Husulu (), historically also known as Kashataghk () is a village in the

Lachin District Lachin District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country, belonging to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Kalbajar, Khojaly, Shusha, Khojavend, Qubadli, and ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, located close to the villages of Malıbəy (Melikashen), Qarıqışlaq (Tandzut) and Ağoğlan. Kashataghk/Husulu is known for being the first capital of 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 around the ...

Meliktom of Kashatagh. Armenian monuments such as the Tsitsernavank Monastery from between the 5th and 7th centuries, and the 15th-century Melik Haykaz Palace are located near the village.

History

Most Armenian historians identify the village with Kashataghk, a settlement mentioned by the 13th-century Armenian historian Stephen Orbelian (one Armenian historian, Armen Gharagyozian, instead identifies Kashataghk with the nearby village of Qarıqışlaq). Despite the village's small size and population, the whole region of Kashatagh was named after this settlement due to it being a princely residence of the Armenian Meliks of Kashatagh. The

Kurdish population The Kurdish population is estimated to be between 30 and 45 million.T ...

that settled in the Kashatagh region after the deportation of the Armenian population from the region by

Shah Abbas I Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...

referred to the village as Sultankand; according to historian Samvel Karapetyan, this is because the inhabitants knew about the location's past as a princely residence. The name has also been rendered as ''Sultanlar'' and ''Sultanlı''. Under the rule of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the settlement was administered as part of the Zangezur Uyezd 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 s ...

. During the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period, the village was part of Red Kurdistan until its abolition in 1929. Thereafter, it was administered as part of the Lachin District. In 1931, the village received its current name, after the Azerbaijani communist official Hüsü Hajiyev. The village was located in the

Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were areas of Azerbaijan, situated around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republic ...

, coming under the control of ethnic Armenian forces during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

in the early 1990s. The village subsequently became part of the breakaway

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

as part of its

Kashatagh Province Kashatagh Province () was a Administrative divisions of the Republic of Artsakh, 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 Lachin, Berdzor. ...

, where it was known as Tsitsernavank (), with the Tsitsernavank community including the village of Melikashen (). It was returned to Azerbaijan as part of the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement was an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pr ...

Historical heritage sites

Historical heritage sites in and around the village include the monastery of '' Tsitsernavank'' () from between the 5th and 7th centuries,

khachkars A ''khachkar'' (also spelled as ''khatchkar'') or Armenian cross-stone (, , խաչ ''xačʿ'' "cross" + քար ''kʿar'' "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, interlaces, and ...

from between the 8th and 17th centuries, two 20th-century tombstones, and the 15th-century Melik Haykaz Palace (), which was the palace of an Armenian

melik Мelik (, from ) was a hereditary Armenian noble title used in Eastern Armenia from the Late Middle Ages until the nineteenth century. The meliks represented some of the last remnants of the old Armenian nobility, as well as Persian nobility ...

, Melik Haykaz, the first ruler of the Melikdom of Kashatagh. The palace follows the classical architectural style of an

melik palace, and was built on a slope surrounded by a fortified wall with towers and gates. It had several floors, with Melik Haykaz's living room being located on the ground floor and his throne room being located on the second floor. The palace underwent renovation between 1989 and 1992, and was turned into a hotel in 2007. Azerbaijani sources refer to the structure as Hamza Sultan Palace, attributing it to an 18th-century local ruler named Hamza Sultan of the Qaraçorlu tribe.

Demographics

According to administrative data from 1886, the settlement (recorded as two villages taken together, "First Sultankand" and "Second Sultankand") had 151 inhabitants. The village had 113 inhabitants in 2005, and 113 inhabitants in 2015.

Gallery

Meliqashen, Haykaz Meliq's House - panoramio.jpg, The Palace of Armenian Melik Haykazyan

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Husulu, Lachin Villages in Azerbaijan Populated places in Lachin District Armenian Highlands