Armavir, Armenie

**Armavir** () is a ceety locatit in wastren Armenie. The 1989 census reportit that the ceety haed a tot population o 46,900, but this haes declined considerably: the 2001 census coontit 32,034; estimate for 2008 is 26,387. It is the caipital o the Armavir Province. The ceety o Armavir in Roushie, foondit bi Armenies in the 19t century, wis namit efter this ceety. The ceety wis kent as **Hoktemberyan**, **Hoktemberian**, or **Oktemberyan**  durin the Soviet era up tae 1992, an **[[Battle o Sardarapat|Sardarabad]]**, **Sardarapat** or **Sardar-Apad** afore 1932.

## History
### Antiquity
Armavir wis inhabitit frae the 5t-6t millennium B.C. onwairds. Various obsidian instruments, bronze objects an pottery hae been foond frae that period. Armavir wis regardit as an auncient caipital o Armenie, said tae hae been foondit bi King Aramais in 1980 B.C. King Argishti I o Urartu biggit a fortress in the aurie an namit it Argishtikhinili. In 331 B.C., when Armenie unner the Orontid Dynasty assertit its unthirldom frae the Achaemenid Empire, Armavir wis chosen as the caipital o Armenie. Slabs o clay hae been foond frae the Achaemenid period written in the Elamite leid concernin episodes o the Gilgamesh epic. Various inscriptions in Hellenistic Greek carvit aroond the third century B.C., hae been foond, includin poetry frae Hesiod, lines frae Euripides, a leet o Macedonie months, an names o Orontid Kings.

Accordin tae the Armenie historian Movses Khorenatsi (fift century A.D.), Armavir wis the first caipital o the kinrick o Armenie (awtho, frae a geografical staundpoint, the first caipital o Armenie wis Van). Movses haes preservit the tradeetion that whan King Valarsace the Parthian settled in Armavir (ca. 149 B.C.), he biggit a temple thare an askit his ryal coronant an *aspet* (knight) Shambu Bagarat (Bagratuni, tae gie up his releegion an wirship idols. But Shambu refused tae comply. Movses relates that when King Tigranes II (whom he places on the throne frae 90-36 B.C.) an aw, in order tae tak revenge on Queen Cleopatra o Egyp, sent an expedeetion tae Palestine, he carriet a great nummer o Jews intae captivity, an settled them in Armavir an in Vardges. Movses goes on tae state that later Jews wur transferred frae Armavir tae Yervandashat; an unner King Artashes I, wur again transferred intae the new caipital Artashat. When King Sapor II o Persie invadit Armenie (360-370 A.D.), he led awa frae Artashat 30,000 Armenie an 9,000 Jewish faimilies, the latter brocht bi King Tigranes frae Palestine, an then completely destroyed the ceety.

Durin Antiquity, Armavir wis taken bi the Seleucids, Parthians, Roman Empire, Sassanids an Byzantine Empire afore it wis taken ower bi the Arabs in 645.

### Medieval Armavir
Arabic sovereignty lastit till the first quairter o the nint century. The Sajids managit this region in the 9t century. Efter that, the Georgie Bagrationi dynasty managit this region. The Byzantine Empire reconquered this region in 1045 but this region passed tae Seljuk Turks in 1064, who renamit the ceety Sardarabad. This region wis passed amang Georgies an Armenies, Eldiguzids an Khwarezmid Empire efter Seljuk's decline. Mongols captured this region in 1239 an foondit Ilkhanid state in 1256. This region wis passed tae Chupanids in 1353, Jalayirids in 1357 an Kara Koyunlu in 1388. Tamerlane captured this region in 1400. Qara Yusuf reteuk this region in 1407 frae Timurid Empire. Housomeivver Shah Rukh who wis Timurid ruler captured this region in 1421 an in 1429. Jahan Shah who wis Kara Koyunlu ruler captured it in 1447.

