Shahumyan Province ( hy, Շահումյան, Shahumyan, also spelled ''Shaumyan'' and ''Shahumian'') is a claimed
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of the
breakaway Republic of Artsakh
Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...
, ''de jure'' part of the
Republic of Azerbaijan
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
. The capital of the province was
Karvachar. Shahumyan Province had 17 communities of which one is considered urban and 16 are rural. Its bordered
Martakert Province
Martakert Province ( hy, Մարտակերտ) is a province of the Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The population is mainly Armenian. The province has 43 communities of which one is considered urban and 42 a ...
to the east,
Kashatagh Province
Kashatagh Province ( hy, Քաշաթաղի շրջան) was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. It was the largest province by area (3,376.60 km2). The population as of 2013 was 9,656. Its capital was Berdzor.
Territorial entities
Kashatag ...
to the south,
Gegharkunik and
Vayots Dzor
Vayots Dzor ( hy, Վայոց Ձոր, ) is a province (''marz'') of Armenia. It lies at the southeastern end of the country, bordering the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan to the west and the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan to the east. It cover ...
provinces of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
to the west and
Dashkasan
Dashkasan ( az, Daşkəsən, fa, داشکسن) is a three cave complex located south-east of Soltaniyeh. Outside the caves there is a temple called Dragon Stone of Dash Kasan Caves which was built by order of Mongol king Öljaitü in the early ...
,
Goygol and
Goranboy districts 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 th ...
to the north.
The western part of the province, corresponding to the
Kalbajar District
Kalbajar District ( az, Kəlbəcər rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin, Khojaly, Agdam, Tart ...
of Azerbaijan, was controlled by Artsakh from 1993 to 2020, while the northern part, originally the Shahumyan District of the
Azerbaijani SSR
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
(now part of the
Goranboy District
Goranboy District ( az, Goranboy rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Ganja-Dashkasan Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Kalbajar, Tartar, Yevlakh, Samu ...
), remained under Azerbaijani control from 1992, but was claimed by Artsakh. The Shahumyan District was located outside of the former
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...
, but prior to 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 ...
, its population was mostly Armenian and was expelled during
Operation Ring
Operation Ring (russian: link=no, Операция «Кольцо», translit=Operatsia Kol'tso; hy, «Օղակ» գործողություն, ), known in Azerbaijan as Operation Chaykand ( az, Çaykənd əməliyyatı) was the codename for th ...
in 1991. While the Shahumyan region was not part of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...
, representatives from Shahumyan declared independence along with the oblast, and the proclamation of Artsakh includes the Shahumyan region within its borders.
History
![Dadivank Monastery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Dadivank_Monastery.jpg)
In antiquity the territory was a part of the province of
Artsakh (historic province), Artsakh of
Greater Armenia
Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք, translit=Mets Hayk) is the name given to the Armenian state that emerged on the Armenian Highlands during the reign of King Artaxias I at the turn of the 2nd century BC. The term was used to refer princi ...
. In the Middle Ages it was part of the principality of
Khachen
The Principality of Khachen ( hy, Խաչենի իշխանություն, Khacheni ishkhanutyun) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Nagorno-Karabakh). The provinces of Artsakh and Utik were ...
; in the 17th and 18th centuries, the territory formed part of the Melik-Abovian dynasty's
melik
Мelik (also transliterated as ''Meliq'') ( ''melikʿ''; from ar, ملك '' malik'' (king)) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as ''melikdom''s encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhic ...
dom of
Gulistan Gulistan, Golestan or Golastan ( fa, گلستان) means "flower land" in Persian language (''gol'' meaning "flower", and ''-stan'' or meaning "land").
It may refer to:
Places
Iran
"Golestan" most often refers to:
* Golestan province in nor ...
, with its capital in the fortress of that name.
