Goght'n ( hy, Գողթն; also mentioned in sources as Goght'an, Գողթան, and spelled Gołt'n by modern scholars) was a canton (''gavaṛ'') located in the province of

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

in historical Armenia. Its borders roughly corresponded to the modern Ordubad Rayon of Nakhichevan,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. Goght'n was well known for winemaking, the quality of its grape and fruit orchards. The region also was the birthplace of a number of prominent Armenian ''

gusans Gusans ( hy, գուսան; Parthian for poet-musician or minstrel) were creative and performing artists - singers, instrumentalists, dancers, storytellers, and professional folk actors in public theaters of Parthia and ancient and medieval Arme ...

'' (minstrels). The ancestors of the renowned twentieth-century Armenian composer and

music ethnologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Komitas Vardapet Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...

were originally from Goght'n. Some of the region's oldest towns and villages have survived to this day, including

Jugha Julfa ( az, Culfa)), formerly Jugha (Armenian: Ջուղա, also transliterated as ''Djugha''), is a city and the capital of the Julfa District of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. Julfa is separated by the Aras River from its na ...

(now Julfa) and Ordvat' (modern-day Ordubad).

History

Early to medieval

According to

Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...

, King Tigran Ervanduni (of the

Orontid The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after ...

line) of Armenia, settled his wife and his daughters in an area to the east of ( Ararat) and up to Goght'n, in Tambat, Oskiokh, Djaghguyn and other settlements giving them also three towns – Khram,

and Khoshakunik, and on the other bank of the river ( Arax) all the fields from Ajanakan up to the Nakhchavan Fortress. Mesrop Mashtots', the inventor of the

Armenian alphabet The Armenian alphabet ( hy, Հայոց գրեր, ' or , ') is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian language, Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and wikt:ecclesiastical, ecclesiast ...

, is assumed to have lived and worked in the town of Msrvanis (Mesropavan) during his stay in Goght'n. The Armenian princes of Goght'n probably had branched off from the family in Syunik' and had their own regional bishop. The second ''Gahnamak'', or Military List, notes that the princes were expected during time of war to furnish 500 cavalry to help defend the Kingdom of Armenia's southern gate (that is, its southern border). The seventh-century Armenian atlas ''Ashkharhats'uyts mentions Goght'n as the 31st of the 35 districts of Vaspurakan. Its last hereditary Armenian prince, Vahan, who had been brought up in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

as a Muslim, converted back to his Christian faith after returning to Armenia. For this act of

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...

, he was seized by the Muslims and sent to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, where he was tortured and executed in 737. Sometime in the early tenth century, during the tenure of the

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan ( fa, آذربایجان, ''Āzarbāijān'' ; az-Arab, آذربایجان, ''Āzerbāyjān'' ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq, Turkey, the Nakhchivan ...

Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj, Goght'n fell to a Muslim emir called, by the contemporary Armenian historian Hovhannes Draskhanakertts'i, Agarene, probably from the Arab Shaybāni tribe. Goght'n may have been referred to at this time as "Kilit" by the Arabs. When the fortress of Yernjak fell to Yusuf in 912/14, Yusuf awarded it to the emir, whose successors sought to expand their landholdings through the course of the tenth century. The city of Nakhchavan was taken, though by the second half of the ninth century the emir of Goght'n had lost it to the Bagratuni kings of Armenia. The emirs of Goght'n and Armenians kings continued to struggle over control of the Arax River Valley until King Gagik I (r. 989-1020) reduced them at end of the tenth century. It was later overrun by the Seljuks, passing under the control of the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

and later

Safavid Persia Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

. Anon. ''Գողթն'' (Goght'n). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1977, vol. 3, p. 151.

Early modern to modern

In 1604, the region was depopulated by

Shah Abbas I Abbas I ( fa, ; 27 January 157119 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the 5th Safavid Shah (king) of Iran, and is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty. He was the third so ...

and its Armenian inhabitants deported to Iran. Goght'n became a part of the ''

khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

'' of Nakhichevan in the mid-1700s and was divided into five districts (''mahals''): Ordubad, Agulis, Dasht, Belev, and Chananab. In 1752, it was attacked and subjected by Azat Khan. In the early twentieth century, Goght'an was the name given to the subregion of Sharur-Nakhichevan by the government of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...

. Its administrative center was at Agulis, with commissar Ashot Melik-Musian and militia chief Movses Giulnazarian at its head. The region suffered intense fighting during a brief conflict between Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in the latter half of 1919, including the destruction of Agulis in December by a Muslim mob.

Monuments

A number of historical Armenian churches were once found in Goght'n. These included Basilica of St. James in Shoṛot', the Monastery of St. Thomas the Apostle in Upper Agulis, Holy Mother of God Church in Ts'gnay, and Monastery of St. Mesrop in Msrvanis.

History

Early to medieval

Early modern to modern

Monuments

Notes

Further reading