Duzkend district was established on December 31, 1937. Duzkend settlement was the administrative center of the district with an area of 576 km². The distance from the district center to the city of Iravan is 126 km.

A large part of the distric’s territory is made up of the Shirak plain, named after the Shiraks, an ancient Turkic tribe. Shirak mountain range crosses through the border with Kizil Goch district. Arpachay flows throughout the region.

The territory of the district was included in the historical districts of Agababa and Shoreyel of the Iravan khanate, and during the Tsarist Russia it was included in the Alexandropol district of the Iravan governorate.

The toponym was created by adding the geographical name “village” to the word “duz”, which means “plain, desert plain” in Turkish.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated December 7, 1945, the name of the district was changed to “Akhuryan”.

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