### Ottoman-Persie rule
Kara Koyunlu's sovereignty lastit till Uzun Hasan, ruler o Ak Koyunlu, conquered it in 1468. Ak Koyunlu's sovereignty lastit till 1501, Ismail I's conquest. Ismail I wis the foonder o Safavid dynasty. This region wis temporarily occupee'd bi Ottoman Empire in 1514, in 1534, in 1548 an in 1553. It wis then conquered bi Ottoman Empire in 1585 but retaken bi Abbas I o Persie who wis Safavid ruler in 1603. It wis occupee'd bi Ottomans atween 1635–1636 an 1724–1736. At the faw o the Safavid Empire, Armavir became pairt o the Erivan Khanate.

### Roushie rule
The Rousho-Persie War (1826-1828) began due tae Persian demand tae reconquer the territories lost tae Roushie atween 1804 an 1813. At first, the Persies repulsed the Roushies frae the Sooth Caucasus in 1826. Housomeivver, Roushie general an commander o the Roushie airmy, Ivan Paskevich, reconquered Sooth Caucasus an extendit its territories tae include the Erivan Khanate in 1827.

This region formally passed frae Persie tae Roushie sovereignty efter the Treaty o Turkmenchay in 1828. Armavir became the Sardarabad uyezd o the Armenie Oblast, which itsel became the Erivan Govrenorate in 1840. This situation lastit til the Februar Revolution in 1917.

### 1917 revolutions an Armenie-Ottoman War
Efter the Februar Revolution, the region wis unner the authority o Special Transcaucasie Committee o the Roushie Proveesional Govrenment an subsequently the short-livit Transcaucasie Democratic Federative Republic. When the TDFR wis dissolved in May 1918, this region passed tae Democratic Republic o Armenie, haein a conspicuous role in Armenie history due tae Battle o Sardarapat. Thare, the Armenie forces stavit aff extermination an repulsed the Ottoman Airmy whose campaign in the Caucasus wis aimit at occupyin Yerevan.

Housomeivver, the Ottomans did occupee maist o the Erivan Govrenorate, forcin the Armenies tae sign the Treaty o Batum in Juin 1918. The Ottoman Airmy retreatit efter signin Airmistice o Mudros at the end o 1918 an sae Sardarapat returned tae Democratic Republic o Armenie in November 1918.

### Soviet Armavir

The Soviet Union's 11t Red Airmy invadit the republic on 29 November 1920. The Soviets teuk Yerevan 4 Dizember 1920 efter the signin o Treaty o Alexandropol. This treaty wis replacit bi Treaty o Kars. The Soviets proclaimit Armenie a Soviet Socialist Republic unner the leadership o Aleksandr Myasnikyan. It wis tae be includit intae the newly creatit Transcaucasie Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1922.

The modren ceety o Armavir wis foondit bi the Soviet govrenment on 26 Julie 1931 an cried Sardarapat. In 1935, the name o the ceety wis chyngit frae Sardarapat tae Hoktemberyan (forby kent as Oktemberyan).

Twa years efter Armenie declared unthirldom frae the USSR, in 1992, the name o the ceety wis revertit back tae Armavir.

## Sports
FC Armavir wis the fitbaa club who represented the ceety durin the Soviet years. It wis foondit in 1965 as **FC Sevan Hoktemberian Armavir**. Efter the collapse o the Soviet Union, FC Armavir pairticipatit in the Armenie Leagues mainly throughoot the 1990s. Syne 2003, the club haes no been playin professional fitbaa an is currently inactive. The club uised tae play its matches in the "Hobelyanakan Stadium o Armavir" (Jubilee Stadium) wi a capacity o 10,000 spectators. Nouadays, the stadium serves the youth teams o Armavir fitbaa schuil.

The ceety haes a chess-trainin schuil as well, for the childer.

## Twin ceeties
* Deir ez-Zor, Sirie syne October 2010.

## Notes

## Further readin
* Tirac'yan, Georg. "Armawir." Translated frae Armenian bi Aida Tcharkhtchian an edited bi Jean-Pierre Mahé. *[[Revue des Études Arméniennes]]*. vol. 27, 1998–2000, pp.&nbsp;135–300.

## Freemit airtins
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*World Gazeteer: Armenia &ndash; Warld-Gazetteer.com
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