Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in
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 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 ...
. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the
Karabakh
Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...
mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the
Soviet era
The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...
.
Most sources date Shusha's establishment to the 1750s by
Panah Ali Khan,
founder of the
Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
, coinciding with the foundation of
the fortress of Shusha. Some attribute this to an alliance between Panah Ali Khan and
Melik Shahnazar, the local Armenian prince () of
Varanda. In these accounts, the name of the town originated from a nearby Armenian village called
Shosh or Shushikent (see for alternative explanations).
Conversely, some sources describe Shusha as an important center within the self-governing Armenian
melikdoms of Karabakh in the 1720s, and others say the plateau was already the site of an Armenian fortification.
[Krunk Hayots Ashkharhin. 8 (1863): p. 622, cited in ] From the mid-18th century to 1822, Shusha was the capital of the Karabakh Khanate. The town became one of the cultural centers of the
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
after the
Russian conquest of the Caucasus region from
Qajar Iran
The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...
in the first half of the 19th century. Over the course of the 19th century, the town grew in size to become a city, and was home to many Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals, poets, writers and musicians (including Azerbaijani
ashik
An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye' ...
s,
mugham
Mugham () or Mughamat () is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik.
It is an art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. ...
singers and
kobuz players).
The town has religious, cultural and strategic importance to both groups. Shusha is often considered the cradle of Azerbaijan's music and poetry, and one of the leading centres of the
Azerbaijani culture.
[Mattew O'Brien. ''Uzeir Hajibeyov and His Role in the Development of Musical Life in Azerbaijan''. – Routledge, 2004. – С. 211. – , 9780415302197] Shusha also contains a number of
Armenian Apostolic churches, including
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and
Kanach Zham, and serves as a land link between Nagorno-Karabakh and
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, via the
Lachin corridor
__NOTOC__
The Lachin corridor was a mountain road in Azerbaijan that linked Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Being the only road between these two territories, it was considered a humanitarian corridor or "lifeline" to the Armenian population of ...
to the west. Throughout modern history, the city fostered a mixed Armenian–Azerbaijani population. The first available demographic information about the city in 1823 suggests the city had an Azerbaijani majority.
The Armenian inhabitants of the city steadily grew over time to constitute a majority of the city's population until the
Shusha massacre in 1920, in which the Armenian half of the city was destroyed by
Azerbaijani forces, resulting in the death or expulsion of the
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 ...
population, up to 20,000 people.
The city has suffered significant destruction and depopulation during the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...
. After the
capture of Shusha in 1992 by Armenian forces during
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 ...
, the city's Azerbaijani population fled, and most of the city was destroyed. Between May 1992 and November 2020, Shusha was under the ''
de facto'' control of the
breakaway 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 ...
and administered as the centre of its
Shushi Province. On 8 November 2020, Azerbaijani forces retook the city during the
Second 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 Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounding occupied territories. It was a major esca ...
following a
three-day long battle.
The Armenian population of the city fled, and multiple reports emerged that the Armenian cultural heritage of the city was being destroyed.
The Azerbaijani government opened the city to tourists from Azerbaijan in 2022 and plans to start resettling the city in 2023.
Etymology
Several historians believe Shusha derives from the
New Persian
New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...
''Shīsha'' ("glass, vessel, bottle, flask"). According to the ''Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names'', when Iranian ruler
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar approached the town with his army, he reportedly told the ruler of Karabakh
Ibrahim Khalil Khan
Ibrahim Khalil Khan Javanshir (, 1732–1806) was the second khan of the Karabakh Khanate from the Javanshir family. He was the son and successor of Panah-Ali khan Javanshir.
Early life
He was born in c. 1732 in Karabakh. He was among depo ...
:
''Panahabad'' ("City of Panah"), Shusha's previous name, was a tribute to
Panah Ali Khan, the first ruler of the
Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
.
According to the ''
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopaedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps.
It was published in the Russian Em ...
'', published in the final decades of 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 ...
, the town's name comes from the nearby village
Shushikent (called ''Shosh'' in Armenian), which literally means "Shusha village" in the
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani ( ; , , ) or Azeri ( ), also referred to as Azerbaijani Turkic or Azerbaijani Turkish (, , ), is a Turkic languages, Turkic language from the Oghuz languages, Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijanis, Azerbaij ...
. Conversely, the Armenian historian
Leo (1860–1932) considered it more likely that the village Shosh received its name from the fortress, which he considered the older settlement.
