Northern Artsakh

Samvel Karapetian

► To cite this version:

Samvel Karapetian. Northern Artsakh. 6, pp.640, 2007, RAA SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SERIES, Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) Organization, 978-5-8080-0677-5. hal-03768404

HAL Id: hal-03768404

https://hal.science/hal-03768404v1

Submitted on 3 Sep 2022

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>
RESEARCH ON ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE

NORTHERN ARTSAKH

SAMVEL KARAPETIAN

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>
The work is published with the approval of the Scientific Council of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia

RAA SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SERIES

BOOK 6

NORTHERN ARTSAKH

SAMVEL KARAPETIAN
Karapetian, S.
**Northern Artsakh**
Gitutiun Publishing-House
of the NAS RA
2007, 640 pages (32 coloured)

The work treats the history and historical monuments of almost entire Northern Artsakh, that constitutes the north-eastern part of Historical Armenia.

Intended for specialists in the history of the Eastern Parts of Historical Armenia, their indigenous population, immigrant tribes as well as all our compatriots wishing to increase their knowledge of the occupied part of their homeland.

ISBN 978-5-8080-0677-5

© Samvel Karapetian, 2007

© Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) Organization
The work is published

under the patronage of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,
TIGRAN THOROSSIAN, and his spouse ARAX THOROSSIAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to all those people who were of unfailing support to me during
the preparation of this large-scale work. First and foremost I am deeply indebted to my dear compatriots in
Artsakh for their kindest hospitality and aid offered during my numerous research trips to Northern Artsakh
throughout many, many years. I also owe my thanks to the employees of the Public Library and National Archives
of Armenia as well as their colleagues from the Museum of Art and Literature (Yerevan, Republic of Armenia).
Special thanks are due to Emma Abrahamian, without whose efforts and assistance it would be absolutely impos-
sible to prepare the scientific materials and data dug out of various sources for publication.

I am greatly indebted to Artak Ghulian, Hovhannes Badalian, Hovhannes Zakarian, Hakob Sanasarian and
Raphael Abgarian, whose photos have enriched this work. I am also deeply grateful to my collaborators Armen
Gevorgian, Pargev Frankian and Marine Nazarian, who are responsible for the high-quality design of over 1,350
photos, maps, measurements and copies of stone inscriptions included in this book.

I extend my grateful acknowledgement to the translator of this work, Gayane Movsissian, thanks to whom the
work *Northern Artsakh*, the Armenian version of which was published in 2004, is now available for the foreign
reader as well.

A very special word of gratitude is owed to the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,
Tigran Thorossian, who became the major driving force behind the preparation of this work by realizing its
importance and managing to find some means in the budget of the National Assembly for its publication.
CONTENTS

<table><tbody><tr><td>A FEW WORDS</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>The Region in Its Geographical Setting</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>A Historical Chronology</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>The Great Resettlement of the 18th Century</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak as the Seat of Aghvank Catholicoses</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak Vicarate</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td>Population</td><td>13</td></tr><tr><td>The Local Trade</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>The Historical Monuments of the Region</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>GANDZAK (GYANJA)</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>Location</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>Foundation</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak between the 10th and 11th centuries</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak before the '30s of the 12th century</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak during the period between the Earthquake and the 13th century</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak in the 13th century</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak between the 14th and 15th centuries</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak in the 16th century</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak in the first half of the 17th century</td><td>26</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak in the second half of the 17th century</td><td>28</td></tr><tr><td>The Conquest of Gandzak in 1804 and 1826</td><td>29</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak in the second half of the 19th century</td><td>30</td></tr><tr><td>The Armeno-Turkish Fights between 1905 and 1906</td><td>31</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak between 1918 and 1920</td><td>31</td></tr><tr><td>Construction Activity</td><td>32</td></tr><tr><td>Water Work</td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>Public Institutions</td><td>36</td></tr><tr><td>The Domains of Echmiatzin in Gandzak</td><td>37</td></tr><tr><td>Population</td><td>38</td></tr><tr><td>Hripsimian Female School</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>Mariamian Female School</td><td>44</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>Gandzak's Armenian School of Literacy</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>The Craftsmen Training College</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>The Armenian Churches in Gandzak</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>St. Hovhannes</td><td>45</td></tr><tr><td>The Estates of St. Hovhannes Church</td><td>49</td></tr><tr><td>Priests</td><td>50</td></tr><tr><td>St. Gevorg</td><td>51</td></tr><tr><td>St. Grigor Lusavorich</td><td>51</td></tr><tr><td>Priests</td><td>54</td></tr><tr><td>St. Sargis Church</td><td>54</td></tr><tr><td>Cholak's Sourd Astvatzatzin</td><td>55</td></tr><tr><td>The Prayer-House of Gandzak Station</td><td>57</td></tr><tr><td>The Prayer-House of St. Sargis in Koryunapat</td><td>57</td></tr><tr><td>Gandzak's Armenian Cemeteries</td><td>57</td></tr><tr><td>Archaeological Monuments</td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td>The Local Bridges</td><td>62</td></tr><tr><td>The Memorial Dedicated to P. Kotlyarevski</td><td>62</td></tr><tr><td>The Memorial to Marshal Hovhannes Baghramian</td><td>62</td></tr><tr><td>DASHKESAN DISTRICT</td><td>63</td></tr><tr><td>AHMADLU</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>ALAKHANCHALI</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>ALMALU</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>BANANTS</td><td>64</td></tr><tr><td>CHANAKHCHI (HAMASRABAK)</td><td>142</td></tr><tr><td>COBALT</td><td>143</td></tr><tr><td>DARDERE</td><td>143</td></tr><tr><td>DASHKESAN</td><td>143</td></tr><tr><td>DASTAPOR</td><td>143</td></tr><tr><td>GARDMAN (GERTMANIK, AMERVAR)</td><td>147</td></tr><tr><td>GETAMIJ (GYADAMISH)</td><td>148</td></tr><tr><td>GETISHEN</td><td>149</td></tr><tr><td>GEYEKHLI</td><td>151</td></tr><tr><td>GHABAGHTAPA (KABAGHTAPA, DAMZHALI)</td><td>151</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAKULLAR (BALLUCHA)</td><td>154</td></tr><tr><td>GHARATAGHLAR</td><td>154</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKHLI</td><td>154</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKHYOLCHULAR</td><td>154</td></tr><tr><td>GHOTYUL</td><td>154</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>HARSNAKAR (GALIN-GAYA)</td><td>156</td></tr><tr><td>HARTSHANGIST (CHOVDAR)</td><td>156</td></tr><tr><td>HATSTAP (ASTAF)</td><td>167</td></tr><tr><td>KARHAT (NERKIN)</td><td>167</td></tr><tr><td>KHACHAKAP (GHUSHCHI)</td><td>173</td></tr><tr><td>KHACHBULAGH</td><td>196</td></tr><tr><td>KIRANTS (SHARUKKAR, SEYIDKEND)</td><td>196</td></tr><tr><td>KYOLLU (GULLAR)</td><td>203</td></tr><tr><td>MOOSHAVAKH</td><td>204</td></tr><tr><td>PIB (ZAGLIK)</td><td>204</td></tr><tr><td>SHAHUMIAN</td><td>215</td></tr><tr><td>SHAHVELEDLI</td><td>215</td></tr><tr><td>TAPAN</td><td>216</td></tr><tr><td>TSENTZAHAL (ZINZAGHAL)</td><td>216</td></tr><tr><td>VERIN KARHAT</td><td>217</td></tr><tr><td>GETABEK DISTRICT</td><td>220</td></tr><tr><td>AGHAMALI (GHAZANCHI)</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>ALI-ISMAYILI</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>AMIRASLANLI</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>ARABACHI</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>AREGHDAM</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>ARIGHERAN</td><td>221</td></tr><tr><td>ARISU</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>ATAKHAL</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>AYITALA</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>BEYDEMIRLI</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>CHALBURUN</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>CHALDASH (CHALDAGH)</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>Charek Castle</td><td>223</td></tr><tr><td>Charek Monastery</td><td>225</td></tr><tr><td>CHAY-RASULLU</td><td>240</td></tr><tr><td>CHOBANKEND</td><td>240</td></tr><tr><td>DAGHERMANDAGH</td><td>240</td></tr><tr><td>DARYURT</td><td>240</td></tr><tr><td>DAYA-GHARABULAGH (BALA-GHARABULAGH)</td><td>240</td></tr><tr><td>DIKDASH</td><td>241</td></tr><tr><td>DYUZ-RASULLU</td><td>241</td></tr><tr><td>DYUZ-YURT</td><td>242</td></tr><tr><td>EMIR</td><td>242</td></tr><tr><td>EYRIVANK</td><td>242</td></tr><tr><td>GETABEK (GETABAK)</td><td>243</td></tr><tr><td>GHARABULAGH</td><td>253</td></tr><tr><td>GHARADAGH</td><td>253</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAMAMEDLI</td><td>253</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><tbody><tr><td>GHARAVULTOMBA</td><td>253</td></tr><tr><td>GHAREKEND</td><td>253</td></tr><tr><td>GHOSHABULAGH (KORKH)</td><td>253</td></tr><tr><td>GHURUDERE</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>GORELSK</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>GREMU BAZAR</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>GYARGYAR (KARKAR)</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>GYODAKDERE</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>HAJIALEKPERLI</td><td>255</td></tr><tr><td>HAJILAR</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>HERIKNAZ</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>HEYDARLI</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>INEKBOGHAN (KOVAKHEGHD)</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>JAFARLI</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>KESAMAN</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>KHARKHAR (ALEXEYEVKA)</td><td>256</td></tr><tr><td>KILSYALI</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>KOMINTERN (MOLLALI)</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>KUMLU</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>KUMLU ASHAGHI (LOWER)</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>KYOLAMAN</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>LESHKAR</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>MAARIF</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>METZ GHARAMURAT</td><td>257</td></tr><tr><td>MORUKHLU</td><td>268</td></tr><tr><td>MUSAYAL</td><td>268</td></tr><tr><td>NOVO-GORELOVKA (ERENETSIK, ARTAP, ARTAPA)</td><td>268</td></tr><tr><td>NOVO-IVANOVKA (AGHKILISA)</td><td>268</td></tr><tr><td>NOVO-SARATOVKA (PETEKHLU)</td><td>269</td></tr><tr><td>NOVO-SPASOVKA (KHAVUNIS, KHUNIS)</td><td>271</td></tr><tr><td>ORJONIKIDZE (MREJUR)</td><td>271</td></tr><tr><td>PARAKEND</td><td>273</td></tr><tr><td>PARISOS (GHALAKEND)</td><td>273</td></tr><tr><td>POKR GHARAMURAT</td><td>280</td></tr><tr><td>POLADLU</td><td>283</td></tr><tr><td>RUSTAM-ALIYEV (GHARAB LAGH)</td><td>285</td></tr><tr><td>SABAT-KECHMAZ</td><td>285</td></tr><tr><td>SAMANLU (SAMANLEGH)</td><td>286</td></tr><tr><td>SARIKYOYNAK</td><td>286</td></tr><tr><td>SHEKERBEY (SHAKARBEK)</td><td>286</td></tr><tr><td>SHURAKEND (AYKEND)</td><td>286</td></tr><tr><td>SHURAKEND</td><td>287</td></tr><tr><td>SLAVYANKA (VARDANAPAT)</td><td>287</td></tr><tr><td>SOGUTLU</td><td>288</td></tr><tr><td>SONALAR</td><td>289</td></tr><tr><td>YAGHUBLI</td><td>289</td></tr><tr><td>YENIKEND</td><td>289</td></tr><tr><td>YENIKEND (PAPAJAN)</td><td>289</td></tr><tr><td>ZAHMETKEND</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>ZAMANLI</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>Villages of unknown location</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>FREZEVKA</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>LUTSOVKA</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>SARDARI TALA</td><td>292</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKH DISTRICT</td><td>293</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>ABASBEYLI</td><td>294</td></tr><tr><td>The Castle of Gavazan (Gavarzin)</td><td>294</td></tr><tr><td>AGHKYOYNAK</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>AGHSTAFA</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>ALI-BAYRAMLI (ASLANBEKLI)</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>ALPOUT</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>ASHAGHI-ASKIPARA (AKSIPARA)</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>ASHAGHI-SALAHLI</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>AZIZBEYLI (HYUSEINBEKLI)</td><td>296</td></tr><tr><td>BAGHANIS-AYRUM</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>BALA-JAFARLI</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>BARKHUDARLI</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>CHAYLI-KOMUNA</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>CHAYLI-KOSALAR</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>DAGH-KYASAMAN</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>DASH-SALAHLI</td><td>297</td></tr><tr><td>The Castle of Gag</td><td>298</td></tr><tr><td>The Monastery of Gag's St. Sargis</td><td>298</td></tr><tr><td>DEMIRCHILYAR</td><td>303</td></tr><tr><td>DEMIRCHILYAR</td><td>303</td></tr><tr><td>DYUZGHESHLAGH (DYUZKHALFALU)</td><td>303</td></tr><tr><td>EYNALI</td><td>304</td></tr><tr><td>FARAHLI</td><td>304</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAHASANLI</td><td>304</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAPAPAKH</td><td>304</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKH</td><td>304</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKHBEYLI</td><td>307</td></tr><tr><td>GHERAGH-KYASAMAN</td><td>307</td></tr><tr><td>GHEREKHLI</td><td>307</td></tr><tr><td>GHEZEL-HAJILI</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>GHUSHCHI-AYRUM</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>GYOYJALI</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>JAFARLI</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>JANALI</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>KAYMAGHLI</td><td>308</td></tr><tr><td>KECHASKER</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KELKHALAFLI</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KEMERLI</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KHEYRIMLI</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KHILKHINA (KHULKHINA)</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KOLAIR(KOLAGIR)</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KOSALAR</td><td>309</td></tr><tr><td>KYOHNAGHESHLAGH</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>MARXOVKA</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>MAZAMLI</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>MOLLAJAFARLI</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>MUSAKEY (METZ KHANUKHLAR)</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>OMARAGHALI</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>ORTA-SALAHLI</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>PIRILI</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>POYLU</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>SHEKHLI-1</td><td>310</td></tr><tr><td>SHEKHLI-2</td><td>311</td></tr><tr><td>SOFULU</td><td>311</td></tr><tr><td>TATLI</td><td>311</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>URKMAZLI</td><td>311</td></tr><tr><td>YARADULU</td><td>311</td></tr><tr><td>YUKHARI-ASKIPARA (HIN, VERIN VOSKEPAR)</td><td>311</td></tr><tr><td>YUKHARI-SALAHLI</td><td>312</td></tr><tr><td>YENIGYUN</td><td>312</td></tr><tr><td>YENIKEND</td><td>312</td></tr><tr><td>ZELIMKHAN</td><td>312</td></tr><tr><td>KASUM-ISMAYILOV DISTRICT</td><td>313</td></tr><tr><td>AGHAMALIOGHLU (SAFIKYURD)</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>AHMEDABAD</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>ALPOUT</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>AZAR-AHMEDLI</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>AZAT (ARANI-AZAT)</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>AZIZBEKOV (DALMAMEDLI)</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>BAKHCHAKYURD</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>BALLEGHAYA</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>BORSUNLU</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>CHELABERTI</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>DALMAMEDLI</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>EYVAZALILAR</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>FAKHRALI</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>GAMANLI</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>GHARADAGHLU (KHANKEND)</td><td>315</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAMUSALI</td><td>318</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAPIRIMLI</td><td>318</td></tr><tr><td>GHARASULEYMANLI</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHARASUNCHU</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHASUMBEYLI</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZAKHLAR (MOLLA-ISMAYILI)</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZANBULAGH</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHAZANCHI</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHEREKHLI (MISKINLI)</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHEZEL HAJILI</td><td>319</td></tr><tr><td>GHUSHCHULAR</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>GYORANLI</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>GYOYNIYAN</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>GYULMAMEDLI (MISKINLI)</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>HAJALILI</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>JINLI-BOLUSLU</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>JINLI-ZEYNALI (ZEYNAL-JINLU)</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>KARKUJAK</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>KASUM-ISMAYILOV (GYORANBOY-AHMEDLI)</td><td>320</td></tr><tr><td>KHANKARVEND</td><td>321</td></tr><tr><td>KHASADARLI</td><td>321</td></tr><tr><td>KHINALI</td><td>321</td></tr><tr><td>KHOYLI (KHOYLAR, JARKYALAR)</td><td>321</td></tr><tr><td>KURBANZADE</td><td>322</td></tr><tr><td>KYALAK</td><td>322</td></tr><tr><td>KYURAKCHAY</td><td>322</td></tr><tr><td>MESHADIGHARALAR (JINLU)</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>MIKHAYLOVKA</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>MUZUDULAR</td><td>323</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><tbody><tr><td>NADIRKEND</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>NIZAMI (MOLLA-AVAZLI)</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>RAHIMLI</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>SAFIKYURD</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>SAMEDABAD (KARKUJAK)</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>SAROV</td><td>323</td></tr><tr><td>SAROV (TURK SAROV)</td><td>325</td></tr><tr><td>SHADILI</td><td>325</td></tr><tr><td>TAP</td><td>325</td></tr><tr><td>TAP-GHARAGHOYUNLU</td><td>325</td></tr><tr><td>YEGARCHI-GHAZAKHLAR</td><td>326</td></tr><tr><td>YELPAK (YOLPAKH)</td><td>326</td></tr><tr><td>YEREVANLI (KARAKOYUNLI)</td><td>326</td></tr><tr><td>YOLGHULULAR</td><td>326</td></tr><tr><td><strong>KHANLAR DISTRICT</strong></td><td><strong>327</strong></td></tr><tr><td>ABLAH</td><td>328</td></tr><tr><td>ACHAGHAYA</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>AGHASIBEKLI (NERKIN AND VERIN)</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>AGHEKHUSH</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALABASHLI</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALI-BAYRAMLI</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALI-BAYRAMLI (AHMEDBEKLI)</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALIMADATLI</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALINJALI</td><td>335</td></tr><tr><td>ALIUSHAGHI</td><td>336</td></tr><tr><td>ASHEGHLI (HATIS)</td><td>336</td></tr><tr><td>AZAT (SULUK)</td><td>336</td></tr><tr><td>AZGHILI</td><td>342</td></tr><tr><td>BOLCHALU</td><td>343</td></tr><tr><td>BRAJUR (GHARAKESHISH)</td><td>343</td></tr><tr><td>CHAYLU</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>CHOBAN-ABDALI</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>CHRAGHIDZOR (JRAGIDZOR)</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>DAMZHALI</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>DANAYER</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>DOZULAR (BIRGYOZ)</td><td>346</td></tr><tr><td>FIZULI (SUNNILAR)</td><td>347</td></tr><tr><td>GETASHEN</td><td>347</td></tr><tr><td>GHADILI</td><td>386</td></tr><tr><td>GHARABAGHLAR</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAYERI</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>GHEREKHLI</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>GHEZELJA</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>GHUSHKARA</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>HAJALI</td><td>387</td></tr><tr><td>HAJISHEN (HAJIKEND)</td><td>388</td></tr><tr><td>KAMO (BAGHSHIK, BAKHSHIK, HAJISHEN)</td><td>390</td></tr><tr><td><strong>KHACHAKAP-ARMAVIR (KUSHCHI-ARMAVIR)</strong></td><td><strong>396</strong></td></tr><tr><td>KHANLAR (HELENENDORF)</td><td>398</td></tr><tr><td>KIYASLI</td><td>400</td></tr><tr><td>KOLAYIR</td><td>400</td></tr><tr><td>KOSHK</td><td>401</td></tr><tr><td>KOVLARSARLI</td><td>402</td></tr><tr><td>KYURAK-BASAN</td><td>402</td></tr><tr><td>LAHIJ</td><td>402</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>LYAK</td><td>402</td></tr><tr><td>MARTUNASHEN (GHARABULAGH)</td><td>402</td></tr><tr><td>MIKHAILOVKA</td><td>419</td></tr><tr><td>MIKHAILOVKA</td><td>419</td></tr><tr><td>MURUT</td><td>427</td></tr><tr><td>NADEL</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>PADILI</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>PANAHLAR</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>SAFARALIYEV (NABI-AGHALI)</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>SARIGHAMISH</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>SARISU</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>SARKYAR</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>TATLI</td><td>432</td></tr><tr><td>TOGHANALI</td><td>433</td></tr><tr><td>TOPALHASANLI</td><td>433</td></tr><tr><td>TULALLAR</td><td>434</td></tr><tr><td>UCHTEPE</td><td>434</td></tr><tr><td>VOSKANAPAT (ZURNABAD)</td><td>434</td></tr><tr><td>YALGHESLAGH</td><td>446</td></tr><tr><td>YENI-ALIBAYRAMLI</td><td>446</td></tr><tr><td>ZAZALI</td><td>446</td></tr><tr><td>ZIYADLI</td><td>447</td></tr><tr><td><strong>SHAMKHOR DISTRICT</strong></td><td><strong>448</strong></td></tr><tr><td>ABASLI</td><td>449</td></tr><tr><td>AHMEDLI</td><td>449</td></tr><tr><td>ASHAGHI SEYFALI</td><td>449</td></tr><tr><td>ATABEK</td><td>449</td></tr><tr><td>BADA (BADENK, BDADZOR, LEGHARAK)</td><td>450</td></tr><tr><td>BARSUM (BARSUMASHEN)</td><td>460</td></tr><tr><td>BARSUM-SAR (NOR, SARI BARSUM, BARSUMASAR)</td><td>469</td></tr><tr><td>BARUM (NOR, SARI BARUM)</td><td>469</td></tr><tr><td>CHAPARLI</td><td>469</td></tr><tr><td>CHARDAKHLU</td><td>470</td></tr><tr><td>CHAYLI</td><td>477</td></tr><tr><td>DALLYAR</td><td>477</td></tr><tr><td>DALLYAR-JEIR</td><td>478</td></tr><tr><td>DALLYAR-JERDAKHAN (HAJJIALEKPERLI)</td><td>478</td></tr><tr><td>DASHBULAGH</td><td>478</td></tr><tr><td>DASHBULAGH</td><td>482</td></tr><tr><td>DYUHARLI</td><td>482</td></tr><tr><td>DZEGAM (ZAKAM)</td><td>482</td></tr><tr><td>DZEGAM-JERDAKHAN (YUKHARI AYIPLI)</td><td>482</td></tr><tr><td>ENGELSKEND (IRMASHLI)</td><td>483</td></tr><tr><td>FIZULI</td><td>483</td></tr><tr><td>GARNAKER (BARUM, BARUMSHEN)</td><td>483</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAGHOJALI</td><td>492</td></tr><tr><td>GHARAJAMIRLI</td><td>492</td></tr><tr><td>GHARANUY (GHARAGHOYUNLU)</td><td>492</td></tr><tr><td>GHASUMALILAR</td><td>492</td></tr><tr><td>GYOYMAMEDLI</td><td>492</td></tr><tr><td>GYULAMBAR (GYULAMBIR, GLAMBAR, GYULAMBYUR, KYUL AMBYUR)</td><td>493</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tbody><tr><td>HAJJIALILAR</td><td>494</td></tr><tr><td>JAGIR</td><td>494</td></tr><tr><td>JELHAN</td><td>501</td></tr><tr><td>KAMANDAR</td><td>501</td></tr><tr><td>KASUM-ISMAYILOV (GHARA-ARKH)</td><td>504</td></tr><tr><td>KOLKHOZKEND</td><td>504</td></tr><tr><td>KOMSOMOL</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>KOSALAR (MESHADIUSEINLI)</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>KYONYULLYU</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>LEGHAN</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>LENINABAD</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>LENINKEND (GEORGIEVSK, GEORGSFELD, LENINFELD)</td><td>505</td></tr><tr><td>LYAZGILYAR</td><td>506</td></tr><tr><td>MAHMUDLU (TAKNALI)</td><td>506</td></tr><tr><td>MAMEDALILAR (GHAPANLI)</td><td>506</td></tr><tr><td>MARTUNY (NOVO-TRUTSKOYE, GOLITSINO)</td><td>506</td></tr><tr><td>MEHRALI</td><td>508</td></tr><tr><td>MISKINLI</td><td>508</td></tr><tr><td>MUKHTARIYAT</td><td>508</td></tr><tr><td>NIZAMI</td><td>508</td></tr><tr><td>NUKZAR (NEWSGER, NEWKZAR, NUNGUZAR)</td><td>508</td></tr><tr><td>ORJONIKIDZE</td><td>514</td></tr><tr><td>PLANKEND (KECHILI)</td><td>514</td></tr><tr><td>PRAVDA (ALABASHLI)</td><td>514</td></tr><tr><td>SABIRKEND</td><td>515</td></tr><tr><td>SALER</td><td>515</td></tr><tr><td>SAMED VURGHUN (TAKNALI)</td><td>515</td></tr><tr><td>SERSERUT</td><td>515</td></tr><tr><td>Samkor townsite</td><td>515</td></tr><tr><td>SHAMKHOR (ANNENFELD, MORUL)</td><td>519</td></tr><tr><td>Annenfeld (Annino)</td><td>519</td></tr><tr><td>Morul</td><td>520</td></tr><tr><td>SHEIDLAR</td><td>520</td></tr><tr><td>SHISHTEPE</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>SPITAKSHEN (TSIRALOVKA)</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>TALISH</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>TATARLI</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>TAZAKEND</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>TIK-KHULUF (KHULUF)</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>YENIABAD (BITTILI)</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>YENIHAYAD (HIN ANNENFELD)</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>YERRORD INTERNATSIONAL</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>YUKHARI (VERIN) KYONYULLYU</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td>YUKHARI SEYFALI</td><td>521</td></tr><tr><td><strong>ARTZVASHEN</strong></td><td><strong>550</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>MEMOIRS ON NORTHERN ARTSAKH</strong></td><td><strong>560</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>INDEXES</strong></td><td><strong>569</strong></td></tr><tr><td>BIBLIOGRAPHY</td><td>569</td></tr><tr><td>PERSONAL NAMES</td><td>576</td></tr><tr><td>TOPONYMS</td><td>591</td></tr><tr><td>LIST OF COLOR PHOTOS</td><td>605</td></tr></tbody></table>
A FEW WORDS

Upon its establishment, the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan predominantly comprised the lands of Historical Armenia, namely the territories lying on the right bank of the river Kur. Moreover, motivated by certain political considerations, it even appropriated the name of Atropatene Province situated in the north of Iran.

