Nakhichevan Uezd

The Nakhichevan ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the governorate's Sharur-Daralayaz uezd to the north, the Zangezur uezd of the Elizavetpol Governorate to the east, and Iran to the south. The ''uezd'''s administrative center was the city of Nakhichevan (present-day Nakhchivan).

The county was mostly mountainous and devoid of industry beyond salt plantations. Before the Russian Revolution it was home to more than 81,200 Muslims who formed the majority of the population, and a significant minority of 54,200 Armenians who would later be massacred or displaced during the Armenian–Azerbaijani war of 1918–1920.

Originally formed from the Nakhichevan Khanate, the Nakhichevan ''uezd'' was part of the Armenian Oblast and later the governorate of Erivan. Shortly after the Bolshevik coup, the district fell under the control of the invading Ottoman army (and was briefly annexed by the Treaty of Batum) until the latter's withdrawal in late 1918—In the wake of the retreat, the district came under the control of local Muslims between 1919 and 1920, with brief periods of Armenian control in the middle of each year, ending with region's takeover by the 11th Army of Soviet Russia. Finally, the district was transformed into the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan and later partitioned with Armenia (forming parts of the latter's Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces) whilst part of the Transcaucasian SFSR.

History

Background

The topography of the ''uezd'' was mainly mountainous with most of the lowland located along the Aras river. The highest peaks of the ''uezd'' (Kambil at ; Damara-dag at ; and Mount Kaputjukh at ) were located along the Karabakh Range, which made up the eastern boundary with the Elizavetpol Governorate. Kyuki-dag at rose from the Sharur-Daralayaz uezd in the north. The left tributaries of the Aras (the Nakhichevan-chay, Alinja-chay, and Gilan-chay) flowed through the territory of the ''uezd''. The population of the ''uezd'' was primarily engaged in cattle breeding and gardening, especially in the Ordubad area. There were practically no industrial plants or factories, but there were however salt plantations which produced approximately 250,000 pounds of salt per annum.

The subcounties ('' uchastoks'') of the Nakhichevan ''uezd'' in 1913 were as follows:

Russian rule and World War I

The Nakhichevan uezd, based in the city Nakhichevan, was originally one of the territorial administrative subunits of the Armenian Oblast in 1828–1840, created after its annexation into the Russian Empire in 1828 through the Treaty of Turkmenchay. The territory of the ''uezd'' roughly corresponded to the defunct Nakhichevan Khanate and was the site of large-scale Armenian repatriation from Iran, which was across the Aras river to the south.

In 1844, the Caucasus Viceroyalty was reestablished, in which the Nakhichevan ''uezd'' briefly formed part of the Tiflis Governorate before its transfer to the newly established Erivan Governorate in 1849. The new governorate in addition to Nakhichevan also included the ''uezds'' of Erivan, Alexandropol, Nor Bayazet and Ordubad, however, the latter was later abolished in 1868 and incorporated into the south of the Nakhichevan and Zangezur ''uezds'', the latter continuing to border Nakhichevan from the east. Not long after, further administrative reforms resulted in the separation of the northern part of the Nakhichevan ''uezd'' corresponding to the present-day Sharur District of Azerbaijan and the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia to form the Sharur-Daralayaz ''uezd'' in 1870—bordering Nakhichevan from the north.

On 3 March 1918, in accordance with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk the Russian SFSR ceded the Kars and Batum ''oblasts'' to the Ottoman Empire who had been unreconciled with its loss of those territories (which they referred to as ) since 1878. Despite the resistance of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic which had initially rejected the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Ottoman Third Army was successful in occupying the ''oblasts'', and going on to expand into the western districts of the Erivan and Tiflis governorates, including the Nakhichevan uezd. These additional territorial gains were confirmed through the Treaty of Batum with the individual South Caucasus republics.

