Boyuk Zeyva is a village in the Echmiadzin uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Uchkilsa (Echmiadzin, Vagharshapat) district, and currently in the Armavir province. It lies 5.5 km to the southwest of Echmiadzin. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The indigenous people of the village were Azerbaijanis. Following the Treaty of Turkmenchay, in 1828–1829 the Armenians removed from the Iranian provinces of Salmas and Khoy and in 1915–1916 the Armenians from the Turkish province of Alashkirt were settled in the village. Along with the Armenians, the village was populated by 29 Azerbaijanis in 1897. In the early 20th century the Azerbaijanis were ousted from their historical-ethnic land by the Armenian armed units. Presently, only Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “boyuk” denoting a distinguishing feature and the word “zaviya” used in Arabic in the meaning of “a nook, corner, angle”. The word “zaviya” is associated with Islamic studies and is a synonym of the word “a khanagah” in Persian and implies “a place where the dervishes live and perform prayers under one particular sheykh or murshid’s management”. Under the Safavids the religious people ranked the second after the feudals among the previliged strata. The religious people included sheikh-ul-Islam in every province, vaiz (preachers) and the sheikhs in the mansions of the dervishes (khanagahs and zaviyas). Houses built on a corner, in any angle, out of the people’s reach, for the religious men who spent their life in prayers and ascets were called zaviya, later those places turned into settlements. Thus, the names of the Zeyva villages were formed on the basis of the word “zaviya”. On the other side, this indicates again those areas used to be under the Safavids.

The village was renamed “Aratashen” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 25 January 1978. 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 Armavir province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°07’ N., longitude: 44°13’ E.