Indeed, J. Stalin failed to implement the plan he had long premeditated, i.e. the gradual partition of Armenia between the Soviet Socialist Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, some densely-populated Armenian territories such as Nakhichevan, Nagorno and Dashtayin Karabakh as well as Northern Artsakh were annexed to the "fraternal" Republic of Azerbaijan, while Javakhk and a number of other districts of Gugark became part of Georgia.

The Armenians of Artsakh, who had been severed from their homeland in such an illegal, unjust manner, found themselves under the dominion of Azerbaijan, becoming immediate targets for that country's extremely chauvinistic and anti-Armenian policies. Stripped of their national educational and spiritual values, they suffered persecution and harsh living conditions for many decades.

All their ties with Armenia broken, the Armenian-populated villages of Karabakh were faced with economic slump so that the region's northern inhabitants, who were completely alone and neglected on the eve of the deporation of 1988, proved absolutely powerless to struggle for their survival in their sacred native land. In the aftermath of the aforementioned forced displacement, the Armenian spirit died away in Northern Artsakh, where the Armenians had been living throughout many centuries. Along with that, a wide variety of historical monuments, forming an inseparable part of Armenia's cultural legacy, were left derelict.

The present work pursues the objective of saving from oblivion the history of hundreds of villages of Northern Artsakh and the cultural monuments once erected there, by handing it down to the coming generations. The number of these monuments is diminishing with every single passing day, in the aftermath of the acts of vandalism perpetrated at state level in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the summer of 2006, we learnt about the destruction of St. Gabriel and St. Hakob Churches of respectively Mirzik and Voskanapat Villages of Khanlar District. This comes to suggest that a considerable part of the monuments presented in this work has either shared the same fate (so far the Azerbaijanian authorities have banned any fact-finding missions or private researchers from entering Northern Artsakh) or is in grave danger of annihilation.

The work does not include the administrative district of Shahumian, presently within the territory of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, but originally part of Northern Artsakh. The history of this district, that has been occupied and stripped of its Armenian population since 1992, will be treated in our next volumes together with the other districts of Nagorno Karabakh.
A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

**The Region in Its Geographical Setting.**

*'Northern Artsakh'* is a conventional name used with reference to the territory lying in the area between the watershed divisions of Sevan and Mrav and the river Kur. During the early medieval period, Northern Artsakh (it was more known under the name of *Gardman* in the Middle Ages) included some of the districts of Utik and Artsakh Provinces of Metz Hayk,<fnref n="1" /> such as Koght, Kust-i-Parnes, Gardman, Shakashen, etc. During the late medieval period, it formed part of Gandzak (Gyanja) Khanate, being later incorporated into the territory of Russia, after which it became known under the name of *Yelizavetpol Province*. After the Soviet takeover, the region was annexed to the Republic of Azerbaijan, being divided into the following administrative units: Getabek, Dashkesan, Touz, Khanlar, Kasum-Ismayilov (Gyoran), Ghazakh, Shamkhor and Shahumian. This last one, forming part of the present-day Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, is among the territories now occupied by Azerbaijan.

In Northern Artsakh are located the catchment basins of the rivers Asrik, Zakam, Shamkor, Artinajur (Koshkar), Gandzak, Kurak and Sevjur, which take their sources in the mountain chains of Sevan and Mrav, and merge into the Kur on the right. It also embraces the downstream reaches of the rivers Joghas, Aghstev and Tavush.

**A Historical Chronology.** According to the *Ashkharatsuyts*,<fnref n="2" /> the region, conventionally called *Northern Artsakh*, comprised 3 districts from each of Utik and Artsakh Provinces of Metz Hayk respectively: Kust-i-Parnes, Koght, Metz Koghmank, Tus-Kustak, Gardman and Shakashen.

The aforementioned territories, that formed part of Van (Ararat) Kingdom between the 8th and 7th centuries B.C., were included in the Orontid Kingdom in the 6th century.

A cuneiform inscription, found near Banants Village of Dashkesan District in the early 20th century,

proved to be the north-easternmost one among those ever discovered in the Armenian Highland.

Treating the times of Artashes I and his contemporary, king of Tzopk Zareh, Greek geographer Strabo writes that under their rule, the population of their countries was monolingual, namely they spoke only Armenian. This leads us to the conclusion that the inhabitants of the north-eastern areas of Metz Hayk, i.e. those in Utik and Artsakh, participated in the formation of the Armenian nation, becoming an inseparable part of them. Utik and Artsakh formed part of Metz Hayk under both the Artaxiads and Arshakids. Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, Stephen of Byzantium and others mention them in their works as integral parts of Armenia, all these and other authors stating that Armenia's north-eastern border ran along the river Kur.

In 428 the Sasanids, who had conquered entire Transcaucasia, founded three *marzpanutiuns*,<fnref n="3" /> i.e. Armenia, Iveria (Iberia) and Caucasian Albania (Arran). By the year 451, Utik and Artsakh Provinces had joined Caucasian Albania, but that administrative change did not influence their ethnic picture.

In the late 5th century, the Armenian population of Utik and Artsakh gained provisional independence, and Sasanid King Vagharsh conferred the title of *Arranshahik*, i.e. *Shah of Arran*, on Prince Vachagan of Artsakh. The latter encouraged the revival of the Christian faith and founded numerous Armenian schools.

The 7th century marked the establishment of the principality of Aghvank<fnref n="4" /> centered in Partaw City: its representatives were the members of the Mihranians' (Gardmanatsy, i.e. from Gardman) Family.

The Armenian population of Utik and Artsakh, led by the Arranshahiks and the Mihranians, put up an unequal but persistent struggle against the Arab invaders. In the 8th century, however, they had to yield up to the enemy forces, far outnumbering them, and withdraw from the plains to the foothills and high mountainous areas, which provided better conditions for defence.

<footnote n="1">1 Armenia Maior, also called *Greater Armenia*.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">2 An Armenian manual on cosmology and geography with an atlas attached.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ An administrative division in Sasanid Iran.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">4 The Armenian version of the name of Caucasian Albania also referred to by the toponym of *Arran* in this work.</footnote>
In the 9th century, the natives of Utik and Artsakh intensified their struggle against the Arab rule: in this respect, particularly remarkable were the activities of local princes Ktrij Sevordatsy and Atrnerseh the Arranshahik, who were taken captive and sent to the caliph by Arab Commander Bugha. Eventually, the main territories of Utik and Artsakh, including Gandzak and Partaw Cities, were liberated from the Arab yoke in 887, becoming part of Armenia's Bagratid Kingdom.

Under the feudal system, the Armenian principalities of Parisos and Gardman were established in the region. In the 970s Hovhannes Senecherim the Arran-shahik declared the former a kingdom, which was recognized by Byzantium and Persia. It embraced almost all the foothills and mountain areas in the region, excluding only part of the plains along the Kur, which had been stripped of their Armenian population and were occupied by various nomadic tribes.

In the 11th century, the Armenian Bagratids and emirs, the representatives of the Kurdish family of the Shedadians, who had taken possession of Gandzak, partitioned the kingdom of Parisos. The latter gained rule over most of the region's plains together with Gandzak and Shamkor Cities.

Parisos and Gardman, which did not escape the Seljuk invasions of the 11th century, survived within the territory of the Armenian kingdom of the Kyurikian Bagratids till the early 12th century. Under King David the Builder, they were included in the kingdom of the Georgian Bagratids, who were struggling against the Seljuk principalities in Transcaucasia at that time. The Kyurikians' last representatives held possession of the impregnable castles of Kayen and Matznaberd as well as their adjacent districts.

In the late 12th century, Zakarian princes liberated Utik and Artsakh from the Seljuks' dominion, the Vahramians, the representatives of a branch of their family, establishing their rule in the region's north-eastern part. In the south, their principality comprised the entire mountain zone, its boundaries reaching the watershed divisions of Sevan and Mrav, while in the north, they extended up to the river Kur, including Shamkor City.

Despite that, however, the immigrant tribes would not leave the region's fertile lands, while the Armenians who had been forced to move to the mountainous areas did not dare to return to the villages once inhabited by their ancestors. It was only in the cities located in the plain areas that the number of the Armenian population increased to some extent.

Utik and Artsakh did not stand aloof from the general cultural revival marking the history of Armenia between the 11th and 13th centuries. Some cities were reconstructed, new forts, churches and

monasteries were built, and the old ones (most of them have come down to our times), repaired. During that period, the region gave birth to such prominent figures of Armenian culture and science as Hovhannes Sarkavag (John the Deacon), Mkhitar Gosh, Archimandrite Vanakan, Kirakos Gandzaketsy, Vardan Areveltsy and others. In the monastery of Dasno extending on the right bank of the river Shamkor, in 1184 Mkhitar Gosh wrote his famous *Datastanagirk*, i.e. the first ever created Code of Laws in Armenia.

The earthquake that struck the region in 1139 proved disastrous, taking away tens of thousands of lives.

In the 13th century, Transcaucasia was conquered by the Tartar-Mongols, whose invasion became the prelude to further incursions into Armenia by other nomadic tribes. As a result, between the 14th and 15th centuries, the region suffered the raids of the Jalali, Chobanian, Ak-Koyunlu (White Sheep Turkomans), Kara-Koyunlu (Black Sheep Turkomans) and other tribes, exceeding each other in their ferocity and brutality.

In the 16th century, Safavid Persia took possession of entire Eastern Armenia. The shahs, who held the Turkic and Kurdish tribes under their auspices, implemented special policies aimed at encouraging them to take up permanent residence in the occupied areas. As a result, soon those tribes reached numerical superiority over the indigenous population inhabiting the plains along the Kur. The Safavids' policy of forced conversion to Islam posed another grave danger to the local Armenians. With that regard, however, the Persian rulers failed to achieve any tangible results among the Armenians dwelling in the foothills and mountain zones.

It goes without saying that the aforementioned circumstances could not contribute to the preservation of Armenian culture at the high level it once enjoyed. Despite all that, however, the Armenians did succeed in retaining their achievements and handing them down to the coming generations.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the region's territory was included in the Persian khanate of Gandzak. In the late 16th century, the Ottoman Turks, who had been continually making some endeavours to penetrate into the region, managed to reach the Caspian Sea. In the early 17th century, Persian Shah Abbas drove away the Turks not only from Gandzak but also from all the former Persian khanates, occupied over two decades before. In other words, the Persians re-established their dominion all over Eastern Armenia, supported by the local Armenians who preferred the Persian rule to the Turkish one, taking into account the attitude the authorities of those countries showed to them.
The treaty signed between Turkey and Persia in Constantinople in 1639 was to bring peace into the region for several decades. That period marked political, cultural and, broadly speaking, national revival for the local Armenians. The representatives of certain princely families fortified their positions and started uniting their forces, fixing firmly the boundaries of their estates by the shah's decrees. One of the first Armenian princes to get the title of *Melik*<fnref n="5" /> from Shah Abbas in 1601 was Melik Nazar from Voskanapat, a far-sighted person of wide political experience who founded a semi-independent principality. The Melik-Arustamians established Armenian princedoms in the middle basin of the river Shamkor, with Barsum Village as their centre. The Melik-Mnatsakanians from Getashen set up their principality in the middle and upper basin of the river Kurak (Kyurak). There also existed weaker Armenian principalities whose authority extended over 1 to 3 villages: Krzen, Bada (Legharak), Hartshangist (Chovdar) and Banants. Among those very powerful and large can be mentioned Gyulistan or Talish Princedom forming part of Khamsa Principality of Artsakh.

Each of the small principalities of Northern Artsakh held possession of over 5 villages and enjoyed internal autonomy, being dependent only on Gandzak khans. During the period between the 17th century and the late '70s of the 18th century, the Armenians inhabited not only the region's foothills (that status quo was mainly preserved till 1988 to '89) but also all the mountainous areas. In other words, the principalities were well-formulated in the rear as well, thanks to the densely-populated Armenian villages.

**The Great Resettlement of the 18th Century.**

Nadir Shah's death became the prelude to unprecedented political instability in the region. Gandzak Khanate, which was almost constantly in war against the neighbouring khanates, had become a true scourge for the local population. The heavy military expenditures made the khans to continuously increase the taxes imposed on them. The Persian officials collected taxes irregularly, often by force, sometimes just robbing the poor in the very proper sense of the word. It was especially for Gandzak Armenians that the taxes had become an intolerable burden: the Muslim rulers severely oppressed them not only because they were considered infidels (giaurs) but also because they led a sedentary mode of life, which enabled them to cultivate the soil and grow crops. In contrast to them, the Muslims (mainly the Turks) inhabiting the khanate were nomads, the only form of tax they paid, if ever, being products of animal origin.

In the second half of the 18th century, the khan of Gandzak himself raided his territories, putting the local Armenians in a grave predicament, the only way out of which was to stop sowing altogether, as they were forced to hand in the entire harvest they got, sometimes being merely robbed of it: "...when the khans started taxing the Armenians beyond any reason, out of their *special love* for that people, they refused to cultivate the soil under various pleas, getting convinced that they could not hide their crops from the officials' long-sighted looks... Under the khans, their (the Armenians' - S. K.) entire property belonged to them unless the Muslims decided to seize it, something considered far from unfair, for the infidels themselves were regarded as the Muslims' property..."<fnref n="6" />

Not only were the Armenians oppressed financially but they were also taxed in another peculiar way, being obliged to give up even their young children: "Money was collected during the bayram<fnref n="7" /> twice a year. As for the 21 Armenian villages, although it remains unknown to what extent they were taxed, the khan took an unreasonable amount of money from the poor peasants, mostly robbing them. The wealthy villages gave even more, the Armenians being also compelled to deliver up their little children in payment of the taxes."<fnref n="8" />

The trophies gained during the invasions of Georgia, Daghestan and the neighbouring khanates came to add to those seized in the region proper.

Unable to bear those severe conditions, in the 1770s the Armenian population of tens of villages, mostly from the densely-inhabited eastern and south-eastern parts of Gandzak District, resettled in Shamshadin (Shamshadil) and Borchalu. Left derelict a few decades before in the aftermath of the Lezghin incursions, these districts comprised numerous village sites which became haven for the newly-arrived Armenians of Gandzak. Part of the

<footnote n="6">6 Meves, V. Articles on Yelizavetpol District. In: "Kavkaz," 1865, No. 95, pp. 512-522, in Russian (the original reads, "...когда ханы из особой любви к армянам стали требовать с них малджагат в безпределных размерах, то армяне, под разными предлогами начали оставлять хлебопашество, убедившись, что урожая не могут скрывать от зоркаго глаза своих повелителей... При ханах армяне не могли расчитывать на видимую собственность: все их видимое достояние было до тех пор их собственностьюю, пока правоверный не вз düşал отнять; и это не считалось несправедливостью, потому что и сам гяур считался собственностью правовернаго...").</footnote>

<footnote n="7">7 A Muslim feast.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">8 Collected Acts of the Caucasian Archaeological Commission (henceforward: Collected Acts...), vol. 2, Tiflis, 1868, p. 596, all volumes in Russian (the original reads, "Деньги собирались в два срока годоваго времени, когда бывает байрам; а с 21 Армянской деревни, хотя и не означено сколько давали, но хан брал неограниченно, а более грабежем. Касательно до скота, то брато им с богатых деревень больше; также брали в числе подати Армянских мужескаго и женскаго пола малолетних детей...").</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ A title conferred on some Armenian nobles.</footnote>
resettlers, coming from the cities of Shamkor and Gandzak as well as the adjacent villages, took up residence in Havlabar<fnref n="9" /> (later it became a quarter in Tpghis<fnref n="10" /> and numerous other villages in Kartli and Cahetia, such as Lis, Mukhran, Akhalkalak, etc.

The devastated areas of Gandzak Khanate were later inhabited by various Turkic tribes, such as the Ghajars, Zulkadars and Ayrums.

In 1890 Sargis Kamalian, a famous folk-lore specialist and one of the descendants of the resettlers of the 1770s, visited his ancestors' land, his impressions inspiring him to write his memoirs. The following is an interesting extract from his work, "...Tzatur (Kamalian's companion during the trip - S. K.) again cursed his worthless forefathers and asked me to hurry so that we would find a shelter for the night: it was absolutely impossible to stay with the Ayrums. Ridiculous as it was, we failed to find refuge in our ancestors' land. Passing through the ploughed fields and arable lands along the left bank of the river Gharamurad, we again came across some fruit-bearing trees, i.e. mulberries, cherries, quinces, pears, apples and nut-trees. Struck by lightning, almost all of them had withered, some of them standing with their branches broken by the Ayrum shepherds."<fnref n="11" />

**Gandzak as the Seat of Aghvank Catholicoses.**

Gandzak was one of the most important seats of Aghvank Catholicoses, who moved there from Partaw: "...When the Persians became powerful, the patriarchal see was transferred to Gandzak..."<fnref n="12" />

When Arab War-Lord Bugha conquered Gandzak in 1088, Catholicos Stepanos had to leave the city, finding refuge in Vahanavank (Vahan Monastery), Syunik.<fnref n="13" />

Between 1103 and 1104, Stepanos' brother was ordained Catholicos in Gandzak.

In 1195 Catholicos Hovhannes' (1195 to 1235) ordination took place in the city: "And he was taken to ruler of Gandzak City Emir Omar so that the latter would allow him to be ordained Catholicos."<fnref n="14" />

**Gandzak Vicarate.**

*Archimandrite Khachatur* served as vicar of Gandzak in 1822.<fnref n="15" />

*Bishop Harutiun (Artem) Ter-Barseghian Po-ghossiants* (born in 1796), who served between 1838 and 1841, contributed to the restoration of Sanahin Monastery (in present-day Lori Marz of the Republic of Armenia), in 1836. Leaving his post of Yelizavetpol vicar, he worked as the spiritual leader of Shaki Diocese and Jalet Monastery, Boon Aghvank (*Caspian or Caucasian Albania lying on the left bank of the river Kur*), between 1842 and 1844.<fnref n="16" />

*Archimandrite Vardan Odznetsy* is mentioned as vicar of Gandzak in 1845.<fnref n="17" />

*Archimandrite Sargis Davtiants* "was appointed vicar of Yelizavetpol District by Catholicos of All Armenians Nerses, holding that post from 29 August 1849 till 1854."<fnref n="18" />

Later he also served as Father Superior of Charek Monastery, Getabek District.<fnref n="19" />

In 1856 Yelizavetpol Vicarate was in process of certain administrative, territorial and other changes.<fnref n="20" />

*Archimandrite Karapet Ter-Hovhannissants*, mentioned in 1858,<fnref n="21" /> had already died by the year 1860.<fnref n="22" />

*Archimandrite Grigor Musheghiants*, mentioned as vicar of Gandzak in 1860,<fnref n="23" /> 1861,<fnref n="24" /> 1862,<fnref n="25" /> 1863,<fnref n="26" /> and 1864,<fnref n="27" /> was of some instrumentality in the foundation

<footnote n="9">⁹ They built two churches, Shamkoretsots (*Of Shamkor Inhabitants*) Sourb Astvatzatzin (*Holy Virgin*) and Gandzaketsots (*Of Gandzak Inhabitants*) St. Gevorg (Dzorabash), standing not far from each other in Havlabar, a quarter in Tbilisi, Georgia. Remarkably, as attested by Prior Astvatzatur the Archimandrite of Charek Monastery located in Getabek District, over a century after the emigration, the aged natives of Shamkor living in Havlabar still remembered various stories and legends associated with their birthplace: "In times bygone, Gardman District of Armenia used to retain a great number of prospering monasteries. Today, however, their meagre remnants comprise the only reminders of their existence that touch the travellers' hearts. It is only Charek Monastery that endured the barbarians' repeated raids and now stands preserved. The elderly Armenians dwelling in Shamkor Quarter of Tiflis recall some splendid legends connected with the sanctuary. Many years ago, a driblet of persecuted people abandoned the monastery and their villages and emigrated to Tiflis and other places, escaping the terrible plight they suffered in the foreign barbarians' hands..." ("Ararat," 1879, p. 320, in Armenian).</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Also spelled as *Tpkhis*: an old version of the name of Georgian capital Tbilisi.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Yeghishe Charents Art and Literature Museum. **Sargis Kamalian Fund** (henceforward: **S. Kamalian Fund**), copy-book No. 1, VI-11, pp. 32-33, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² The Chronicle of **Matthew of Edessa** (henceforward: **Matthew of Edessa**). Translated from the Original Armenian with a Commentary and Introduction by Ara Edmond Dostourian. University Press of America (Lanham. New York. London), 1993, p. 151.</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³ Idem, p. 254.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">¹⁴ History of Armenia by **Kirakos Gandzaketsy** (henceforward: **Kirakos Gandzaketsy**). Prepared for publication by Melik-Ohanjanian K. Yerevan, 1961, p. 181, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">¹⁵ National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3831, pp. 26-27 (all the archive documents referred to in this work are in the Armenian language except when the language of the original is specially mentioned).</footnote>

<footnote n="16">¹⁶ National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 12, file 533.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">¹⁷ Caucasian Calendar for 1846, Tiflis, 1845, p. 192 (the original language of all the materials submitted is Russian).</footnote>

<footnote n="18">¹⁸ Caucasian Calendar for 1851, Tiflis, 1850, p. 40; Caucasian Calendar for 1853, Tiflis, 1852, p. 543.</footnote>

<footnote n="19">¹⁹ National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3831, p. 38.</footnote>

<footnote n="20">²⁰ Caucasian Calendar for 1857, Tiflis, 1856, p. 548.</footnote>

<footnote n="21">²¹ Caucasian Calendar for 1859, Tiflis, 1858, p. 468.</footnote>

<footnote n="22">²² National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3833, pp. 122-123.</footnote>

<footnote n="23">²³ Caucasian Calendar for 1861, Tiflis, 1860, p. 32.</footnote>

<footnote n="24">²⁴ Caucasian Calendar for 1862, Tiflis, 1861, p. 338.</footnote>

<footnote n="25">²⁵ Caucasian Calendar for 1863, Tiflis, 1862, p. 388.</footnote>

<footnote n="26">²⁶ Caucasian Calendar for 1864, Tiflis, 1863, p. 332.</footnote>

<footnote n="27">²⁷ Caucasian Calendar for 1865, Tiflis, 1864, p. 37.</footnote>
of a parish school (1862) in the local church of St. Hovhannes.<fnref n="28" />

*Archbishop Hakob Ter-Avetissiants* is mentioned between 1865 and 1867.<fnref n="29" />

*Archimandrite Grigoris Ter-Hakobiants'* service was rather brief, lasting from 1 till 13 May 1868:<fnref n="30" /> he also held office between 1887 and 1889.

