Ilkhiyabi is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Duzkend (Akhuryan) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre is located 10 km to the southeast of the town of Gumru, at a height of 1,600 m above sea level. Until 1937 it had been within the former Gumru (Leninakan) district. It was marked as “llkhiabi” on the five-verst map of the Caucasus and in the works of Armenian authors.

The original inhabitants of the village were Azerbaijanis. The Armenians deported from the Turkish province of Erzurum in 1830 were settled there. Following the settlement of the Armenians in the region, the Azerbaijani population of the village gradually left their lands. Currently, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the Azerbaijani words “ilkhi” and “yabi” meaning “a horse”. It means “a place of horse bridle”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 26 April 1946, the village was renamed “Aygabats”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Shirak province.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 40°42’ N., longitude: 43°54’ E.