Julfa is the administrative capital of the Julfa Rayon administrative region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
.
Julfa is separated by the
Araks RiverThe Aras ; Latin: Aboras, is a river located in and along the countries of Turkey, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Its total length is 1,072 kilometers...
from its namesake, the town of
JolfaJolfa, جلفا, is a small town located in North of Tabriz, in the province of East Azarbaijan Province, Iran and is home to approximately 56,000 people living on 35 kilometers of urban and rural areas...
on the Iranian side of the border.
Traditionally, the king of
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
,
Tigranes ITigranes I of Armenia reigned as King of Armenia from 115 BC to 95 BC. Artavasdes I did not leave any heir; his brother, Tigranes ascended to the throne of the Artaxiads. Some historians claim that Tigranes II the Great was the son of Tigranes I and not Artavasdes I....
, was said to have be the founder of Jugha. Existing as a village in the early
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, Julfa grew into a town between the 10th and 13th centuries, with an almost entirely Armenian population.
Julfa is the administrative capital of the Julfa Rayon administrative region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
.
Julfa is separated by the
Araks RiverThe Aras ; Latin: Aboras, is a river located in and along the countries of Turkey, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. Its total length is 1,072 kilometers...
from its namesake, the town of
JolfaJolfa, جلفا, is a small town located in North of Tabriz, in the province of East Azarbaijan Province, Iran and is home to approximately 56,000 people living on 35 kilometers of urban and rural areas...
on the Iranian side of the border.
History
Traditionally, the king of
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
,
Tigranes ITigranes I of Armenia reigned as King of Armenia from 115 BC to 95 BC. Artavasdes I did not leave any heir; his brother, Tigranes ascended to the throne of the Artaxiads. Some historians claim that Tigranes II the Great was the son of Tigranes I and not Artavasdes I....
, was said to have be the founder of Jugha. Existing as a village in the early
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, Julfa grew into a town between the 10th and 13th centuries, with an almost entirely Armenian population. For a time, Julfa was one of the most important settlements in medieval Armenia. It became prosperous from the 15th to the 17th centuries due to the role its Armenian merchants played in international trade: the caravans of those merchants travelled the ancient
trade routeA trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
s from Persia,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, South-East Asia and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, to
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the Mediterranean, and
North-West EuropeNorth-West Europe is a term that refers to a northern area of Western Europe, although the exact area or countries it comprises varies.-Geographic definition:...
.
In 1603, Shah
Abbas I of PersiaShāh ‘Abbās the Great or Shāh ‘Abbās I was Shah of Iran, and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad....
retook Julfa from the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and was seen as a liberator by the Armenian population. By 1605, however, he realized that he was unable to defend the territory along the Aras River from incursions by the Ottomans. Abbas' solution was to evacuate the region, undertaking a scorched earth policy in order that the region's wealth and population would not fall into Ottoman hands. In October 1605, the Shah issued an edict declaring that the entire population of Julfa must leave their homes and move deep into the Persian Empire.
According to 17th century chronicler
Arakel of TabrizArakel of Tabriz was a 17th century Armenian historian.The Armenian chronicle of Arakel of Tabriz, and the chronicle of the Carmelita missionaries describe in great detail how the persecution of Iranian Jews started in Isfahan and spread to all the major towns of the kingdom. - References :*...
, the edict stated that they had three days to leave or face being massacred. Another eyewitness, Augustus Badjetsi, Bishop of Nakhijevan, wrote:
About three thousand families were deported from Julfa, and many drowned while attempting to cross the Aras. After the deportation was completed, the town was destroyed by fire to prevent the inhabitants from returning.
In 1606, a second deportation was made of a surviving population that had escaped the first deportation. These remaining inhabitants were taken to an area near Esfahan, in Persia (now
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
), where a new town,
New JulfaNew Julfa is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the river Zayandeh River....
, was established. New Julfa is now a district of Esfahan, and still contains a small Armenian population.
In the 17th and 18th century a small settlement was founded amid the ruins of the destroyed town, which, in 1747, became part of the
Nakhchivan khanateThe Khanate of Nakhichevan was a feudal state in the southern Caucasus, nominally subordinate to the Persian Shahs, and named after its chief settlement, the town of Nakhichevan....
. At the start of the 19th century this settlement moved to a new location three kilometres to the east of the historical town, at the point where the Yernjak River flows into the Aras. After the
Treaty of TurkmenchayThe Treaty of Turkmenchay was a treaty negotiated in Turkmenchay by which the Persian Empire, more commonly known today as Iran, recognized Russian suzerainty over the Erivan khanate, Nakhchivan khanate and the remainder of the Talysh khanate, establishing the Araks River as the common boundary...
in 1828, the village of Julfa became the official border crossing between Persia and Russia, containing state customs services, a garrison and post office.
The town became part of the
Armenian oblastThe Armenian Oblast or Armenian Province ) was an oblast of the Russian Empire that existed from 1828 to 1840. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of present-day Turkey, and present-day Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave...
from 1840 to 1847, and then part of the Erevan Gubernia of the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
between 1847 and 1917. Following the Russian Revolution, between 1918 to 1920 Julfa was the subject of a territorial dispute between the
Democratic Republic of ArmeniaThe Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian republic. The republic was established in the former territory of Eastern Armenia in the Russian Empire following the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and the
Azerbaijan Democratic RepublicThe Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...
