Jani

Jani was a village in the territory of the Sharur-Daralayaz uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Keshishkend (Yeghegnadzor) district, and present-day Vayots Dzor province. It was located near the Alagoz River. The name of the village was noted as “Jani”, “Jani Yukhari” in Armenian sources.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 86 in 1873, 169 in 1886, 221 in 1897, 160 in 1904, 176 in 1914 and 282 Azerbaijanis in 1916. The Azerbaijanis were attacked, massacred or expelled from the village by Armenian armed formations in 1918. Only after the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia, the village inhabitants that survived managed to return to their lands. The village was inhabited by 77 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 78 in 1926 and 111 Azerbaijanis in 1931. In the 1940s the Azerbaijanis were deported from the village by the special order of the USSR government and the village was abolished. At present, the village is in ruins.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the personal name “Jani”.