Shahvarid is a village in the Echmiadzin uezd of the Iravan governorate, later in the former Gurdugulu (Hoktemberyan) district, and currently in the Armavir province. The provincial centre lies 11 km to the southwest of the town of Serdarabad (Hoktemberyan, Armavir), on the left bank of the Araz River, at a height of 900 m above sea level. Its name was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 59 in 1831, 72 in 1873, 116 in 1886, 153 in 1897, 96 in 1908, 128 in 1914 and 132 Azerbaijanis in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijanis were massacred or deported having been exposed to the aggression of Armenian armed units. After the establishment of Soviet power in the territory of present-day Armenia, the surviving Azerbaijanis were able to return to their ancestral lands. The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 108 in 1922, 106 in 1926 and 96 Azerbaijanis in 1931. According to the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR to the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijani population of the village in 1948–1949 was forcibly deported from their historical-ethnic lands to Azerbaijan. The Armenians removed from abroad were settled in the village. At present, Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined by adding the suffix “-ud” to the words “shah” used in Persian to mean “a rock, solid, firm” and “var” used in Azerbaijani to mean “a fortified village, fortress”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 July 1968, it was renamed “Hushakert”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Armavir province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°04’ N., longitude 43°55’ E.