The area where the city of Iravan is located was a part of Urartu, Sasanian Empire, Arab Caliphate, Saji, Shaddad, Seljuk, Eldeniz, Ilkhani, Teimuri, Karagoyunlu, Aggoyunlu, Safavid, Afshar, Qajar, Ottoman and Russian Empire. Only after the establishment of the first Armenian state in the South Caucasus in 1918, the city of Iravan became the capital of Armenia. The city of Iravan is located at 40°11′ north longitude and 44°31′ east latitude in the northeastern part of Ağrı valley, at an altitude of approximately 850-1370 meters above sea level, on the bank of Zangi river.

The fact that most of the oeconyms (residential areas), godonyms (street names), agoronims (square names), anthropotoponyms (geographical names derived from personal names), hydronyms (river, lake, spring, etc.), oronyms (mountain, valley, pass, plain, etc.) are in Azerbaijani Turkish once again shows that this area was one of the ancient settlements of Azerbaijanis. Among the material and cultural samples discovered during the excavations in the territory of the city of Iravan, no samples belonging to Armenians have been found so far.

This fortress-city, located on trade routes and formed in the Middle Ages as a city, inhabited only by Azerbaijani Turks, was also one of the rich cultural centers of Azerbaijan. The city of Iravan rapidly developed as a sociol-economic center during the Chukhursaad Beylerbey and the Iravan Khanate periods.

The name of this city, inhabited only by Azerbaijani Turks since ancient times, was mentioned in medieval written sources as Ravan, Iravan, Ervan, Irivan. After being occupied by Russian troops at the beginning of the 19th century, the name of the city was written as Erivan (Ериван).

Armenian historians try to connect the name of the city with the name of the Erebuni (Irpuni) fortress, which was built during the reign of Urartu king Argishti I (in 782 BC). The Erebuni fortress was built only for the purpose of military fortification, and no urban infrastructure was ever formed around it. Just as the Urartians have no historical connection with the Armenians, the ancient Erebuni fortress had no connection with the current city of Iravan either in terms of geography or time. This hill, which Armenians now call “Arinberd” (“Ganligala”), is located in the southeast direction of the city of Iravan. In 1879, the Russian archaeologist A. Ivanovsky discovered a basalt stone with cuneiform inscriptions on it and a text from the reign of the Urartian tsar Argishti I in the village of Chelomakchi near Iravan. Later, several more stones with cuneiform inscriptions were found in that area.

There was a considerable distance between the ancient settlement of Iravan and the Erebuni fortress, which was discovered during archaeological excavations in 1950. Only from the second half of the 20th century, Ganligala, where the Erebuni fortress is located, was included in the suburban area. It is clear from the cuneiform inscriptions found from the time of the Urartians that in the first quarter of the 8th century B.C., the Ağrı valley (the left bank of the Araz River and the lower reaches of the Arpachay) was occupied by the Urartians, and that area was called the country of the Aza people.

Building a connection between the city of Iravan and the Erebuni (Irpuni) fortress, founded by the Urartian king I Argishti, is a clear example of the falsification of history by Armenians.

The first sources confirm that the Armenians (Haylar) first came to the territory now called Armenia (Hayastan) as missionaries after Christianity became the state religion. During the Arab caliphate, Hays took possession of the religious temples abandoned by ntaive Turkic tribes who converted to Islam, turned those temples into churches, and fake historical artifacts were placed there.

The troops of the Arab caliphate first entered the territory of Armenia through South Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan in 642. During the Caliphate, the administration of the emirates in the South Caucasus was usually entrusted to the Turks. Armenian historian A. Ter-Gevondyan writes: “If Iravan had existed as a city during the Arab caliphate, the trade route would have passed through it. However, Armenian authors talking about the period of the Arab caliphate note that at that time the caravan route went from Iran to Asia Minor via Nakhchivan-Dvin (Debil)”.

The settlement of Armenians around Iravan began in 1441 after the residence of the Armenian Catholic Church was moved from Cilicia to the church of Echmiadzin (Uchkilsa) in the village of Valarshabad with the consent of the ruler of Garagoyunlu, Jahan Shah.

This fortress-city, which was formed in the middle ages as a city, was also one of the rich cultural centers of Azerbaijan. The city of Iravan rapidly developed as a socio-economic center during the Chukhursad Beylarbey and Iravan Khanate periods.

