Tokhluja is a village in the Novo-Bayazid uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Chambarak (Krasnoselsk) district, and currently in the Gegharkunik province. The provincial centre lies 61 km to the northeast of the town of Gavar, on the shores of Lake Goycha, in an area surrounded by mountains on all four sides, at a height of 1,980 m above sea level. It was noted in “The Iravan Province Review Book” dated 1728 and marked on the five- verst map of the Caucasus. The ruins of the 15th-19th-century historical monuments have survived in the village. There are graves attributed to the Oghuz in the village.

The village was inhabited by 296 Azerbaijanis in 1831, 466 in 1873, 681 in 1886, 935 in 1897, 1,373 in 1914, 1,330 in 1916 and 1,199 Azerbaijanis in 1919. In the middle of March 1919, the Azerbaijanis were savagely expelled from the village by 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 native lands. The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis – 1,176 in 1922, 1,403 in 1926, 1,723 in 1931, 1,840 in 1939, 1,528 in 1959, 2,469 in 1970, 2,664 in 1979 and 2,985 Azerbaijanis in 1987. In November-December 1988 the villagers were deported from their historical-ethnic territories by the state of Armenia again having been exposed to the aggression of Armenians. At present, only Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the phonetic form of the word “daghlija” which means “a mountainous place” in the Azerbaijani language. The word “tokh” [tox], the first component of the toponym, is a phonetic form of the words “to”, “togh” used in Turkic languages to mean “a mountain”. The word “tog (tug)” is also used in Old Turkic in the sense of “a dam”, “a barrier”, “a fence” and means “a mountainous area”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 April 1991, it was renamed “Drakhtik”. 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 Gegharkunik province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°34’ N., longitude 45°13’ E.