Qazax (; ) is a city in and the capital of the Gazakh District of

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 t ...

. It has a population of 20,900. Gazakh is a city and administrative district in the west of Azerbaijan, the "western gate" of Azerbaijan.

History

Early history

In the 17–18th century, Gazakh was the capital of the Kazakh Sultanate. During the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, the city was the administrative center of the Kazakh uezd of the

Elizavetpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

. It is situated 10 km from the Aghstafa station of the

Transcaucasus Railway The Transcaucus Railway (russian: Закавка́зская желе́зная доро́га) was the first railway in South Caucasus.Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский, 2-е � ...

Conflicts and disputes with Armenia

From 1905 to 1906, during the Armenian–Tatar massacres, many Armenian homes were burned and looted by Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis), as well as the Armenian school and church. Many Armenian inhabitants as a result fled to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

and other nearby Armenian-populated areas. From an Armenian perspective, these territories were historical Armenian provinces—which had been, factually, incorporated in various Armenian states—and therefore, the Gazakh region was initially contested between the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

and Azerbaijani SSRs.Dr. Andrew Andersen, Ph
Atlas of Conflicts: Armenia: Nation Building and Territorial Disputes: 1918–1920
/ref> The

name for the city is Ghazakh (), and it is based on the Azerbaijani name itself. Another Armenian name is Koght (Կողթ). When the South Caucasus came under British occupation, Sir John Oliver Wardrop, British Chief Commissioner in the South Caucasus, decided that assigning the

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central A ...

and the

Kars Oblast The Kars Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was the city of Kars, presently in Turkey. The ''oblast'' bordered the Ottoman Empire to the west, the Batum Oblast ...

Democratic 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 ...

(DRA) and the Elisabethpol and Baku Governorates to the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian A ...

(ADR) would solve the region's outstanding disputes. However, this proposal was rejected by both

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

(who did not wish to give up their claims to Gazakh, Syunik, and

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

) and Azerbaijanis (who did not wish to give up their claims to Nakhchivan). As conflict broke out between the two groups, the British left the region in mid-1919. In 1930, Gazakh became the administrative center of Azerbaijan's Gazakh District. The area has major strategic importance for modern-day Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey regional communication and energy projects.

Modern history

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian troops took control of several villages of the Gazakh district. Several Azerbaijani inhabitants were killed during the war whilst others were able to flee. In July 2020, Gazakh became a site for clashes with Armenia.

Demographics

According to the 1897 Russian Empire census, Gazakh had a population of 1,769—the linguistic composition was as follows: 802 (45.3%)

, 601 (34.0%) Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani), 251

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, Ukrainian, and Belarusian, 60 (3.4%) Georgian, 19 (1.1%)

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, 11 (0.6%)

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

, and 23 (1.3%) other language speakers. According to the ''Caucasian Calendar'', the population of the city in 1907 was 732 people, primarily Armenians with Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis) as a minority, and by 1910, the population was 1,050 people. According to the 1912 publication, the city had an

plurality. According to the 1926 census of the USSR, 6,767 people lived in the city. In 1970, the city was home to about 13,000 people,''Казах'' — статья из Большой советской энциклопедии in 1991, that number was about 19,300 people. By 2013, there were about 21,000 people living in Gazakh (10,200 men and 10,800 women). The main occupations of the population are carpet making and horse breeding (specifically the

Deliboz The Deliboz (Azeri: Diliboz atı) is an Azerbaijani breed of light riding horse. It is an ancient breed which underwent selective breeding in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in the twentieth century. It is one of four extant horse breeds ...

breed). The total population of the district is 98932 people as of 01.01.2021

Economy

The economy of Gazakh is partially agricultural, partially tourism-based, with some industries in operation. Qazax Sement

The Gazakh Cement Plant is served by a railway branch off the BTK railway at Aghstafa.

Location

Gazakh region is located in the west of Azerbaijan. It borders with Georgia for 9 km and with Armenia for 168 km. Gazakh region is located in the western part of the republic, in the western part of the vast Ganja-Gazakh plain, which starts from the slopes of the mountain range of the Lesser Caucasus and extends along the right bank of the Kura river. The highest elevation is "Odun" mountain (1316 meters). Its nature is mainly plain, the southern part is low mountainous.

Culture

A memorial museum dedicated to

Molla Panah Vagif Molla Panah ( az, Molla Pənah), better known by his pen-name Vagif (), was an 18th-century Azerbaijani poet, statesman and diplomat. He is regarded as the founder of the realism genre in Azerbaijani poetry. He served as the vizier—the minist ...

and Molla Vali Vidadi is located in the city.

Sports

The city has one professional football team, Goyazan Gazakh, currently competing in the second-flight of

i football, the Azerbaijan First Division.

Transport

Public transport

Gazakh has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

Notable natives

Some of the city's many prestigious residents include: poets

Samad Vurgun Samad Vurgun ( az, Səməd Vurğun ; born Samad Yusif oghlu Vekilov;, . March 21, 1906 – May 27, 1956) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet poet, dramatist, public figure, first People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1943), academician of Azerbaijan N ...

, Mirvarid Dilbazi and Nusrat Kasamanli, scholar Molla Vali Vidadi, lieutenant-general of the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n imperial

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Ali-Agha Shikhlinski Ali Agha Ismail Agha oghlu Shikhlinski ( az, Əli Ağa İsmayıl Ağa oğlu Şıxlinski;); – )Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are in the Julian calendar with the start of year adjusted to 1 January. All other dates in this article are in ...

, writer Ismayil Shykhly and wrestler Hasan Aliyev. File:Shikhlinski.jpg,

, was lieutenant-general of the

n imperial

. File:Mirvarid.jpg, Mirvarid Dilbazi, poet. File:Fərrux ağa Qayıbov-2.jpg, Farrukh Gayibov, considered to be the first Azerbaijani pilot. File:Samad agha Aghamalioghlu.jpg, Samad aga Agamalioglu, was a statesman and socialist revolutionary.

Gallery

File:Fərrux ağa Qayıbov abidəsi (Qazax).jpg, Monument for memory of Farrukh Gayibov File:Qazax mosque.jpg, Gazakh mosque

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Qazax District Elizavetpol Governorate 1909 establishments in Azerbaijan