Shusha ' onMouseout='HidePop("63765")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Transliteration">transliterated
Transliteration is the practice of converting a text from one writing system into another in a systematic way.-Definitions:From an information-theoretical point of view, transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, word by word, or ideally letter by letter...
as
Shushi; ,
Shusha) is a town in the disputed region 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...
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...
. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the
Nagorno-Karabakh WarThe Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
. However, it is internationally recognised as being part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with the status of an
administrative division||-|Azerbaijan is divided into:*59 districts ,*11 cities* ,*1 autonomous republic , which itself contains:**7 districts**1 city...
serving as the administrative center of the surrounding
Shusha RayonShusha is a rayon of Azerbaijan. It surrounds the city of Shusha, in Nagorno-Karabakh, and is completely under control of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh Republic....
.
Situated at an altitude of 1400–1800
metreThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
s (4,600-5,900 ft) in the picturesque Karabakh mountains, Shusha was a popular mountainous-climatic recreation resort during the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. It was the only large settlement in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous OblastThe Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created in the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923. After the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1987 between the Armenian and Azerbaijan SSRs, it grew into a full-scale war by the end of 1991...
with a predominantly non-Armenian population; the population is now almost exclusively Armenian who use the Armenian equivalent of the town's name—
Shushi.
Shusha's fortress was built to serve as the capital of
Karabakh khanateThe Karabakh khanate was a Turkic khanate established in 1747 under nominal Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over the Karabakh khanate in 1805 from Persia, but the Russian annexation of Karabakh was not formalized until the Treaty...
, and the city was one of the cultural centers of 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...
after the Russian conquest of the region in first half of the 19th century. It was home to many intellectuals, poets, writers and especially, musicians (e.g., the ashugs,
mughamMugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs...
singers, kobuz players). In 1977 it was declared reservation of Azerbaijan architecture and history. The city was often referred to as "musical capital or conservatory of Transcaucasia".
The city was also a major center of Armenian cultural and economic life until the closing years of World War I. Along with
TbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, it was one of the two main Armenian cities of the Transcaucasus and the center of a self-governing Armenian principality in the 1720s. Furthermore, it had religious and strategic importance to the Armenians, housing the
Ghazanchetsots CathedralGhazanchetsots Cathedral , also known as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Shushi Cathedral, is an Armenian church located in Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh. It was built between 1868 and 1887 and has a facade of white limestone. Its architect, Simon Ter-Hakobyan, intended the church to...
(Cathedral of the Holy Savior; ), the church of Kanatch Zham (Church of the Holy Mother of God; Armenian:
Սբ. Աստվածածին) and serving (along with
LachinLachin is a town in Azerbaijan and the regional center of the Lachin Rayon. Since 1992 the area has been under the control of the de facto independent unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which has renamed the town Berdzor...
district to the west) as a land link to
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
History
Foundation
Shusha was founded in 1750-1752 (according to other sources, 1756-1757) by Panah-Ali khan Javanshir (r. 1748-1763), the founder and the first ruler of the independent
Karabakh khanateThe Karabakh khanate was a Turkic khanate established in 1747 under nominal Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over the Karabakh khanate in 1805 from Persia, but the Russian annexation of Karabakh was not formalized until the Treaty...
(1748-1822), which comprised Lowland Karabakh and
Highland 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...
. The latter, where Shusha was built, was predominantly inhabited by Armenians, living in five Armenian princedoms governed by their own hereditary princes . Initially the town was named Panahabad, after its founder. Later during the rule of Ibrahim-Khalil khan (r. 1763-1806), son of Panah Ali khan, the town got its present name after the nearby Armenian village
Shushi, also known as
Shushikent ("village of Shushi") or
Shosh .
The first capital of the Karabakh khanate was castle of Bayat, built in 1748 in the district of Kebirli. However, soon after Panah Ali khan realized that in order to secure himself and his newly-established khanate from external threats, and especially from the invasions from Iran, he needed to build a new more reliable castle.
According to Mirza Jamal Javanshir Karabagi (1773-1853), the author of Karabakh-nameh ('History of Karabakh'), one of the most significant chronicles on the history of Karabakh in 18-19th centuries, the Karabakh nobility assembled to discuss the danger of invasion from Persia (
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...