According to Armenian sources, the name Shusha most likely derives from the dialectal Armenian word ''shosh''/''shush'' (Armenian: շոշ/շուշ), meaning tree sprout or, figuratively, a high place, first applied either to the adjacent village
Shosh or to Shusha itself.
The form ''Shusha'' can also be explained as the genitive form of ''shosh''/''shush'', as ''-a'' or ''-ay'' is a common declensional ending for placenames in pre-modern and dialectal Armenian.
Besides the common Armenian name Shushi, the town has historically been referred to in Armenian by various names, including ''Shoshi/Shushva Berd'', ''Shoshi Sghnakh'', ''Shoshvaghala'', which all mean "Shosh/Shushi Fortress".
History
Foundation
Some Armenian sources identify Shusha with a fortress called Shikakar or Karaglukh, where the 9th-century Armenian prince
Sahl Smbatean is said to have defeated an invading Arab army.
According to several sources, a settlement called Shosh served as an ancient fortress in the Armenian principality of Varanda, and had traditionally belonged to the Melik-Shahnazarian princely dynasty.
[Армяно-русские отношения в XVIII веке. Т. IV. С. 212, as cited in ] According to some sources, Shushi existed and had a functioning scriptorium in 1428. The fortress was described as a strategic stronghold in one of the Eastern Armenian military districts, called ''sghnakhs'', playing a key role in the Armenian commander
Avan Yuzbashi's campaign against Ottoman forces during their incursion into of the South Caucasus in the 1720s and 1730s. Armenian historian and Shusha native
Ashot Hovhannisian wrote that the fortress walls must have been built by Avan Yuzbashi in 1724, if not earlier.
Kehva Chelebi, an early Armenian national activist who maintained correspondence between the
meliks
Мelik (, from ) was a hereditary Armenian nobility, Armenian noble title used in Eastern Armenia from the Late Middle Ages until the nineteenth century. The meliks represented some of the last remnants of the old Armenian nobility, as well as ...
of
Karabakh
Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...
and the Russian authorities, in a 1725 report describes Shusha as a town and a fort:
A 1769 letter by Georgian king
Heraclius II to Russian diplomat
Count P. Panin states that there was "an ancient fortress in the realm of the
Khamsa elikdoms which was "conquered, through deceit" by "one Muslim man from the
Jevanshir tribe."
The same information about the ancient fortress is confirmed by the Russian field marshal
Alexander Suvorov
Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.
Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...
in a letter to Prince
Grigory Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...
.
Suvorov writes that the Armenian prince Melik Shahnazar of Varanda surrendered his fortress Shushikala to "certain
Panah", whom he called a chief of nomadic Muslims living near the Karabakh borders.
When discussing Karabakh and Shusha in the 18th century, the Russian diplomat and historian S. M. Bronevsky writes in his ''Historical Notes'' that Shusha fortress was a possession of the Melik-Shahnazarian clan, which was given to
Panah Ali Khan in return for aid against the other Armenian
meliks
Мelik (, from ) was a hereditary Armenian nobility, Armenian noble title used in Eastern Armenia from the Late Middle Ages until the nineteenth century. The meliks represented some of the last remnants of the old Armenian nobility, as well as ...
of Karabakh. Russian historian P. G. Butkov (1775–1857) writes that "Shushi village" was given to Panah Ali Khan by the Melik-Shahnazarian prince after they entered into an alliance, and that Panah Ali Khan fortified the village. The missionary
Joseph Wolff (1795–1862), during his mission in the Middle East, visited "Shushee, in the province of Carabagh, in Armenia Major".
Some sources, including
Mirza Jamal Javanshir,
Mirza Adigozal bey,
Abbasgulu Bakikhanov and
Mirza Yusuf Nersesov, attest to the foundation of the town in 1750–1752 (according to other sources, 1756–1757) by Panah Ali Khan (), the founder and the first ruler of the
Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
(1748–1822), which comprised both Lowland and
Highland Karabakh.
[ Hewsen, Robert H., ''Armenia: A Historical Atlas''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 155.] The mid-18th century foundation is supported by the second edition of the ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...
'',
and the ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary''.
