Chatgiran is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies 50 km to the south of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), and at a height of 1,500 m above sea level. It was mentioned as “Chatgiran where Moslems reside” in “The Iravan Province Review Book”, as “Jadgran” on the five-verst map of the Caucasus and as “Chatigran” in the works of Armenian authors.

In 1828–1830 Armenians were removed from the Iranian province of Khoy and the Turkish provinces of Alashkirt and Mush and settled in the village. Along with the Armenians, the village was also inhabited by 19 Azerbaijanis in 1831. In 1840 the Azerbaijanis were deported by Armenians. At present, Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “chat” used in Turkish in the meaning of “the spine of the mountain, the indent of the mountain, rocky height, a place merging two valleys, a canyon, a mountain ridge with downland”, “a space between two rivers” and the word “kuren” (quran, qıran, qran) used in Old Turkic in the sense of “a hedge, fence”, “a camp”, “a cattle shed”, “a settlement”, “a nomad tent” to express “a place of residence, village in the rocks, between two rifts, between two rivers”.

The village was renamed “Hrazdan” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 January 1935 and further “Gekhashen” by decision dated 21 October 1967. 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 Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°14′ N., longitude: 44°43′ E.