Zangezur uezd

For other uses, see Zangezur (disambiguation).

Zangezursky Uyezd Зангезурский уезд
Coat of arms
Country	Russia
Political status	Uyezd
Region	Caucasus
Established	1868
Abolished	1921
Area
• Total	7,772 km2 (3,001 sq mi)
Population  (1897)
• Total	137,871
• Density	18/km2 (46/sq mi)

Karabakh Khanate on a map of 1823

Zangezur Uyezd (Russian: Зангезурский уезд, transliterated Zangezursky Uyezd) was one of the uyezds (administrative units) of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire with its center in Geryusi from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1921 by Soviet authorities.

After the establishment of the Soviet rule over the Southern Caucasus, the uyezd's territory was divided between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan: Armenia acquired the predominantly Armenian-populated Sisian, Goris, Kapan, and Meghri districts and Azerbaijan took Lachin, Kubately, and Zangelan, where the population was mostly Muslim.

Geography

Elisabethpol Governorate consisted of Yelizavetpolsky, Nukhisky, Shushinsky, Zangezursky, Kazakhsky, Areshsky, Dzhebrailsky, and Dzhevanshirsky Uyezds. Zangezursky Uyezd was located in the southwest of Elisabethpol Governorate bordering its Dzhevanshirsky Uyezd on the north, Dzhebrailsky and Shushinsky Uyezds on the east, Persian Empire on the south, and Erivan Governorate on the west. The area covered 6,829.7 square verst.

Almost all of the area is mountainous with many gorges and valleys of Lesser Caucasus mountain range. The altitude ranges from 10,000 feet to 12,855 feet at Mount Kapudzhukh, a range dividing Elisabethpol from Erivan Governorate. The rivers in Zangezursky Uyezd are located within the Aras River basin. Bergushad (Bazarchay), Chaundur-chay, Basut-chay, Megri-chay played an important role in irrigation system of the uyezd. Gorysy (Goris) served as the uyezd center.

History

During the Armenian rule, it was part of the Armenian province of Syunik, province of Vayots Dzor and Armenian melikates until the middle of the 18th century while at times being seen as part of the Persian Empire as well. Between the 1770s and the territory's transfer to the Russian Empire in 1813, the uyezd was part of Karabakh Khanate.

In the 1850s, Zangezursky Uyezd was part of Shemakha (later known as Baku Governorate). With the establishment of Elisabethpol Governorate on February 25, 1868, Zangezursky Uyezd was established from parts of Shushinsky Uyezd, Baku Governorate, and Ordubadsky Uyezd of Erivan Governorate. After the fall of Russian Empire, Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Zangezur became a subject to Armenian-Azerbaijani territorial disputes. Once the British forces took over Baku in 1918, General William Thomson, who represented the Allied Powers, recognized Nagorno Karabakh along with Zangezursky Uyezd as Azerbaijani territory. He confirmed the appointment by the Government of Azerbaijan of Khosrov bey Sultanov as the Governor of the Karabakh General-Governorship, which included these two regions. In 1919, the Armenian Assembly of Nagorno Karabakh recognized the authority of Azerbaijan. After establishment of Soviet rule in the region, Zangezur was transferred to Armenia from Azerbaijan SSR as a "symbol of socialist friendship" by the Kremlin.

Population

According to census held in 1897, the population of uyezd was 137,871, of which 71,206 were Tatars (nowadays known as Azerbaijanis), 63,622 were Armenians, 1,807 Kurds, 1,236 Russians and other minorities. In 1918-1920, the ethnic proportions of the region changed. General Andranik Ozanian brought 30,000 Armenian refugees from \Ottoman Empire, mainly from Mush and Bitlis. Part of the Armenian refugees from Anatolia remained in Zangezur, whereas many others settled in regions of Erivan and Vayots Dzor, where they took the place of the expelled Turkic population in order to make Armenia's key regions ethnically homogeneous.Donald Bloxham (2005). The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 103-105. 9780199226887.</ref>According to statistical data from the Caucasian Ethnographical Collection of Academy of Sciences of the USSR, "the settlements of Azerbaijani population in Armenia had become empty. The policy of 'cleansing the country from outsiders' practiced by the Dashnaks targeted the Muslim population, especially those who had been driven out from the Novobayazetsky, Erivansky, Echmiadzin and Sherur-Daralegzsky districts."

Hereinafter the data collection states:

In 1897, out of the 137,9 thousand people living in Zangezursky Uyezd, 63,6 thousand was Armenian (46,2%), 71,2 thousand was Azerbaijani (51,7%), 1,8 thousand was Kurdish (1,3%). According to agricultural census of 1922, the whole population of Zangezur was 63,5 thousand people, including 59,9 thousand Armenians (89,5%), 6,5 thousand Azerbaijanis (10,2%) and 200 Russians (0,3%)

Soviet Armenian historian and politician Bagrat Boryan charged that the ARF had not established state authority for the administrative needs of Armenia, but for the “extermination of the Muslim population and looting of their property”.Russian-American historian Firuz Kazemzadeh claims that "massacres and pillage of the Muslim population reached tremendous proportions" in the territories reoccupied by the Armenian Army after the retreat of the Turkish Army.

There were 326 villages. The population was engaged primarily in agricultural farming, gardening, sericulture, cotton-growing, cattle-breeding and development of copper fields. The lowland area was used for growing cotton, which produced 20,000 pounds of cotton per year. Vineyards covered as much as 4,494 desyatinas of land, producing 106,860 lbs of grape. Nearly 3,728 lbs of silk pods were being collected in 1890. According to statistical data from 1891, there were 9,784 horses, 83,000 of cattle, 780 buffalos, 133,648 sheep, 4,600 goats, 7,008 donkeys, 1,505 mules.