Garabagh

ANCIENT GARABAGH is the heart of Azerbaijan, a land that has given the country a great many talented people. It is not only unique nature and landscapes included in the country's List of Natural Monuments, it is also a brilliant galaxy of talents: poets, writers, musicians, khanende (masters of the national musical genre, MUGHAM). Garabagh is the cradle of Azerbaijani music. The nature and resources of this ancient land leave no one indifferent. Perhaps that is why this beautiful land is now under occupation...

BARDA

BARDA DISTRICT lies in the centre of the Garabagh Plain, in the north-western part of the Kura-Araz Lowland, on the bank of the TARTARCHAY river. The Khachin river also flows here, the Kura runs along the district's border, and the large Upper Garabagh Canal has been built. Along the Barda-Tartar road lie two beautiful lakes, and another lake (Agali) is not far from Barda. The district's forests cover 6856 km, with many relict trees; oak, hornbeam, elm, walnut and plane trees grow here. The local fauna includes the wolf, fox, jackal, wild boar, hare, pheasant, goose, black francolin and others. Hunting and fishing are possible here. Natural conditions made it possible to grow melons and gourds, cotton and grain. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union this district was an All-Union health resort, a popular spa, since the local land is rich in healing mineral springs. The best known are ISTISU, three kilometres from the town of Barda, and the spring near the village of MUGANLI. THE TOWN OF BARDA. Distance from Baku: 314 km. Barda, located in the western part of Azerbaijan, was called the "MOTHER OF THE CITIES OF ARRAN" in Arabic written sources (IBN HAWQAL). The city was once one of the key stages of the Great Silk Road. It was known to the surrounding peoples as early as 2 thousand years ago, and there was even a legend that Barda was founded by Alexander the Great; this legend was mentioned in their works by such ancient authors as Baladhuri and Qazvini. From the 6th century AD Barda became the capital of Caucasian Albania. Archaeological expeditions discovered the ruins of the ancient city not far from modern Barda. Extremely rich material was found, testifying to a high level of urban culture, trade and crafts: jewellery, blacksmithing, pottery; silk production, woodworking, carpet weaving. It was a city with developed infrastructure: archaeologists found underground water conduits and sewers, for which ceramic pipes were used. Red brick was used in construction, and the squares of the ancient city were paved. Coins were struck at the mint. The finds testify to the city's intensive ties with neighbouring cities of Azerbaijan and the whole Middle East; objects of material culture have been found covering the period from 2 thousand BC to the late Middle Ages. Many architectural monuments have survived to this day. These are the remains of the famous bridge (7th-9th century) over the Tartar; the mausoleums "AKHSADAN BABA", "GULOGLULAR" (where the famous scholar BAHMAN MIRZA QAJAR is buried), the work of the master AHMED, son of Ayyub al-Hafiz; and "IMAMZADEH", in which, scholars believe, Sheikh IBRAHIM is buried. A square adobe fortress has also survived.

As the capital of the Albanian state, Barda became the religious centre of the Albanian Christian Church in 552. Christianity was brought to Caucasian Albania by Syrian missionaries. However, starting from the first half of the 7th century, Barda turned into an arena of wars between the Khazars and the Arabs. During the reign of Caliph MUAWIYA (661-680) Barda was restored, and fortress walls were built around the city. An Arab garrison settled here as an outpost against Khazar attacks. At that time Barda's population was 100 thousand people, a large figure for a city of that time. That is why the Arab author MUQADDASI called Barda "the Baghdad of this region". After the collapse of the Caliphate and almost until the end of the 10th century, Barda was part of the SALLARID state. An interesting episode is recorded in Barda's history. In 944 Vikings sailed up the Kura in ships; coming from the Kievan principality, they "roamed" through all the towns and villages, plundering everything they could. If the records are to be believed, the Viking force was quite large, from 30 to 50 thousand people. They managed to occupy Barda for a while. But a few months later they began dying of mysterious diseases, abandoned the city without a fight and left. Barda suffered most of all from the Mongol invasions. It was badly destroyed during the invasion of TIMUR (15th century). And after the city was sacked by the Iranian Shah NADIR in 1736, Barda could no longer recover. The city fell into decline and became a small settlement within the Garabagh Khanate (late 18th century). Earlier, Barda consisted of a clearly defined city centre, the SHAHRISTAN, surrounded by a fortress wall, and the RABAT, made up of quarters of masters, artisans and merchants. There were quarters of blacksmiths (now the village of Gara Demirchilar stands on this site), weavers, potters, stonemasons, wood and stone carvers, and leatherworkers. Beautiful fabrics, weapons, ceramic and glass ware, and jewellery of base and precious metals were made here. The famous CARPETS OF THE GARABAGH GROUP (pile and flat-woven), created by Azerbaijani masters, mostly "came from" Barda. It was a true City of Masters, which the great Azerbaijani poet NIZAMI GANJAVI celebrated in his poem "ISKANDAR-NAMEH". Ancient Barda was made famous by GAZI MAHIATDIN BARDAI, a well-known 14th-century political figure, and by the progressive jurist and scholar MUHAMMAD IBN ABDULLAH ABUBAKR BARDAI (d. 961), known to many eminent scholars of the East, who wrote the book "REPLY TO THOSE WHO DISAGREE" (on the foundations of Islamic law). His works testify to the scholar's democratic, progressive outlook.