) and told Panah Ali khan:
"We must build among the impassable mountains such an inviolable and inaccessible fort, so that no strong enemy could take it". Melik Shahnazar of Varanda, who was the first of Armenian meliks to accept suzerainty of Panah-khan and always remained his loyal supporter, suggested a location for the new fortress. Thus, Panahabad-Shusha was founded. According to the aforementioned chronicle, prior to construction of the fortress by Panah Ali khan there were no buildings at that location and it was used as a cropland and
pasturePasture is land with low-growing vegetation cover used for grazing of livestock as part of a farm, or in ranching or other unenclosed pastoral systems. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses...
by the people of the nearby Shushakend village.
According to other historical sources (Georgian, Russian) Shusha initially was an Armenian citadel captured by Panah Ali khan.
Conflict with Persia
Less than a year after Shusha was founded, the Karabakh khanate was attacked by Muhammed Hassan khan Qajar, one of the major claimants to the Iranian throne. During the Safavid Empire Karabakh was for almost two centuries ruled by Ziyad-oglu family of the clan of Qajar (of
TurkicThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
origin), and therefore, Muhammed Hassan khan considered Karabakh his hereditary estate.
Muhammed Hassan khan besieged Shusha (Panahabad at that time) but soon had to retreat, because of the attack on his khanate by his major opponent to the Iranian throne,
Kerim khan ZendKarim Khan Zand, , , was the ruler and de facto Shah of Iran from 1760 until 1779. Founder of the Zand dynasty and a member of theLur peoples, he never styled himself as "shah" or king, and instead used the title Vakil e-Ra'aayaa .Karim Khan Zand was one of the generals of Nader Shah Afshar...
. His retreat was so hasty that he even left his cannons under the walls of Shusha fortress. Panah Ali khan counterattacked the retreating troops of Muhammad Hassan khan and even briefly took
ArdabilArdabil is a historical city in north-western Iran. The name Ardabil probably comes from the Zoroastrian name of "Artavil" which means a holy place. Ardabil is the center of Ardabil province. Its population is estimated to be around 340,386, the dominant majority of whom are ethnic Azerbaijanis...
across the Aras River in
Iranian AzerbaijanAzerbaijan or Azarbaijan , also Iranian Azerbaijan, Iranian Azarbaijan, Persian Azerbaijan, , is a region in northwestern Iran...
.
In 1756 (or 1759) Shusha and the Karabakh khanate underwent a new attack from Fatali khan Afshar, ruler of
UrmiaUrmia or Orumieh , is a city in Northwestern Iran and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province. The city lies on an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chaye river...
. With his 30,000 strong army Fatali khan also managed to gain support from the meliks (feudal vassals) of Jraberd and Talish (Gulistan), however melik Shahnazar of Varanda continued to support Panah Ali khan. Siege of Shusha lasted for six months and Fatali khan eventually had to retreat.
After Panah Ali khan's death his son Ibrahim Khalil khan became the ruler of the Karabakh khanate. Under him Karabakh khanate became one of the strongest state formations and Shusha grew. According to travelers who visited Shusha at the end of 18th-early 19th centuries the town had about 2,000 houses and approximately 10,000 population.
In summer 1795 Shusha underwent a major attack by
Aga Muhammad khan QajarMuḥammad Khān Qājār was the chief of the Qajar tribe. He became the Emperor/Shah of Persia in 1794 and established the Qajar dynasty. He was succeeded by his nephew, Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar....
, son of Muhammad Hassan khan who attacked Shusha in 1752. Aga Muhammad khan Qajar's goal was to end with the feudal fragmentation and to restore the old Safavid State in Iran. For this purpose he also wanted to proclaim himself shah (king) of Iran. However, according to the Safavid tradition, shah had to take control over the whole of South Caucasus before his coronation. Therefore, Karabakh khanate and its fortified capital Shusha, were the first and major obstacle to achieve these ends.
