Lehvaz is a village in the Zangezur uezd of the former Yelizavetpol (Ganja) governorate, later in the former Mehri (Meghri) district, and currently in the Syunik province. The provincial centre lies 61 km to the southwest of the town of Gapan, on the left bank of the Migri (Megri) River, at a height of 930 m above sea level. Following the establishment of the Zangezur uezd in Soviet Armenia on 31 August 1921, the settlement was integrated into the administrative territory of Armenia. It is marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus. There were two villages called Lehvaz in the Mehri district: Lehvaz One, Lehvaz Two. Later, these villages were merged under the name “Lehvaz”.
The village was was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 15 in 1831, 172 in 1873, 375 in 1886, 346 in 1897, 525 in 1904 and 836 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In 1918 the village was exposed to aggression by Armenian armed forces, and its residents were deported or massacred. The Azerbaijanis who fled the village managed to return to their historical and ethnic lands following the establishment of Soviet power in the territory of present-day Armenia. The village was inhabited by 189 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 145 in 1926, 171 in 1931 and 1,002 Azerbaijanis in 1987. In November 1988 the Azerbaijanis living in the village were deported from their historical and ethnic lands by the Armenian government. At present, the village is inhabited by Armenians.
The toponym was coined from the ethnonym “Leh” from the Scythian tribes mentioned in Strabo’s “Geography” and the word “bayz/bays” (vaz) used in the Turkish language meaning “a steep rock, a mountain near a river flowing in a narrow ravine at the foot of a swollen rock”. This word is also used in Azerbaijani toponymy to mean “a high hill, ridge on the plain”.
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 Syunik province.
Geographical coordinates: latitude: 38°56’ N., longitude: 46°12’ E.
