Kichik Gilanlar

Kichik Gilanlar was a village in the territory of the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Gamarli (Artashat) district, and present-day Ararat province. It was located 28 km to the northeast of the settlement of Gamarli (Artashat), on the bank of the Yelinja River. It was integrated into the Vedi (Ararat) district in the 1930s. The village was noted as “Kichik Gilan” in “The Iravan Province Review Book” and marked as “Kichik Gilyanar” on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was inhabited by 96 Azerbaijanis in 1873, 167 in 1886, 178 in 1897, 183 in 1904, 201 in 1914 and 194 Azerbaijanis in 1916. The Azerbaijanis were ousted by the Armenian-Dashnak armed units in 1918 and the Armenians removed from abroad were settled in the village. After the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia, the Azerbaijanis who survived managed to return to their own village. Along with 21 Armenians, the village was inhabited by 11 Azerbaijanis in 1922. After 1922 those 11 Azerbaijanis were also ousted and the village was inhabited totally by Armenians. The village of Kichik Gilanlar was abolished in 1950. At present, it lies in ruins.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “kichik” which is a distinctive feature and the multi-generational family name “Gilanlar”.