Aga Muhammad khan Qajar besieged Shusha with his 80,000 strong army. Ibrahim Khalil khan mobilized the population for a long-term defense. The number of militia in Shusha reached 15,000. Women fought together with men. The Armenian population of Karabakh also actively participated in this struggle against the invaders and fought side by side with the Muslim population jointly organizing ambushes in the mountains and forests.
The siege lasted for 33 days. Not being able to capture Shusha, Agha Muhammad khan ceased the siege and advanced to Tiflis (present-day
TbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
), which despite desperate resistance was occupied and exposed to unprecedented destruction.
In 1797 Agha Muhammad shah Qajar, who by that time has already managed to declare himself shah (albeit he did not succeed in conquering the Caucasus as the tradition required) decided to carry out a second attack on Karabakh.
Trying to avenge the previous humiliating defeat Qajar devastated the surrounding villages near Shusha. The population could not recover from the previous 1795 attack and also suffered from serious drought which lasted for three years. The artillery of the enemy also caused serious losses amongst the city defenders. Thus, in 1797 Aga Muhammed shah succeeded in seizing Shusha and Ibrahim Khalil khan had to flee to
DagestanThe Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject—republic—of the Russian Federation, located in the North Caucasus region....
.
However, several days after seizure of Shusha, Aga Muhammed shah was killed in enigmatic circumstances by his bodyguards. The Iranian troops left and soon afterwards, Ibrahim Khalil khan returned to Shusha and restored his authority as khan of Karabakh.
Shusha within the Russian Empire
From the early 19th century,
RussianThe 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...
influence in the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
began to rise. Following
GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
, many khanates accepted Russian protectorate. In 1805, a
Kurekchay TreatyThe Treaty of Kurakchay, also known as the Russo-Karabakhi treaty of 14 May 1805, was a treaty signed between the Russian military commander in the Caucasus Pavel Tsitsianov on behalf of Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Ibrahim Khalil Khan of the Karabakh khanate, which made the khanate a...
was signed between the
Karabakh khanateThe Karabakh khanate was a Turkic khanate established in 1747 under nominal Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over the Karabakh khanate in 1805 from Persia, but the Russian annexation of Karabakh was not formalized until the Treaty...
and the Russian Empire on the transfer of the Karabakh khanate to Russia.
The Russian Empire consolidated its power in the Karabakh khanate following the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 and
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...
of 1828, when following two Russo-Persian wars, Iran recognized belonging of the Karabakh khanate, along with many other khanates, to
RussiaThe 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...
.
The Karabakh khanate was eliminated in 1822. A survey prepared by the Russian imperial authorities in 1823, a year after and several years before the 1828 Armenian migration from Persia to the newly-established Armenian Province, shows that all Armenians of Karabakh compactly resided in its highland portion, i.e. on the territory of the five traditional Armenian principalities, and constituted an absolute demographic majority on those lands. The survey's more than 260 pages recorded that the district of Khachen had twelve Armenian villages and no Tatar (Muslim) villages; Jalapert (Jraberd) had eight Armenian villages and no Tatar villages; Dizak had fourteen Armenian villages and one Tatar village; Gulistan had twelve Armenian and five Tatar villages; and Varanda had twenty-three Armenian villages and one Tatar village.
During the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, the citadel at Shusha held out for several months and never fell. After this Shusha ceased to be a capital of a khanate and instead became an administrative capital of first the Karabakh province (1822-1840) and then of the Shusha district (uyezd) of the
Elisabethpol GovernorateElisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate ; was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Elisabethpol . Its area was 44,136 sq...
(1840-1923). Shusha grew and developed, with successive waves of migrants moving to the city, particularly Armenians.
Beginning from 1830s the town was divided into two parts: Turkic-speaking Muslims lived in the eastern lower quarters, while Armenian Christians settled in the relatively new western upper quarters of the town. The Muslim part of the town was divided to 17 quarters. Each quarter had its own
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
, Turkish bath, water-spring and also a quarter representative, who would be elected among the elderlies (aksakals), and who would function as a sort of head of present-day municipality. The Armenian part of the town consisted of 12 quarters, five churches, town and district school and girls' seminary.