According to Mirza Jamal Javanshir, the author of the Persian-language text ''
History of Karabakh'',
[Bournoutian George A. ''A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-E Qarabagh''. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1994, p. 72. The original text by Mirza Jamal Javanshir calls the village "Shoshi."] one of the most significant chronicles on the history of Karabakh in 18th-19th centuries, the Karabakh nobility assembled to discuss the danger of invasion from Iran 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 the Armenian ''meliks'' (dukes) to accept the suzerainty of Panah Ali Khan and who would remain his loyal supporter, suggested a location for the new fortress. Thus, Panahabad-Shusha was founded.
According to Mirza Jamal Javanshir, before Panah Ali Khan constructed the fortress there were no buildings there and it was used as cropland and pasture by the people of the nearby village of Shoshi.
[Mirza Jamal Javanshir Karabagi. The History of Karabakh]
. Panah khan resettled to Shusha the population of Shahbulag and some nearby villages and built strong
fortifications
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
.
Another account is presented by
Raffi
Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...
(1835–1888), an Armenian novelist and historian, in his work ''The Princedoms of Khamsa'', which asserts that the place where Shushi was built was desolate and uninhabited before Panah Ali Khan's arrival. He states, "
anah-Ali Khan and Melik-Shahnazar of Varandasoon completed the construction (1762)
f the fortressand moved the Armenian population of the nearby village of Shosh, called also Shoshi, or Shushi into the fortress.″
Conflict with the Qajars

Although Panah Ali Khan had been in conflict with
Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...
, the new ruler of Persia,
Adil Shah
Ali-qoli Khan (), commonly known by his regnal title Adel Shah (also spelled Adil; , "the Just King") was the second shah of Afsharid Iran, ruling from 1747 to 1748. He was the nephew and successor of Nader Shah (), the founder of the Afsharid d ...
, issued a ''
firman (decree)'' recognizing Panah Ali as the Khan of Karabakh.
[Mirza Adigozel-bek, Karabakh-name (1845), Baku, 1950, p. 54] Less than a year after Shusha was founded, the Karabakh Khanate was attacked by
Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar, one of the major claimants to the Iranian throne. During the
Safavid Empire
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
Karabakh was for almost two centuries ruled by Ziyad-oglu family of the clan of
Qajars (of
Turkic 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 territory by his major opponent,
Karim Khan Zand
Mohammad Karim Khan Zand (; ) was the founder of the Zand dynasty, ruling all of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia) except for Khorasan province, Khorasan from 1751 to 1779. He also ruled over some of the Caucasus, Caucasian lands and occupied Basra f ...
. 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 Mohammad Hassan khan and even briefly took
Ardabil
Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district.
The ...
across the
Aras River
The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...
.
In 1756 (or 1759), Shusha and the Karabakh Khanate underwent a new attack from
Fath-Ali Khan Afshar
Fath-Ali Khan Afshar (), was a chieftain from the Afshars of Urmia, Afshar tribe of Urmia, and one of the four contenders for supremacy in Iran between 1751–1763. He was ultimately defeated and captured in February 1763 by one of the contenders, ...
, ruler of
Urmia
Urmia (; ) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. In the Central District of Urmia County, it is capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is situated near the borders of Iran with Turkey and Iraq.
...
. With his 30,000 strong army, Fath-Ali Khan also managed to gain support from the ''meliks'' of Jraberd and Talish (Gulistan), however, Melik Shahnazar of Varanda continued to support Panah Ali Khan. The Siege of Shusha lasted for six months and Fath-Ali Khan eventually had to retreat.
When Karim Khan Zand took control of much of Iran, he forced Panah Ali Khan to come to
Shiraz
Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...
(capital of Zand-ruled Iran), where he died as a hostage. Panah Ali Khan's son Ibrahim Khalil Khan was sent back to Karabakh as governor.
Under him, the Karabakh Khanate became one of the strongest state formations and Shusha grew. According to travellers 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 was subjected to a major attack by
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, son of Mohammad Hassan Khan who had attacked Shusha in 1752. Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's goal was to end with the feudal fragmentation and to restore the old Safavid State in Iran. By early 1795, he had already secured mainland Iran and was directly afterwards poised to bring the entire
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
region back within the Iranian domains. For this purpose he also wanted to proclaim himself Shah of Iran. However, according to the Safavid tradition, the shah had to take control over the whole of South Caucasus and
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
before his coronation. Therefore, the Karabakh Khanate and its fortified capital Shusha were the first and major obstacle to achieve these ends.
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar besieged Shusha with the centre part of a 70,000-strong army, after having crossed the
Aras River
The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...