AGHDAM

AGHDAM DISTRICT. Many ancient architectural monuments have survived on its territory. These include the KHANAOGLAN mausoleum (17th c.), the CARAVANSERAI (18th c.) in the village of SHAHBULAG, a mosque (17th c.), the palace and mausoleum of PANAHALI KHAN; the "GUTLU MUSAOGLU" mausoleum (14th c.) in the village of KHACHINTURBETLI, two mausoleums and a mosque in the village of PAPRAVEND, a cave temple from the Christian period of Caucasian Albania carved into the northern slope of BOZDAG mountain, and others.

THE CITY OF AGHDAM is the administrative center of Aghdam District, 362 km from Baku. Aghdam was also one of the major cities on the Garabagh plain. Turkic tribes often built small fortresses on the plains for protection against enemies - in Old Turkic the word "aghdam" means "small fortress". Later the word "aghdam" took on a meaning matching the modern one - "light", "white". This is because one of the Garabagh khans - PANAHALI - built himself a house of white stone in the 18th century. It was a whole complex of harmonious buildings - a white-stone imaret. Aghdam is home to an unusual museum - the Bread Museum. It holds unique exhibits - archaeological finds related to bread and grain growing. These include petrified grains, grain grinders, hand mills, dishes, old books, manuscripts, various materials telling of the development of grain farming, farmers' tools (sickles, a wooden plough, a threshing board) and so on.

SHUSHA

THE CITY OF SHUSHA is 373 km from Baku. The city owes its name to the magnificent, clean and clear air of these parts. "Shusha" means "glass" (Azerbaijanis usually compare clean air to clear glass). It is one of the most beautiful cities in our country, which nature has blessed with unique springs - ISA BULAG, TURSHSU, SAKINA BULAG, ISTI BULAG, SOYUG BULAG, YUZ BULAG, GIRKH BULAG, CHARIKH BULAG and others. The birth and subsequent flourishing of Shusha are linked to the growing might and strengthening of the GARABAGH Khanate. On two sides of Shusha, the once mighty fortress walls have survived. The city was founded by the Garabagh ruler PANAHALI Khan. He built a fortress here and named it PANAHABAD 1756-1757). Later it was renamed after the nearby village of Shusha. Panahali Khan also built other fortresses - BAYAT, SHAHBULAG - and strengthened the ASKERAN fortress. In the 18th century Shusha became one of the most important cities of Azerbaijan. Large, mighty walls were built around it, numerous artisan quarters appeared, Shusha merchants traded with the cities of Iran and with Moscow, and the silver coin PANABADI (panahabadi) was minted in the city. The beautiful city, set high in the mountains, was admired by travelers. "Its houses are regular, beautiful, tall and lit by fine, numerous windows. The city is built of stone taken from the cliffs on which it stands. The streets everywhere are paved with wide slabs, the roofs are made of planks" - this is how the Russian artist V.Vereshchagin wrote about Shusha. The residential quarters had covered galleries with stone columns, the market squares were large, and the main square of the city - MEYDAN - was lined with rows of shops and a two-storey caravanserai, and the congregational mosque with two minarets stood here. At the edge of the city was the "racing field" - JIDIR DUZU. It lay next to the deep DASHALTI gorge. Steep stone steps, "GIRKH PILLAKAN" ("forty steps), led down to the DASHALTI river running along the bottom of the gorge. The mysterious cave "Khazina Gala" ("fortress of treasures") was also located there. Everyone who came to Shusha visited it. It is hard to list all the monuments of architecture and art of the past for which Shusha is famous - 170 architectural monuments alone have been recorded here, and 160 monuments of art. These include the house-museums of the poetess Khurshud Banu Natavan, the artillery general Mehmandarov (a participant in the heroic defense of Port Arthur), the outstanding composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the singer Bulbul, and the poet and artist Mir Mohsun Navvab. The castles of Ibrahim Khan and his daughter Gara Boyukkhanum; the "Ganja Gate", the fortress wall and others. This city is called the "conservatory of the East" - Shusha was the birthplace of many outstanding Azerbaijanis, singers, musicians, great composers and conductors: JABBAR GARYAGDIOGLU, GURBAN PIRIMOV, BULBUL, SEYID SHUSHINSKI, KHAN SHUSHINSKI, RASHID BEHBUDOV, UZEYIR HAJIBEYOV, NIYAZI, FIKRET AMIROV, SULEYMAN ALASGAROV. The writers S.AKHUNDOV, A.HAGVERDIYEV, N.VAZIROV, the poetess KHURSHUD BANU NATAVAN, the poet GASIMBEY ZAKIR, the sculptors and artists T.NARIMANBEYOV, J.GARYAGDI and others were born here. Not far from Shusha lies the city of Khankendi, first mentioned in written sources of the 9th century. It was founded by Turkic tribes whose name first became the name of the city - VARANDA. At the end of the 18th century, PANAHALI KHAN's son, MEHDI GULU KHAN, built a large settlement on this site and named it KHANKENDI (the Khan's village), and later gave it to his wife PERIJAN BEGIM. In 1923 the city was renamed Stepanakert, but after Azerbaijan gained independence with the collapse of the USSR, the city's original name was restored.

KALBAJAR

KALBAJAR DISTRICT lies on the slopes of the Lesser Caucasus. The administrative center is THE CITY OF KALBAJAR, which means "high pass", "high ground". It is 445 km from Baku This area is famous for its mineral springs, including thermal ones. The best-known mineral water - ISTISU ("hot water") - also gave its name to the local resort. Equally healing springs are found at an altitude of 2000-2400 m, on the banks of the TARTAR river (31 springs). In their chemical composition they are almost identical to, and even surpass, the world-famous waters of KARLOVY VARY (Czech Republic).

WE HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT ONLY A FEW CITIES OF GARABAGH, WHICH IS UNDER OCCUPATION. FOR NOW...