The population of the town primarily dealt with trade, horse-breeding, carpet-weaving and wine and vodka production. Shusha was also the biggest center of silk production in the Caucasus. Most of the Muslim population of the town and of Karabakh in general was engaged in sheep and horse-breeding and therefore, had a semi-nomadic lifestyle, spending wintertime in lowland Karabakh in wintering pastures and spring and summer in summering pastures in Shusha and other mountainous parts.
Early 20th century
The beginning of the 20th century marked the first Armenian-Tartar clashes throughout
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...
. This new phenomenon had two reasons. First, it was the result of increased tensions between the local Muslim population and Armenians, whose numbers increased throughout the 19th century as a result of Russian resettlement policies. Second, by the beginning of the 20th century peoples of the Caucasus, similar to other non-Russian peoples in the periphery of the Russian Empire began to seek cultural and territorial autonomy. That is why, in the beginning of the 20th century in Russia itself was a period of bourgeois and Bolshevik revolutions, in the peripheries these movements have acquired a character of the national liberation movement.
The initial clashes between ethnic Armenians and Azeris took place in
BakuBaku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakou, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan and all the Caucasus. Located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, the city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City...
in February 1905. Soon, the conflict spilled over to other parts of the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
, and on August 5, 1905 first conflict between the Armenian and Azeri inhabitants of Shusha took place. As a result of the mutual pogroms and killings, hundreds of people died and more than 200 houses were burned.
After
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and subsequent collapse 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...
, Karabakh was claimed by Azerbaijan to be part of 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...
(1918-1920), a decision hotly disputed by neighboring Armenia and by Karabakh's Armenian population. After the defeat of
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:...
in the
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
,
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
troops occupied Karabakh. The British command provisionally affirmed Khosrov bey Sultanov (appointed by the Azerbaijani government) as the governor-general of Karabakh and
ZangezurZangezur may refer to:* Zangezur Mountains, mountain range that defines the border between Armenia and Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic* Syunik, province of Armenia* Kapan, Armenia...
, pending final decision by the
Paris Peace ConferenceThe Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated powers following the Armistice of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than...
.
In August 1919, the Karabakh National Council entered into a provisional treaty agreement with the Azerbaijani government, recognizing the authority of the Azerbaijan government until the issue of the mountainous part of Karabakh would be settled at the Paris Peace Conference. Despite signing the Agreement, the Azerbaijani government continuously violated the terms of the treaty. Ethnic conflict began to erupt in the region. In summer of 1919, 700 Christian inhabitants of Shusha were massacred by Tartars. The strife culminated with Armenian revolt, suppressed by the Azerbaijani army, leading to the pogrom of March 1920, in which between 500 and 20,000 of the Armenian population of Shusha was killed, and many of the rest forced to flee. According to the historian
Giovanni GuaitaGiovanni Guaita is an Italian historian, researcher of Eastern Christianity and writer. Assistant Professor of the Moscow Linguistic University.Guaita was born in 1962 in Italy...
, the Azerbaijani and Soviet authorities "during the decades will deny and try to hush up the mass killings of about 30,000 Armenians."
According to the description of Azerbaijan communist Musaev, «the ruthless destruction of defenceless women, children, old women, old men, etc has begun. Armenians were exposed to a mass slaughter (...). beautiful Armenian girls were raped, then shot. (...) At an order (...) Khosrov-bek Sultanov, pogroms proceeded for more than six days, houses in the Armenian part have been crushed, plundered and reduced all to ashes, everyone led away women to submit to the wishes of executioner musavatists. During these historically artful punishments Khosrov-bek Sultanov, pronouncing speeches, spoke to the Moslems, about holy war (jihad) and called to finally finish the Armenians of the city Shusha, not sparing women, children, etc.»
Nadezhda MandelstamNadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam was a Russian writer and a wife of poet Osip Mandelstam....
wrote about Shusha in the 1920s: "...in this town, which formerly of course was healthy and with every amenity, the picture of catastrophe and massacres was terribly visual... They say after the massacres all the wells were full of dead bodies. ...We didn't see anyone in the streets on the mountain. Only at downtown- in the market-square there were a lot of people, but there wasn't any Armenian among them, all were Muslims".
