Qazax District (; az, Qazax rayonu) is one of the 66 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 t ...

. It is located in the north-west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the district of Aghstafa, and the

Tavush Province Tavush ( hy, Տավուշ, ) is a province of Armenia located at the northeast of Armenia, bordered by Georgia from the north and Azerbaijan from the east. Internally, Tavush borders the Gegharkunik Province from the south, Kotayk Province from ...

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 ' ...

. Its capital and largest city is Gazakh. As of 2020, the district had a population of 98,400. It has two exclaves inside

, which include the villages of Yukhari Askipara, Barkhudarly, Sofulu. Both of the exclaves and parts of mainland Qazax District (the villages of Baghanis Ayrum, Ashaghi Eskipara, Gyzylhajily, and Kheyrimli) were captured by Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh war.

History

The region was conquered by a succession of neighboring powers or invaders, including Sassanid Persians, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, the

Seljuq Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

, the Georgians, 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 ...

, the

Timurids The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...

, the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu Turkoman tribes, and finally Safavid Iran. It was also ruled by

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

between 1578 and 1607 and again 1722 and 1735. By the end of the XV century, the

Kazakh Sultanate Kazakh sultanate or Gazakh sultanate was established at the end of the 15th century. During the Safavid Empire, it was part of the Karabakh principality. In 1605, by the decree of Abbas the Great, Shamsaddin sultan of Kazakh was given the ran ...

was established as a sovereign geopolitical entity in the region. Though it was part of the Karabakh principality during the Safavid Empire, Sultan Shamsaddin of Gazakh was given the rank of Khan by the decree of

Abbas the Great 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 son ...

in 1605. After the

Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) The Russo-Persian Wars or Russo-Iranian Wars were a series of conflicts between 1651 and 1828, concerning Persia (Iran) and the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia fought these wars over disputed governance of territories and countries in the Cau ...

, 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. ...

gained control of the area by virtue of the

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (russian: Гюлистанский договор; fa, عهدنامه گلستان) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan (now in the Goranboy Distr ...

. Under Russian rule, it was part of

Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...

before forming the northeastern part of the

Kazakh Uyezd The Kazakh uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and later of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Kazakh (present-day Qazax) from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1929 by the Soviet a ...

of the

Elisabethpol 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 ...

in 1868. A contemporary military historian noted the following ethnographic detail: "Abbas Mirza's route lay through the country of the great tribe of the Casaks, which is extremely strong and thickly wooded." He further notes that: "These have no connection with 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 Cossacks. They are descended from men of the Kirgis Casaks, left by Genghis Khan. They are frequently called Karapapakh, from wearing black sheep-skin caps." 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 (who did not wish to give up their claims to Gazakh, Zangezur (today 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.

Population

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

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 although some of them were able to flee. In July 2020, Gazakh became a site for clashes with Armenia.

List of historic and tourist sites

There are 112 protected monuments in the region of Gazakh, of which 54 are archaeological, 46 are architectural, 7 are historical, and 5 are of artistic significance. Historic and tourist sites in this region include: * ''The House of the Poet

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 ...

'' in Yukhari Salahli village, since 1976. * ''The Museum of History and Ethnography'', since 1984. * ''The Gazakh State Picture Gallery'' by the Ministry of Culture of

, since 1986. * ''The Memorial museum of

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'', since 1970. * ''The House of Teachers Seminary of Gazakh'', built in 1910, functioned between 1918 and 1959. * ''The Bath House of Israfil Agha'', built in the first decade of the 20th century by Israfil Agha Kerbelayev from the village of Kasaman. * ''The Damjili Caves'', in the village of Dash Salahli, south-east of the mount Avey, cover an area of 360 km² and refer to Middle and

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. * ''Sining Korpu (The Broken Bridge)'' ( az, Sınıq körpü), a 12th-century bridge built over the Ehram (Khram) river in the village Ikinji Shikhli. * ''Didevan Castle'' ( az, Didəvan qalası), a 6th-7th century monument in the village of Khanliglar. * ''Mount Goyazan'' ( az, Göyəzən dağı), a rare archaeological monument in the village of Abbasbeyli, rises 857.9 metres above sea level. * ''The Baba Dervish Habitation'', an archaeological site in the village Demirchiler. * ''The Kazim Bridge'' in the village of Yukhari Askipara, allegedly built during the reign of Shamsi Khan. * ''The Juma Mosque'' of Qazakh, built in 1902 by Akhund Haji Zeynalabdin Mahammadli oghlu from the village of Kasaman. * ''The Aslanbeyli Mosque'' built in 1909 by Hamid Efendi, the native of village Aslanbeyli. * ''Santepe'', an archaeological site dating to the 9th-8th centuries B.C. and the Iron Age. * ''The Gazakhbeyli Hills'', an archaeological site dating from the 8th-6th centuries B.C. near the village of Gazakhbeyli. * ''The Shikhli Human Camp'', an archaeological site near the village of Birinji Shikhli. * ''Shakargala'', in the Gazakh region.

Prominent people from Gazakh

*Sabir Azeri (1938-2010) - Writer, author of best-selling books. *Aliagha Shikhlinski - (1865–1943) general-lieutenant of the artillery, known as "God of Russian artillery". *Farrukh Gayibov - (1889–1916) the first Azerbaijani pilot, was awarded the 4th class order of "Saint Georgi". *Ibrahim aga Vekilov, Ibrahim agha Vekilov - (1853–1934) general, the first Azerbaijani military topographer. *Javad bey Shikhlinski - (1876–1940) general-mayor, the commander of the division. *Ibrahim bey Usubov - (1872–1920) general-mayor, the commander of the division. *Mirza Huseyn Afandi Qayibov - (1830–1917) the Chair of the Ecclesiastical Department of Transcaucasia. * Molla Vali Vidadi - (1707–1809) prominent poet of Azerbaijan. *

- (1717–1797) prominent poet of Azerbaijan and social figure. *Mukhtar Hajiyev - (1876–1938) the first chairman of Azerbaijan Central Executive Committee in 1921 *

- (1906–1956) National Poet of Azerbaijan (the first who deserved this title) *Vidadi Babanli - (1927-) National Writer of Azerbaijan *Osman Sarivelli - (1905–1990) national poet of Azerbaijan. *Mehdi Huseyn - (1909–1964) National Writer of Azerbaijan. Prominent writer-dramatist, critic. *Mirvarid Dilbazi - (1912–2001) national poet of Azerbaijan *Amina Dilbazi - (1919–2010) ballet-master. National Artist of Azerbaijan. *Elazan Bayjan (Haji Hasanzadeh) - (1913–1989) poet-doctor. Set up private medical clinics in Freyburg, Germany. *Ismayil Shykhly - (1919–1995) National Writer of Azerbaijan, scientist- pedagogue, social-political figure. *Elmira Hüseynova, Elmira Huseynova - (1933–1995) sculptor. *Fatma Vekilova - (1912–1987) professor, doctor of geology-mineralogy sciences. *Sayad Zeynalov - (1886–1942) deserved 4th class "Saint Georgi" order *Teymur Bunyadov - (1928) academician, historian-ethnographer. *Tahir Isayev, a.k.a. Serafino - (1922–2001) *Ali Mustafayev - (1952–1991) National Hero of Azerbaijan.

References

External links

Official website of Gazakh District
{{coord missing, Azerbaijan Qazax District Districts of Azerbaijan