Turkish traveler and geographer Evliya Çelebi refers to Iravan as a settlement from the beginning of the 15th century. According to his writings, in the year 810 (1407-1408) of the Hijri calendar, a merchant named Khaja Khan Lahijani, one of the merchants of Amir Timur, entered the very fertile land of Ravan, settled there with his family members, and became wealthier every passing day due to the cultivation of rice, and founded this large village. Evliya Çelebi further adds that Shah Ismail, the head of the Safavid state, instructed his vizier Ravangulu Khan to build a fortress in 915 AH (1509-1510), who in turn built the fortress in 7 years and named it “Ravan”.

During the Safavid era, Chukhursaad Beylerbey was ruled mainly by the Rumi and Ustajli Gilzilbash emirs. As a result of the wars between the Ottoman and Safavid empires, the city of Iravan changed hands 14 times. Each time, it was subjected to certain destructions, and later it was restored. In 1554, Ottoman troops destroyed Iravan and captured it. In 1580, the Ottoman vizier Lele Mustafa Pasha occupied Iravan again. Iravan Castle, described by many travelers and historians, was built in 1582-1583 by Farhad Pasha during the Ottoman occupation on the site of the old castle. The fortress, which is 850 m long and 790 m wide, was approximately square shaped and covered an area of 7 ha. The height of the double fortress walls was 10.5-12 m. The single-layered wall of the castle passed over the cliff where the Zangi river washed its walls. The fortress had three gates: the Tabriz gate in the south, the Shirvan gate (or Meydan gate) in the north, and the Bridge gate. In 1679, a bridge called “Red Bridge” was built over the Zangi River between the Square Gate and the Old City.

Among the travelers and explorers from Europe and Russia, Jean Tavernier, Jean Chardin, James Morier, Ivan Chopin, Dubois de Montpéreux, Countess Praskovya Uvarova, Henry Lynch, Academician Nikolai Marr, artist Grigory Gagarin and others visited Iravan at different times and provided descrpitions about the Khan Palace, its Hall of Mirrors, the summer pavilion, mosques in the castle and the city, caravanserais, swimming pool and baths in their works.

The fact that the names of residential areas, historical-architectural monuments, neighborhoods, streets and squares, caravanserais, irrigation networks, and gardens of the city of Iravan are all in Azerbaijani Turkish, in itself proves that the ancient inhabitants of this city are Azerbaijanis.

The city of Iravan consisted of 4 quarters: Gala, Shahri (or Old Town), Tepebashi (currently called Kond) and Demirbulag (currently called Karanki tag). Between the castle and other residential areas there was a market square and gardens. The city quarter extended along the right bank of the Kirkhbulag river to the Iravan fortress. The central market of the city and all its squares, many caravanserais and baths were located in this part. Tepebashi quarter was located on the hill between Zangi river and Shahri quarter. The Tepabashi quarter was separated from the Shahri quarter by numerous gardens of Iravan’s famous people. The famous Khan’s Garden and Summer Pavilion belonging to Huseyngulu Khan were located on the right bank of the Zangi River. Demirbulag neighborhood was located southeast of Shahri neighborhood, east of Iravan fortress.

About 50 Armenian Gypsy families (boshas) who came from India settled in Tepebashi quarter, located in the west of the city. The Demirbulag quarter (currently called Karanki Tag), located in the south of the city was inhabited only by Azerbaijanis. As noted by the French traveler J. Chardin, only pure-blooded Safavids (that is, Azerbaijanis) lived in the Iravan fortress.

The city of Iravan, situated between Zangi and Geder rivers, is located in a dry subtropical climate zone, and is surrounded by very fertile lands. The famous Iravan gardens and melons were irrigated by canals drawn from the Zangi and Geder rivers by the Iravan khans at different times. The canals built at the time of Tokhmaq Khan and drawn from the “Tokhmaq Lake” named after him, the Mamre, Abuhayat, Delma and Tezekend canals drawn from the Zangi River were enough to irrigate the gardens in the city and its surroundings. Gardens in the south of the city were irrigated by canals and ditches drawn from the Geder River. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Iravan was supplied with drinking water from 4 sources – the Zangi River, numerous springs in the area called Soyudluk, a reservoir built in the city gardens, and through wells dug in various locations.

In the modern city of Iravan, there is not a single sample of material-cultural artifact belonging to Armenians which is over 250 years old. Because at the beginning of the 19th century, after the occupation of the Iravan Khanate by Russia, Armenians gradually migrated from Iran and Turkey and settled in the city of Iravan.