Soviet era
In 1920, the Russian
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
invaded Azerbaijan and then Armenia and put an end to the national de-facto governments that existed in those two countries. Beginning from this period, conflict over control of Karabakh and its central town of Shusha, moved from the battlefield to the diplomatic sphere.
In order to attract Armenian public support, the Bolsheviks promised to resolve the issue of the disputed territories, including Karabakh, in favor of Armenia. However, on July 5, 1921 the Caucasus Bureau (Kavburo) of the Communist Party adopted the following decision regarding the future status of Karabakh:
"Proceeding from the necessity of national peace among Muslims and Armenians and of the economic ties between upper (mountainous) and lower Karabakh, of its permanent ties with Azerbaijan, mountainous Karabakh is to remain within AzSSR, receiving wide regional autonomy with the administrative center in Shusha, which is to be included in the autonomous region." As a result, Mountainous Karabakh Autonomous Region was established within the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923.
The decision favoring Azerbaijan has been largely possible by the firm position of the then Soviet Azerbaijan leader
Nariman NarimanovNariman Karbalayi Najaf oglu Narimanov was an Azerbaijani revolutionary, writer, publicist, politician and statesman...
, who resisted pressure from Stalin to concede Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Armenia. According to another version, Stalin knew that by including the disputed and by then majority Armenian-populated region within the boundaries of Azerbaijan, it would ensure Moscow’s position as power broker.
Following the 1920 pogrom and burning of the town, Shusha was reduced to a small provincial town of some 10,000 people. Khankendi (renamed
StepanakertStepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , a de facto independent republic which is recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The city comprises about 50,000 Armenians...
after the Armenian communist Stepan Shaumyan), which previously was a small village, became the new regional capital and soon became the largest town within Mountainous Karabakh Autonomous Region.
The town remained half-ruined until the 1960s, when the town began to gradually revive due to its recreational potential. In 1977 Shusha was declared a reservation of Azerbaijan architecture and history and became one of the major resort-towns in the former USSR.
With the start of
Nagorno-Karabakh WarThe Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
in 1988 Shusha became the most important Azeri stronghold in Karabakh, from where Azeri forces constantly shelled the capital Stepanakert. On May 9, 1992 the town was captured by Armenian forces and the Azeri population fled (see
Battle of ShushaThe Capture of Shusha marked the first significant military victory by Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
). According to 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...
, the city was looted and burnt by Armenians. Today a large part of the town remains in ruins.
After the end of the war, the town was repopulated by Armenians, mostly refugees from Azerbaijan and other parts of Karabakh, as well as members of the Armenian diaspora. While the population of the town is barely half of the pre-war number, and the demographic of the town has changed from mostly Azeri to completely Armenian, a slow recovery can be seen. The
GorisGoris is a city in the Syunik Marz of Armenia. It is about 240 km away from the Armenian capital Yerevan and 70 km from the Syunik Marz center Kapan...
-
StepanakertStepanakert is the largest city and capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , a de facto independent republic which is recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The city comprises about 50,000 Armenians...
Highway passes through the town, and is a transit and tourist destination for many. There are some hotels in the city, and reconstruction work continues, in particular, the
Ghazanchetsots CathedralGhazanchetsots Cathedral , also known as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Shushi Cathedral, is an Armenian church located in Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh. It was built between 1868 and 1887 and has a facade of white limestone. Its architect, Simon Ter-Hakobyan, intended the church to...
recently finished going through the restoration process.
The Armenian quarter continued to lie in ruins until the beginning of the 1960s. In 1961, Baku's communist leadership finally passed a decision to clear away the ruins, even though many old buildings still could have been renovated. Three Armenian and one Russian churches were demolished and the town was built up with plain buildings typical of the Khrushev era.
Cultural life
The town of Shusha is extremely popular with the musical traditions of
Azerbaijani peopleThe Azerbaijanis are an ethnic group mainly living in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Commonly referred to as Azeris/Āzarīs or Azeri Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to the Iranian plateau...
. Shusha is home to one of the most renowed schools of
mughamMugam also known as Azerbaijani Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs...
, traditional Azeri genre of vocal and instrumental arts. Shusha is particularly renowned for this art.
Shusha is also well-known for sileh rugs, floor coverings from 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...
and parts of eastern
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. Those from the Caucasus may have been woven in the vicinity of Shusha. A similar Eastern Anatolian type usually shows a different range of colours.