*Archimandrite Grigor Ter-Stepanossian*, who led Gandzak Vicarate from at least 1870³¹ till 1874, was one of those struggling against an epidemic raging in the city in 1871³² (he is also mentioned in 1872 and 1874).<fnref n="33" />

*Archimandrite Tadevos Ter-Danieliants*, who served as vicar in 1877,<fnref n="34" /> 1878³⁵ as well as between 1880 and 1881,<fnref n="36" /> was promoted to bishop in 1882.<fnref n="37" />

*Archimandrite Anania Hamazaspiants* (1883 to 1885) is mentioned as vicar of Gandzak in 1883 in connection with the consecration (23 November) of Getashen's (Khanlar District) newly-erected church.<fnref n="38" /> Some sources also make reference to him in 1885.<fnref n="39" />

After an interval of some years, *Archimandrite Grigoris Ter-Hakobian* (1869, 1887 to 1889) resumed the post of vicar on 9 June 1887, holding it till 14 September 1889⁴⁰ (he died on 7 June 1912).<fnref n="41" />

*Bishop Grigoris Aghvaniants* is mentioned between 1890 and 1891.<fnref n="42" />

*Archimandrite Poghos Ter-Marg variants*, who was appointed vicar in 1892,<fnref n="43" /> is mentioned between 1893 and 1894⁴⁴ (he consigned his soul to God on 2 November 1896).

*Archbishop Garegin Satunian*, who served between 1894 and 1895 (later the leader of Artsakh Diocese), is known to have organized fund-raising for the accomplishment of a school in Getashen.<fnref n="45" />

*Archimandrite Hovhannes Shirakuny* is known to have held the post of Gandzak vicar in 1895.<fnref n="46" />

*Archimandrite Bagrat Tavakaliants* held office in 1896,<fnref n="47" /> 1897⁴⁸ and 1898.<fnref n="49" />

*Bishop Anania Hamazaspiants*, who had come into service in at least 1900,<fnref n="50" /> consecrated a newly-built church in Ghazakh in 1901:

> "On New Sunday (8 April), the solemn blessing of Ghazakh's newly-erected Armenian church took place, Gandzak vicar, Bishop Anania, officiating at the ceremony together with ten priests..."<fnref n="51" />

Anania Hamazaspiants, who dedicated another sanctuary, i.e. Helenendorf's chapel, in 1902,<fnref n="52" /> also served in 1903.<fnref n="53" />

*Archimandrite Benik* held office between 1903⁵⁴ and 1904.<fnref n="55" />

*Archimandrite Sahak Baghdasarian* was appointed vicar in 1905.<fnref n="56" />

*Archimandrite Koryun Sahakiants*, appointed vicar in 1905,<fnref n="57" /> held that post in 1906⁵⁸ and 1907.<fnref n="59" />

*Archimandrite (Bishop) Levon Pserian*, who was appointed vicar in 1910⁶⁰ and resigned in 1926,<fnref n="61" /> blessed the foundations of the pilgrimage site of St. Sargis, located in Koryunapat Quarter of Gandzak City, in 1914.

**Population.** August Haxthausen (1792 to 1866), an ethnographer and an official from Prussia who visited Gandzak in the '50s of the 19th century, writes, "Gandzak District is inhabited by the Armenians and the Tartars, the former dwelling in the mountains and the latter in the fertile plains. The Armenians are mainly engaged in farming and gardening (they grow wheat, barley, millet, maize and flax), while the Tartars' main occupation is stock-breeding: the majority of the latter

<footnote n="28">28 National Archives of Armenia, fund 461, list 1, file 33, p. 1.</footnote>

<footnote n="29">29 Caucasian Calendar for 1866, Tiflis, 1865, p. 43; Caucasian Calendar for 1868, Tiflis, 1867, p. 16.</footnote>

<footnote n="30">30 "Ararat," 1912, p. 757; Caucasian Calendar for 1870, Tiflis, 1869, p. 60.</footnote>

<footnote n="31">31 Caucasian Calendar for 1871, Tiflis, 1870, p. 65.</footnote>

<footnote n="32">32 "Ararat," 1871, p. 470; Caucasian Calendar for 1872, Tiflis, 1871, p. 74.</footnote>

<footnote n="33">33 Caucasian Calendar for 1875, Tiflis, 1874, p. 63.</footnote>

<footnote n="34">34 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3869, p. 56.</footnote>

<footnote n="35">35 Idem, file 3870, p. 27.</footnote>

<footnote n="36">36 Idem, file 3872, p. 32; file 3873, p. 27.</footnote>

<footnote n="37">37 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3874, p. 32; also see Caucasian Calendar for 1883, Tiflis, 1882, p. 83.</footnote>

<footnote n="38">38 "Meghu Hayastani," 1883, No. 121, 29 December, in Armenian; also see National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3875, pp. 56-57; Caucasian Calendar for 1884, Tiflis, 1883, p. 79.</footnote>

<footnote n="39">39 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3877, p. 29; Caucasian Calendar for 1886, Tiflis, 1885, p. 77.</footnote>

<footnote n="40">40 "Ararat," 1912, pp. 757-758; Caucasian Calendar for 1888, Tiflis, 1887, p. 147; Caucasian Calendar for 1889, Tiflis, 1888, p. 195; Caucasian Calendar for 1890, Tiflis, 1889, p. 198.</footnote>

<footnote n="41">41 "Ararat," 1912, pp. 757-758.</footnote>

<footnote n="42">42 Caucasian Calendar for 1891, Tiflis, 1890, p. 263; Caucasian Calendar for 1892, Tiflis, 1891, p. 294.</footnote>

<footnote n="43">43 "Ararat," 1896, p. 552.</footnote>

<footnote n="44">44 Caucasian Calendar for 1894, Tiflis, 1893, p. 324; Caucasian Calendar for 1895, Tiflis, 1894, p. 342.</footnote>

<footnote n="45">45 "Nor-Dar," 1893, No. 193, p. 3, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="46">46 Caucasian Calendar for 1896, Tiflis, 1895, p. 362.</footnote>

<footnote n="47">47 Caucasian Calendar for 1897, Tiflis, 1896, p. 382.</footnote>

<footnote n="48">48 Caucasian Calendar for 1898, Tiflis, 1897, p. 425.</footnote>

<footnote n="49">49 Caucasian Calendar for 1899, Tiflis, 1898, p. 425.</footnote>

<footnote n="50">50 Caucasian Calendar for 1901, Tiflis, 1900, p. 458.</footnote>

<footnote n="51">51 "Mshak," 1901, No. 87, p. 3, in Armenian; Caucasian Calendar for 1902, Tiflis, 1901, p. 458.</footnote>

<footnote n="52">52 "Ararat," 1902, pp. 761, 984; Caucasian Calendar for 1903, Tiflis, 1902, p. 471.</footnote>

<footnote n="53">53 National Archives of Armenia, fund 461, list 1, file 12, p. 31.</footnote>

<footnote n="54">54 Caucasian Calendar for 1904, Tiflis, 1903, p. 494.</footnote>

<footnote n="55">55 National Archives of Armenia, fund 461, list 1, file 12, p. 47.</footnote>

<footnote n="56">56 "Ararat," 1905, p. 497.</footnote>

<footnote n="57">57 Idem, p. 780; Caucasian Calendar for 1906, Tiflis, 1905, p. 293.</footnote>

<footnote n="58">58 Caucasian Calendar for 1907, Tiflis, 1906, p. 304.</footnote>

<footnote n="59">59 Caucasian Calendar for 1908, Tiflis, 1907, p. 303.</footnote>

<footnote n="60">60 "Ararat," 1910, p. 586; also see National Archives of Armenia, fund 409, list 1, file 2644, p. 21.</footnote>

<footnote n="61">61 National Archives of Armenia, fund 409, list 1, file 2644, p. 21.</footnote>
is lazy but rich, whereas the former, on the contrary, are
very hard-working. The Turkish villages are rather
large, unlike the Armenian ones that comprise a small
number of houses..."<fnref n="62" />

In 1904 the province had a population of 936,629.<fnref n="63" />
Over many centuries, *the Armenians* of Northern Ar-
tsakh were mainly concentrated in the mostly wooded
foothills of the region, out of security considerations.
Thus, at the period between the 19th century and the
deportation of 1988, the aforementioned areas had over
50 Armenian villages.

The available statistical data regarding the Arme-
nian population of Gandzak District as of the second
half of the 19th century represent the following picture:

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Males</th><th>Females</th><th>Total</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1853<sup>64</sup></td><td>6,583</td><td>6,232</td><td>12,813</td></tr><tr><td>1857<sup>65</sup></td><td>6,674</td><td>6,321</td><td>13,111</td></tr><tr><td>1863<sup>66</sup></td><td>7,313</td><td>6,798</td><td>14,111</td></tr><tr><td>1889<sup>67</sup></td><td>20,881</td><td>19,540</td><td>40,421</td></tr><tr><td>1893<sup>68</sup></td><td>15,580</td><td>14,488</td><td>30,068</td></tr></tbody></table>

On the eve of the deportation of 1988, the Arme-
nian inhabitants of the urban and rural settlements of
Northern Artsakh totaled 70,000.

*The Local Turks.* In the course of time, different stock-breeding nomadic tribes of Turkic origin penetrated into Northern Artsakh. Representing a human species whose livelihood is mainly provided by theft and robbery, they have been squeezing the Armenians' blood out of them in their own homeland for already many centuries. A great number of visitors who witnessed that report a wealth of facts proving the aforementioned, the ethnonym of 'Turk' being always accompanied by such nouns as 'plunder,' 'ravage,' 'murder,' 'slaughters,' etc. in their works.

Beginning with the early 19th century, the entire bitterness of the existence of the Turkish elements in the region became tangible for the Russian and German immigrants as well.

Motivated by the interests of the Russian Empire, the Tsarist authorities took large-scale actions, forcing the majority of the Turkish nomads to eventually shift to a sedentary mode of life: by the late 19th century, they had mostly achieved that goal.

We have at our disposal some records describing the everyday life and occupation of the Turkic tribes that gradually made themselves comfortable in Northern Artsakh. Thus, researcher V. Meves, a correspondent of the “Kavkas,” wrote the following in 1865, “Since the khans’ times, none of the Tartar tribes has ever had its own plot of land. Since time immemorial they have lived in large pits dug in a selected place and adjusted to accommodate one or several families... Very few of them choose to live in areas suitable for farming and cattle-raising: the majority gives preference to remote, isolated areas which are excellent hiding-places for stolen animals and property. Their dwellings actually represent dens which are the assembly of not only the local gangs but also those coming from the neighbouring districts, provinces, occasionally also from Turkey and Persia. The Tartars’ voluntary resettlement has the following advantage: let us suppose that a murderer is being searched for in a given tribe. None of them is anyhow linked with the place he dwells in: all he possesses is his pit which can be dug anywhere. Thus, he collects his belongings and moves to another remote area, already inhabited by other people of the same “trade” so that he will continue his activity without any difficulty... ...they wander from one mountain encampment to another under the plea of stock-breeding, while their actual aim is to find places more convenient for theft, robbery and gangsterism...”<fnref n="69" />

Well-aware of the fact that the Turks' main occupation was theft, foreign visitors regarded their “villages” as merely dens of crime. Touching upon the felonious conduct of the inhabitants of some Turkish villages adjoining Annenfeld (a German child was cruelly tortured to death simply because the bandit wanted to steal his horse), Meves writes: “...knowing that almost no crimes were committed without the complicity of

<footnote n="62">62 Baron August von Haxthausen's *Travel in Transcaucasia, i.e. in Armenia and Georgia*. Vagharshapat, 1872, pp. 164-165, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="63">63 “Kavkaz,” 1904, No. 228, p. 3, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="64">64 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 2743, pp. 16-18.</footnote>

<footnote n="65">65 Idem, file 3830, pp. 74-76.</footnote>

<footnote n="66">66 Idem, file 3843, pp. 15-16.</footnote>

<footnote n="67">67 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 8583, pp. 238-239.</footnote>

<footnote n="68">68 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3895, pp. 77-79.</footnote>

<footnote n="69">69 Meves, V., op. cit., in: “Kavkaz,” 1865, No. 42, pp. 231-232 (the original reads, “...Почти ни одно общество татарское не имело при ханах и не имеет тепер никакого надела землею. Искони татары копают для себя ями избранных ими местах, то по несколько семейств вместе, то по одинакче... Редкий избирает место для хлебопашества и скотоводства; а большая часть выбирает самыя глухия места для удобнейшаго сокрытия награбленного скота и другаго имущества. В этих притонах собираются шайки разбойников местных и тех, которые приезжают из других губерних, уездов, а нередко и государств, -Турции и Персии. Этот произвольный переход татар с одного на другое вызвал следующее. Положим, что в обществе NN преследуется такой то убийца. -тогда он, не будучи привязан к месту ничем, кроме ямы, которую везде может вырыть, собирается со всем скарбом и переходит в другую глухую окрестность, на которой уже живет с полдюжины подобных ему, и продолжает свою работу ... под предлогом скотоводства, выкочевывают в горы, а в сущности они кочуют для того, чтобы иметь больше удобства грабить, разбойничать и воровать...”).</footnote>
the aghas,<fnref n="70" /> I sent for the head of the village, better to say, the den, adjoining the colony and told him that if the murderer of the child was not found, I would intercede with the regional authorities for his banishment from the region, as all the traces of the killer led to the den he lived in...”<fnref n="71" />

The aforementioned researcher who conducted a thorough investigation into the customs and mode of life typical of various Turkish tribes, comes to the following eloquent conclusion, “Due to the Muslims’ brains’ inactivity, their actions have completely fallen out of the control of consciousness...”<fnref n="72" />

Another Russian investigator who lived in Gandzak for some time wrote the following in 1869: “...It is no wonder that there are so many bandits among these people. It is already a year and two months since I arrived here so that I know them like the palm of my hand. In winter they idle away their time in their dog-houses; in spring they roam about in the gardens and move to the mountains in summer. Their belongings comprise some rags and one or two bulls which serve for conveying their “luggage” from one place to another. After all the aforementioned, it is not surprising at all that these people are all gangsters: they have absolutely no desire to work, but still, they cannot starve, can they?”<fnref n="73" />

The Turkish inhabitants of the region remained closely attached to nomadic life even in the subsequent decades. Thus, in the 1880s “The Muslim population of the district comprises some nomads known by the common name of *Tarakyama* (they occupy the lowlands) and the nomadic tribes of Tartars dwelling in the mountains.”<fnref n="74" />

All the Muslim elements that had penetrated into the region were Turkish-speaking, although their faith divided them in two groups: Sunnites and Shiites. In the 1880s, the majority of the latter still clang to nomadism, while part of the former had already changed to a sedentary life, settling down in the areas on the right bank of the river Kur and establishing the village communities of Alikend, Alpout, Taghlamaj, Elengyuch, Ishkyanuy, Gharakovakh, Gharasakhkal, Mansurlu and Sangyar.<fnref n="75" />

In the late 19th century, thousands of Turkish inhabitants of Gandzak District applied to the authorities for permission to move to the derelict villages in Western Armenia.<fnref n="76" /> The contemporary press writes the following with that regard: “...6,000 families from Gandzak Province, having a large Turkish population, have entered a petition to the Government to emigrate to Turkey. Given the large number of those wishing to resettle, the authorities undertook some measures to find out the reasons for it. It is thought to have been incited by Turkey: having driven away the Armenians from their own territories (several tens of thousands of them now live in Caucasia), that country wants to allocate their lands and villages to the Turkish resettlers from Caucasia.”<fnref n="77" />

According to the study of the available material on the *Turkish Ayrums*, they inhabited three areas in Historical Armenia, detached from each other: the territories adjacent to Mount Ararat and Ararat Valley, particularly Aragatzotn District (records on the Ayrums living here form a particularly great number)<fnref n="78" />; Maku, Khoy and Salmast Districts, Persarmenia; the north-east of Historical Armenia, particularly Northern Artsakh (the present-day districts of Touz, Getabek, Dashkesan, etc.) and Karvajar District, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

<footnote n="70">70 A title used with reference to wealthy, influential people.</footnote>

<footnote n="71">71 Meves, V., op. cit., in: “Kavkaz,” 1865, No. 36, p. 204 (the original reads, “...зная что без участия агаларов редко творятся преступления, я призвал к себе агалара из соседней с колонию деревни (или правильнее-логовища), и объявил ему, что если не будет отыскан действительный убийца дитяти, то я войду с представлением об административной высылке его из края-за то, что следы убийца от убитаго дитяти были доведены до логовища, в котором он живет”).</footnote>

<footnote n="72">72 Meves, V., op. cit., in: “Kavkaz,” 1865, No. 48, p. 258 (the original reads, “Вследствие бездействия мозга, мусульманин стал безсознателен в своих действиях”).</footnote>

<footnote n="73">73 Semyonov, I. People’s Daily Life in Yelizavetpol. In: “Kavkaz,” 1869, No. 131, p. 2, in Russian (the original reads, “...И удивляются еще, что из этого народа выходит много разбойников! Я здесь уже год и два месяца и изучил этот народ, как свои пальцы. Зимой сидят в своих конурах без всякаго дела, весной шатаются по садам, летом отправляются в горы на кочевку. Все имущество хозяина лачужки состоит из кучи лохмотьев и одного и-ли двух быков, на которых он нагружает все свое достоине и перевозит его с одного места на другое. Удивительно ли после этого, что народ разбойничает? Ведь голодному же не быть, а работать не хочется”).</footnote>

<footnote n="74">74 **Abelov, N. A.** *A Study of the Economic Conditions of State Peasantry in Yelizavetpol District of Yelizavetpol Province. A reprint from Materials for the Study of the Economic Conditions of State Peasantry in Transcaucasia*, vol. 7, Tiflis, 1887, p. 14 (the Russian original reads, “Мусульманское население уезда состоит из кочевников низменности, известных под общим именем “таракама”, и горных татар, кочевников-же, носящих название “айрум”).</footnote>

<footnote n="75">75 Op. cit., p. 15.</footnote>

<footnote n="76">76 The western part of Historical Armenia whose name and territorial coverage varied from period to period.</footnote>

<footnote n="77">77 “Muj,” 1898, Nos. 2-3, p. 378, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="78">78 The records on the Ayrums inhabiting the lands adjacent to Mount Ararat and Ararat Valley have no direct connection with their fellow tribesmen who settled down in Northern Artsakh. Despite that, however, we have included some of them in the present work, taking into account their value from the standpoint of the study of their history. Thus, according to an archive document of the 1760s, Taghi *Youzbashi* (a Turkish word meaning ‘a leader of a hundred soldiers’), the head of one of the Ayrum communities dwelling in Aragatzotn (present-day Aragatzotn Marz, Republic of Armenia), even entered into conflict with Echmiatzin residents over the irrigation of their fields (Jambr (a work on the history and estates of the Holy See of Echmiatzin, the Armenian Patriarchs, as well as the Catholicosates of Aghtamar, Caucasian Albania and Cilicia), compiled and written by Catholicos Simeon Yerevantsy</footnote>
Interestingly enough, the sources attesting to the Ayrums' existence in the aforementioned places (the earliest of them date back to the mid-18th century) mention them as farmers who, therefore, had a sedentary mode of life. In contrast to them, the other tribes of Turkic origin adopted it only about a century and a half after their penetration into the lands of Armenia.

Beginning with probably the second half of the 18th century till the early 19th century, the southwestern mountainous areas of the region (mainly the territory of present-day Getabek District) were also called *Ayumlu*. Under the Russian domination, however, the territorial coverage of the toponym was rather restricted to refer to only separate village communities: "Once Ayrum was one of the new districts of Utik Province, whereas now it is the ethnonym of different communities inhabiting Gandzak Province."<fnref n="79" />

At the initial period of the Russian rule in the region, the banishment of the Ayrums was put high on the agenda of the Russian Government. In 1810 75 Tartars and 38 Armenians, all of them citizens of Gandzak, addressed a petition to General Tormasov to annul it. Their formal request particularly stated: "Your Highness surely knows that we are continually robbed of our property, remaining absolutely devoid

of any means of livelihood. We have learnt that Your Highness wishes to have the Ayrums resettled in Shamshadil. We, the signatories to this petition, assure Your Highness and swear by God and E. I. V.'s health that the Ayrums serve as a solid, defensive wall for us, protecting us against wolves, dogs... and if they move, we will certainly fall prey to these predators."<fnref n="80" />

Gandzak inhabitants also wrote that the Ayrums produced and sold them butter, cheese, milk, fat, honey, beef, mutton and timber for house-building.<fnref n="81" />

Referring to N. Abelian's investigation into the Ayrums, Yer. Lalayan writes the following concerning their origin: "The nomadic Ayrums, tribes of Turkish origin, which mainly comprise Muslim Shiites speaking Atropatene dialect with a specific pronunciation, consider themselves resettlers from Rome, Byzantium. According to them, their ethnonym derives from the vocative 'Ay Rum! ('Ey, Urum!'), a distorted version of the name of Rome City. Absolutely akin to the other Turkish tribes, they constitute the communities of Amirvar, Aji, Birgyoz, Aykend, Dastafor, Damzhali, Gyuneydami, Zaghadarasi, Gharabulagh and Ghazakh-Yelchilakh..."<fnref n="82" />

H. Vardanian, who investigated the question still further, arrives at an interesting conclusion: "In his work entitled Gandzak District, Lalayan suggests that those Turks are resettlers from Greece, their ethnonym, i.e. 'Ayum,' being etymologized as 'Ay Huyn.'<fnref n="83" /> ...The author of this article, however, came across some Ayrums having Armenian surnames such as Ghazar-oghli, Yaghub-oghli, etc. The inhabitants of the Ayrum village of Yaghubli are the descendants of a certain Hakob, an Armenian who converted to Islam, the toponym of Yaghubli deriving from his name. Similarly, the Turkish residents of Garamurad Village come from Armenian prince Gharamurad. Getting to know the Ayrums better and making detailed inquiries into their families and ancestors, one involuntarily becomes convinced that these wretched Muslims are the offspring of our invincible heroes from Gardman Gorge. Their vocabulary retains such Armenian words as 'hand,' 'havalik,' 'hakhchikh' (i.e. 'akhchik'),

nian). At the same period, some Ayrums inhabited Ohanavan Village (present-day Aragatzotn Marz, Republic of Armenia), or most probably, its neighbourhood: "...Rahim Bey, the head of the Ayrums living in Ohanavan..." (A Collection of Armenian Historiographical Works, vol. 3. Compiled by Priest Gyut Aghanians. Tiflis, 1894, p. 456, in Armenian). Some Ayrums also lived near Kyultapa (present-day Mokhrablur Village lying 4 kilometres south of Vagharshapat, Aragatzotn Marz, Republic of Armenia): "...several dilapidated ... and house sites in a southern direction, once inhabited by some Turkish Ayrums who mainly spent winter there, although sometimes they lived there in summer as well. ...And the village was called Kyultapa after a hill" (Jambr..., p. 195). Between 1750 and '52, reference is made to Alahverdi, the Ayrums' khan or sultan, a person of great influence among the Muslim rulers of Armenia. This is attested by the fact that "The Ayrums' khan" was ranked among the khans of Yerevan and Nakhijevan (Melikset-Bek, L. M. Georgian Sources about Armenia and Armenians (henceforward: Melikset-Bek, L. M.), vol. 3, Yerevan, 1955, p. 138, all volumes translated from the Georgian original into Armenian by Melikset-Bek, L. M). In the same years, he was given reception at the court of the Georgian king: "...Yerevan khan's brother and the Ayrums' (Ayumlu's) khan came to see our kings..." (idem, p. 134). Another record (1752) states the following with this connection, "An Azerbaijanian (Tartar) from Yerevan, the sultan of Ayumlu named Alahverdi, paid a visit to King Irakli..." (idem, p. 174). Interestingly enough, Allahverdi, who had entered into alliance with the Georgians, did not manifest religious fanaticism: "In those days, they (the Georgians) were with Alahverdi, the sultan of Ayumlu, a brave man who asked the Holy Cross for protection..." (idem, p. 175).