Historical-architectural monuments in Iravan were built in Eastern architectural style. Travelers and chroniclers in their works described Iravan as a typical Muslim city.

Since the Middle Ages, the city of Iravan was located at the intersection of caravan routes, that’s why so many caravanserais and trade squares were built there. Carvanserais built of stone, with squares and water pools in the middle were considered among the most beautiful buildings of Iravan. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were 7 caravanserais in Iravan. There were 851 cells in Julfa, Gurju, Zarrabi Khan (Exchange), Tahir, Sulu, Susuz, Haji Ali caravansaries.

There was a 400×400 m square called Big Square in the central part of the city. Gantar scales for weighing heavy loads and Mizan scales for weighing light loads were located in this square. Other squares were called Khan garden, Zal khan, Huseynali khan, Fahla bazaar square. Until recently the area where Panah Khan Makinsky’s mansion was located was called Panah Khan Square or Panah Khan Boulevard.

There were 10 baths in the Eastern architectural style in Iravan – Shaher, Zal Khan, Sheikhulislam, Mehdi Bey, Haji Beyim (daughter of Hasan Khan, brother of the last Iravan Khan), Tepebashi, Haji Ali, Haji Fatali, Karim Bey, and Hasanali baths. In the Zal Khan bath complex, which was located on the present Republic square in the center of Iravan, in addition to the underground tea house, a special room was reserved for the holding of mugham meetings.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, there were dozens of streets with Azerbaijani names in the city of Iravan. These streets were famous in ancient Iravan: Shariat, Karvansara, Gala, Sultan, Cholmakchi, Nakhchivan, Bazar, Dashli, Pasha Khan, Garibler ojaghi, Deyirmanli, Mosque, Fahla Bazaar, Tepebashi, Kabiristan, Naib, Mir Jafar, Rustam Khan, Imamre, Korbulag, Bey, Ketan, Dukanli, Sallakhlar, etc.

There were 1473 gardens in Iravan and its surroundings, of which 772 were inside the city. The names of Sardar Bagh, Delme, Abbasderesi, Abuhayat, Keshagli, Kyzylgala, Dere Bagh, Savzikari, Khosrovabad, Soyudlu, Gul Deresi, Kankan, and Karpickhana gardens were famous in geograhpies far from Iravan.

There were 45 mills in and around the city. Hajibeyim, Muhammad khan, Subhangulu khan, Gala, Khan, Dogguz mills belonging to Azerbaijanis were the biggest mills of the city.

About 15 mosques and two Armenian churches are mentioned in the historical literature. The Blue Mosque (or Huseynali Khan), Tepebashi, Zal Khan (or Shaher), Sartib Khan, Haji Novruzali Bey, Gala Mosque (Sardar or Abbas Mirza), Demirbulag, Haji Jafar Bey, Rajab Pasha, Muhammad Sartib Khan, Haji Inam Mosques’ minarets indicated from afar that Iravan was a Muslim city. Poghos-Petros and Katoghike churches, which are located in the suburb, were built at the expense of Christian missionaries, and the purpose was to ensure the flow of Armenians to the city.

On the eve of the Russian invasion in 1827, the city of Iravan was surrounded by Zangibasar, Garnibasar (Gamarli), Kirkhbulag and Karpibasar (Ashtarak) districts.

After the signing of the Turkmenchay (1828) and Edirne (1829) peace treaties, dark days began for Iravan Azerbaijanis. In the statistical information provided about the population of the city of Iravan, conducted by Ivan Chopin in 1829-1832 in the new administrative-territory created after the occupation of the Iravan and Nakhchivan khanates – “Armenian Province”, there were 2,751 families (11,463 people), including 1,807 Muslim families (7,331 people), 567 local Armenian families (2369 people), 366 Armenian families settled from Iran (1715 people) and 11 Armenian families setled from Türkiye (48 people), as well as 46 Bosha (Christian Gypsies) families (195 people) in the city.

Statistical data showes that in 1873, 5,805 Azerbaijanis, 5,959 Armenians, in 1886, 7,228 Azerbaijanis, 7,142 Armenians, and in 1896, 12,516 Azerbaijanis, and 12,529 Armenians lived in Iravan.

Only after the suppression of the Armenian uprisings in Türkiye at the end of the 19th century, Armenians flocked to Iravan province, and after mass massacres against Azerbaijanis in 1905–1906, Armenians became the dominant ethnic group in the city of Iravan.