During Soviet times the area was a part of the Azerbaijan SSR and was renamed Shahumyan (''Shaumyanovksy raion'' in Russian) after the Armenian
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
Stepan Shahumyan
Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; , ''Step’an Ge'vorgi Shahumyan''; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. Arzumanyan, M. Շահումյան, Ստեփան Գևորգի. ...
, its administrative centre (Shahumyan or Shaumyanovsk) taking the same name. The population of the Shahumyan District was mostly ethnic Armenian, although the area was not included within the boundaries of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...
.
In the spring/summer of 1991, Soviet general secretary
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
ordered
Operation Ring
Operation Ring (russian: link=no, Операция «Кольцо», translit=Operatsia Kol'tso; hy, «Օղակ» գործողություն, ), known in Azerbaijan as Operation Chaykand ( az, Çaykənd əməliyyatı) was the codename for th ...
in which the Soviet Red Army and Azerbaijani
OMON
OMON (russian: ОМОН – Отряд Мобильный Особого Назначения , translit = Otryad Mobil'nyy Osobogo Naznacheniya , translation = Special Purpose Mobile Unit, , previously ru , Отряд Милиции Осо ...
surrounded some of the area's Armenian villages (as well as
Getashen and
Martunashen in the neighboring
Khanlar District of the Azerbaijan SSR) and deported their inhabitants to Armenia.
Approximately 17,000 Armenians living in Shahumyan's 23 villages were deported from the region. The operation involved ground troops, military, armored vehicles and artillery. The deportations of Armenian civilians were carried out with gross human rights violations documented by international human rights organizations.
[Human Rights Watch. Bloodshed in the Caucucasus. Escalation of the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. 1992 p. 9] Armenian forces recaptured most of Shahumyan in fall 1991, and the region was included in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic when it declared its independence in December 1991.
However, Armenian forces lost control of Shahumyan in summer 1992 after an
Azerbaijani offensive.
The town of Shahumyan was subsequently renamed to
Aşağı Ağcakənd
Aşağı Ağcakənd (; hy, Շահումյան, Shahumyan) is a village in the Goranboy District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the villages of Aşağı Ağcakənd, Yuxarı Ağcakənd and Meşəli. The village had an Armenian majori ...
by Azerbaijan in 1992 and partially repopulated by Azerbaijanis, mostly representing
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
s deported from
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...
and
surrounding districts.
Armenian forces
captured the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan in 1993 and administered it as a part of Shahumyan Province.
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
2020 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 Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...
, the town of Kalbajar (Karvachar) and its surrounding district were returned to Azerbaijani control. The initial deadline of 15 November 2020, but this was extended to 25 November 2020. It was the second region to be returned to Azerbaijan per the ceasefire agreement, after Aghdam.
Artsakh Foreign Ministry said on 12 June 2022 that the "de-occupation Shahumyan remains one of the issues on Artsakh's foreign policy agenda", in a statement issued 30 years after Azerbaijani armed forces established control over the Shahumyan province on June 12, 1992.
Towns in Soviet Shahumyan and Getashen
![Shaumyan n Getashen EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Shaumyan_n_Getashen_EN.png)
Armenians constituted 73.2% of the population of the Shahumyan District of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1979, and the majority of the villages within the Shahumyan district and the Getashen village had an Armenian majority prior to 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 ...
and
Operation Ring
Operation Ring (russian: link=no, Операция «Кольцо», translit=Operatsia Kol'tso; hy, «Օղակ» գործողություն, ), known in Azerbaijan as Operation Chaykand ( az, Çaykənd əməliyyatı) was the codename for th ...
, with the exception for some Azerbaijani-majority villages (as well as some smaller localities), which are mentioned as such in the following list.
The Shahumyan district and Getashen subdistrict are claimed by the Republic of Artsakh as part of the Shahumyan Province.
Shahumyan district
Getashen subdistrict
External links
Armeniapedia - Rediscovering Armenia - Nagorno-Karabakh
References
{{Authority control
Regions of the Republic of Artsakh
Shahumyan (province)
States and territories disestablished in 2020