. As a result of the
Treaty of KarsThe Treaty of Kars was a friendship treaty between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which in 1923 declared the Republic of Turkey, and representatives of Soviet Armenia, Soviet Azerbaijan and Soviet Georgia with participation of Bolshevist Russia...
, it became part of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic under the
Transcaucasian SFSRThe Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the TSFSR for short, was a short-lived republic of the Soviet Union...
in 1922, which itself became part of the
Azerbaijan SSRThe Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
in 1936.
During the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the status of
Nagorno-KarabakhNagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
from 1988 to 1994, the remainder of the Armenian population (which had been slowly declining due to emigration during the Soviet era) either fled or was forcibly deported to Armenia.
The archaeological site of Old Julfa and destruction of the Julfa cemetery
At the beginning of the 20th century, the remains of the medieval settlement included a massive ruined bridge, two large
caravanseraiA caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
s (one on the Iranian side of the border), the walls of a fortress, and several Armenian churches. The most notable remnant from old Julfa was the town's huge Armenian cemetery, located to the west of the ruined city, on three low hills divided by small valleys, which contained the largest surviving collection of
Armenian KhachkarA khachkar or khatchkar is a cross-bearing carved memorial stele covered with rosettes and botanical motifs, characteristic of Armenian art and found in Armenia.-Definition and purpose:...
tombstones, most dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. One of the earliest references to the site is that of the French Jesuit missionary
Alexander de RhodesFather Alexander de Rhodes was a French Jesuit missionary who had a lasting impact on Christianity in Viet Nam.- Biography :...
, who wrote that during his visit in 1648 he saw over ten thousand tombstones. However, a large number of the stones were destroyed during the construction of the railway line to Julfa early in the 20th century.
According to
Argam AivazianArgam Aivazian is an Armenian historian, journalist and researcher.He is known for his monographs on cultural history of Nakhichevan, including separate books for the towns of Hin Jugha and Agulis, and more than 200 works.-Books:*1981 Rock-Carvings of Navasar...
's investigations at the cemetery from 1971 to 1973, there were, either upright or fallen, 462 khachkars on the first cemetery hill, 1,672 khachkars on the second, and 573 on the third. In addition to these khachkars there were in the same cemetery more than a thousand ram-shaped, gabled, or flat tombstones. An additional 250 khachkars were counted in the cemetery of the nearby Amenaprkich monastery and in other parts of the city site. The number of khachkars and ram-shaped tombstones buried in the earth or in fragments, in the main cemetery and elsewhere, was estimated to be more than 1,400.
Its destruction
Between 1998 and 2006 the entire cemetery was destroyed. The various stages of the destruction process have been documented by photographic and video evidence taken from the Iranian side of the border.
Government and state officials of Azerbaijan have denied that any destruction has taken place, stating that an Armenian cemetery never existed on the site and that Armenians have never lived in Julfa. Azerbaijan has, to date, refused neutral observers access to the site.
The
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
has formally called on Azerbaijan to stop the demolition as a breach of the
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
World Heritage Convention. According to its resolution regarding cultural monuments in the
South CaucasusThe South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Transcaucasus...
, the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
"condemns strongly the destruction of the Julfa cemetery as well as the destruction of all sites of historical importance that has taken place on Armenian or Azerbaijani territory, and condemns any such action that seeks to destroy cultural heritage." In 2006, Azerbaijan barred the European Parliament from inspecting and examining the ancient site , stating that by passing the previously-mentioned resolution the Parliament had committed a hostile act against Azerbaijan. The
Institute for War and Peace ReportingInstitute for War & Peace Reporting is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Philippines, Southeastern Europe, Syria, Uganda and Southern Africa.IWPR builds democracy at the frontlines...
reported on April 19, 2006 that "there is nothing left of the celebrated stone crosses of Jugha."
After several more postponed visits, a renewed attempt was planned by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) inspectors for August 29 - September 6 2007, led by British MP Edward O'Hara. As well as Nakhchivan, the delegation would visit Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Nagorno Karabakh . The inspectors planned to visit Nagorno Karabakh via Armenia, and had arranged transport to facilitate this. However, on August 28, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE released a demand that the inspectors must enter Nagorno Karabakh via Azerbaijan. On August 29, PACE Secretary General Mateo Sorinas announced that the visit had to be cancelled because of the difficulty in accessing Nagorno Karabagh using the route required by Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Armenia issued a statement saying that Azerbaijan had stopped the visit "due solely to their intent to veil the demolition of Armenian monuments in Nakhijevan" .
Julfa in culture
The sudden and dramatic downfall of Old Julfa in the 17th century made a deep and lasting impression on Armenian society and culture. During the 19th century, poets such Hovhanness Toumanian and historians such as Ghevond Alishan produced works based on the event. The emotions raised as a result of the destruction of the graveyard in 2006 indicates that the fate of Julfa still resonates within contemporary Armenian society.
Further reading
- Argam Aivazian, Djugha / , Yerevan, 1990. ISBN 5540008111
- Argam Aivazian, Nakhijevan: Book of Monuments / , Yerevan, 1990.
- Switzerland-Armenia Parliamentary Group, The Destruction of Jugha, Bern, 2006.
External links