<footnote n="79">79 *Eprikian, H. S.* An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Toponymy, vol. 1, St. Lazarus, Venice, 1903, p. 164, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="80">80 Collected Acts..., vol. 4, Tiflis, 1870, pp. 92, 493 (the original reads, "В. выс-у не безизвестно, что мы не однакратно лишались своего состояния и находимся без пропитания и при всем том еще известились мы, что выс-у угодно переселить Айрумцев в Шамшадиль. Мы, нижеподписавшиеся, уверяем в. выс-у и клянемся Богом и здоровьем Е. И. В. что Айрумский народ служит нам, разделенным, крепкою стеною и, если они будут переселены, то нас съедят волки, собаки и чекалки...").</footnote>

<footnote n="81">81 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="82">82 Works by *Lalayan, Yer*. Yerevan, 1988, p. 329, in Armenian; also see *Abelov, N. A.*, op. cit.</footnote>

<footnote n="83">83 The Armenian equivalent for 'Greek.'</footnote>
etc.<fnref n="84" /> ...The ethnonym of ‘Ayun’ derives not from the phrase of ‘Ay Huyn,’ but that of ‘Hay-Huyn,’ which is a distortion of the name of ‘Hay-Rum.’ The more or less educated Ayruns share this viewpoint: an akhund maintaining the same hypothesis assured me that some ancient records referred to the Ayruns by the ethnonym of ‘Hay-Rum.’ A great number of Ayruns have told me that they were made to embrace Islam, due to which they called themselves Glij Musulmani, i.e. ‘Muslims converted by force.’ The Ayruns, who are not distinguished for the religious fanaticism typical of other Muslims, are absolutely indifferent to faith and rites: they do not even have a chapel throughout the district. Whenever I made any remarks concerning that fact, they answered me, “Can people have any sanctuaries or prayers if they were converted by the force of sword...?”<fnref n="85" />

H. Vardanian considers the Ayruns natives of the region, some other researchers supporting that view which is substantiated by a wealth of facts. According to another hypothesis, the Ayruns emigrated from the neighbourhood of Lake Urmia during the Turko-Persian war of the 18th century.<fnref n="86" />

Anyway, it still remains vague when those Armenians were forced into adopting Islam and why they were called *Ayun*. The territory of Historical Armenia comprises a great number of districts whose Armenian population converted to Mohammed's faith by force, but they were not called *Ayun* because of that. Then, what specific circumstances made part of Gardman Armenians adopt that name after their conversion?<fnref n="87" />

All the aforementioned leads us to the following conclusion:

1. Most presumably, the Ayruns of Gardmank are indigenous to the region: meanwhile, however, we cannot refute the hypothesis that their ancestors were emigrants from Greece, the territory of the basin of Lake Urmia, or another place.

2. The origin of the ethnonym of ‘Ayun’ is closely connected with those of ‘Hay’ (i.e. ‘Armenian’) and ‘Huyn’ (i.e. ‘Greek’).

3. The Ayruns attest that the churches preserved in their villages and their neighbourhood are Greek sanctuaries built by Greek masters: some ancient, evidently, Armenian grave-yards are alleged to belong to the Greeks.

4. The Ayruns’ forefathers were Christians who later forcedly converted to Islam.

5. Religious fanaticism, so typical of the newly-converted Armenian Muslims in many places, is absolutely alien to the Ayruns. None of their villages has any mosques; on the contrary, a number of Armenian churches serve as pilgrimage destination for the Ayruns as well.<fnref n="88" />

6. The Turkic tribes that penetrated into North-Eastern Armenia shifted to a sedentary life only on the order of the Russian Government: a considerable part of them clang to nomadism even until the Soviet takeover. In contrast to them, by the mid-18th century, the Ayruns had already given up that way of life, their main occupation being farming (in Ararat Province) and bee-keeping (in Gardmank as attested by a record of 1810), which have nothing in common with nomadism.

The aforementioned clearly suggests that the Ayruns are indigenous Armenians who adopted the Greek faith, being later forced to convert to Islam. They are not distinguished for religious fanaticism, for they did not profess any permanent religion throughout their existence. As for taking the Armenian churches for Greek ones, this can be explained by the fact that they adhered to the Greek church before adopting Islam and it left an imprint upon their historical memory. They are farmers and bee-keepers, since they descend from Armenian ancestors. They go to Armenian sanctuaries on pilgrimage, for their national (Armenian) traditions are still alive in their minds.

Even taking into account all the aforementioned, we cannot find the answers to two important questions: firstly, when did that part of the Armenian nation adopt the Greek faith: under pro-Byzantine Catholicos Yezr in the 7th century, or following Armenian war-lord, prince Ivane Zakarian’s example,

<footnote n="84">⁸⁴ The Armenian equivalents for respectively ‘field,’ ‘sorrel’ and ‘girl.’</footnote>

<footnote n="85">⁸⁵ **Vardanian, H.** A Few Words about the Ayruns. In: “Mshak,” 1914, No. 154, pp. 2-3, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="86">⁸⁶ **Karakashli, K.** About the Ayruns. In: “Izvestya Obshestva Obsledovaniya i Izucheniya Azerbaijan,” No. 8, Baku, 1929, pp. 29-42, in Russian. **Kobichev, V. P.** The Ayruns: The Origin of the Ethnonym. In: “Sovetskaya Etnografiya,” 1962, No. 3, p. 148, in Russian. There are absolutely no grounds for the author’s presumption that the Ayruns were not only the descendants of the Muslim Armenians but also those of the Armenianized Albanians. This hypothesis is not attested by any source, for the aforementioned lands were never inhabited by the Caucasian Albanians. Another article making passing reference to the Ayruns repeats the same viewpoint without going deep into it (**Karapetian, M. M.** The Dynamics of the Settlement of the Turkic-speaking Nomadic Tribes in the East of the Armenian Plateau in the late 14th and early 19th centuries. In: The Correlation of the Social and Ethnic Factors in Modern and Traditional Culture: A Collection of Articles. Moscow, 1983, p. 214, in Russian).</footnote>

<footnote n="87">⁸⁷ The Soviet Armenian and Brief Armenian Encyclopedias consign the Ayruns to total oblivion, but the Soviet Azerbaijanian Encyclopedia states that they represent one of the ethnographical groups of the Azerbaijani people and inhabit Getabek, Dashkesan, Ghazakh, Karvajar, Shahumian, Khanlar and Touz Districts (Soviet Azerbaijanian Encyclopedia (henceforward: SAE), vol. 1, Baku, 1976, p. 197, (all volumes in Azerbaijanian)).</footnote>

<footnote n="88">⁸⁸ Two ruined churches named Aytselu Surb (the Armenian equivalent for ‘A Visiting Saint’), or Pirnazar and located in the Shamkor Valley, south of the village site of Tandzut (Chanakhchi), can serve as an example of the aforementioned **Barkhutariants, M.**</footnote>
who converted at the period Georgia enjoyed great
might? Secondly, when did they convert to Shiite
Islam: between the 15th and 16th centuries, which is
less probable, or in the 1720s, probably, between
1720 and 1750, together with a considerable part of
the Armenians inhabiting Shaki, Dasan, Muskur,
Shamakhi and Kapaghak Districts?

Northern Artsakh and, particularly, Gandzak was
inhabited by *Russian resettlers* only after the region
had become part of Russia.

In the 1840s, the Tsarist authorities started founding
villages of Russian sectarians, enjoying many privi-
leges, in places considered especially important from a
strategical standpoint (mainly on some highways and
the areas adjoining the mountain passes). That policy
was conducted not only in the district of Yelizavetpol,
that had already been established, but also in the other
places under Russian control. By the late 19th century,
about 10 Russian villages had been founded in the
ancient Armenian village sites that lay derelict in
Yelizavetpol (Gandzak) Province. They existed in the
Soviet years as well: however, immediately after the
deportation of the local Armenian population (1988 to
1989), the Russians were obliged to leave their villages
and repatriate to their homeland.

*The Germans.* Unable to endure Napoleon's invasions and the heavy taxes any more, in 1817 at first 31 and then 1,400 families left the German kingdom of Vurtenberg and immigrated into the Russian Empire via Hungary and Valachia.<fnref n="89" /> Suffering great privations, in late 1818, 455 out of the 1,400 German families reached Caucasia, 194 of them later settling in Gandzak District.<fnref n="90" /> Their final destination was Palestine, but “...the Russian authorities made them stay in the region, where they founded 7 colonies, their number growing to 15 within a century.”<fnref n="91" />

**The Local Trade.** With the Russians' conquest of Partaw between 913 and 914, the city “lost its significance, being relegated to an unimportant place”<fnref n="92" /> and yielding up its place to Gandzak, which had had a history of several decades by then.

Situated at the junction of the most important
commercial routes (Tpghis-Shamkor-Gandzak;
Dvin-Parisos-Gandzak; Shamakhi-Arash-Gandzak;
Shaki-Arash-Gandzak and Belukan-Partaw-Gan-
dzak), Gandzak grew into one of the most populous

trade centres in Transcaucasia. Although the follow-
ing centuries marked great devastation in the city due
to various invasions and earthquakes, it never lost
predominance over the other towns and villages of
the region.

Gandzak or “Genje was famous for its horseshoes,
iron and silk,”<fnref n="93" /> also boasting delicious “...pomegran-
ate, grapes and acorn.”<fnref n="94" />

Between 1591 and 1592, Khadim Hasan Pasha, the
ruler of Anatolia Elayet, held the post of vizier in
Gandzak Elayet. During that period, he sustained his
army, amounting to several thousands, on the profit
received from silk sale; besides, “he annually sent 150
bers<fnref n="95" /> of silk ... to the State Treasury.”<fnref n="96" />

A large commercial centre, Gandzak, indeed, must
have had a market since earliest times, but it is only
some visitors of a comparatively later period that men-
tion it: thus, in 1640 the city had “a fine market.”<fnref n="97" />

Despite the continual hostilities, Gandzak retained
its high fame up till the year 1827, after which “it lost
its importance as a commercial centre.”<fnref n="98" />

Most presumably, both in the Middle Ages and in
the 19th century, Gandzak's "...trade... was concentrat-
ed in the Armenians' hands, the Tartars mainly dealing
in fruits."<fnref n="99" />

The market-place, located in Gandzak's Turkish
quarter, on the right bank of the river, "...comprised all
the Armenian and Turkish stores: one could freely state
that it represented a most beautiful sight in the city..."<fnref n="100" />

The local trade was entirely conducted in the afore-
mentioned market-place so that when on 26 June 1870
the river, flowing between the Armenian and Turkish
quarters, burst its banks threatening to destroy the
bridge lying over it, the inhabitants of the former were
faced with the grave danger of famine: "...we, the resi-
dents of Kilisakend, would starve for several days,
since the local trade is entirely concentrated in Gyanja.
Surprisingly enough, the local Armenians, known as a
comparatively developed people of initiative, are not

<footnote n="89">⁸⁹ Lalayan, *Yer*,, Gandzak District. In: Works, pp. 329-330, in Ar-
menian.</footnote>

<footnote n="90">⁹⁰ Lalayan, *Yer*,, idem, p. 330.</footnote>

<footnote n="91">⁹¹ The German Immigrants in Caucasia. In: "Taraz," 1912, No. 11,
p. 192, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="92">92 Arabic Sources about Armenia and the Neighbouring Countries, vol. 3. Translated from the Arabic original into Armenian by Nalbandian, H., Yerevan, 1965, p. 145, note 97.</footnote>

<footnote n="93">⁹³ Foreign Sources about Armenia and the Armenians: Turkish Sources by **Evliya Chelebi** (henceforward: **Evliya Chelebi**), vol. 3. Translated from the Turkish original into Armenian with a foreword and notes by Safrastian, A. Yerevan, 1967, p. 86.</footnote>

<footnote n="94">⁹⁴ Turkish Sources about Armenia, Armenians and Other Peoples of Transcaucasia, vol. 2. Translated from the Turkish original into Armenian with a foreword and notes by **Safrastian, A.** (henceforward: Turkish Sources..., vol. 2). Yerevan, 1964, p. 14.</footnote>

<footnote n="95">⁹⁵ An ancient unit of weight.</footnote>

<footnote n="96">⁹⁶ Idem, p. 148.</footnote>

<footnote n="97">⁹⁷ **Evliya Chelebi**, ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="98">⁹⁸ **Hakobian, Hovh.** Travel Notes, vol. 1, Yerevan, 1932, p. 375, note 7, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="99">⁹⁹ “Kavkaz,” 1859, No. 9, p. 42 (the original reads, “...Торговля, по обыкновению, сосредоточена в руках Армян. Занимаются, правда, торговлею и Татары, но преимущественно фруктами”).</footnote>

<footnote n="100">100 “Krunk Hayots Ashkhari,” Tpkhis, 1861, p. 360, in Armenian.</footnote>
engaged in commerce in their village of Kilisakend, almost all of them being employees.”<fnref n="101" />

In the late 19th century, some Gandzak merchants also unfolded their activity in the international arena, mainly exporting iron and silk, for which the city was renowned for hundreds of years. The following press publication comes to prove this, “Mahtesy<fnref n="102" /> Kerovbe Ter-Martirossiants, a wealthy trader from Gandzak, was to export a vast amount of insured iron, but the baggage recently suffered shipwreck in the river Volga... Well, he should remember what befell V. E. (formerly serving in the police), another merchant living in the same city, and thank his lucky stars: the latter was to convey silk chests of 10,000 rubles from Gandzak to Warsaw (his luggage was insured, too), but what reached that destination comprised merely some stones instead of silk...”<fnref n="103" />

Silk weaving involved both the Armenian and Turkish inhabitants of Gandzak and the adjacent villages, while iron ore industry was mainly concentrated in the hands of the Armenians and the German immigrants working in Getabek's and Karhat's (Dashkesan) mines.

Yelizavetpol Province imported paper and metal tools, mainly exporting cereal products (8,312 poods<fnref n="104" /> per year), dried fruit (5,428 poods per year), as well as textiles and leather goods into Persia.<fnref n="105" />

The Armenian traders also “imported goods from Turkey, Persia, Tiflis, Baku and different Russian cities, such as Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod. The merchandise imported was sold in their villages as well as in the adjacent Armenian and Turkish ones.”<fnref n="106" />

**The Historical Monuments of the Region.** Throughout many years, the Azeri “researchers” did not spare efforts to prove that the Armenian monuments surviving in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan are of Albanian origin (meaning, indeed, Caucasian Albania). Between the 1970s and 1980s, Buniatov, Geyushev, Akhundov, Neymatova, Mamedova and other “scholars” kept publishing books and articles, attempting hard to declare Albanian what forms an inseparable part of Armenian culture: Jugha Cemetery of Nakhijevan, abounding in thousands of khachkars; the monasteries of Targmanchats (Of the Holy Translators) and Gag’s St. Sargis situated respec-

tively in Dashkesan and Ghazakh Districts of Northern Artsakh (at present within Azerbaijan's borders) as well as the following monasteries of Nagorno Karabakh: Gandzasar and Elisha the Apostle, Martakert District; Dadivank (Dad Monastery), Karvajar District; Amaras, Martuny District, etc.

Indeed, the goal of these historical falsifications, which pursue certain political considerations is obvious to the Armenians: by ascribing the entire Christian culture, that has nothing in common with their stock-breeding nomadic forefathers, to the Albanians (*the Caucasian Albanians are referred to by the ethnonym of 'Aghvan' in Armenian*), their alleged ancestors, these “scholars” want to make the present-day Azeris heir to that heritage. Thus, by a single stroke of pen, hundreds of Armenian churches were reduced to ‘alban-kilisas’ (‘kilisa’ is the Turkish equivalent for ‘church’), while tens of thousands of Armenian khachkars turned into ‘khachdashes’ (the Turkish equivalent for ‘cross-stone’).

Nowadays the Azerbaijani authorities have adopted another policy. They no longer make any attempts to attribute the Armenian cultural monuments to Caucasian Albanians: instead, they are busy with annihilating the very monuments once declared Albanian. Unfortunately, we cannot verify the actual scope of this unprecedented crime, for we witness the destruction of only those monuments that are closer to the Armenian border. As for those situated farther from the frontier zones, their fate remains unknown.

It is already several years since the Armenian press started repeatedly writing about the demolition of the historical cemetery of Jugha (Julfa) situated in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhijevan, an Armenian territory now under Azerbaijan's control. Despite the storm of protests and appeals, however, the destruction of that rare cemetery was not prevented; moreover, the year 2005 marked its final annihilation, with more than 3,000 standing cross-stones being broken to pieces and taken away in an unknown direction.

Within several years, this unique memorial that the Armenians had created in their historical homeland was levelled with the ground in broad daylight, before the very eyes of the entire civilized world. We learnt about what had been perpetrated there only thanks to the fact that the cemetery, lying on the left bank of the river Arax, was clearly seen from the Iranian side of the border.

The annihilation of Jugha Cemetery was followed by the destruction of Gag's St. Sargis Monastery.

At present the Azeris are busy with what has been a “vocation” for them since the very first day they slipped into our historical homeland, namely destruction... As for the Armenians, they are doomed to witness the demolition of their own cultural heritage.

Meves, who travelled in Gandzak Province in 1864, attests to the Armenian origin of a wealth of monu-

<footnote n="101">101 “Kavkaz,” 1870, No. 76, p. 2 (the original reads, “...мы, живущие на Килисакенте, остались бы голодными на несколько дней, так как здесь вся торговля производится в Ганже. Удивительно, что здешние армяне, народ сравнительно подвижной и предприимчивый не переносят торговли в Килисакент, где живут они сами и почти все служащие здесь”).</footnote>

<footnote n="102">102 A title used with reference to Christian believers who are known to have gone to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.</footnote>

<footnote n="103">103 “Nor-Dar,” 1895, No. 114.</footnote>

<footnote n="104">104 An ancient Russian unit of weight equal to 16.38 kgs.</footnote>

<footnote n="105">105 “Kavkaz,” 1904, No. 228, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="106">106 **Mazhak.** A Letter from Gandzak. In: “Mshak,” 1873, No. 14, p. 2, in Armenian.</footnote>
ments preserved there: "While walking in the mountains of the province, I often came across...the traces of some Christian villages. It was simply impossible to cover ten versts without seeing church ruins which, to tell the truth, did not boast fine architectural features. All of them were built of pebble and cement, which had consolidated the stones to such an extent that they could hardly be torn away from those ruins. They belonged to the Christian (probably, Armenian) inhabitants of the province, now considered a Muslim one. These monuments attested that the mountainous parts of the region, now reduced to an encampment, used to be a blessed place of residence for some sedentary farmers. The nomads, however, forced them into abandoning those areas... The ruins of the Christian villages proved that they had once enjoyed development, prosperity and the abundance of working hands, but that is consigned to the past now..."<fnref n="107" />

Another researcher, N. Abelian, almost shares Meves' views: "The monuments of Armenian architecture, i.e. the churches scattered in the Muslim villages, located in the upper-stream reaches of the rivers Gandzak and Shamkor, are engraved with Armenian inscriptions dating back to the 16th century. They are eloquent proof of the great number of the Armenians once inhabiting these lands: they also attest to the large-scale emigration of the local Armenians."<fnref n="108" />

A visitor writes the following concerning the state of the aforementioned monuments, "At present some of these churches lie in dilapidation and, regretful as it is, they serve as cattle-houses for the Muslim Ayrums of the neighbourhood."<fnref n="109" />

In 1889 11 monasteries and 88 churches functioned in the province.<fnref n="110" />

<footnote n="107">107 Meves, V., op. cit., in: "Kavkaz," 1865, No. 46, p. 249 (the original reads, "Во время поездок по горам уезда - мне часто попадались следы поселений, как видно, христианских. Нельзя проехать десяти верст, чтобы не встретить развалин церквей, правда, самой грубой архитектуры. Все эти церкви сложены из булыжного камня на каком то цементе, связывающем камни так крепко, что до сих пор с трудом можно вынуть камень из развалины. Эти развалины, - исторические памятники многочисленного христианского населения, вероятно армянского, в провинции, называемой теперь мусульманскою. Эти памятники свидельствуют еще и о том, что нагорная сторона уезда, превращена теперь в кочевки, была когда то лучшим местом для оседлой жизни земледельцев. А теперь что? Теперь номад выжил хлебороба!... Развалины христианских деревень доказывают, что здесь был и разум, и умение, и труд, да только давно...").</footnote>

<footnote n="108">108 **Abelov, N. A.**, op. cit., p. 14 (the original reads, "Церкви армянской архитектуры, с армянскими надписями XVI века, ныне во множестве разбросанныя по мусульманским селениям, у верховьев рек Ганджа-чай и Шамхор-чай, свидетельствуют, как значительно было здесь армянское население и как велики были некогта массовыя переселения отсюда армян...").</footnote>

<footnote n="109">109 Ibid. (the original reads, "Некоторыя из этих церквей стоят ныне в развалинах и, печально сказать, скотными дворами для живущих вблизи айрумов-мусульман.").</footnote>

<footnote n="110">110 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 8583, pp. 238-239.</footnote>
GANDZAK (GYANJA)

**Location.** The city is situated on an ancient commercial road extending along the right bank of the river Kur, on both banks of the river Gandzak, at an altitude of 320 to 500 metres above sea level.

Known as Janza,<fnref n="1" /> Ganja, Kenja, Kechari<fnref n="2" /> and Gyanja at present, it was called Gandzak before 1804 as well as between 1918 and 1935, Yelizavetpol from 1804 till 1918, and was renamed Kirovabad in 1935.

**Foundation.** The original city of Gandzak was founded about 3 kilometres north-west of the present-day one: it was only at the beginning of the 17th century that Shah Abbas built the latter in its actual location.

