The Imarat Garvand cemetery ( az, İmarət Qərvənd qəbristanlığı), or simply as the Imarat cemetery ( az, İmarət qəbristanlığı) is a royal cemetery and a complex located in Aghdam,

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 ...

. It contains the graves of some of the Azerbaijani and Turkic nobility of the

Karabakh Khanate The Karabakh Khanate was a semi-independent Turkic peoples, Turkic Khanates of the Caucasus, Caucasian khanate on the territories of modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan established in about 1748 under Safavid dynasty, Iranian suzerainty in Karaba ...

History

The Mausoleum of

Panah Ali Khan Panah Ali Khan Javanshir (, ; 1693 – 1759 or 1763) was the founder and first ruler of the Karabakh Khanate under Persian suzerainty. Ancestry Panah Ali Khan was from the Sarijali branch of the clan of Javanshir, who with their associate clan o ...

(), the founder of the

, and the first khan of

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura (Caspia ...

, dates back to the 18th-19th centuries and is located in the complex. Next to the tomb there is another one which belongs to Panah Ali's son,

Ibrahim Khalil Khan Ibrahim Khalil khan Javanshir (1732–1806) was an Azerbaijani Turkic khan of the Karabakh Khanate from the Javanshir family, who succeeded his father Panah-Ali khan Javanshir as the ruler of the khanate. Early life He was born in c. 1732 in ...

(). Panahali khan's tomb has an entrance gate. The entrance door has an arched structure. The tomb has a polygonal conical plan structure hosting inside the grave of the deceased. There is also a bust of

Khurshidbanu Natavan Khurshidbanu Natavan ( az, خورشیدبانو ناتوان / Xurşidbanu Natəvan; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in ei ...

in front of the tombs.

Modern period

The Armenian forces captured Aghdam in July 1993, during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

. The heavy fighting forced the entire population to flee eastwards, making Aghdam a ''

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

''. As part of an

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting o ...

that ended the

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involving Azerbai ...

, the town and its surrounding district were returned to Azerbaijani control on 20 November 2020. According to the US Department of State the sacred and historic 18th-century tombs of Imarat Garvand Cemetery, the city's "Martyrs' Alley," were among the cemeteries throughout Aghdam that had been desecrated, looted, or destroyed. Western diplomats who visited Martyrs' Alley reported that there were holes where bodies had formerly been interred and that there was just one damaged tombstone left in the cemetery.

Notable burials

, the founder and first ruler of the

. *

, the third khan of

. *

Mehdigulu Khan Javanshir Mehdigulu Khan Javanshir ( fa, مهدیقلی خان جوانشیر, translit=Mehdiqoli Xān Javānšir, az, مهدیقلو خان جاوانشیر; 1763 or 1772–1845) was the last Khan of the Karabakh Khanate, functioning as its head from 18 ...

, the fourth and last khan of Karabakh. *

Jafargulu agha Javanshir Jafargulu agha Javanshir ( az, Cəfərqulu ağa Məhəmmədhəsən ağa oğlu Sarıcalı-Cavanşir; 1782 or 1787–1866) was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani poet, figure and a major-general of the Imperial Russian Army, Russian Army. Early li ...

, Azerbaijani poet and a major-general of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. * Govhar Agha, Azerbaijani poet and daughter of Ibrahim Khalil Khan. *

, Azerbaijani poet and daughter of Mehdigulu Khan. * Khanbika Khanum, Azerbaijani poet and daughter of Khurshidbanu Natavan.

References

{{authority control Cemeteries in Azerbaijan Monuments and memorials in Azerbaijan Karabakh Khanate