.
[Donald Rayfield]
''Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia''
Reaktion Books, 15 feb. 2013 p 255 The right and left wings were sent to resubjugate
Shirvan
Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...
-
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
and
Erivan respectively. Agha Mohammad Khan himself led the centre part of the main army, besieging Shusha between 8 July and 9 August 1795. 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 Iranians 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 Mohammad Khan ceased the siege
and advanced to Tiflis (present-day
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
), which despite desperate resistance was occupied and exposed to unprecedented destruction. Ibrahim Khalil Khan eventually surrendered to Mohammad Khan after negotiations, including the paying of regular tribute and to surrender hostages, although the Qajar forces were still denied entrance to Shusha. Since the main objective was Georgia, Mohammad Khan was willing to have Karabakh secured by this agreement for now, for he and his army subsequently moved further.
In 1797, Agha Mohammad Shah Qajar, having successfully resubjugated Georgia and the wider Caucasus and having declared himself shah, decided to carry out a second attack on Karabakh.
Trying to avenge his previous humiliating defeat, Agha Mohammad Shah devastated the surrounding villages near Shusha. The population had not recovered from the previous 1795 attack and also suffered from a serious drought which lasted for three years. The artillery of the attackers also inflicted serious losses on the city defenders. Thus, in 1797 Agha Mohammad Shah succeeded in seizing Shusha and Ibrahim Khalil Khan had to flee to
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
.
However, several days after the seizure of Shusha, Agha Mohammad Khan was killed in mysterious circumstances by his bodyguards in the town. Ibrahim Khalil Khan returned to Shusha and ordered that the shah's body be honourably buried until further instructions from the nephew and heir of Agha Mohammad Shah, Baba Khan, who soon assumed the title of
Fath-Ali Shah.
Ibrahim Khan, in order to maintain peaceful relations with Tehran and retain his position as the Khan of Karabakh, gave his daughter Agha Begom, known as Aghabaji, as one of the wives of the new shah.
Within the Russian Empire
From the early 19th century, Russian ambitions in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
to increase its territories at the expense of neighbouring
Qajar Iran
The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...
and
Ottoman Turkey
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...
began to rise. Following the annexation of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
in 1801, some of the khanates agreed to become Russian protectorates in the immediate years afterwards. In 1804, the Russian general
Pavel Tsitsianov directly
invaded Qajar Iran
The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...
, initiating the
Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Amidst the war, in 1805, an agreement was made between the
Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
and the Russian Empire on the transfer of the Karabakh Khanate to Russia during the war, but was not fully realized, as both parties were still at war and the Russians were unable to consolidate any effective control over Karabakh.
The Russian Empire consolidated its power in the Karabakh Khanate following the
Treaty of Gulistan
The Treaty of Gulistan (also spelled Golestan: ; ) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gülüstan, Goranboy, Gulistan (now in Goranboy District, the Goranboy District of Azerb ...
in 1813, when Iran was forced to recognize the Karabakh Khanate, along most of the other khanates they possessed in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, as belonging to
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, comprising present-day
Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...
and most of the modern-day
Republic of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a 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 the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...
, while officially ceding Georgia as well, thus irrevocably losing the greater part of its Caucasian territories. Absolute consolidation of Russian power over Karabakh and the recently conquered parts of the Caucasus from Iran were confirmed with the outcome of the
Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 and the ensuing
Treaty of Turkmenchay
The Treaty of Turkmenchay (; ) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties (the first was the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the last, the ...
of 1828.
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, which was dissolved in 1822, and instead became an administrative capital first of the Karabakh province (1822–1840), and then of the
Shusha Uyezd of the
Elisabethpol Governorate (1840–1923). Shusha grew and developed, with successive waves of migrants moving to the city, particularly Armenians, who formed a demographic majority in the surrounding highlands.
[''The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge''](_blank)
1833.[''The 1823 Russian Survey of the Karabagh Province: A Primary Source on the Demography and Economy of Karabagh in the Early 19th Century'', trans. George A. Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2011.][Bournoutian, George A. A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-E Qarabagh. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1994, page 18]
Beginning from the 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 into seventeen quarters. Each quarter had its own
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
,
Turkish bath
A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...
, water-spring and also a quarter representative, who would be elected from among the elders (''aksakals'') and would function similarly to the head of a modern-day municipality. The Armenian part of the town consisted of 12 quarters, five churches, a town and district school and a 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 centre 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.
