Believer | 4,907 | 4,600 | 9,507 | 1.08 |
| Judaism | 1,013 | 1,017 | 2,030 | 0.23 |
| Lutheran | 1,605 | 1,616 | 3,221 | 0.37 |
| Roman Catholic | 685 | 183 | 868 | 0.10 |
| Baptist | 382 | 329 | 711 | 0.08 |
| Armenian Catholic | 68 | 37 | 105 | 0.01 |
| Reformed | 6 | 9 | 15 | 0.00 |
| Anglican | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0.00 |
| Buddhist | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Karaite | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Mennonite | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other Christian denomination | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 480,012 | 398,403 | 878,415 | 100.00 |
Linguistic composition of uezds in the Tiflis Governorate in 1897
| Uezd | Tatar | Tatar | Armenian | Armenian | Lezgian | Lezgian | Russian | Russian | Udi | Udi | TOTAL |
| Uezd | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | TOTAL |
| Aresh | 47,133 | 70.06 | 13,822 | 20.54 | 5,997 | 8.91 | 155 | 0.23 | 4 | 0.01 | 67,277 |
| Jevanshir | 52,041 | 71.56 | 19,551 | 26.89 | 84 | 0.12 | 206 | 0.28 | 0 | 0.00 | 72,719 |
| Elizavetpol | 103,970 | 63.87 | 43,040 | 26.44 | 246 | 0.15 | 7,224 | 4.44 | 4 | 0.00 | 162,788 |
| Zangezur | 71,206 | 51.65 | 63,622 | 46.15 | 7 | 0.01 | 841 | 0.61 | 0 | 0.00 | 137,871 |
| Kazakh | 64,101 | 57.2 | 43,555 | 38.86 | 4 | 0.00 | 3,373 | 3.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 112,074 |
| Nukha | 83,578 | 69.33 | 18,899 | 15.68 | 8,740 | 7.25 | 196 | 0.16 | 7,030 | 5.83 | 120,555 |
| Shusha | 62,868 | 45.3 | 73,953 | 53.29 | 1 | 0.00 | 1,442 | 1.04 | 2 | 0.00 | 138,771 |
| TOTAL | 534,086 | 60.8 | 292,188 | 33.26 | 15,084 | 1.72 | 14,146 | 1.61 | 7,040 | 0.8 | 878,415 |

### Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Elizavetpol Governorate had a population of 1,275,131 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 676,377 men and 598,754 women, 1,213,626 of whom were the permanent population, and 61,505 were temporary residents.
| Nationality | Urban | Urban | Rural | Rural | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| Nationality | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Shia Muslims | 66,500 | 42.62 | 411,434 | 36.77 | 477,934 | 37.48 |
| Armenians | 45,254 | 29.00 | 373,605 | 33.38 | 418,859 | 32.85 |
| Sunni Muslims | 34,405 | 22.05 | 270,726 | 24.19 | 305,131 | 23.93 |
| Russians | 8,111 | 5.20 | 28,666 | 2.56 | 36,777 | 2.88 |
| North Caucasians | 493 | 0.32 | 10,673 | 0.95 | 11,166 | 0.88 |
| Asiatic Christians | 58 | 0.04 | 10,808 | 0.97 | 10,866 | 0.85 |
| Other Europeans | 367 | 0.24 | 7,048 | 0.63 | 7,415 | 0.58 |
| Kurds | 84 | 0.05 | 3,718 | 0.33 | 3,802 | 0.30 |
| Jews | 406 | 0.26 | 1,706 | 0.15 | 2,112 | 0.17 |
| Georgians | 366 | 0.23 | 664 | 0.06 | 1,030 | 0.08 |
| Roma | 0 | 0.00 | 39 | 0.00 | 39 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 156,044 | 100.00 | 1,119,087 | 100.00 | 1,275,131 | 100.00 |

## Known governors

* Fokion Bulatov, 1868–1876
* Alexander Nakashidze, 1880–1897
* Ivan Kireyev, 1897–1900
* Nikolai Lutsau, 1900–1905
* Yegor Baranovsky, 1905 (acting)
* Alexander Kalachev, 1905–1907
* Samkalov, 1907–1908
* Georgi Kovalev, 1908–1916
* Mikhail Poyarkov, 1916–1917