Gurdugulu district was established on September 9, 1930. The center of the district with an area of 680 km² was the city of Sardarabad, which was subordinated to the republic. The distance from the district center to the city of Iravan is 48 km. The territory of Gurdugulu district is located in the Aghri valley, and the Aras river flows along its border with Turkey.

The territory of the district was included in the Sardarabad district of the historical Iravan Khanate, and during the Tsarist Russia, it was part of the Echmiadzin district of the Iravan governorate.

The toponym was formed by adding the word “gurd” to the personal name Gulu, which is a Turkish ethnonym and means “the village built by Gulu from the gurd tribe”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated March 2, 1935, the name of the region was changed to “Hoktemberyan”. It was called “Armavir” from 1992 to 1995, until it was canceled. In 1983, the territory of the district was divided into two parts and the so-called Baghramyan district was formed.

Since 1987, the native inhabitants of the district – Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their places of residence. In 1995, the district was abolished and included in the administrative territory of Armavir province of Armenia.