Republic of Aras

As stipulated in the Mudros Armistice, the Ottoman Empire was compelled to withdraw its armies from the Erivan and Tiflis governorates, thus withdrawing to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk boundaries. One of the commanders of the occupying army, Yukub Shevki, sponsored the creation of the Republic of Aras in the occupied Erivan districts, providing it with moral support, weapons, and instructors.

Following the conclusion of the 2-week Armeno-Georgian war, Armenia repositioned its forces to annex the Republic of Aras, however, their advance into the district was halted on 18 January 1919 by Captain F. E. Laughton who established a local British military governorship in the district. On 26 January 1919, the governorship was confirmed by the British military headquarters based in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) as a means to prevent ethnic clashes between Armenian soldiers and local Muslims of up to "ten thousand well-armed men".

The British sympathy to the Aras Republic was later reversed when Major-General William M. Thomson became the highest-ranking officer in the South Caucasus—believing that Pan-Turkism was influential in the region, especially in consideration of the presence of Azerbaijani and Ottoman agents Samed Bey and Colonel Halil Bey, respectively. Thomson believed that they were scheming to "forge a bridge between the Ottoman Empire and Azerbaijan and ultimately between Nationalist Turkey and Soviet Russia." Following the British announcement of the dissolution of the governorship and the plans to annex the region to Armenia, was selected to become the first governor of the district.

Armenia's formal annexation of Nakhichevan was officially declared on 3 May 1919, after which Armenian forces commanded by Drastamat Kanayan and accompanied by British representative General K. M. Davie advanced southward into the district along the railway. When the force had reached Davalu (present-day Ararat), Thomson ordered them to stop, believing that Armenia was encouraging the defiance of Zangezur in refusing to submit to British–Azerbaijani authority in a "severe breach of faith". The restriction Thomson had placed was later revoked after acting prime minister Alexander Khatisian met him in Tiflis to assure him that the Armenians of Zangezur were acting independently of the Armenian government. On 13 May 1919, when Armenian forces had advanced to Bashnorashen (present-day Sharur), Khatisian arrived in Nakhichevan and met the minister of war of the Aras Republic, , after which the Aras Republic effectively capitulated.

Anti-Armenian uprising

Despite the apparent defeat of the Ottoman Empire, agents of the Turkish National Movement were reported to be fostering rebellion amongst the Muslims of Nakhichevan, eventually culminating in a large-scale anti-Armenian uprising in July 1919. Fearing retaliation by the Volunteer Army, Azerbaijan did not openly intervene to assist the Nakhichevan rebels, however, on 14 July they provided covert assistance. On 20 July, a pogrom began against the Armenian inhabitants of the city of Nakhichevan—within a few days, the Armenian administration was completely ousted and its Armenian inhabitants expelled. As the uprising spread throughout the Nakhichevan uezd, Armenians in Jugha (present-day Gülüstan) were forced to escape across the Aras river into Iran. Some 6,000 Armenians from Nakhichevan living in the Ararat Valley managed to escape to Daralayaz, Nor Bayazet, and Zangezur (present-day Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces, respectively). During the uprising, Halil Bey coordinated the destruction of 45 Armenian villages and the massacre of 10,000 of their inhabitants, including the destruction of the large Armenian town of Agulis (present-day Yuxarı Əylis) and its 1,400 inhabitants. In late 1919, Samed Bey complained to the Azerbaijani government about the presence of Iranian agents trying to bring refugees from Nakhichevan into Iran.

Some months after the Sovietization of Azerbaijan on 18 June 1920, Armenia issued an ultimatum to the rebels of Zangibasar (present-day Masis) some 15 kilometers southwest of Yerevan to submit to Armenian rule. Not expecting that the ultimatum would be answered, the Armenian army launched an offensive to recapture the rebelling districts on 19 June. In the fight for Zangibasar, Lieutenant Aram Kajaznuni, the son of the first prime minister of Armenia was killed, however, the Armenians won the battle on 21 June, with the local Muslims consisting mainly of Tatars fleeing to Aralikh (present-day Aralık

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