Melikdom of Kashatagh

The ruins of the palace of Melik Ahnazar I in the village of Khnatsakh

The Melikdom of Kashatagh was founded at the end of the 15th century by Melik Haykaz I, also the founder of the Melik-Haykazyan dynasty (the youngest branch of the Armenian princely dynasty of Proshyan). Previously, the Kashatagh region was first ruled by the Orbelian family, and then by the Shahurnetsi clan.[4][3]

According to historical evidence such as the accounts of Arakel of Tabriz,[5] Melik Haykazyan, the first dynastic ruler of the melikdoms of Agachech-Kashatag (1450-1520), made Kashatghk his capital. The whole region was named Kashatagh after this princely residence.[2][6] The Melik Haykaz Palace was built at the end of the 15th century on an artificial slope surrounded by a fortified wall with towers and gates. Being constructed in 1480, the complex is one of the earliest surviving examples of secular Armenian architecture.[7][8][9]

The Princely Palace of Armenian Melik Haykazyan

Melik Haykaz I was succeeded by a son, Ahnazar I. Ahnazar died in 1551, his grave survived until the 1930s.[10] The palace of Akhnazar in Khnatsakh has survived to this day.

The most prominent member of the dynasty was Melik Haykaz II, who was Melik from 1551 to 1623[10] and an active supporter of Iran during the Turkish-Persian wars for the possession of Transcaucasia.[11] Arakel of Tabriz mentions him as one of the noble Armenians and advisers at the court of Shah of Iran Abbas I.[10]

According to historian M. Asratyan, Haykaz II lived in exile in Iran for 10-15 years due to the Ottoman Empire's brutal policies during the temporary occupation of Transcaucasia in the 1580s or 90s. After the reconquest of the region by Iran in 1606-1607, Haykaz II, as one of the loyal supporters of the Shah, was not only restored to his rights but also received some possessions beyond its borders.[10] A decree (ferman) of Shah Abbas I contains a list of the services provided by the Melik to Iranian authorities. The decree itself has no date, but the date of 999 of the Hegira (1590/1591) exists on the seal used by Abbas I.[11][12]

The names of Haykaz I, Ahnazar I, Haykaz II and their descendants are found in tombstones preserved on gravestones of the 16th – 18th centuries. On behalf of the Melikdom of Kashatagh, which belonged to the Haykazyan family, a document written in Persian in 1691-92 was preserved. It includes the joint appeal of Melik Akhnazar and his subordinate village headmen(in Armenian tanuter, in Persian kedhuda), addressed to the Shah’s court. In the document, they appoint as their authorized representatives the son of melik Akhnazar, Ilyas (Elias), and one of the elders, Hikor, who were supposed to present the problems arising in the region to the Shah’s court and defend the interests of the local population.[10]

The names of Melik Ahnazar and his brother Haykaz (who is also mentioned in the document of 1691/92 as one of the witnesses) are marked in the inscription of 1682 on the facade of the entrance to the Church of the Holy Virgin in the village of Mirik of the Kashatagh region.[10]

1682 Inscription about Melik Ahnazar/Haykaz on the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mirik

The Kashatagh Melikdom fell in the early 1730s. This began the onward demise of the Armenian population in the region as persecution of Armenians increased due to lack of self determination and Kurdish tribes were moved into the region from Iran[13] as part of the resettlement policies of Shah Abbas I to fortify the borders of the Safavid Empire.[12][14] It was later included in the Karabakh Khanate.[1] Following the Russo-Persian Wars, this area would then become part of the Zangezur Uyezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire. By the time the Russians arrived, the indigenous Armenians of the region only had a significant population left in Lachin.[7]

Red Kurdistan (1923-1928)

However, the Lachin villages were also subsequently destroyed and the area became part of Red Kurdistan until 1929. Starting in the 1930s, this area was administered as a part of Soviet Azerbaijan until the First Nagorno-Karabakh War when Armenia occupied the region until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War when it was returned to Azerbaijan.[15]

Tsitsernavank Monastery (5th-7th centuries)

Old Armenian Khachkar in Zangilan

Kashatagh is home to 30 churches and chapels built between the 4th century and the beginning of the 18th century. Tsitsernavank Monastery is an example of Armenian Culture in the region. There are numerous Khachkars, palaces, and Armenian tombstones in the region which were left behind by the melikdom.[16][17][9]

• List of Armenian territories and states
• Melik
• Melikdoms of Karabakh
• Khnatsakh
• Hüsülü, Lachin
• Kashatagh
• Armenian Palaces