In the 19th century, Shusha was one of the great cities of the Caucasus, larger and more prosperous than either
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
or
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
.
[ Waal, Thomas de (2013)]
''Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''
NYU Press. p 201 Standing in the middle of a net of caravan routes, it had ten
caravanserais
A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a variety of names inc ...
.
It was well known for its silk trade, its paved roads, brightly coloured carpets, big stone houses, and fine-bred horses.
In 1824, George Keppel, the Earl of Albemarle, passed through the city.
He found two thousand houses in the town, with three-quarters of the inhabitants Azerbaijanis and one-quarter Armenian.
He furthermore noted regarding the town;
Early 20th century

The beginning of the 20th century marked the first Armenian-Tartar clashes throughout
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 ...
. This new phenomenon had two causes. Firstly, 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. Secondly, by the beginning of the 20th-century, the peoples of the Caucasus, similar to other non-Russian peoples in the periphery of the Russian Empire, began to seek cultural and territorial autonomy. Political instability within Russia, particularly the
1905 Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...
and
1917 Revolutions, caused these social movements to acquire the character of national liberation movements.
The initial
clashes between ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis took place in
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
in February 1905. Soon, the conflict spilled over to other parts of the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, and on August 5, 1905, first conflict between the Armenian and Azerbaijani 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 I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and subsequent collapse of 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 ...
, Karabakh was claimed by Azerbaijan to be part of the
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds.
*Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...
, a decision hotly disputed by neighbouring Armenia and by Karabakh's Armenian population, which claimed Karabakh as part of the
First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...
. With the capture of Baku, a small force of Turkish troops entered Shusha on 7 October 1918, also occupying the road to
Aghdam
Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...
. Whilst the Armenians of Shusha did not resist the Turks to avoid violence, the Turks with their limited troops were unable to seize the countryside of Karabakh which was held by an armed milita of local Armenians. After the defeat of
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Armenian forces under
Andranik Ozanian
Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik (25 February 186531 August 1927), was an Armenian military commander and statesman, the best known '' fedayi'' and a key figure of the Armenian national liberation movem ...
defeated Azerbaijani forces under
Khosrov bey Sultanov in Abdallyar (
Lachin
Lachin (, , ; ) is a town in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Lachin District. It was located within the strategic Lachin corridor, which used to link the Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia.
The town was under control of Armen ...
), and began heading down the
Lachin corridor
__NOTOC__
The Lachin corridor was a mountain road in Azerbaijan that linked Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Being the only road between these two territories, it was considered a humanitarian corridor or "lifeline" to the Armenian population of ...
towards Shusha. Shortly before Andranik could arrive,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
troops under General
W. M. Thomson encouraged him to retreat, out of concerns that Armenian military activity could have an adverse effect on the region's status, which was to be decided at the
1919 Paris Peace Conference
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Bratislava, Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY Iolaire, HMY '' ...
. Trusting Thomson, Andranik left, and British troops occupied Karabakh. The British command provisionally affirmed Sultanov (appointed by the Azerbaijani government) as the governor-general of Karabakh and
Zangezur, pending the final decision by the Paris Peace Conference.
Ethnic conflict began to erupt in the region. Оn 5 June 1919, 600 Armenian inhabitants of the villages surrounding Shusha were
massacred by Azerbaijani and Kurdish irregulars. Sultanov stated that the irregulars were not under his control.
[Michael P. Croissant. ''The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications''. p. 16] In August 1919, the Karabakh National Council was forced to enter 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 was settled at the Paris Peace Conference. Despite signing the agreement, the Azerbaijani government continuously violated the terms of the treaty,
and Sultanov employed severe measures against them, such as terror, blockade and famine.
[ Sultanov gathered troops in the region and on 19 February 1920 issued an ultimatum to the Armenians, demanding they accept unconditional unification with Azerbaijan, and then massacred the population of several Armenian villages, including Khankendi (]Stepanakert
Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...