The available sources trace the establishment of the city as far back as the year 844: "In 844 Mohammed ibn Khalid founded Gandzak City and inhabited it by some Arabs from Diarbekir."<fnref n="3" />

Other records mention the year 846: "...Returning thence at the king's command and expense, he built the city of Ganjak in the canton of Aršakašen."<fnref n="4" />

Gandzak was founded in 846.<fnref n="5" />

According to Ghazvini, the foundation date of the city oscillates between 853 and 854,<fnref n="6" /> while a Turkish source states that "the city was established by Rumi Iskender and reconstructed by Kubad Bin-Firuz."<fnref n="7" />

The existing sources are not unanimous in mentioning the circumstances under which Gandzak was founded; nor do they provide any comprehensive information concerning the numerous toponyms used with reference to it. Thus, according to L. Lazarev, before Gandzak's being renamed Yelizavetpol in 1804, it was known as Ganja, which, however, did not refer to the present-day city but the site of an ancient one located within 7.5 versts of it (the latter allegedly dates back to the times of Alexandre of Macedonia).<fnref n="8" />

In response to this viewpoint, S. Patkanian states that the oldest records on Gandzak trace back to 1088, but he does not exclude the possibility that it may have been founded at a still earlier period. In the meantime, he finds it groundless to ascribe its establishment to the times of Alexandre of Macedonia: according to him, that hypothesis based on Persian folk-lore may mean another Alexandre, i.e. the son of Ghara-Yusuf, the ruler of Tabriz, who lived in the 15th century.<fnref n="9" />

The "Ardzagank" correspondent maintains the view that the site of present-day Gandzak was originally occupied by another city: according to him, however, Shah Abbas did not destroy the old one replacing it by another: "...Those ruins occupy such a small area that they can hardly constitute a city site; besides, present-day Gandzak is located in a flat plain like that city site so that it was of no strategical advantage to Shah Abbas to demolish the old one and establish another in the same open plain. Thirdly, the remnants of the buildings, ramparts and castle of a city devastated and deserted in the early 17th century could not have been obliterated to an extent of being totally levelled with the ground. Moreover..., it retains the grave of Khosrov the Martyr, whose tragic death is described in the following way, 'he was taken out of the city and ...stoned to death ..., the Christians moving his remains and burying them with high honours.' However, a Christian stoned to death outside the city could not be brought back to the city and interred there; therefore, he was entombed in the place of his martyrdom that was 'out-

<footnote n="1">1 13th-century Arab geographer Yakut-al-Hamavi (1178 to 1229) writes that one of the cities of Arran Province was "...Janza generally called Ganja..." (Yakut-al-Hamavi. Dictionary of Geographical Names. In: Arabic Sources about Armenia and the Neighbouring Countries, vol. 3, pp. 50, 68, 104).</footnote>

<footnote n="2">2 Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts of the 17th century, vol. 1. Compiled by Hakobian, V., Hovhannissian, A. (henceforward: Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1). Yerevan, 1974, p. 448, all volumes in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">3 Laurent J., L'Arménie entre Byzance et l'isiam depuis la conquête arabe, p. 177. Markwart J., Ost-europäische und Ostasiatische Streifzüge, Leipzig, 1903, p. 462. Manandian, H. A Critical Theory of the History of the Armenian Nation, vol. 2, part 2, Yerevan, 1960, p. 297, all volumes in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">4 The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movsēs Dasxurançī (henceforward: Movsēs Dasxurançī). Translated by C. J. F. Dowsett. London, 1961, p. 218.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">5 Brief Chronicles, vol. 1. Compiled by Hakobian, V. A. Yerevan, 1951, p. 391, all volumes in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">6 Arabic Sources about Armenia and the Neighbouring Countries, vol. 3, p. 153, note No. 130.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">7 Turkish Sources..., vol. 2, p. 14.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">8 Lazarev, L. Ganja. In: "Kavkaz," 1846, No. 37, pp. 146-147, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">9 Patkanov, S. Some Remarks on the Article Entitled Ganja. In: "Kavkaz," 1846, No. 41, p. 164, in Russian.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>
side the city.' Finally, the centuries-old huge plats and the vestiges of some ancient buildings preserved in Gandzak are living proof of the fact that the city existed long before Shah Abbas' times."<fnref n="10" />

**Gandzak between the 10th and 11th centuries.** In the mid-9th century, Gandzak was captured by the representatives of one of the branches of Sheddadian Arabic family: "That period marked the strengthening of Gandzak Emir Padlon, who started subjugating the princes of Heret and Kakhet, also committing raids in some other places from time to time."<fnref n="11" />

To put it more exactly, "between 951 and 952, the city was ruled by the Sheddadians."<fnref n="12" />

Under Armenian King Gagik (989 to 1020), the Armeno-Abkhazian united forces mounted a major offensive against the aforementioned emir, who would periodically invade North-Eastern Armenia: "Fortifying his positions, Gandzak Emir Patlun started imposing heavy taxes on the princes of Kakhet and Heret. In order to somehow counterattack him, Abkhazian king Bagrat sent envoys to Armenian monarch Gagik with a suggestion that they should unite against him. Launching an attack against Gandzak, they returned with victory and a lot of trophies."<fnref n="13" />

In c1044 "...Gandzak Emir Khelaziz was killed and the city captured."<fnref n="14" />

In 1054 Seljuk Bey Tughrul subdued the emir of Gandzak: "During his invasion of 1054, Tughrul Bey subjugated Emir Abulsuvar of Dvin and Gandzak..."<fnref n="15" />

From 1054 till 1055, Gandzak (Janza) was governed by Emir Abu-l-Asuar.<fnref n="16" />

Between 1061 and 1071, "the Huns slaughtered the inhabitants of Gandzak Plain..."<fnref n="17" />

In 1068 Gandzak Emir Patlun took possession of Tpghis City, that had been conquered by Alpaslan.<fnref n="18" />

In 1072 the same emir bought Armenian capital Ani from the aforementioned Seljuk sultan: "The purchase of Ani from Alpaslan and its delivery to Gandzak Emir Patlun's grandson Manuche."<fnref n="19" />

Having conquered the city of Urha in 1088, Arab Emir Bugha invaded Transcaucasia with a huge army, obeying Sultan Melikshah's (1072 to 1092) order. Occupying Gandzak, then belonging to the Sheddadian Patlunians, he turned it into the seat of the atabek:<fnref n="20" /> "In this same year Buzan with a tremendous number of troops encamped before the city of Gandzak in Armenia. He vehemently besieged the city, having gathered together all the Persians against it. During a severe assault the Persians undermined one of the city's towers, thus demolishing it; by assaults such as this they captured Gandzak, but slaughtered only a small portion of its inhabitants, because Buzan ordered the swords sheathed and peace restored. At that time his lordship Stephen, the catholicos of the Albanians, was in the city, but through the help of God he was able to get away, for he was protected by the Armenian troops who were in Buzan's army."<fnref n="21" />

The first *atabek* of Gandzak was Emir Ismayil: "...Melikshah appointed his wife's brother, Emir Ismayil ibn Akut, Governor of Atropatene, *Aghvank* and Armenia, his residence being located in Gandzak City"<fnref n="22" />.

In 1092 Sultan Melikshah's successor Barkiarukh nominated his brother Governor of Gandzak. In 1099, however, the ruler of the city rose in rebellion against his brother and declared himself sultan.<fnref n="23" />

**Gandzak before the '30s of the 12th century.** In 1118 Seljuk Sultan Mohammed-Tapar appointed his younger son Melik "Governor of Gandzak Armenians."<fnref n="24" />

In the same year, however, Georgian King David "...launched a major attack and killed Gandzak

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ "Ardzagank," 1886, No. 19, p. 278, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ *Melikset-Bek, L. M.*, vol. 1, Yerevan, 1934, pp. 203-204.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Arabic Sources about Armenia and Armenians, vol. 3, p. 153, note 130.</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³ A Brief History of Georgia by historian *Juansher* (henceforward: *Juansher*). Venice, 1884, p. 110, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">¹⁴ History by *Vardan Vardapet* (henceforward: *Vardan Vardapet*). Venice, 1862, p. 100, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">¹⁵ *Manandian, H.* A Critical Theory of the History of the Armenian Nation, vol. 3, Yerevan, 1952, p. 52.</footnote>

<footnote n="16">¹⁶ Foreign Sources about Armenia and the Armenians: Arabic Sources by *Ibn-al-Asir* (henceforward: *Ibn-al-Asir*), vol. 2. Translated from the original into Armenian with a foreword and notes by Ter-Ghevondian, A. Yerevan, 1981, p. 215.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">¹⁷ History by *Mkhitar Ayrivanetsy* (henceforward: *Mkhitar Ayrivanetsy*). Moscow, 1861, p. 59, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="18">¹⁸ *Manandian, H.*, idem, p. 64.</footnote>

<footnote n="19">¹⁹ Idem, pp. 406, 81.</footnote>

<footnote n="20">²⁰ A title conferred upon governors and commanders in the Seljuk emirates.</footnote>

<footnote n="21">²¹ *Matthew of Edessa*, p. 155; also see A Collection of Historiographical Works compiled by *Priest Samuel Anetsy* (henceforward: *Samuel Anetsy*). Vagharshapat, 1893, p. 118, in Armenian; Arabic Sources about Armenia and Armenians, vol. 3, p. 153; *Manandian, H.*, idem, vol. 3, p. 69; *Vardan Vardapet*, p. 106 ("On Melikshah's order in the year 537, Emir Puzan took Gandzak from the Patlunians who were called *Shatatik*"). *Chamchiants, M.* History of Armenia from the Creation of the World until 1784 A.D., vol. 3, Venice, 1786 (republished in Yerevan in 1984), p. 13, all volumes in Armenian ("...Gandzak, that was also called 'Kenje,' was a splendid city with the residence of Aghvank Catholicos Stepanos there. The following year [1088], the same Persian War-Lord Puzan attacked those areas, conquered some places and laid siege to Gandzak. Fighting a heavy battle, he perpetrated formidable carnage there, Catholicos Stepanos hardly having a narrow escape through the assistance of some Armenians serving in the foreigners' army"). The available sources are not unanimous in mentioning the date of Gandzak's conquest by Bugha. Thus, one of them states that in 1082 "Emir Bugha occupied Gandzak and took Patlun to the sultan as prisoner" (Chronicles by *Stepanos Orbelian*. Prepared for publication by Abrahamian, A. Yerevan, 1942, p. 15, in Armenian).</footnote>

<footnote n="22">²² *Manandian, H.*, idem, vol. 3, p. 70.</footnote>

<footnote n="23">²³ Idem, p. 78.</footnote>

<footnote n="24">²⁴ *Vardan Vardapet*, p. 118; also see *Manandian, H.*, idem, vol. 3, p. 91.</footnote>
Governor Melik...”,<fnref n="25" /> after which the city was captured by Abulet's son Patlun.<fnref n="26" />

In 1128 Georgian King Demetre I struggled against Gandzak's Seljuk governor.<fnref n="27" />

In 1130 “...holy enlightener David the Archimandrite, Alavka's son, died” in Gandzak.<fnref n="28" />

On 17 March 1139, the city was struck by a terrible earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in the Armenian Plateau. Almost all the contemporary and subsequent historians touched upon that great disaster:

> "On 17 Areg (a month in the ancient Armenian calendar, equal to the period between 7 March and 9 April of the modern one) 1139, a fatal earthquake befell Gandzak City, holy archimandrites Grigor and Sargis being entombed under the ruins..."<fnref n="29" />

> "At that hour all the fields and mountains were suddenly shrouded in mist, the area being struck by a calamitous earthquake that destroyed the capital of Gandzak..."<fnref n="30" />

> "In the year 588 (1139), an earthquake reduced Gandzak City to ruins."<fnref n="31" />

> "...a severe earthquake in Gandzak."<fnref n="32" />

> "...on 18 Areg, on the night between Friday and Saturday, when the feast of St. Gevorg was to be celebrated, God gave vent to His wrath and sent gale-force winds to the earth, striking it by an unprecedented earthquake that devastated the land of Aghvank. ... a violent quake shook the earth and its pillars up to their very foundations and "the Armenian land was severely shaken."

> "The earthquake ravaged almost the entire districts of Khachen and Parisos, capital city Gandzak being levelled with the ground and its inhabitants buried under the ruins, in the bosom of their native soil. A great many castles, churches and villages collapsed over the priors and the local residents, a huge number of people being entombed under the falling towers and buildings..."<fnref n="33" />

> "An earthquake destroyed Gandzak in the year 1139."<fnref n="34" />

A record by Ibn-al-Asir is of particularly great importance, for it provides information on the number of the victims: "That year marked a harrowing earth-

quake in Arran, Atropatene and Gandzak (Kanja, Janja), but it was the last of them that suffered particularly extensive damage, with many houses reduced to heaps of ruins. It took away thousands of lives, the number of the victims being said to have totaled two hundred and thirty thousand, including both sons of the ruler of the country, Karasunkar."<fnref n="35" />

Gandzak during the period between the Earthquake and the 13th century. Taking advantage of the devastation and turmoil reigning in the city after the aforementioned earthquake, the Georgian troops launched an invasion against it, plundered the ruined city, killing or capturing the survivors of the disaster: "...coming to Gandzak under the leadership of their commander Ivane, they took absolutely no pity in the deplorable plight of the once splendid city, that now represented a true hell with heaps of gold and human remains lying side by side, and a countless number of corpses scattered here and there. Instead, they started ransacking for gold and silver treasure there, slaughtering the rest of the inhabitants and taking them captive, thus causing the city even greater damage than the earthquake had."<fnref n="36" />

In the same year (1139), the depredated city was reconstructed by Emir Kharasngur (Karasungur), who is known to have died in 1141: "...coming from the Persian land to Arran District, he embarked upon its restoration, rebuilding its destroyed ramparts and establishing peace there..."<fnref n="37" />

In 1142 a certain Khuhtughti, deputy shahap ('distRICT head,' "chief of nobles') of Gandzak, rose in rebellion against the local principality. In the aftermath of that, Seljuk War-Lord Choli occupied the city in 1143: "...in the head of a large army, he arrived in Gandzak where Khuhtughti had revolted. Holding the city under siege for a month, he conquered it, captured Khuhtughti and had his eyes pricked out, establishing his dominion there in the year 1143."<fnref n="38" />

Choli, who suddenly yielded up his spirit in 1146/1147, was succeeded by Pakhradin, who, however, was killed in 1147/1148, Emir Rovadi assuming his post and supervising the further reconstruction of the city: "The condition of Gandzak improved in the year 1148."<fnref n="39" />

The city was again ravaged in the second half of the 12th century and, particularly, in 1165/1166, when it

<footnote n="25">²⁵ Vardan Vardapet, pp. 118-119.</footnote>

<footnote n="26">²⁶ Idem, p. 166.</footnote>

<footnote n="27">²⁷ Manandian, H., idem, vol. 3, p. 407.</footnote>

<footnote n="28">²⁸ Kirakos Gandzaketsy, p. 116.</footnote>

<footnote n="29">²⁹ Samuel Anetsy, p. 132.</footnote>

<footnote n="30">³⁰ Kirakos Gandzaketsy, p. 200; also see Vardan Vardapet, p. 124 ("In the year 588, an earthquake reduced Gandzak to ruins").</footnote>

<footnote n="31">³¹ Abrahamian, A. Historiographical Works by historian Hovhannes. Yerevan, 1956, p. 133, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="32">³² Mkhitar Ayrivanetsy, p. 61.</footnote>

<footnote n="33">³³ Movsêcs Dasxurançi: Appendix by Mkhitar Gosh. Yerevan, 1983, p. 352, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="34">³⁴ Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 25.</footnote>

<footnote n="35">³⁵ Ibn-al-Asir, p. 250.</footnote>

<footnote n="36">³⁶ Movsêcs Dasxurançi, ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="37">³⁷ Ibid. Also see Arabic Sources about Armenia and Armenians, vol. 3, p. 153.</footnote>

<footnote n="38">³⁸ Mkhitar Gosh provides a briefer account of the events: "Holding the city under siege for a month, he eventually conquered it..." (Movsêcs Dasxurançi: Appendix by Mkhitar Gosh, p. 353); also see Manandian, H., idem, vol. 3, pp. 100, 407.</footnote>

<footnote n="39">³⁹ Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 25.</footnote>
fell under the Georgians' rule: "...Invading many districts, the large Georgian army reached Gandzak (Kanja, Ganja), where it perpetrated widespread plunder and slaughter, some of the survivors being taken captive."<fnref n="40" />

Gandzak gave birth to many **outstanding personalities** such as Mkhitar Gosh ("a renowned scholar and the son of Christian parents, he was from Gandzak City...")<fnref n="41" />, scribe Thoros Areveltsy ("...God's humble servant Thoros, serving as a worthless worker of philology, was from an eastern district, namely Gandzak City...")<fnref n="42" />, architect Mkhitarich, the designer of one of the towers of Ani's enclosure<fnref n="43" />, and others.

**Gandzak in the 13th century.** The 1220s marked a heavy period of subsequent hostilities in Gandzak, something unprecedented in the city.

In Emir Kushkhara's<fnref n="44" /> times (1220/1221), the Mongols made some attempts to conquer it, but eventually they had to confine themselves to only collecting some taxes there: "...they reached Gandzak (Kanja) City, the capital of the country of Arran: however, having heard about the large number of the local population and the fighting skills they had acquired in the course of their continual struggle against the Georgians, they did not dare to attack it. Instead, they demanded that the citizens should give them some money and clothes: that order being fulfilled, the Tartars went away."<fnref n="45" />

In 1225/1226 Gandzak inhabitants again crushed the Georgian troops that had reached the city ramparts with the intention of a raid: "The Georgians had to engage in a heavy battle, for the frequent fighting against them had turned Gandzak inhabitants, quite large in number, into courageous warriors. For several days, the invaders struggled against the local residents who were unseen and protected behind the fortified walls. One day, however, the latter came out of the city together with their troops and a severe battle ensued outside the ramparts. Realizing that they would not be able to take the city, the Georgians abandoned it having suffered total defeat."<fnref n="46" />

In the same year, Gandzak was captured by Sultan Jalal-ed-Din of Khorezm: "...coming to Gandzak City, he conquered it."<fnref n="47" />

In 1229⁴⁸ Gandzak was devastated by the Mongol-Tartars: "Arriving in the city all of a sudden, the Tartars encircled it in all directions and engaged in a harsh battle with many catapults ... the gardens extending in the neighbourhood of the city. Then the enemy demolished the ramparts..., but none of them entered Gandzak, which continued defending itself heroically throughout a week. Witnessing the conquest of the city, the local inhabitants burnt down everything they had once erected to the very last article that could fall prey to fire. Seeing that, the enemy grew even more furious and launched a harrowing slaughter there, without sparing men, women and children. Nobody could escape that carnage, except for a small number of armed people who broke through the siege and fled. As for the wretches who had stayed there, they were kept alive and tortured so that they would show where they had hidden their treasure. Then the enemy killed some of them and captured the others, they themselves ransacking the ashes of the burnt dwellings to find what had been kept there. Thus, plundering and depredating the city for many days, they finally left it."<fnref n="49" />

<footnote n="40">40 **Ibn-al-Asir**, p. 262.</footnote>

<footnote n="41">41 **Kirakos Gandzaketsy**, p. 207.</footnote>

<footnote n="42">42 Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts of the 13th century (henceforward: Colophons, 13th century). Compiled by Matevosian, A. Yerevan, 1984, p. 313, in Armenian. The works by scribe Thoros also comprise a manuscript New Testament (Rome, 1262).</footnote>

<footnote n="43">43 Corpus Inscriptionum Armenicarum (henceforward: Corpus...), part 1: Ani City. Compiled by **Orbeli, H. A.**, Yerevan, 1966, p. 2, all parts in Armenian ("The tower of Mkhitarich" was built in 1215).</footnote>

<footnote n="44">44 **Ibn-al-Asir**, p. 310.</footnote>

<footnote n="45">45 Idem, p. 303.</footnote>

<footnote n="46">46 Idem, p. 317.</footnote>

<footnote n="47">47 **Kirakos Gandzaketsy**, p. 224; also see **Ibn-al-Asir**, p. 322.</footnote>

<footnote n="48">48 The available sources trace the destruction of Gandzak by the Mongols to the period between 1229 and 1235. See Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, pp. 29-30, note No. 30 for the discrepancies in the date of that event.</footnote>

<footnote n="49">49 **Kirakos Gandzaketsy**, pp. 236-237. Below follow some records providing further information on the conquest of the city, "...a war-lord named Charmaghan led a huge army to the magnificent city of Gandzak in the year 674 (1225). Holding it in a state of siege for several days, he finally took it and started slaughtering the local inhabitants mercilessly, sparing only the young boys and women who had won his liking" (Universal History by **Vardan Areveltsy**. Yerevan, 2001, pp. 192-193, in Armenian).</footnote>

<footnote>"In 1229 a large Tartar horde led by Charmaghan reached the kingly city of Gandzak, conquered it and put the local people to ruthless massacre, the women and boys being taken captive" (Brief Chronicles, vol. 2. Compiled by **Hakobian, V. A.** Yerevan, 1956, p. 139).</footnote>

<footnote>"They crossed the Arax and advanced to Gandzak, that was strongly fortified. Fighting for three days, the Tartars captured the city, ravaged it and slaughtered a great many Muslims, for they considered Mohammed's religion unacceptable" (Georgian Chronicles (1207 to 1318). Translated from old Georgian into Armenian with an introduction and notes by Muradian, P. Yerevan, 1971, p. 71).</footnote>

<footnote>"...The archers came and totally devastated capital city Gandzak, putting to sword both the animals and local people, including a great number of Christians" (Colophons, 13th century, p. 183).</footnote>

<footnote>"In the year 1231, Gandzak City was conquered by the Tartars, a vast multitude of men, women and children being put to slaughter, with some Christians and Persians taken prisoner" (Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 26).</footnote>

<footnote>"In the year 1231, a Tartar named Khorazm took Gandzak and slaughtered its inhabitants" (History by **Arakel Davrizhetsy** (henceforward: **Arakel Davrizhetsy**). Yerevan, 1990, p. 469, in Armenian).</footnote>

<footnote>"The following year [1235], they [the Mongols] advanced towards Gandzak and launched a fierce battle on the approaches to the city, damaging its ramparts. At first the local residents bravely repelled the attacks, but seeing that the fighting did not abate at all, they lost all hopes of liberation and started thinking of a way of</footnote>
Over four months, Gandzak lay in complete devastation until “an order was issued to reconstruct it: its former inhabitants gradually gathered there and embarked upon its restoration from the very ramparts.”<fnref n="50" />

Flemish traveller William Rubruck, who visited Gandzak between 1253 and 1255, writes: “...a large city named Ganje (Gandzak) and situated at the foot of some mountains. Once the capital of the country, it hindered the Georgians from penetrating into this valley...”<fnref n="51" />

**Gandzak between the 14th and 15th centuries.**
Most presumably, the aforementioned Mongol-Tartar raid proved of such immense damage to the city that it completely disappeared from the historical records in the following two centuries.

**Gandzak in the 16th century.** In 1541 Gandzak was conquered by Persian Shah Tahmaz: “Shah Ismayil’s son Tahmaz, who had ascended the throne in 1526, occupied Yerevan, Ganja and Shamakhi in 1541.”<fnref n="52" />

In 1552 “Sultan Shahverd was appointed Governor of Gandzak by the *ghayen*.”<fnref n="53" />

Between 1578 and 1579, Gandzak inhabitants suffered an epidemic and War-Lord Osman’s invasion: “In the year 266 (1578) ..., the *khontkar’s*<fnref n="54" /> army occupied Tabriz, Yerevan and Gandzak...”<fnref n="55" />

In 1580 Tabriz, Yerevan, Arash and the territory between Shamakhi and Alania were conquered by Sultan Murad, Gandzak sharing their fate: “In the year 1029 (1580), on Sultan Murad’s order, a huge Byzantine army penetrated into the territory of the Persian Empire, capturing Tabriz, Yerevan, Gandzak, Arash, Shamkor and reaching the Alans’ land.”<fnref n="56" />

escaping captivity. First they buried their possessions underground and set their houses alight so that the greedy enemy would not seize their property ... Destroying some part of the ramparts from inside, they took to their heels. Upon seeing that, the Tartars burst into the city and killed all those who had stayed there, with the exception of the children and youngsters. Then they started ransacking the sites of burnt dwellings and found large trophies there. Leaving the city in ruins, they returned to their army in Mughan...” (*Chamchiants*, M., op. cit., vol. 3, p. 206).

