Boyuk Shollu Damirchi is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Zangibasar (Masis) district, and currently in the Ararat province. It lies 28 km to the northwest of the town of Gamarli, at a height of 830 m above sea level. It had been within the district of Uchkilsa (Echmiadzin, Vagharshapat) until the district of Zangibasar was established.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 338 in 1831, 1,318 in 1886, 238 in 1922, 417 in 1926 and 453 Azerbaijanis in 1931. According to the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijanis were forced to move to Azerbaijan in 1948–1950, at the same time, the Armenians brought from abroad were settled in the village. In 1988 the Armenian state deported 3,540 Azerbaijani families living there. At present, only Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined by combining the ethnonym “chol” (“shol”) with the identifying suffix “-lu” and the Turkish ethnonym “damirchi”. The word “boyuk” in the initial position of the toponym denotes a distinguishing feature.

The village was renamed “Shorlu Damirchi” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 January 1935, and further changed into “Dashtavan” by decision 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 Ararat province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°05’ N., longitude: 44°23’ E.