Mets Taghlar (; ; ), Mets Tagher () or Boyuk Taghlar () is a village in the

Khojavend District Khojavend District () is one of the 66 Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan, districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country in the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin District, Lachin, Shush ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, in the

disputed Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an oppo ...

region of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

. The village had an ethnic

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

-majority population prior to the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, and also had an Armenian majority in 1989. After the capture of the village in 2020 by Azerbaijani forces, large portions of the village along with several historical objects were destroyed by Azerbaijani authorities.

Etymology

The village was known as ''Tag'' or ''Taglyar'' ( pre-reform Russian: Тагъ; Тагляръ) during the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Later, the village became known as ''Mets Taghlar'' during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period. The name ''Mets Tagher'' derives from two Armenian words, ''Mets'', meaning great, large, or big, and ''Tagh'', meaning quarter (of a city).

History

During the Russian Empire, Mets Taghlar was part of its own rural commune () within the second subcounty (''

uchastok An ''uchastok'' () or police prefecture () was a territorial-administrative unit of the Russian Empire and early Russian SFSR. Throughout most of modern Russian history, ''uchastoks'', which numbered 2,523 throughout the empire by 1914, were a thi ...

'') of the

Shusha uezd The Shusha ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, and then of the Ganja Governorate of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Shusha in 1840–1921. Geography The Shusha ''uezd'' was lo ...

of the

Elizavetpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

within the Caucasus Viceroyalty. During the

period, the village was a part of the Hadrut District of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

. The village came under the control of Armenian forces during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, on October 2, 1992, and subsequently became part of the

Hadrut Province Hadrut Province () was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. The provincial capital was Hadrut city. The last governor was Valery Gevorkian. The province was captured by the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Ka ...

of the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

. The village was captured by Azerbaijani forces on 9 November 2020 during the

. In early May 2021, satellite images released by Caucasus Heritage Watch, a watchdog group made up of researchers from

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

and

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

, revealed that the local early 19th-century Armenian cemetery had been destroyed by Azerbaijani forces. Bulldozer tracks near the vicinity of the village's Holy Savior Church, founded in 1846, indicated that that building was also endangered. Satellite photography from July 2021 revealed the centre of the town and a large portion of the town's buildings have been bulldozed for the construction of the Fizuli–Shusha highway. They also revealed the destruction of the statue of

Sergei Khudyakov Sergei Alexandrovich Khudyakov (; ); born Armenak Artemi Khanferiants (, – 18 April 1950), was a Soviet Armenian Marshal of the aviation. Russian Revolution Armenak Khanferiants (or Khanperiants) was born in 1902 in the village of Mets Taghe ...

that had stood outside his house-museum. In August 2021, satellite images released by Caucasus Heritage Watch, revealed that the village's Makun Bridge, which was built in 1890, had been destroyed by Azerbaijan between April 8 and July 7, in the course of river engineering and road construction.

Historical heritage sites

Historical heritage sites in and around Mets Taghlar include the cave of ''Shmanek'' (), a village from between the 9th and 13th centuries, a 12th/13th-century

khachkar A ''khachkar'' (also spelled as ''khatchkar'') or Armenian cross-stone (, , խաչ ''xačʿ'' "cross" + քար ''kʿar'' "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosette (design), rosettes ...

, a cemetery from between the 17th and 19th centuries, a bridge built in 1835, and the Holy Savior Church () built in 1846. The

Taghlar Cave The Taghlar cave (; ) is an archaeological site that was inhabited by prehistoric humans of the Mousterian culture during the Paleolithic. The cave is located in Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the southern part of Boy ...

is located in the southern part of the village.

Demographics

In 1886, Mets Taghlar had a population of 2,996, including 1,651 men and 1,345 women, all of them

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

in 515 households. In 1897, the village had a population of 2,849 consisting of 1,433 men and 1,416 women, all

Armenian Apostolic The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

. The village had 3,175 and 3,500 mainly Armenian residents in 1908 and 1914, respectively. The village had 1,503 inhabitants in 2005, and 1,509 inhabitants in 2015.

Gallery

Եկեղեցի ամենափրկիչ...JPG, Entrance to the Holy Savior Church, built in 1846 Makun bridge, Mets Tagher, Nagorno-Karabakh.jpg, Makun Bridge built in 1890 Bust of Sergei Khudyakov with MiG-17, Mets Tagher, Nagorno-Karabakh.jpg, Bust of

with MiG-17 Ծաղկանոց.JPG, Garden Makun bridge stone, Mets Tagher, Nagorno-Karabakh.jpg, Makun Bridge stone with construction inscription

Notable people

Marshal of Aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; ) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the former Soviet Union's armed forces. However, at that time, marshal of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyuk Taghlar Populated places in Khojavend District Former Armenian inhabited settlements