Allahverdi

Allahverdi is a town in the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate, later in the former Allahverdi (Tumanyan) district, and currently in the Lori province. The provincial centre lies 50 km to the northeast of the town of Boyuk Garakilsa (Vanadzor), on the bank of the Borchali River, at a height of 770 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus. A district by the name Allahverdi (Tumanyan) was established on 9 September 1930. In 1963 it was granted the status of a city governed by the republic. The Armenian literature presents it in the phonetic form “Alaverdi”. It was within the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and within the Lori-Pambak uezd in 1920–1929.

Its main inhabitants were Azerbaijanis. Along with the Azerbaijanis, the village was inhabited also by Greeks and Armenians. The Armenians had been removed to the village since 1828. The village was inhabited by 24 Azerbaijanis in 1831, 143 Azerbaijanis, 70 Armenians in 1873, 132 Azerbaijanis, 46 Armenians, 989 Greeks in 1886, 187 Azerbaijanis, 104 Armenians and 1100 Greeks in 1897. In 1918–1920 the Azerbaijani inhabitants were ousted from their own land by Armenians. The surviving Azerbaijanis returned, following the establishment of Soviet power in the present-day Armenian territory on 29 November 1920. The village was inhabited by 24 Azerbaijanis, 87 Armenians and 1242 Greeks in 1922, 40 Azerbaijanis, 6,563 Armenians and 1500 Greeks in 1926, 272 Azerbaijanis, 538 Armenians and 1351 Greeks i 1931, 278 Azerbaijanis and 21.835 Armenians and Greeks in 1970. In 1988 the Azerbaijani inhabitants were ousted by Armenians. The Greeks went there to work in the ore mines in 1790.

The village is referred to as “Alaverdi” in official Armenian documents. The toponym was formed on the basis of the ethnonym “Allahverdi” of the Turkic Borchali tribe.

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 Lori province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 41°00’ N., longitude: 44°38’ E.