Amirkheyir is a village in the Gazakh uezd of the former Yelizavetpol (Ganja) governorate, in the valley of Garagoyunlu, later in the Chambarak (Krasnoselsk) district, and currently in the Gegharkunik province. The provincial centre lies 101 km to the north of the town of Kavar (Gavar), in the mountainous, woody area, at a height of 1,600 m above sea level. The name of the village is mentioned in the works of Armenian authors as “Amirkher”, “Amirkheyir”, “Amirkhir”.

The village was inhabited by 161 Azerbaijanis in 1897 and 151 Azerbaijanis in 1919. In late March 1919 the inhabitants of the village were massacred or driven out having been exposed to aggression by Armenian armed units. The surviving Azerbaijanis managed to return to their home following the establishment of Soviet power in the present-day Armenian territory. The village was inhabited by 132 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 216 in 1926, 250 in 1931, 295 in 1939, 715 in 1970, 720 in 1979 and 500 Azerbaijanis in 1987. On 24-28 November 1988 the Armenian state deported the inhabitants of the village from their historical-ethnic land. At present, Armenians live in the village.

The toponym was coined by combining the personal name “Amir” and the word “kayir/kair/khayr” used in Turkish in the sense of “a steep, rock”, “a steepy rock”.

The village was renamed “Kalavan” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 April 1991. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Gegharkunik province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°39’ N., longitude: 45°07′ E.