On May 28, 1918, when three independent states – Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia – were established in the South Caucasus, the National Council of Azerbaijan, with its decision dated May 29, conceded the city of Iravan as the capital to the Armenians. On May 29, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Fatali Khan Khoyski, wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of his government, Mohammadhasan Hajinski: “We have resolved all disputes with the Armenians, they will accept the ultimatum and end the war. We compromised Iravan to them.”

Until the establishment of the Republic of Armenia, the names of only a few Azerbaijani settlements in the territory of Iravan governorate were changed. The city was named “Iravan” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated June 12, 1936.

In 1922, 5124 Azerbaijanis, 40396 Armenians, in 1926, 4968 Azerbaijanis, 57295 Armenians, in 1931, 5620 Azerbaijanis and 80327 Armenians lived in Iravan. In 1970, 2,721 Azerbaijanis and 738,045 Armenians lived there.

On December 23, 1947, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decision “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR in the Kur-Araz lowland of Azerbaijan SSR”. That decision indicated that 100,000 collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population living in the Armenian SSR should be deported voluntarily to the Kur-Aras plain of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1948–1950. Although the category of “other Azerbaijani population” was not clarified, it was clear that under this category, the resettlement of workers and non-kolkhoz Azerbaijanis living in the cities of Armenia, including the city of Iravan, was intended. Therefore, the deportation of the Azerbaijani population from the city of Iravan and its surrounding regions began.

The fact that Azerbaijani teachers of higher schools and technical schools had to leave the city together with their families created serious problems in the general education process of the city. Many Azerbaijani families were forced to move to different regions of Azerbaijan in order to give their children a proper education. In general, 541 families (2294 people) were deported from Iravan to Azerbaijan in 1948–1953.

The name of the city is mentioned as “Ruan”, “Ravan”, “Iravan” in the “Detailed notebook of the province of Iravan” compiled in 1590, “Ravan” in the 17th century source, “Ayravan”, “Aravan”, “Ervan”, “Errevant”, “Ravant”, “Irvan” in the works of Russian and Armenian authors of the 19th century, and in European sources it is mentioned in the form of “Irivan”.

Researchers have given different explanations for the toponym of Iravan, and there is no unanimous opinion about it. 19th century Russian archaeologist M. V. Nikolsky shows that the toponym Iravan//Erivan was formed based on the name of the Eri tribe and notes that the settlement was called “Erivan” because the “Eri” tribe lived here. According to B. Budagov and G. Geibullayev, the toponym of Iravan is derived from the word “ir”, which means “sunset side of the mountain” and “wavy mountain top” in Turkish, and the word “van” which means “land” in Persian. Looking at the phonetic variants of the toponym “Irevan”, “Erivan”, “Arevan”, “Ervan”, “Irvan”, “Errevant”, “Irivan”, it is clear that the root of all of them is “ar”, “er”, “ir”. In Turkish languages, “ar”, “er”, “ir” are used in the meaning of “man, brave”.

Urartu language has the word ebani, which means “country”. According to Hr. Kapansyan, avan (avvan//avan) which means “village, town” is derived from the Urartian word abani //ebani which means “country, place” and the word “avan” does not belong to the Persian language. It is concluded that the second component of the Iravan toponym “avan” is a variant of the word “abani//ebani” which means “country”, “place”, “village”, “city” in the Urartu language. More precisely, the sound “b” in the word “abani” was replaced by the sound “v” and the word “abani” became “avan”, “evan”. Therefore, the toponym of Iravan was formed based on the Turkish word “ir” which means “man”, “brave” and the word “ebani” (avan) which means “country”, “place”, “village”, “city” and we can conclude that it means “land of the brave men”.

Since December 1988, Azerbaijanis have been completely deported from Iravan.

According to the administrative division of Soviet period, Zangibasar (Masis), Gamarli (Artashat), Echmiadzin, Ashtarak, Ellar (Abovyan) and Nairi districts surrounded the city of Iravan. In 1995, a new administrative territorial division was introduced in Armenia. Ararat, Kotayk, Armavir and Aragatsotn provinces surround the Iravan province (region), which includes the city of Iravan.

Location coordinates: 40°10′ n. l., 44°30′ e. l.

Nazim Mustafa
Doctor of philosophy in history, recipient of the State Prize