In 1585 “...Osman Pasha conquered ...Kanja with a countless army.”<fnref n="57" />

In 1588/1589 “... Sultan Murat appointed a certain Fahrat commander of his eastern domains together with Lala ...and sent him to Ganja to punish the small number of the *Red Heads*<fnref n="58" /> surviving, build a stronghold there and return. Arriving there with a great army, he fulfilled all the instructions he had been given ..., erected a castle in Ganja and stationed some troops there...”<fnref n="59" />

**Gandzak in the first half of the 17th century.**
Having conquered Tabriz in 1603⁶⁰, Shah Abbas sent Amirguna Khan to Gandzak to counterattack the Turkish troops there: “...Going to Ganja, he stayed there for two months. Convinced that the Ottomans were not powerful enough to resist him, he burnt down many a building in the city, putting some of its inhabitants to sword and capturing others. He took all the plundered belongings of the citizens to Yerevan for the benefit and enjoyment of the Persian army.”<fnref n="61" />

Portuguese clergyman Antoine de Gouvea reports some interesting facts regarding the aforementioned events. Thus, while Yerevan was under siege, Shah Abbas sent one of his commanders, Husein Khan Ziyadoghli Kajar, to Shirvan and Karabakh for a raid. Reaching his destination, the latter “...started burning down the local villages and collecting the harvest. He also destroyed everything in the neighbourhood of Gyanja, which made the pasha stationed in the local castle engage in a battle against him... the Turkish casualties amounting to four thousand... Plundering the adjacent villages and townships and taking a lot of trophies, he presented them to the king, who was also

<footnote n="50">50 *Kirakos Gandzaketsy*, p. 237.</footnote>

<footnote n="51">51 *Hakobian, H.*, idem, vol. 1, p. 12.</footnote>

<footnote n="52">52 *Brief Chronicles*, vol. 2, p. 427.</footnote>

<footnote n="53">53 *Melikset-Bek, L. M.*, vol. 2, Yerevan, 1936, p. 111.</footnote>

<footnote n="54">54 A borrowing from the Persian language meaning ‘master,’ ‘ruler,’ ‘king.’</footnote>

<footnote n="55">55 Idem, p. 137; also see *Arakel Davrizhetsy*, pp. 458-459. As attested by another source, in 1578 Lala Pasha “...conquered Gandzak, that was also called Kenje...” and “...Osman Pasha reached the neighbourhood of Caucasia at the head of a huge army and entered Aghvank, then under the Tartars’ rule. Advancing to Shirvan, he crossed the river Kur, raided the adjacent areas and plundered the entire region, including Partaw and Gandzak...” (*Chamchiants*, M. op. cit., vol. 3, p. 530).</footnote>

<footnote n="56">56 History of Persia by Coenobite *Khachatur Jughayetsy* (henceforward: *Khachatur Jughayetsy*). Vagharshapat, 1905, p. 101; also see *Brief Chronicles*, vol. 2, p. 516.</footnote>

<footnote n="57">57 *Brief Chronicles*, vol. 1, p. 173.</footnote>

<footnote n="58">58 Deriving from the Persian word of ‘Kezel-baš,’ the name is used with reference to the Persians.</footnote>

<footnote n="59">59 *Brief Chronicles*, vol. 2, p. 246; Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1, p. 217. According to another record, “It was in 1589 that Pahrat Pasha captured Ganja” (*Brief Chronicles*, vol. 1, p. 145).</footnote>

<footnote n="60">60 The available sources are not unanimous in mentioning the exact date of Gandzak’s conquest: it generally oscillates between 1603 and 1606.</footnote>

<footnote n="61">61 *Khachatur Jughayetsy*, p. 70. Below follow some other records relating to these events, “...In 1012 (1603) the Ajems occupied Genje and Shirvan...” (*Evliya Chelebi*, p. 82).</footnote>

<footnote>“The year 1605 marked the conquest of Ganja” (*Brief Chronicles*, vol. 1, p. 146).</footnote>

<footnote>“Gandzak was captured in 1605” (*Brief Chronicles*, vol. 2, p. 272).</footnote>

<footnote>“Mohammed Pasha, the *beklarbek* of Genje, remained under siege for seven months, fighting day and night: eventually, however, those sieged lost all hopes of receiving outside aid and surrendered on condition that their lives should be spared” [Deriving from the Turkish word ‘beylerbeyi,’ the word ‘beklarbek’ means ‘head of beys,’ ‘commander-in-chief’] (Turkish Sources about Armenia, Armenians and Other Peoples of Transcaucasia, vol. 1. Translated from the Turkish original into Armenian by Safrastian, A. (henceforward: Turkish Sources..., vol. 1), Yerevan, 1961, p. 55; also see idem, vol. 2, p. 94).</footnote>
given twelve thousand female slaves, mostly young girls.”<fnref n="62" />

In 1604 “Teretaman perpetrated a formidable carnage in Genje...”<fnref n="63" />

In the same year, the city is mentioned in connection with the trade of hostages: “In the city of Gandzak, the sons were sold to their fathers and the wives to their husbands, some of them costing 100 *marchils*,<fnref n="64" /> others 50 or so.”<fnref n="65" />

In the spring of 1606, Shah Abbas “...gathered his troops and launched an invasion against the Ottoman army units that were still stationed in Gandzak (Ganja). Upon reaching the city, they laid siege to the castle and the entire city appeared under Persian control: as the shah had ordered, his soldiers tortured and captured the local people, while their animals and pillaged property were scattered here and there. Understanding that the siege of the stronghold might last for long, the Persians decided to resort to some ruse: they had two large, powerful shells cast, intending to destroy the ramparts and thus put the Ottomans in the danger of starvation. The defenders of the castle were all by themselves, without any hope of aid from either their fellow citizens or their king... (the pasha of Ganja, Zenjilgheran Ali, had fallen in the war). Faced with the newly-cast shells which could demolish the ramparts at any moment, the Ottomans found themselves in rather a grave situation and eventually surrendered. Crushing the resistance of the castle, the shah established his domination throughout the country, appointing Aghsagh Mahmat Khan ruler there.<fnref n="66" />

After the conquest of Gandzak, Shah Abbas embarked upon construction activity there: “...When Gyanja fell into the Persians’ power, Shah Abbas himself worked out a plan for the city, allocating a huge sum of money for its further construction (he ordered to build three mosques in Itamzade, where a green mosque is situated at present) and exempting the local inhabitants from taxes and obligations. To be remembered by the coming generations, he renamed Gandzak *Abbas Abad*, i.e. *Abbas’ Buildings*, and conferred the title of ‘Key to Shirvan’ on it so that it might have predominance over the other cities of the region.”<fnref n="67" />

Before his departure for Persia, Shah Abbas nominated Abbas Ghuli Khan Ziatkhanov Governor of Gyanja Khanate.<fnref n="68" />

A certain *paronter*<fnref n="69" /> named Ohan is known to have set free many people “from Ganja City” captured in 1607.<fnref n="70" />

In 1612 Turkey and Persia signed a peace treaty which, however, was broken four years later.<fnref n="71" />

In 1626 the Georgians launched an attack against the city and the Persians ran away without offering any resistance to them: “...in punishment for our great sins, the Georgians, whose leader was said to be called Movrav, reached Gandzak City, nowadays named Ganja, with a large cavalry. The Red Heads, however, took to their heels as soon as they heard about the enemy’s advance.”<fnref n="72" />

In the same year, the Turks led by Earif Pasha “...reconquered Gandzak after a heavy battle, but they showed mercy towards the local residents.”<fnref n="73" />

In 1633 “...Tamuraz reduced Gandzak to total ruins.”<fnref n="74" />

In 1636 Gandzak was ruled by Mohammed Khan.<fnref n="75" />

<footnote n="62">62 Relation des grandes guerres et victoires obtenues par le roy de Perse Chah Abbas contre les empereures de Turquie Mahomet et Achmet son fils. Par le P. Fr. *Anthoine de Gouvea*, traduit de l’originale portugais. Rouen, 1646, p. 246. Also see *Zulalian, M*. The European Scholars about Certain Issues of the History of the Armenian Nation: 13th to 18th centuries, vol. 1, Yerevan, 1990, p. 142, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="63">63 Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1, p. 133.</footnote>

<footnote n="64">64 The word derives from the Italian word ‘marsili’ and denotes a European silver coin.</footnote>

<footnote n="65">65 Idem, p. 134.</footnote>

<footnote n="66">66 **Arakel Davrizhetsy**, pp. 112-113, 478 (“...Shah Abbas attacked Ganja and took it from the Ottoman Turks). Also see Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1, p. 207 (This manuscript colophon provides only an incomplete account of the conquest of Gandzak Castle). *Op. cit.*, pp. 218-219 (“...keeping the castle of Ganja under siege for four months, he captured and plundered it mercilessly”). Touching upon the same events, scribe David Geghametsy wrote the following rhymed lines in 1610:
> “Having won victory against the grand vizier,
> He attacked Ganja City,
> Encircled the local castle
> And took it in four months.
> They put the Turks of the castle to sword
> And slaughtered over twenty thousand of them” (Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1, p. 367). As stated by some other records, “...took Ganja ...from the Ottomans...” (Brief Chronicles, vol. 2, p. 428), and “Ganja was captured in 1606” (Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 145).</footnote>

<footnote n="67">67 Caucasian Calendar for 1850, Tiflis, 1849, p. 48 (the original reads, “...Ганжа подпала подъ власть Шахь-Аббаса, который самъ начерталь планъ города, выдал для устройства его огромную сумму, приказалъ построить три мечети въ Итамзаде, гдь теперь зеленая мечеть, и освободилъ жителей отъ податей и повинностей. Въ память будущимъ покольнямиь онъ даль городу название Аббасъ-Абада, т. е. постройки Аббаса, а въ премиущество предъ другими городами, назвать его ключемъ Ширвана”).</footnote>

<footnote n="68">68 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="69">69 An honourary title meaning ‘mister’ or ‘master’ and used with reference to prominent, wealthy people.</footnote>

<footnote n="70">70 Colophons, 17th century, vol. 1, p. 283. Paronter Ohan ransomed a number of manuscripts and donated them to St. Yeghishe Monastery.</footnote>

<footnote n="71">71 **Leo**. A Collection of Works, vol. 3, Yerevan, 1969, p. 264, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="72">72 Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts of the 17th century, vol. 2. Compiled by Hakobian, V., Hovhannissian, A. (henceforward: Colophons, 17th century, vol. 2). Yerevan, 1978, p. 206.</footnote>

<footnote n="73">73 A Collection of Armenian Historiographical Works, vol. 10. Compiled by **Priest Gyut Aghaniants**. Tiflis, 1912, p. 440, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="74">74 Colophons, 17th century, vol. 2, p. 519.</footnote>

<footnote n="75">75 Turkish Sources..., vol. 1, p. 109.</footnote>
Some topographers of the mid-17th century write the following about Gandzak: “The city, once dominated by Iran’s Shah Tahmas Khan, fell into Ferhad Pasha’s power in 1014 (1605) and Mohammed Pasha was appointed Governor there. The Ajems’ large forces, however, held the city under siege throughout six months so that the Muslim troops, desperate for outside help, had to yield up the local castle and withdraw. They, however, were not saved, for the Ajems exterminated all of them: Sultan Eyri Fatih Mohammed Khan attempted to take some action in retaliation for that, but in vain. At present Genje, that is under the Ajems’ sway, represents a large city of 6,000 houses: it has a mosque, a caravanserai, public baths ... and a well-built market. It is situated in a plain rich in fields and gardens, with some mountains in the south (they are all covered with gardens). Genje, famous for its silk, ...is the centre of the principality, with 3,000 servants, a secretary, a kalantar, a darugha, a kadi and some judges...”<fnref n="76" />

Genje, located in a plain four merheles east of Yerevan, is a city abounding in fields and gardens: it is particularly rich in fig, delicious pomegranate, grapes, acorn and other fruits. It used to be a thriving city, the remnants of some large buildings being still preserved there.<fnref n="77" />

**In the second half of the 17th century,** namely “in 1663, Mertuza Ghuli Khan yielded up his spirit to God, being replaced by Yogherlu Khan.”<fnref n="78" />

On 4 January 1668, Gandzak was struck by another earthquake: “...the year was 1668. At dawn, on the eve of the Holy Feast of the Apparition of Our Lord, a tremendous roar shook Shamakhi, Ganja, Tiflis and Yerevan.”<fnref n="79" />

**The 18th century** marked as turbulent a period for Gandzak as, perhaps, all the preceding ones. In 1721 “...the Lezghins, not less than eight thousand in number, invaded Ganja City and reached Sutokulan Village. The citizens, however, put them to slaughter..., the enemy fatalities amounting to about a thousand and twenty. They did not take any pillage and ran away empty-handed and shameful.”<fnref n="80" />

A year after the conquest of Tiflis, in the autumn of 1724, Erzrum Governor Ibrahim Pasha sieged Gandzak: “At first the invasion was a success and the Turkish troops occupied the Armenian suburb without encountering any resistance. The other inhabitants of

the city, however, plucked up courage and even attacked the place they had stationed themselves in. That daring offensive proved of great importance: surrounded in all directions, the Turks abandoned their artillery and luggage and took to their hells in broad daylight. The Turkish victims totaling three thousand, the leader of their panic-stricken troops was forced to withdraw to his seat in Erzrum together with the remnants of his army.”<fnref n="81" />

In the autumn of 1734, “...Ganja suffered an invasion by Nadir Shah.”<fnref n="82" />

In the same year, “Ugurlu Khan of Ganje” participated in a great assembly held in the plain of Mughan.<fnref n="83" />

In 1735 Gandzak, “then sieged by the Persians,”<fnref n="84" /> is mentioned in connection with the Turko-Persian wars which ended in the Persian troops’ withdrawal from the city: they had been staying there over two months.

On 10 March of the same year, Russian Prince Sergei Dmitriyevich Golitsin endorsed an agreement upon which Russia was to return the pre-Caspian regions to Persia (the document was signed in a Persian army camp located in the vicinity of Gandzak).<fnref n="85" />

As is known, “Tahmaz Ghuli took Kanja in 1736,”<fnref n="86" /> and “Hajji Chalabi invaded the city in 1752.”<fnref n="87" />

On 13 September 1758, Panah Khan, the founder of Karabakh Khanate, “...conquered Ganja during the feast of the Holy Cross.”<fnref n="88" />

Having occupied and ravaged Tiflis in 1795, Persian Khan Agha Mohammed attacked and conquered Gandzak as well.<fnref n="89" />

In 1796 Russian General Valerian Zubov captured the city without encountering any resistance: “...the Council of the gracious Russian empress decided to send some troops under Zupov’s leadership to Gandzak. It was conquered in December 1796...<fnref n="90" /> with the Governor of the city, Javad Khan, recognizing Russia’s power and domination.”<fnref n="91" /> When Empress

<footnote n="76">76 Evliya Chelebi, p. 86.</footnote>

<footnote n="77">77 Turkish Sources..., vol. 2, p. 14.</footnote>

<footnote n="78">78 Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 289.</footnote>

<footnote n="79">79 Chronicles of the 17th century by Hakob Karnetsy, In: Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, pp. 243-244. Also see Arakel Davrizhetsy, pp. 522-523.</footnote>

<footnote n="80">80 A Brief History of Aghvank by His Holiness Yesayi Hasan Jalaliants Catholicos of Aghvank (henceforward: Yesayi Hasan Jalaliants). Jerusalem, 1868, p. 24, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="81">81 Mamiye-Clairac, Histoire de Perse depuis le commencement de ce siècle, t. II, Paris, 1750, pp. 121-122. Also see Zulalian, M. idem, p. 199.</footnote>

<footnote n="82">82 Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 396.</footnote>

<footnote n="83">83 The Chronicle of Abraham of Crete. Annotated Translation from the Critical Text by George A. Bournoutian. California, 1999, p. 74.</footnote>

<footnote n="84">84 Idem, p. 47. Also see Zulalian, M., idem, p. 215.</footnote>

<footnote n="85">85 “Kavkaz,” 1903, No. 261, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="86">86 Hakhumanian, Ash. Records from National History. In: “Ararat,” 1914, p. 373, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="87">87 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="88">88 Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 396.</footnote>

<footnote n="89">89 Mirza Yusuf Nersesov. A Truthful History. Translated from the original Persian into Armenian with an introduction and notes by Kostikian, K. P. (henceforward: Mirza Yusuf Nersesov). Yerevan, 2000, p. 69.</footnote>

<footnote n="90">90 A Collection of Armenian Historiographical Works (1780 to 1834), vols. 1-2. Compiled by Priest Gyut Aghaniants. Tiflis, 1893, p. 30, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="91">91 Mirza Yusuf Nersesov, p. 72.</footnote>
Yekaterina Alexeyevna died in the same year, Zubov returned to Russia and Javad Khan restored his ruling position in Gandzak: “...after Her Imperial Majesty had yielded up her soul to God and Alexandre I ascended the throne, the troops were called back, leaving the city in the hands of the forces that had first devastated it.”<fnref n="92" />

Taking advantage of the situation reigning in Gandzak, Ibrahim Khan of Shushi suggested that Georgian King Heracle and he should mount a joint offensive against the city: “Since the depredation of Tiflis and the subsequent carnage are the handiwork of Javad Khan of Gandzak and Melik Mejlum of Jraberd, Karabakh’s and Georgia’s armies should attack Gandzak together and punish them.”<fnref n="93" />

The Georgian king accepting that proposal, the allies “sieged Gandzak Castle and captured it some time later. Melik Mejlum was killed, while Javad Khan surrendered delivering up his son and sister as hostages to Ibrahim Khan.”<fnref n="94" />

Historiographer Vardan Odznetsy reports some important data concerning the aforementioned events: “...Artsakh’s Ibrahim Khan, who was in Daghestan at that time, entered into alliance with Georgian king Heracle and hired twelve thousand warriors of Caucasian *Gheks*<fnref n="95" /> for three months (each of them was to receive a payment of seven to ten canvas *dadaks* and a litre of sheep fat). In 1796 the Ghek mercenaries launched an assault against Gandzak’s Javad Khan together with eight thousand Georgians. The goal of the allied troops, now totaling twenty thousand, was to take vengeance upon the Persian ruler for the depredation of Tpkhis City.

“Javad Khan, who failed to put up a proper resistance against them and drive them away from his territories, fortified himself in the local castle. Laying siege to it, Heracle started periodically bombarding it and covering it with smoke and flames, the soldiers garisoned in the stronghold fighting with similar furiosity. Their leader was Armenian war-lord Melik Mejlum, who was killed in one of the towers of the castle by Heracle’s soldiers... Eventually, after fifty days of siege, Javad Khan yielded up the fort and concluded a peace treaty, committing himself to paying the Caucasian Gheks and returning the prisoners of war that he, Melik Mejlum and others had been keeping in Gandzak. Despite these concessions, however, most of the local inhabitants were deported to Georgia...”<fnref n="96" />

Unable to resist the Russian army, in 1800 the Lezghins, led by Omar Khan, escaped to Gandzak, but the citizens met them “with swords” and slaughtered most of them.<fnref n="97" />

**The Conquest of Gandzak in 1804 and 1826.** The early 19th century found Transcaucasia again reduced to a theatre of political struggle. In late 1803, the Russian troops, led by General of Infantry P. D. Tsitsianov (1754 to 1806), advanced to Gandzak via Tiflis, sieged the local castle and captured it on 3 January 1804: “The courageous Russian army, led by Tpkhis’ Governor Dmitrich Tsitsianov, sieged the stronghold of Gandzak (Kenje), where foreign tyrant Javad Khan had fortified himself. After a heavy battle, on 3 January 1804, the Russians won brilliant victory, killing the aforementioned despot and his younger son, and burning down more than a thousand six hundred foreign soldiers. Seven Armenians who happened to be outside the city ramparts were shot dead by the Russians, while the rest of the local Armenian population was put to merciless carnage. Only those who had found refuge in the local church and its neighbourhood had a narrow escape.”<fnref n="98" />

Mirza Nersesov provides a detailed report of these events: “In 1803/1220 (Tsitsianov - S. K.) moved to Gandzak in the head of quite a large army unit. Hearing about the impending invasion, Javad Khan gathered all his officials and dignitaries for a consultation. Everybody, including the *akhund* and *seids*, agreed upon offering resistance [against Tsitsianov], pointing out that the Russian troops would not be able to conquer Gandzak Castle, for even Nadir Shah had failed to do so despite all his power. When the Russian troops reached the neighbourhood of Gandzak and Javad Khan saw how small their number was, he decided to engage his army in a battle. ...Some time later, however, he took to his heels, this time fortifying himself in Gandzak’s citadel. Entering the city, the Russians surrounded it from all sides and blocked all the ways leading to the sieged. Soon the Persians ran out of their resources which were now limited to only cartridges. A month after the beginning of the Persian encirclement, the citizens of Gandzak found themselves in a grave situation. The Russians’ commander-in-chief prepared his troops for a major offensive, and the victorious Russian army ... launched an attack during the night of the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr. The soldiers started climbing up both sides of the ramparts. At first Javad Khan bravely defended the citadel, but a bullet shot by Russian officer Lisanchev put an end to his life, and the Russians took the stronghold. ...The war-lord ordered

<footnote n="92">92 A Collection of Armenian Historiographical Works (1780 to 1834), vols. 1-2, p. 30.</footnote>

<footnote n="93">93 **Mirza Yusuf Nersesov**, p. 73.</footnote>

<footnote n="94">94 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="95">95 The Lezghins were also known by the name of ‘Ghek.’</footnote>

<footnote n="96">96 Armenian Sources about Agha Mohammed Khan’s Invasions of Transcaucasia (1795 to 1797). Compiled by **Titanian, R. T. Yerevan**, 1981, p. 191, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="97">97 **Mirza Yusuf Nersesov**, pp. 81-82.</footnote>

<footnote n="98">98 A Collection of Armenian Historiographical Works (1780 to 1834), vols. 1-2, p. 174.</footnote>
his troops to slaughter the local population, the massacre lasting for three hours.”<fnref n="99" />

After the conquest of Gandzak, Tsitsianov “renamed it Yelizavetpol in honour of Empress Elizabeth.”<fnref n="100" />

By the Treaty of Gyulistan signed on 12 December 1814, the city became part of Gandza Khanate within the borders of Russia.

On 4 September 1826, “a day after the battle of Shamkhor, General Madatov arrived in Gandzak and established its system of governance. ...He freed the Armenian population of Kilisakend, who had fortified themselves in their quarter out of concern over their lives and property. The senior citizens and village heads introduced themselves [to Madatov], welcoming his arrival in the city.”<fnref n="101" />

**Gandzak in the second half of the 19th century.**
In 1861¹⁰² and 1872,<fnref n="103" /> Gandzak was again struck by earthquakes which, fortunately, did not cause any damage to the city. After the second one that befell it on 2 September, the local Armenians found refuge in St. Hovhannes Church.

