Sarijalar

Sarijalar was a village in the territory of the Echmiadzin uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Zangibasar (Masis) district, and present-day Ararat province. It was located 8 km to the southwest of the settlement of Zangibasar and near the Zangi River. The village had been within the Gamarli (Artashat) district until the establishment of the Zangibasar district. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus. The name of the village was noted as “Sarajalar” in Armenian sources.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 107 in 1831, 354 in 1873, 440 in 1886, 460 in 1897, 638 in 1904 and 811 Azerbaijanis in 1914. The Azerbaijanis were attacked, massacred or expelled from the village by Armenian armed formations in 1918. After the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia, the Azerbaijanis who survived managed to return to their native lands. The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 207 in 1922, 224 in 1926 and 168 Azerbaijanis in 1931. In accordance with the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the Replacement of Collective Farmers and Other Azerbaijani Population from the Armenian SSR to the Kur-Araz Lowlands of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijani population of the village were forcibly deported to Azerbaijan and the village was abolished. The territory of the village was merged with Habilkend (the settlement named after Kalinin).

The toponym was coined on the basis of the name of the Turkic Sarijalilar tribe. The toponym means “the place belonging to the Sarijali tribe”.