Garagala 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 53 km to the southeast of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), at a height of 2,050 m above sea level. It was marked in “The Iravan Province Review Book”.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 403 in 1873, 510 in 1886, 599 in 1897, 759 in 1904, 860 in 1914 and 899 Azerbaijanis in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijanis were exposed to aggression by Armenian armed forces, massacred and deported. The Armenians relocated from the Turkish provinces of Mush and Van in 1918–1920 were settled in that village. Following the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia, the surviving Azerbaijanis managed to return to their village. Along with th Armenians, the village was inhabited by 20 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 45 in 1926 and 60 Azerbaijanis in 1931. In accordance with the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR in the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijani population of the village was forcibly deported to Azerbaijan. Currently, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “gara” meaning color (black) and the word “gala” (a fortress), and means “a village next to a fortress built of black stone”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 21 June 1948, the village was renamed “Sevaberd”. 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 Kotayk province.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 40°16’ N., longitude: 44°47’ E.