On 19 February 1868, Gandzak became the centre of the newly-established province of Yelizavetpol.<fnref n="104" />

A correspondent of the “Kavkas” who visited Gandzak (Yelizavetpol) in the late 1870s describes it in the following way, “From an architectural standpoint, it is difficult, if not impossible, to call Yelizavetpol a city: it represents a heap of rambling ruins amidst a sea of gardens. ...On the left ...a Christian cemetery, surrounded by a stone enclosure, can be seen, with some gardens in front and a chapel whose architectural features clearly suggest a European style. The city proper, which forms a continuation of the grave-yard, amazes visitors by the complete absence of streets: instead, it has some crooked, incredibly narrow, irregular and dirty lanes, with high earthen fences on both sides. Beyond these enclosures, on the left and right, can be seen some shabby diggings, punctuated with small dwellings in the style of ancient Asian architecture. ...The chaotic labyrinth of the lanes temporarily disappears, being replaced by a field or a most irregular square. On the right stands an ancient Persian castle in a semi-ruined state: at present it comprises some miserable buildings of barracks housing Yelizavetpol's regular army detachments and the local prison. A little farther, a small Orthodox church can be seen. Left of the former stronghold rises a large, two-storey, unplas-

tered structure, i.e. Yelizavetpol's District Court. The local market-place, Yelizavetpol's renowned 'Sheytan Market,' is another sight worthy of mention... South of it stands Aliyev's mosque, an edifice of quite large dimensions, with a cauldron-shaped dome and two minarets on both sides of its yard entrance. ...That square leads to the city's only large macadam street built on former governor, Prince N. Z. Javjavadze's initiative. A pearl among Yelizavetpol's poor, crooked streets and the pride of the entire city, it extends along a roundabout line up to Gyanja Bridge and an ancient Armenian church in the Armenian quarter lying on the right bank of the river. ...Not far from the aforementioned mosque, the city's only hotel Kovkas is located. Quite a large building, it is absolutely devoid of any architectural forms, bearing a close resemblance to an Oriental caravanserai rather than a hotel in a provincial city.<fnref n="105" />

<footnote n="105">¹⁰⁵ Ix, idem, No. 243, pp. 1-2 (the original reads, “В архитектурном отношении трудно или, вернее сказать, решительно невозможно назвать Елисаветополь городом. Это какой-то безпорядочный хаос развалин, утопающих в целом море садов. ...Слева... расположено христианское кладбище, обнесенное каменным забором, с возвышающейся на нем часовой европейской архитектуры. Впереди сады. Тотчас после кладбища начинается самый город. Въезжащаго поражает отсутствие улиц. Перед ним какие-то извилистые, невероятно узкие переулки-грязные и неровные. Эти переулки обставлены с обеих сторон высокими земляными заборами. Направо и налево, за заборами, виднются жалкия сакли чисто-аульнаго типа и кое-где падаются домики допотопно-азиатской архитектуры. ...безпорядочный лабиринт переулков на время исчезает, уступая место чему-то в виде поля или площади с самыми неправильными очертаниями. Справа показывается старая персидская крепость, в настоящее время на половину разобранная. Внутри ея виднеются невзрачныя казарменныя постройки, в которых помещается Елисаветопольская местная кадровая команда и тюрьма. За ними православная церковь. Влево от крепости, одиноко, стоит размером в двух-этажное нештукатуренное здание-помещение Елисаветопольскаго окружного кладбища. Далее останавливает на себе внимание большая базарная плошагь... Это знаменитый Елисаветопольский “Шайтанъ-базар”. ...На южной стороне площади-мусульманская Алиева учения мечеть, довольно обширных размеров, с котлообразным куполом и двумя, расположенными по обеим сторонам входа во дворе мечети, минаретами. ...От этой площади начинается, недавно возникшая на развалинах, единственная в городе шоссированная и уширенная улица, проложенная по инициативе бывшаго губернатора кн. Н. З. Чавчавадзе. Улица эта тягется ломанною линиею вплоть до моста через Ганжинку и продолжается далее, до старой армянской церкви, в армянской-же части города, расположенной на правом берегу речки. Это, так-сказать, перль елисаветопольских улиц и гордость всего города. ...Недалеко от мечети, на продолжении новой улицы, по левую ея сторону, стоит почти единственная въ городе гостиница “Кавказ”-żдание, правда, довольно обширное, но в высшей степени безобразное, скорее тип восточнаго караван-сарая, нежели гостиницы в губернском городе”).</footnote>

<footnote n="99">⁹⁹ Mirza Yusuf Nersesov, pp. 81, 86-87. Also see Hakhumanian, *Ash.*, idem, p. 373 (“The Russians took Kanja ... 1804”).</footnote>

<footnote n="100">¹⁰⁰ Mirza Yusuf Nersesov, p. 87.</footnote>

<footnote n="101">¹⁰¹ Idem, p. 131.</footnote>

<footnote n="102">¹⁰² Caucasian Calendar for 1863, p. 74.</footnote>

<footnote n="103">¹⁰³ “Ararat,” 1872, p. 371.</footnote>

<footnote n="104">¹⁰⁴ Ix. The Principal City of the Province: Yelizavetpol. In:</footnote>
**The Armeno-Turkish Fights between 1905 and 1906.** The nomadic and sedentary Turkish tribes inhabiting Gandzak and its neighbourhood had been long waiting for 18 November 1905, since on that day they were finally able to realize what they had always longed for: "Within several hours, hundreds of Armenian shops were plundered up to the very last thread, after which they were destroyed and set alight. Like in the other places, the local authorities were merely indifferent witnesses to what was going on. The police comprised only Turks, while Georgian Governor Takayshvili apparently held the bandits under his auspices to such an extent that he even allowed notorious gang-leader Dali Ali, a long-persecuted criminal, to enter the city. Invading Gandzak together with 300 brigands, Dali Ali joined his fellow tribesmen in perpetrating a harrowing blood-shed on 18 November. Even the local churches did not escape the pillage that was accompanied with massacres, fire and depredation. Many magnificent residences belonging to wealthy Armenians were consigned to flames, and a great number of shop-keepers fell prey to the atrocities which proved especially tragic for the Armenian ploughmen working in their gardens and fields. On the whole, the victims totaled more than a hundred."<fnref n="106" />

Encouraged by the trophies they had gained, the Turkish mob restored their forces within three days with the intention of capturing the Armenian quarter of the city, that lay on the right bank of the river. On the evening of 22 November, they launched a decisive attack under Dali Ali's leadership, but after a heavy battle that lasted until sunrise, they were crushed and repelled: "At 9 o'clock some abrupt reports were heard from Baghmanlar's Turkish positions. Although they gradually increased and became continuous, our fighters answered them rapidly and decisively, and our forces managed to surround the Armenian quarter that occupied quite a spacious area. Soon a considerable number of Armenian warriors concentrated in our positions located opposite the Turkish quarter, with Commander Hamazasp and the heads of all the smaller and larger units following the unfolding of the events with beating hearts. The lives of twenty thousand Armenians were put at stake, and they had to settle the question of their survival or extermination... The Headquarters shared all that responsibility, with Rostom, Abraham and others walking from one position to another and issuing the necessary instructions. The shooting grew still intenser, the Turks now firing from all their positions stretching along the left bank of the river and our warriors answering from theirs along the right bank. Soon regular volleys of shots rang out

from both sides, the Turks accompanying them with their usual cries, "Ya, Ali!" The enemy strove hard to penetrate into the Armenian quarter so that at 10 o'clock the intensity of the fighting redoubled, the entire city roaring with volleys, sometimes accompanied by the thunder of the Russian cannons directed either against the Armenians or the Turks... on the order of the "fair," "objective" authorities, the shells fired against the Armenians were far greater in number. "At half past 10, most of the enemy forces moved to Dik-Kucha Street, whence they could possibly penetrate into the quarter. With some of our groups rushing there, the Turks retreated and positioned themselves in the nearby gardens. Two courageous peasants, Khachatur from Pib, and Nikol Tonunts from Banants, dashed into the Turkish throng without any fear and drove them away from the gardens, by slaughtering them far and wide... Finally, however, they were killed, sacrificing their lives in an unusual feat of valour..."<fnref n="107" />

Suffering some other fatalities, the Armenian side won brilliant victory over the enemy.

**Gandzak between 1918 and 1920.** Beginning with 1914, the adherents of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism unfolded active work in Transcaucasia to disseminate their ideology among the local Muslims. As for Gandzak, a certain teacher named Mirza Husein Raffizade played a particularly great role there with that regard.<fnref n="108" />

Declaring Azerbaijan an independent republic on 27 May 1918, the Musavatists established their government in Gandzak under the leadership of Khan Khoyski, one of the local beys and a flagrant nationalist.<fnref n="109" /> That government, which was, in fact, a puppet of the Turkish army, moved to Baku only after the Turks had occupied it in September 1918.<fnref n="110" />

The first Turkish army units entered Gandzak on 9 June 1918¹¹¹ under Nuri Pasha's (notorious Enver Pasha's stepbrother) leadership. The following day, the sub-units of the 5th division joined them, and the Turkish troops, consisting of two columns, came to comprise 257 officers and 5,576 soldiers.<fnref n="112" />

Immediately after having stationed themselves in the city, the Turks started applying special measures

<footnote n="106">106 Varandian, M. History of Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun. Yerevan, 1992, p. 348, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="107">107 Idem, pp. 349-350.</footnote>

<footnote n="108">108 Sargissian, E. Turkey and Its Policy of Occupation. Yerevan, 1964, p. 110, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="109">109 Idem, p. 375.</footnote>

<footnote n="110">110 Idem, p. 422.</footnote>

<footnote n="111">111 According to another eye-witness, "it was on 28 May 1918 that the Turks invaded the Armenian part of Gandzak City. The local fighting forces, however, moved to Getashen without offering any resistance to them" (National Archives of Armenia, fund 409, list 1, file 2644, p. 23).</footnote>

<footnote n="112">112 Harutiunian, A. H. The Turkish Intervention in Transcaucasia in 1918 and the Fighting for Self-Defence. Yerevan, 1984, pp. 221-222, in Armenian.</footnote>
with regard to the local Armenians. According to Ryushtu Bey, first of all the Turkish High Command issued a written warning demanding that the Armenians “should immediately collect all the arms they possessed and hand them to the Turks; otherwise, those who would be discovered as keeping arms secretly would be shot on the spot.”<fnref n="113" />

Despite the threats, however, not only did the Armenians (or at least most of them) disobey that order but also some of them dared to declare an unequal war on the enemy. As the aforementioned bey reports, “Today we have suffered 13 victims and 6 casualties, the former including an officer.”<fnref n="114" />

On Nuri Pasha's order, all the Armenian quarters of Gandzak suffered heavy bombardment, but there is no information available on the number of the Armenian fatalities.<fnref n="115" /> As attested by some records, the Turkish military leadership spent an incredible number of cartridges to “pacify” the local Armenians.<fnref n="116" />

With the active participation of Noy Zhordania, the leader of the Georgian Mensheviks, on 9 January 1920, the Musavatists attacked some Russian soldiers concentrated in the stations of Shamkhor, Dalyar, Aghastafa, etc. on their way back from the front: “...In Shamkhor Station only, thousands of Russians were brutally shot in the trains, the entire railway line being covered with corpses. The Musavatists appropriated all the arms and ammunition of the echelons. That carnage, that was also perpetrated in many other stations where Russian echelons were concentrated, lasted untill 12 January.”<fnref n="117" />

As St. Shahumian writes, “what has been perpetrated is a dreadful crime against the Russian army.”<fnref n="118" />

In the spring of the same year, the Turks slaughtered Russian soldiers in Gandzak City as well.<fnref n="119" />

**Construction Activity.** The history of Gandzak's quarters dates back to the foundation of Nor Gandzak in the early 17th century. The plan of the new city clearly envisaged the allocation of separate territories to the local Armenian and Turkish quarters which were to adjoin each other.

Gandzak had the following quarters in 1804: *Kilisakyand*, *Jraberd*, *Igirmidort* and *Norashen*.<fnref n="120" />

In 1858 Russian traveller G. Tkachev described Gandzak and its quarters in the following way, “The

entire city, that lies in a large plain, represents a spacious garden, if we may put it so. The river Gandzak divides it in two parts, Kilisakend and Norashen, the former being mainly inhabited by the Armenians, and the latter by the Tartars. Its crooked, narrow streets are surrounded by earthen ramparts.”<fnref n="121" />

Another record, dating back to almost the same period, states, “The city comprises three quarters named Kilisakand, Yerevantsots<fnref n="122" /> and Norashen.”<fnref n="123" />

A traveller who visited Gandzak in the summer of 1864 provides rather a gloomy picture of its two main quarters: “...crooked streets that are hardly a sazhen [a sazhen is equal to 213.36 centimetres] wide; the remnants of some earthen ruins; earthen ramparts preserved to a height of 5 arshins [i.e. about 3.5 metres] in certain places and punctuated with canals abounding in the rotten remains of plants and animals. No dwellings are seen in the streets, for they are located behind the fortified walls. They, however, are only an apology for houses, representing cabins of earthen vaults, devoid of any stove and windows. It is damp, dark and dirty inside these huts that abound in vermin. Outside these dwelling-graves, your eye is caught by a sea of fruit-bearing trees and vines... ...the Armenian part of the city is the true image of the Tartar one with the only difference that the local Gregorian church is in a most deplorable state, whereas the mosque of the latter is in comparatively better conditions...”<fnref n="124" />

A visitor of the late 19th century writes: “Most of the houses are built of brick, for there is no quarry in the neighbourhood. The newly-erected ones are quite

<footnote n="121">121 Tkachev, G. Travel Notes. In: “Kavkaz,” 1859, No. 9, p. 41, in Russian (the original reads, “Весь город раскинулся на огромное пространство и, если можно так сказать, представляет обширный сад. Река Ганжа, на которой расположен город, разделяет его на две части: одна носит название Килисия-кент, а другая Норашен; в первой преимущественно живут Армяне, а в последней-Татары. Город разделен кривыми и узкими улицами, обстроенными по преимуществу стенами, сложенными из глины...”).</footnote>

<footnote n="122">122 ‘Of Yerevan inhabitants.’</footnote>

<footnote n="123">123 Jalaliants, S. A Travel to Great Armenia, part 1, Tpghis, 1842, p. 172, all parts in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="124">124 Meves, V., op. cit., in: "Kavkaz," 1865, No. 35, pp. 198-199 (The original reads, "Кривыя улицы, часто не шире сажени, формируются местами из остатков развалин каких то строений из земли, местами из земляных стен до пяти аршин вышиною, во иных местах из канав, заваленных животными и растительными разлагающимися телами; собственно по улицам домов не видно; они стоят внутри оград, да и то не дома, а чаще всего каньон-то конуры с земляными сводами, без печей и окон; в них смрад, сырость, нечистота и паразиты человеческаго тела. За этими домами-могилами везде видна богатая зелень фруктовых деревьев и виноградных лоз... армянская часть города точная фотография с татарской части, с тою только разницею, что здесь церковь Григорианская, находящаяся в самом жалком положении, а там мечеть сносно содержанная").</footnote>

<footnote n="113">113 Idem, p. 222.</footnote>

<footnote n="114">114 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="115">115 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="116">116 Idem, p. 223.</footnote>

<footnote n="117">117 Sargissian, E., idem, pp. 341-342.</footnote>

<footnote n="118">118 Shahumian, St. Selected Works. Yerevan, 1948, p. 545, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="119">119 For details see Grigorian, B. Mirzik or Vardashen? (An excerpt from a book of memoirs entitled *The Traces are Lost*). In: “Lragir,” 3 May 1995, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="120">120 Collected Acts..., vol. 2, p. 596.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /><figcaption>GANDZAK (GYANJA). The plan of Gandzak Castle (photo 1804)</figcaption></figure>

fine, cosy and high, while the old ones, that extend in an irregular row, are low and unattractive, like the Turkish dwellings.”<fnref n="125" />

Kilisakyand. Like some other cities in Historical Armenia such as Kars, Shushi, Shamakhi, Yerevan, Akhaltskha, etc., Gandzak also had a Turkish population apart from its Armenian inhabitants. The city was divided between these two peoples, the Armenians mainly occupying the comparatively elevated areas, and the Turks the lowlands as usual. In Nor Gandzak, the elevated territories mainly extended on the left bank of the river where the city's oldest Armenian quarter extended. It comprised an Armenian Apostolic church dedicated to St. Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist) and dating back to 1633; hence comes the name of the quarter, i.e. Kilisakyand ('Church Village' as translated from Turkish).

The quarter of Chaylu, having a mixed Armenian and Turkish population, was established north of Kilisakyand, on the left bank of the river.

In the mid-19th century, the local Armenian inhabitants were obliged to attend St. Hovhannes Church for their spiritual needs. With this regard, a record of 1888 states, "...The population of Chaylu, constituting 136 houses, have been going to St. Hovhannes Church for many centuries now."<fnref n="126" />

Despite that, however, the parishioners of the church did not allow Chaylu Armenians to participate in the verger elections held in the same year.<fnref n="127" />

The oldest Turkish quarter in Gandzak, Baghmanlar, was situated on the right bank of the river, adjoined by two small Armenian quarters, Norashen and Yerevantsots. That part of the city also comprised "an inn, a castle, a caravanserai, a market, a hospital and a tavern..."<fnref n="128" />

The city had the following quarters in the mid-19th century, "Yekeghetsu Kucha, Dik Kucha, Gerezmanatuni Kucha,<fnref n="129" /> Sabanlar Kucha, Patre Kucha and Chaylu Kucha, all of them crooked and very narrow..."<fnref n="130" />

Norashen extended on the left bank of the river Gandzak, north-west of the famous square located in the city's Turkish section. As stated by a record of 1890, "Norashen, bearing a resemblance to a separate village rather than a quarter, is completely isolated from the city, being surrounded by Turks on all four sides."<fnref n="131" />

In the aftermath of the Armeno-Turkish fights between 1905 and 1906, "... 600 houses in Norashen Quarter were levelled with the ground. The local parishioners who had been relegated to refugees scattered

<footnote n="125">125 Lalayan, Yer. Gandzak District. In: "Azgagrakan Handes," vol. 5, Tiflis, 1899, No. 1, p. 298.</footnote>

<footnote n="126">126 "Nor-Dar," 1888, No. 158, p. 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="127">127 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="128">128 "Krunk Hayots Ashkhari," Tpkhis, 1861, pp. 357-358.</footnote>

<footnote n="129">129 The Armenian equivalents for respectively 'Church Quarter,' 'Steep Quarter' and 'Cemetery Quarter' ('kucha' is the equivalent for 'quarter' in everyday vulgar Armenian).</footnote>

<footnote n="130">130 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="131">131 "Nor-Dar," 1890, No. 116, p. 2.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_10.png" /><figcaption>GANDZAK (GYANJA). Koryunapat Quarter (photo 1910s)</figcaption></figure>

here and there, most of them resettling in the Armenian quarter of Kiliskand...”<fnref n="132" />

Norashen had two Armenian churches, Sourb Astvatzatzin and St. Sargis, the latter also serving as a pilgrimage destination. In 1894 Senior Priest Anania Shirakuny served in the quarter.<fnref n="133" />

Yerevantsots, that represented a small Armenian-populated quarter, was situated on the left bank of the river Gandzak, surrounded by Turkish quarters like Norashen: “Yerevantsots Quarter boasts St. Gevorg Church, the Municipal Assembly, Tsiralov’s fine, first-class hotel together with some others, the best shops in the city, etc.”<fnref n="134" />

In consequence of the Armeno-Turkish fights between 1905 and 1906, the quarter was totally reduced to ruins.

The quarters of Norashen and Yerevantsots having been annihilated as already mentioned, their Armenian inhabitants decided to establish another quarter in the neighbourhood of Kilisakyand out of security considerations. The new quarter, founded in 1907, was called Koryunapat in honour of Archimandrite Koryun, who had initiated and supervised its construction. Several years later, however, that clergyman was arrested on charge of adhering to Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun,

and the local authorities renamed the quarter Yekeghetsakan Avan, i.e. Church Township, as translated from Armenian. With this regard, a record states, “After the Armeno-Turkish fights, the residents of different parts of Gandzak established a new township at the extremity of the Armenian section of the city and called it Koryunapat after Archimandrite Koryun. That dignitary was later convicted of affiliation to the Dashnaktsutiun Party and condemned to hard labour. Taking that fact into account, the present-day governor of Yelizavetpol found it inexpedient for the quarter to bear “the criminal’s disparaging name.” He ordered to change it to ‘Yekeghetsakan Avan’ in all the official documents, and all the local representatives of the Government were informed about it.”<fnref n="135" />

Despite numerous measures taken on state level, the original name of the quarter was preserved, this

<footnote n="135">135 “Zakavkazye,” 1911, No. 181, p. 3, in Russian (the original reads, “После армяно-татарской резни на окраине армянской части города образовался из разнаго пришлаго элемента новый поселок, который получил название “Корюнапат”, по имени местнаго архимандрита Корюна. Последний, как известно, судился за принадлежность к партии “дашнакцутюн” и сослан в каторжные работы. В настоящее время Елисаветпольский губернатор признавая неудобным, чтобы часть города носила “позорное имя преступника” сделал распоряжение именовать поселок во всех официальных бумагах “Церковным поселком”, о чем сообщил представителям всех ведомств в губернии”).</footnote>

<footnote n="132">132 National Archives of Armenia, fund 409, list 1, file 2679, p. 8; fund 53, list 1, file 1270, p. 17.</footnote>

<footnote n="133">133 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="134">134 Lalayan, Yer. Gandzak District, p. 297.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_11.png" /><figcaption>GANDZAK (GYANJA). A street in Koryunapat Quarter (photo 1910s)</figcaption></figure>

being attested by a spate of records (such as the one<fnref n="136" /> on providing the quarter with potable water in 1912 at the cost of 20,000 rubles, another<fnref n="137" /> referring to the consecration of the newly-erected chapel of St. Sargsis in 1914 as well as some others regarding the local school and different everyday problems the quarter faced) mentioning it only by the name of *Koryunapat*.

The Turkish-populated quarter of *Mollajalu* was located on the left bank of the river, north of the large Armenian quarter of Kilisakyand.

