Shahumian
Encyclopedia
The Shahumian Region is a disputed region, formerly a district of Azerbaijan SSR
outside of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
. Before the Nagorno-Karabakh War
of the 1990s, the region had a substantial Armenian population. The eastern part of the territory remains under the control of Azerbaijan
and is incorporated into Goranboy Rayon, but the area is claimed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
.
In antiquity the territory was a part of Artsakh
; in the Middle Ages it was part of the principality of Khachen; in the 17-18th centuries the territory formed part of Melik-Abovian dynasty's melik
dom of Gulistan
, with its capital in the fortress of that name. During Soviet times in the area was renamed after the Armenian Bolshevik
Stepan Shahumyan
, its administrative center taking the same name.
By the 1990s the population of Shaumian district was almost exclusively Armenian by language and ethnicity, though the area was not included within the boundaries of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
by the Soviet Union
.
In the spring-summer of 1991, Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev
ordered Operation Ring
in which the Soviet Red Army surrounded some of the area's Armenian villages (notably Getashen
and Martunashen
) and violently deported their inhabitants to Armenia.
Approximately 17,000 Armenians living in Shahumyan's twenty-three villages were deported out of the region.
In December 1991 with the Soviet Union imploding, Shaumian was claimed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and became the focus for considerable fighting. This reached a climax in summer 1992 when most of the area was retaken by the Azerbaijan army. Damage was severe and the Armenian population fled.
Today Shaumian town, still noticeably war-damaged, has been renamed Aşağı Ağcakənd and partly re-populated by ethnic Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons
Azerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
outside of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast within the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR, mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians and created on July 7, 1923. According to Karl R. DeRouen it was created as an enclave so that a narrow strip of land would separate it from Armenia proper....
. Before the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
of the 1990s, the region had a substantial Armenian population. The eastern part of the territory remains under the control of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and is incorporated into Goranboy Rayon, but the area is claimed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , or Artsakh Republic is a de facto independent republic located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
History
Artsakh
Artsakh was the tenth province of the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until 387 AD and afterwards a region of Caucasian Albania from 387 to the 7th century. From the 7th to 9th centuries, it fell under Arab control...
; in the Middle Ages it was part of the principality of Khachen; in the 17-18th centuries the territory formed part of Melik-Abovian dynasty's melik
Melik
Мelik , from malik ) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as melikdoms encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhchivan, Sevan, Lori, Artsakh, Tabriz and Syunik starting from the Late Middle Ages until the end of the nineteenth century...
dom of Gulistan
Gülüstan, Goranboy
Gülüstan is a village in the Goranboy Rayon of Azerbaijan. The village forms part of the municipality of Buzluq....
, with its capital in the fortress of that name. During Soviet times in the area was renamed after the Armenian Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Gevorgi Shahumyan was a Bolshevist Russian communist politician and revolutionary active throughout the Caucasus. Shahumyan was an ethnic Armenian and his role as a leader of the Russian revolution in the Caucasus earned him the nickname of the "Caucasian Lenin", a reference to the leader...
, its administrative center taking the same name.
By the 1990s the population of Shaumian district was almost exclusively Armenian by language and ethnicity, though the area was not included within the boundaries of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast within the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR, mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians and created on July 7, 1923. According to Karl R. DeRouen it was created as an enclave so that a narrow strip of land would separate it from Armenia proper....
by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In the spring-summer of 1991, Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
ordered Operation Ring
Operation Ring
Operation Ring was the code name given to the May 1991 military operation conducted by Soviet Internal Security Forces and OMON units in the region of Shahumyan, north of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR...
in which the Soviet Red Army surrounded some of the area's Armenian villages (notably Getashen
Getashen
Getashen or Getachen may refer to:*Getashen, Armavir, Armenia*Getishen, Armenia*Getazat, Armenia*Kirants, Armenia*Nerkin Getashen, Armenia*Verin Getashen, Armenia*Çaykənd, Goygol, Azerbaijan...
and Martunashen
Martunashen
Martunashen is a village in the Goygol Rayon of Azerbaijan....
) and violently deported their inhabitants to Armenia.
Approximately 17,000 Armenians living in Shahumyan's twenty-three villages were deported out of the region.
In December 1991 with the Soviet Union imploding, Shaumian was claimed by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and became the focus for considerable fighting. This reached a climax in summer 1992 when most of the area was retaken by the Azerbaijan army. Damage was severe and the Armenian population fled.
Today Shaumian town, still noticeably war-damaged, has been renamed Aşağı Ağcakənd and partly re-populated by ethnic Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani SSR was the first republic of Soviet Union that faced the problem of refugees. Those people were the Azerbaijani inhabitants of Armenia.-Refugees from Armenia:...