The Eastern Armenian version of four Gospels (Holy Bible) was completed in 1830 in Shusha, and then was published in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
for the first time.
Demographics
When the city was founded in the middle of 18th century, it had predominantly Muslim population. In the late 19th to early 20th century, the Armenian Christian population increased and prevailed in number over the Muslim. In Soviet times Shusha became the second largest town in Nagorno-Karabakh and the first in terms of predominantly Azerbaijani population.
George Keppel, the Earl of AlbemarleGeneral George Thomas Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle DL, FGS, FSA , styled The Honourable from birth until 1851, was a British soldier, Liberal politician and writer.-Background and education:...
, who in 1824 on his way back to England from India arrived to Karabakh from Persia, wrote that “Sheesha contains two thousand houses: three parts of the inhabitants are Tartars, and the remainder Armenians”.
The highland portion of Karabakh, where Shusha was built, traditionally had an Armenian majority of the population. When discussing Karabakh and Shusha in the 18th century, the Russian diplomat and historian S. M. Bronevskiy (Russian: С. М. Броневский) indicated in his “Historical Notes” that Karabakh, which he said "
is located in Greater ArmeniaGreater Armenia may refer to:* The Kingdom of Armenia, independent from 190 BC to 387 АD, known as Greater Armenia to distinguish it from Roman-controlled Lesser Armenia...
" had as many as 30-40 thousand armed Armenian men in 1796.
A survey prepared by the Russian imperial authorities in 1823 shows that all Armenians of Karabakh compactly resided in its highland portion, i.e. on the territory of the five traditional Armenian principalities, and constituted an absolute demographic majority on those lands. The survey's more than 260 pages recorded that the five districts had 57 Armenian villages and 7 Tatar (Muslim) villages.
The 19th century also brought some alterations to the ethnic demographics of the region. Following the invasions from Iran (Persia), Russo-Persian wars and subjection of Karabakh khanate to Russia, many Muslim families emigrated to Iran while many Armenians moved to Shusha.
According to first Russian-held census of 1823 conducted by Russian officials Yermolov and Mogilevsky, the number of Muslim families in Shusha was 1,111 (72.5%) whereas the number of Armenian families reached 421 (27.5%). Seven years later, according to 1830 data, the number of Muslim families in Shusha decreased to 963 and the number of Armenian families increased to 762.
In 1851, the population of Shusha was 15,194 people, in 1886 - 30,000, in 1910 - 39,413 and in 1916 - 43,869, of which 23,396 (53 %) were Armenians, and 19,121 (44 %) were Tatars (Azerbaijanis).
By the end of the 1880s the percentage of Muslim population living in the Shusha district (part of earlier Karabakh province) decreased even further and constituted only 41.5%, while the percentage of the Armenian population living in the same district increased to 58.2% in 1886.
By the second half of the 19th century Shusha had become the largest town in the Karabakh region and the second largest town in the Caucasus after Tbilisi . However, after the pogrom against the Armenian population in 1920 and the burning of the town, Shusha was reduced to a small provincial town of some 10,000 people. Armenians did not begin to return until after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was not until the 1960s that the Armenian quarter began to be rebuilt.
According to the last population census in 1989, the town of Shusha had a population of 17,000 and Shusha district had a population of 23,000. 91.7% of population of Shusha district and 98% of Shusha town were Azerbaijani.
Following the Armenian capture of Shusha in 1992, the Azeri population of the town fled and the present population consists of roughly 3,000 Armenians, mainly refugees from other parts of Azerbaijan and some immigrants from
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and the
DiasporaThe Armenian diaspora has created the communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Javakhk. The total Armenian population living worldwide is estimated to be 11,000,000, but only about 3,150,000 live in Armenia, about 140,000 in Nagorno-Karabakh and approximately 120,000...
. As a result of the war, there are no Azeris living in the Shusha region today.
See also
- Battle of Shusha
The Capture of Shusha marked the first significant military victory by Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
- Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-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...
- List of Armenians from Shushi
- List of Azerbaijanis from Nagorno-Karabakh
External links