Ilmazli

Ilmazli is a village in the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate, later in the former Vorontsovka (Kalinino) district, and currently in the Lori province. The provincial centre is located 53 km to the northwest of the town of Boyuk Garakilsa (Vanadzor), at a height of 1,660 m above sea level. Before the establishment of Vorontsovka district, it had been part of former Jalaloghlu (Stepanavan) district.

The village was inhabited by 75 Azerbaijanis in 1831, 212 in 1886, 301 in 1897, 195 in 1908, 188 in 1914 and 479 Azerbaijanis in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijanis were deported by Armenian armed forces. The surviving villagers managed to return to their homeland following the establishment of Soviet power in present- day Armenia. The village was inhabited by 431 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 462 in 1926, 565 in 1931, 653 in 1939, 852 in 1959, 1,037 in 1965, 1,213 in 1979 and 3,126 Azerbaijanis in 1987. In 1988 the Ilmazli people were deported from their historical and ethnic lands. At present, it is inhabited by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the Turkic word “il/el” meaning “a tribe” and the word “maz”, a phonetic form of the ancient Turkic word “mar” meaning “a hill”. The “r ~ z” sound substitution (yor ~ yoz, yar ~ yaz, gör ~ göz) is a typical phonetic phenomenon in the Azerbaijani language. “Maz” is the phonetic form of the word “mar”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 8 August 1991, the village was renamed “Dashtadem”. 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.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 41°08’ N., longitude: 44°10’ E.