In 1912 the inhabitants of the colony of *Hay Kovalyovka*, adjoining Gandzak's second residential area, applied to Echmiatzin's Spiritual Consistory with a request to build a chapel in their settlement. They also submitted the project and estimate of the construction of the future sanctuary.<fnref n="138" />

They entered their petition in the following year as well,<fnref n="139" /> but it was only on 11 September 1913 that “the supreme powers granted permission to the Synod to allow the parishioners of Hay Kovalyovka Village of Gandzak Province, through Georgia’s Consistory, to build an Armenian chapel there.”<fnref n="140" />

Below follow the available statistical data regarding the Armenian population of Gandzak quarters (per houses):

<table><thead><tr><th>Quarters</th><th>1804</th><th>1861</th><th>1866</th><th>1888</th><th>1889</th><th>1897</th><th>146</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Chaylu</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>136</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Igirmidort</td><td>28</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jraberd</td><td>15</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Kilisakyand</td><td>792</td><td>750</td><td>881</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Koryunapat</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Norashen</td><td>74</td><td>99</td><td>124</td><td></td><td>150</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Yerevantsots</td><td></td><td>53</td><td>40</td><td></td><td></td><td>31</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Gandzak's main squares were “*Miji Meydan* and *Yekeghetsu*<fnref n="147" /> *Door*.<fnref n="148" /> The former, also known by the name of *Turki Meydan* or simply *Meydan*, was particularly remarkable for its dimensions (it was 150 sazhens (320 metres) long and 50 sazhens (107 metres) wide).<fnref n="149" />

**WaterWork.** The entire system of Gandzak's water service was mainly based on the river of the same

<footnote n="136">136 “Horizon,” 1912, No. 41, p. 3, in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="137">137 National Archives of Armenia, fund 409, list 1, file 2644, p. 22.</footnote>

<footnote n="138">138 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 11674, p. 1.</footnote>

<footnote n="139">139 Idem, p. 2. Also see “Ararat,” 1913, p. 691.</footnote>

<footnote n="140">140 “Ararat,” 1913, pp. 1000-1001. Also see National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 11674, pp. 5, 6.</footnote>

<footnote n="141">141 Collected Acts..., vol. 2, p. 596.</footnote>

<footnote n="142">142 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 4254, p. 68.</footnote>

<footnote n="143">143 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3848, p. 57.</footnote>

<footnote n="144">144 “Nor-Dar,” 1888, No. 158, p. 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="145">145 National Archives of Armenia, fund 35, list 1, file 13, p. 78.</footnote>

<footnote n="146">146 “Ardzagank,” 1897, No. 9, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="147">147 The Armenian equivalent for ‘Church Door’ so called due to its closeness to St. Hovhannes Church.</footnote>

<footnote n="148">148 “Krunk Hayots Ashkhari,” 1861, Tpkhis, pp. 357-358.</footnote>

<footnote n="149">149 *Tkachev, G.*, op. cit., p. 41.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_12.png" /><figcaption>GANDZAK (GYANJA). Meydan Square (photo late 19th cent.)</figcaption></figure>

name: "Between four and five miles above the city,
twelve large channels take source in the river and run
to the city where they are divided into about sixty
branches so that there is one flowing in almost every
yard. The city also has a number of wells, some of fine,
others of salty water. In the early 18th century, when
the city was under the Turkish rule, an underground
canal was built there in order to provide the local peo-
ple with high-quality water. Its water, that was a blend
of the waters of many mountain springs, reached the
local castle, but the canal twice suffered destruc-
tion..."<fnref n="150" />

It was "Mr. Poghos Hamaspyurants who enabled
the city to use its resources of underground water, for
which he was awarded a gold medal by the gracious
Russian emperor..."<fnref n="151" />

The inhabitants of Norashen Quarter received water
through wells.<fnref n="152" />

A certain Nanassian living in Gandzak arranged the
conveyance of water up to the yard of St. Hovhannes
Church with his own means. The baths belonging to
that sanctuary functioned at the expense of that
water.<fnref n="153" />

Thanks to a similar act of charity, in 1912 water was
provided for St. Grigor Lusavorich Church as well:
"Gandzak vicar Levon the Archimandrite received a
note from the spiritual powers to convey the blessing
and gratitude of His Holiness to Gandzak inhabitant,
Mr. Aghajan Ohanian, who had supplied water for the
gavit<fnref n="154" /> of the church of the Holy Enlightener through
his own means."<fnref n="155" />

**Public Institutions.** In 1804 Prince Tsitsianov
appointed a town commandant in Gandzak and estab-
lished a court and some other state institutions there for

the handling of affairs of secondary importance. On 10
January 1869, the statutes of Gandzak's Public
Assembly were ratified.<fnref n="156" />

In the late 19th century, the administrative build-
ings of the city, including the Province Governor's
Office, the Provincial Administration, the Post Office
and a progymnasia, were located on the right bank of
the river Gandzak.<fnref n="157" />

*The Local Baths.* Both the Armenian and Turkish quarters of Gandzak had several baths few of which enjoyed heating facilities (two of them were owned by the Armenians). The old bath-house of the city, that belonged to St. Hovhannes Church, was located north of it: "It is already several years since a bath-house was built in the site of a deserted garden adjoining the churchyard in the north. Erected through the sanctuary's own means, it is rented out to different private individuals..."<fnref n="158" />

According to an archive document, in 1854 the
church spent 2,472 rubles from its budget "for the con-
struction of baths..."<fnref n="159" />

The income yielded by the bath was used to meet
the needs of the parish school of St. Hovhannes Church
so that when it closed in 1892¹⁶⁰ due to its old age, the
Spiritual Council of the sanctuary decided to replace it
by another. The new bath-house was founded in 1894,
its walls being erected up to the arches in the same
year.<fnref n="161" /> According to an estimate of expenditures made
up by Baku-based engineer Michael Hunanian, the
construction required 17,734 rubles 50 kopecks.<fnref n="162" /> By
1895, however, that sum had already been spent, and
another 8,282 rubles was still necessary for the com-
pletion of the project.<fnref n="163" /> A record of 1899 states that
"...Gandzak has two baths with heating facilities: one
belongs to a certain Tziralian, and the other to the
church of St. Hovhannes..."<fnref n="164" />

Between 1899 and 1900, the newly-erected bath-
house was rented out by 2,200 rubles.<fnref n="165" /> From 1901
until 1904, Mahtesy Harutiun Martirossian worked it
by an annual payment of 2,765 rubles.<fnref n="166" /> Remaining
under his control until 1911,<fnref n="167" /> the bath was put up to
auction in November of the same year.<fnref n="168" />

<footnote n="150">150 “Krunk Hayots Ashkhari,” 1861, Tpkhis, p. 361.</footnote>

<footnote n="151">151 *Jalaliants, S.*, idem, part 1, p. 172.</footnote>

<footnote n="152">152 *Lalayan, Yer.*, Gandzak District, p. 301.</footnote>

<footnote n="153">153 “Nor-Dar,” 1902, No. 49, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="154">154 A square (quadrangular) chamber placed in front of the church and on the same axis, destined for both civil and religious use.</footnote>

<footnote n="155">155 “Ararat,” 1912, p. 870.</footnote>

<footnote n="156">156 Ix, idem, No. 245, pp. 1-2.</footnote>

<footnote n="157">157 Ix, idem, No. 243, pp. 1-2.</footnote>

<footnote n="158">158 “Krunk Hayots Ashkhari,” 1861, p. 359.</footnote>

<footnote n="159">159 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3825, p. 75.</footnote>

<footnote n="160">160 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 18, file 245, pp. 1-2.</footnote>

<footnote n="161">161 Idem, pp. 7, 8-9.</footnote>

<footnote n="162">162 Idem, pp. 8-9.</footnote>

<footnote n="163">163 Idem, p. 6.</footnote>

<footnote n="164">164 “Nor-Dar,” 1899, No. 81, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="165">165 National Archives of Armenia, fund ä461, list 1, file 11, pp. 20-21.</footnote>

<footnote n="166">166 Idem, pp. 7-8, 20-21.</footnote>

<footnote n="167">167 National Archives of Armenia, fund 461, list 1, file 26, pp. 4-5.</footnote>

<footnote n="168">168 National Archives of Armenia, fund ä458, list 1, file 122, p. 2.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_13.png" /><figcaption>GANDZAK (GYANJA). Projects of the booths of the caravanserai</figcaption></figure>

The earliest record on the existence of a **hospital** in Gandzak dates back to the mid-19th century. That institution, which was established in the city's Turkish quarter,<fnref n="169" /> was of vital importance not only from the standpoint of curing common diseases but also containing epidemics. Thus, in 1848 and 1857, a formidable epidemic of cholera broke out in the city so that "...the mothers left their children and ran to the mountains."<fnref n="170" /> A similar disaster overtook Gandzak between 25 September and 10 November 1871.<fnref n="171" />

The enlargement of the city and the growth of its population brought forth the necessity of building another hospital there. For that purpose, in 1899 Mkrtich Afanassian<fnref n="172" /> "...donated a large building with a yard and allocated 8,000 rubles to adjust it to a hospital, another 20,000 rubles being earmarked for the treatment of the poor."<fnref n="173" /> By the way, that building was assessed at more than 30,000 rubles.<fnref n="174" />

In 1908 Gandzak's "...Armenian community decided to erect a three-floor building in a plot of land belonging to the church. Its upper storey was intended to house an **Armenian theatre:** the estimate of expenditures totaled 63,000 rubles."<fnref n="175" />

The project that had been worked out by engineer M. P. Ohanjanian was approved on 18 March 1910.<fnref n="176" /> As stated by a record of 1914, "...a three-floor building is being erected now. The stands and their basements have already been completed, but the theatre hall is still under construction. So far 7,828 rubles have been spent on it, with another 55,000 still necessary. The church has allocated 25,000 rubles so that the trustees will have to borrow only 30,000, for which the Parish Assembly has decided to pawn the church bath-house with its yard, and the club with its five shops, namely the church estates located in Uchilishchni and Javjavadze Streets..."<fnref n="177" />

Despite the aforementioned, however, by 1916 the work had not been completed yet.<fnref n="178" />

**The Domains of Echmiatzin in Gandzak.** The monastery of Holy Echmiatzin had two income-yielding estates in Gandzak. One of them was a caravanserai located in the centre of the city, and the other a **vineyard** having its own waterwork and occupying 10 dessiatinas in the west of the city. The Holy See took possession of it in the early 19th century: ...after Gandzak City had been liberated from Javad Khan's dominion under Governor of Caucasia Prince Tsitsianov's leadership in 1804, it shifted into Holy Echmiatzin's control. As attested by some competent people, the necessary documents endorsing that act of donation were sent there in due time.<fnref n="179" />

<footnote n="169">169 "Krunk Hayots Ashkhari," 1861, p. 358.</footnote>

<footnote n="170">170 "Nor-Dar," 1892, No. 106, p. 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="171">171 "Ararat," 1871, p. 470.</footnote>

<footnote n="172">172 Mkrtich Afanassian was a prominent figure between the late 19th and early 20th centuries: suffice it to say that he sponsored the construction of an Armenian school in the yard of Gandzak's St. Grigor Lusavorich Church.</footnote>

<footnote n="173">173 "Nor-Dar," 1900, No. 206, p. 2. Also see "Murj," 1899, No. 6, p. 724.</footnote>

<footnote n="174">174 "Mshak," 1910, No. 127. Also see "Nor-Dar," 1899, No. 112, p. 1; 1902, No. 49, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="175">175 "Ararat," 1908, p. 1046.</footnote>

<footnote n="176">176 For details about that building see National Archives of Armenia, fund Փ461, list 1, file 28, pp. 1-4, 15-17; file 34, pp. 1-12.</footnote>

<footnote n="177">177 National Archives of Armenia, fund Փ56, list 18, file 918, p. 6.</footnote>

<footnote n="178">178 Idem, p. 25.</footnote>

<footnote n="179">179 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 6, file 775, p. 2.</footnote>
Before the Armeno-Turkish fights between 1905 and 1906, the annual income the vineyard yielded to the Holy See amounted to 1,500 rubles. Since it was situated near the Turkish quarters of the city, no Armenians ever wished to work it out of security considerations. In 1910 it was rented out to two Turks by 500 rubles per year, and the new tenants started using it as a kitchen garden.<fnref n="180" />

The *caravanserai* located in the city's first residential area was one of the most profitable domains of Holy Echmiatzin not only in the city but throughout the entire district of Gandzak. It comprised 59 stands, 2 basements, 2 cattle-houses, a rest-room and 3 gates. In 1804 Archbishop Hovhannes bought it from a Muslim for 25 *tumans*,<fnref n="181" /> the bargain being ratified by a legal bill.<fnref n="182" />

In 1897 the caravanserai was in a state of utter dilapidation and in bad need of repairs.<fnref n="183" />

Until the period between 1905 and 1906, some Turks held tenancy of the caravanserai. In the 1910s, it yielded an annual income of 2,500 rubles. Situated in Gandzak's Turkish quarter, it escaped destruction in the days of the Armeno-Turkish clashes.

In the late 1900s, contractor Agha Ali Mahmed Irza oghli built two new rooms with their basements in the caravanserai having previously agreed to cover all the expenses of construction amounting to 550 rubles, if the Holy See committed itself to repairing its stands.<fnref n="184" />

In 1917 the building of the caravanserai lay in decrepitude, and the estimate of expenditures necessary for its repairs was being worked out.<fnref n="185" />

The available data regarding the **governors** of the city, known by the title of *Emir* in the Middle Ages, and *Mayor* between the 19th and 20th centuries, represent the following chronological picture:

Between the ‘40s and ‘50s of the 10th century, *Emir Khelaziz* (Alaziz) is mentioned.<fnref n="186" />

The same source makes reference to *Emir Patlu* in 1074, when Grigor the Master's son received an order to occupy the castles of Baghk and Kapan.<fnref n="187" />

In 1147 “...a certain emir named Rovad served as shahap of Gandzak City...”<fnref n="188" />

Ghahraman Sergei Hovhannissants was famous for his love of antiquities: according to a record of 1880, he spent his own means on conducting excavations in a site called *Arablu Hogh* and located “within

3 versts” of Gandzak. The digging unearthed several tombs as well as some pottery and figurines.<fnref n="189" />

In 1898¹⁹⁰ and 1899¹⁹¹ Gh. S. Hovhannissants worked as a deputy of the Municipal Council.

*Ivan Osipovich Kognovitski* was elected mayor on 12 April 1896 with 32 votes.<fnref n="192" /> One of his opponents, Lazarian, received 30 voices, but the other, Afanassian, refused to accept those given in his behalf.<fnref n="193" />

During the same elections, Accountant of the Municipal Police Khojayan was elected Secretary of the Municipal Council, Hovhannissian and K. S. Tsiralian being elected members of the City Administration.<fnref n="194" />

Kognovitski also held office in 1897,<fnref n="195" /> 1898,<fnref n="196" /> 1899,<fnref n="197" /> 1902¹⁹⁸ and 1904.<fnref n="199" />

**Population.** A spate of historiographical sources the earliest of which date from at least the 11th century mention Gandzak as a populous city where a great number of Armenians lived side by side with the Muslims. By the 12th century, it had grown into one of the largest cities in Transcaucasia, this being proved by the number of victims (230,000) it suffered in the aftermath of the earthquake of 1139.<fnref n="200" />

The Mongol conquest of Gandzak in 1231 took a heavy toll on the city, “many of the local Christians and Persians being taken captive.”<fnref n="201" /> The word ‘Christians’ stands for the Armenians, and the ‘Persians’ indicates the Turkish-speaking Shiite Muslims. Indeed, Gandzak might have been populated by some other nationalities who, probably, formed a small number.

There exist only some scanty records on the number of Gandzak’s population: thus, in 1640 the city comprised 6,000 houses.<fnref n="202" /> According to a report (1769) by Georgian Prince Artem Andronikov, “...the local Christians include a great number of Armenians...”<fnref n="203" />

<footnote n="180">180 Idem, p. 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="181">181 A Persian monetary unit.</footnote>

<footnote n="182">182 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 6, file 775, p. 8.</footnote>

<footnote n="183">183 National Archives of Armenia, fund P-56, list 18, file 405, pp. 1-2.</footnote>

<footnote n="184">184 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 6, file 775, pp. 6-7.</footnote>

<footnote n="185">185 National Archives of Armenia, fund P-56, list 18, file 1143, p. 1.</footnote>

<footnote n="186">186 Vardan Vardapet, p. 100.</footnote>

<footnote n="187">187 Idem, p. 146.</footnote>

<footnote n="188">188 Movsēs Dasxurançi: Appendix by Mkhitar Gosh, p. 354.</footnote>

<footnote n="189">189 “Meghu Hayastani,” 1880, No. 50, p. 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="190">190 Caucasian Calendar for 1899, p. 180.</footnote>

<footnote n="191">191 Caucasian Calendar for 1900, Tiflis, 1899, p. 190.</footnote>

<footnote n="192">192 “Murj,” 1896, Nos. 3-4, p. 523.</footnote>

<footnote n="193">193 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="194">194 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="195">195 Caucasian Calendar for 1898, p. 171.</footnote>

<footnote n="196">196 Caucasian Calendar for 1899, p. 179.</footnote>

<footnote n="197">197 Caucasian Calendar for 1900, p. 190.</footnote>

<footnote n="198">198 Caucasian Calendar for 1903, p. 198.</footnote>

<footnote n="199">199 Caucasian Calendar for 1905, Tiflis, 1904, p. 205.</footnote>

<footnote n="200">200 **Ibn-al-Asir**, p. 250.</footnote>

<footnote n="201">201 Brief Chronicles, vol. 1, p. 26.</footnote>

<footnote n="202">202 **Evliya Chelebi**, p. 86. It is generally assumed that during the last period of Shah Abbas' reign, the city had "...40,000 valorous inhabitants who were engaged in crafts..." ("Krunk Hayots Ashkhari," 1861, p. 358).</footnote>

<footnote n="203">203 The 18th-century Decrees and Other Historical Documents Relating to Georgia, vol. 1 (1768 to 1774). Edited by **Tsagareli, A. A.** St. Petersburg, 1891, p. 434, in Russian (the original reads, "...в нем народа християнь многое число армянскаго, все места плодовиты, тамо правитель хан самовладетельной...").</footnote>
After Gandzak had joined Russia in 1804, the city had only 1,015 houses,<fnref n="204" /> with its male citizens totaling 5,079.<fnref n="205" />

Gandzak's population underwent the following numerical changes between the 19th and 20th centuries:

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Houses</th><th>Inhabitants</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1835<sup>206</sup></td><td rowspan="5">2,515</td><td>16,200</td></tr><tr><td>1849<sup>207</sup></td><td>12,996</td></tr><tr><td>1851<sup>208</sup></td><td>13,000</td></tr><tr><td>1852<sup>209</sup></td><td>10,938</td></tr><tr><td>1865<sup>210</sup></td><td>3,080</td><td>15,081</td></tr><tr><td>1868<sup>211</sup></td><td></td><td>16,039</td></tr><tr><td>1874<sup>212</sup></td><td></td><td>18,505</td></tr><tr><td>1884<sup>213</sup></td><td></td><td>18,976</td></tr><tr><td>1887<sup>214</sup></td><td></td><td>20,294</td></tr><tr><td>1896<sup>215</sup></td><td></td><td>27,206</td></tr><tr><td>1897<sup>216</sup></td><td></td><td>33,090</td></tr><tr><td>1906<sup>217</sup></td><td></td><td>36,895</td></tr><tr><td>1908<sup>218</sup></td><td></td><td>46,297</td></tr><tr><td>1914<sup>219</sup></td><td></td><td>59,586</td></tr><tr><td>1916<sup>220</sup></td><td></td><td>57,731</td></tr><tr><td>1920/21<sup>221</sup></td><td></td><td>42,500</td></tr><tr><td>1921<sup>222</sup></td><td></td><td>43,502</td></tr><tr><td>1923<sup>223</sup></td><td></td><td>38,880</td></tr><tr><td>1926<sup>224</sup></td><td></td><td>136,000</td></tr><tr><td>1931<sup>225</sup></td><td></td><td>76,000</td></tr><tr><td>1939<sup>226</sup></td><td></td><td>99,000</td></tr><tr><td>1959<sup>227</sup></td><td></td><td>136,000</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><tr><td>1970<sup>228</sup></td><td>190,200</td></tr><tr><td>1979<sup>229</sup></td><td>232,000</td></tr><tr><td>1980<sup>230</sup></td><td>237,000</td></tr></table>

Below follow the available statistical data on the number of the local *Armenian population* between the 19th and 20th centuries:

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Houses</th><th>Males</th><th>Females</th><th>Total</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1804<sup>231</sup></td><td rowspan="5">909</td><td>1,327</td><td>967</td><td>2,294</td></tr><tr><td>1822<sup>232</sup></td><td>828</td><td>2,239</td><td>1,759</td><td>3,998</td></tr><tr><td>1835<sup>233</sup></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>5,100</td></tr><tr><td>1839<sup>234</sup></td><td>957</td><td>2,397</td><td>2,150</td><td>4,547</td></tr><tr><td>1841<sup>235</sup></td><td></td><td>2,412</td><td>2,164</td><td>4,576</td></tr><tr><td>1845<sup>236</sup></td><td></td><td>2,316</td><td>2,129</td><td>4,445</td></tr><tr><td>1847<sup>237</sup></td><td></td><td>2,334</td><td>2,116</td><td>4,450</td></tr><tr><td>1849<sup>238</sup></td><td></td><td>2,531</td><td>2,393</td><td>4,924</td></tr><tr><td>1850<sup>239</sup></td><td rowspan="7">986</td><td>2,642</td><td>2,551</td><td>5,193</td></tr><tr><td>1852<sup>240</sup></td><td>2,636</td><td>2,608</td><td>5,244</td></tr><tr><td>1853<sup>241</sup></td><td>2,650</td><td>2,442</td><td>5,092</td></tr><tr><td>1854<sup>242</sup></td><td>2,659</td><td>2,470</td><td>5,129</td></tr><tr><td>1857<sup>243</sup></td><td>2,749</td><td>2,511</td><td>5,260</td></tr><tr><td>1858<sup>244</sup></td><td>2,754</td><td>2,521</td><td>5,275</td></tr><tr><td>1860<sup>245</sup></td><td>2,783</td><td>2,524</td><td>5,307</td></tr><tr><td>1861<sup>246</sup></td><td rowspan="4">902</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1863<sup>247</sup></td><td>950</td><td>2,780</td><td>2,560</td><td>5,340</td></tr><tr><td>1864<sup>248</sup></td><td></td><td>2,791</td><td>2,574</td><td>5,365</td></tr><tr><td>1865<sup>249</sup></td><td></td><td>2,800</td><td>2,578</td><td>5,378</td></tr><tr><td>1866<sup>250</sup></td><td rowspan="3">1,045</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1870<sup>251</sup></td><td></td><td>3,013</td><td>2,689</td><td>5,702</td></tr><tr><td>1872<sup>252</sup></td><td></td><td>5,200</td><td>4,108</td><td>9,308</td></tr><tr><td>1873<sup>253</sup></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>7,090</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>6,506</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="204">204 Collected Acts..., vol. 4, p. 9.</footnote>

<footnote n="205">205 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="206">206 Dubrovin, N. Transcaucasia between 1803 and 1806. St. Petersburg, 1866, p. 149, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="207">207 Caucasian Calendar for 1850, p. 48.</footnote>

<footnote n="208">208 Caucasian Calendar for 1852, Tiflis, 1851, p. 82.</footnote>

<footnote n="209">209 Caucasian Calendar for 1853, p. 117.</footnote>

<footnote n="210">210 Voronov, N. A. Collection of Statistical Data on Caucasia, vol. 1, chapter 1, part 4, Tiflis, 1869, p. 74, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="211">211 Caucasian Calendar for 1870, pp. 406-407.</footnote>

<footnote n="212">212 Caucasian Calendar for 1879, Tiflis, 1878, p. 328.</footnote>

<footnote n="213">213 Caucasian Calendar for 1886, p. 124.</footnote>

<footnote n="214">214 Yelizavetpol Province: A Statistical Survey Based on the Family Lists of Caucasia's Population (henceforward: A Statistical Survey...). Tiflis, 1888, p. 76, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="215">215 Caucasian Calendar for 1898, pp. 28-29.</footnote>

<footnote n="216">216 Caucasian Calendar for 1905, p. 22.</footnote>

<footnote n="217">217 Caucasian Calendar for 1907, p. 322.</footnote>

<footnote n="218">218 Caucasian Calendar for 1910, Tiflis, 1909, p. 251.</footnote>

<footnote n="219">219 Caucasian Calendar for 1915, Tiflis, 1914, p. 123.</footnote>

<footnote n="220">220 Caucasian Calendar for 1917, Tiflis, 1916, pp. 190-193.</footnote>

<footnote n="221">221 SAE, vol. 5, Baku, 1981, p. 397.</footnote>

<footnote n="222">222 Grand Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Moscow, 1929, p. 642, all volumes in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="223">223 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="224">224 SAE, vol. 5, p. 397.</footnote>

<footnote n="225">225 Brief Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Moscow, 1933, p. 174, in Russian.</footnote>

<footnote n="226">226 SAE, vol. 5, p. 397.</footnote>

<footnote n="227">227 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="228">228 Ibid.</footnote>

<footnote n="229">229 Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, vol. 5, Yerevan, 1979, p. 462, all volumes in Armenian.</footnote>

<footnote n="230">230 SAE, vol. 5, p. 397.</footnote>

<footnote n="231">231 Collected Acts..., vol. 2, p. 596.</footnote>

<footnote n="232">232 National Archives of Armenia, fund 332, list 1, file 866, p. 1.</footnote>

<footnote n="233">233 Dubrovin, N., idem, p. 149.</footnote>

<footnote n="234">234 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3800, pp. 14-26.</footnote>

<footnote n="235">235 Idem, file 3802, pp. 168-169.</footnote>

<footnote n="236">236 Idem, file 3811, pp. 4-5.</footnote>

<footnote n="237">237 Idem file 3814, pp. 95-96.</footnote>

<footnote n="238">238 Idem, file 3818, pp. 95-96. According to another statistical source, the Armenians totaled 4,985 (Caucasian Calendar for 1850, p. 49).</footnote>

<footnote n="239">239 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 2596, pp. 107-108.</footnote>

<footnote n="240">240 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3819, pp. 105-106.</footnote>

<footnote n="241">241 Idem, file 2743, pp. 16-18.</footnote>

<footnote n="242">242 Idem, file 3825, pp. 68-69.</footnote>

<footnote n="243">243 Idem, file 3830, pp. 74-75.</footnote>

<footnote n="244">244 Idem, file 3831, pp. 41-42.</footnote>

<footnote n="245">245 Idem, file 3833, pp. 108-109.</footnote>

<footnote n="246">246 National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 4254, p. 68.</footnote>

<footnote n="247">247 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3843, pp. 15-16; fund 56, list 1, file 4254, p. 76.</footnote>

<footnote n="248">248 National Archives of Armenia, fund 53, list 1, file 3846, pp. 23-24.</footnote>

<footnote n="249">249 Idem, file 3848, p. 50.</footnote>

<footnote n="250">250 Idem, file 3848, p. 57.</footnote>

<footnote n="251">251 Idem, file 3857, pp. 49-50.</footnote>

<footnote n="252">252 Idem, file 3872, pp. 62-63.</footnote>

<footnote n="253">253 Idem, file 3862, pp. 58-59.</footnote>