). A minority of Karabagh National Council representatives gathered in Shusha to accept Sultanov's demands, while the rest met in nearby Shushikend to reject the ultimatum. The strife culminated in an Armenian uprising, which was suppressed by the Azerbaijani army. In late March 1920, the Armenian half of the police forces was reported by a British journalist to have murdered the Azerbaijani half during the latter's traditional Novruz Bayram holiday celebrations. The Armenian surprise attack was organised and coordinated by the forces of the Armenian Republic.[Richard G. Hovannisian. ''The Republic of Armenia'', Vol. III: From London to Sèvres, February–August 1920] Azerbaijani outrage for this surprise attack ultimately led to the massacre and expulsion of the Armenian population in March 1920, in which 500–8,000 to 20,000 Armenians were killed, others were forced to flee, and the Armenian half of the city, 1,675 of 1,700 homes, were destroyed. A report from Dashnak archives states that 8,000 Armenians escaped from the city, whilst 5,000–6,000 remained behind.
According to the description of an Azerbaijani communist Ojahkuli Musaev:
Nadezhda Mandelstam wrote about Shusha in the 1930s, "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 in 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 Bolshevik 11th Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
invaded Azerbaijan and then Armenia and put an end to the national de facto governments that existed in those two countries. Thereafter, the conflict for the control of Karabakh entered the diplomatic sphere. To attract Armenian public support, the Bolsheviks promised to resolve the issue of the disputed territories, including Karabakh, in favour of Armenia. However, on July 5, 1921, the Kavbiuro 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 centre in Shusha, which is to be included in the autonomous region." As a result, the Mountainous Karabakh Autonomous Region was established within the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923. A few years later, Stepanakert
Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...
, named after the Armenian communist leader Stepan Shaumyan, became the new regional capital 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 ...
and soon became its largest town.
The decision make Nagorno-Karabakh an autonomous region within Azerbaijan is frequently attributed to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, who was Commissar of Nationalities at the time, purportedly with the purpose of ensuring Moscow's position as power broker between the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs. Stalin participated in the Kavbiuro's meetings on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh but did not vote.
The town remained half-ruined until the 1960s when the town began to gradually revive due to its recreational potential. In 1977 the Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve was established and the town became one of the major resort-towns in the former USSR.
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 much of the ruins, even though many old buildings still could have been renovated. Three Armenian and one Russian church were demolished and the Armenian part of the town was built up with plain buildings typical of the Khrushchev era.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
1988–1994 Nagorno-Karabakh war
With the start of 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 ...
in 1988 Shusha became the most important Azerbaijani stronghold in Karabakh, from where Azerbaijani forces constantly shelled the capital Stepanakert for half a year, leading to hundreds of Armenian civilian casualties and causing mass destruction in Stepanakert. On May 9, 1992, the town was captured by Armenian forces in an operation to lift the siege of Stepanakert and the Azerbaijani population fled. According to Armenian commander Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, the city was looted and burnt by Armenian citizens from nearby Stepanakert
Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...
, who had endured months of bombing and shelling from Azerbaijani forces. He also noted it was part of a Karabakh Armenian superstition of burning houses to prevent the enemy from returning. A British journalist witnessed Armenian soldiers using minarets of a mosque in Shusha as shooting targets. As of 2002, ten years later after the city's capture by the Armenian forces, some 80% of the town was in ruins. Armenians also dismantled and sold off historic dark bronze busts of three Azerbaijani musicians and poets from Shusha. Another British journalist who visited Shusha in 1997 reported that the gravestones in the Azerbaijani cemetery on the edge of town were "methodically smashed and vandalised".
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. The population of the town was significantly less than the pre-war number, and the demographic of the town had changed from mostly Azerbaijani to completely Armenian. The Goris-Stepanakert
Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...
Highway passes through the town and is a transit and tourist destination for many. There were some hotels in the city, and cultural monuments such as the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque were restored by Armenian authorities.
After the war, a T-72 tank commanded by the Karabakhi Armenian Gagik Avsharian was placed as a memorial. The tank had been hit during the town's capture, killing the driver and gun operator, but Avsharian jumped free from the hatch. The tank was restored and its number, 442, repainted in white on the side. After the Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 the tank was removed by the Azerbaijani authorities and transferred to the Military Trophy Park in Baku.
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
During 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 ...
, Armenia accused the Azerbaijani army of shelling civilian areas and the city's Ghazanchetsots Cathedral. Three journalists were wounded while they were inside the cathedral to film the destruction of a previous shelling on the same day. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence denied the shelling of the cathedral by stating that "destruction of the church in Shusha has nothing to do with the activities of the Army of Azerbaijan" The House of Culture was also badly damaged in the fighting.
On November 8, 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005.
The son and second child of former Aze ...
announced that the Azerbaijani army took control of the city of Shusha. The next day, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence released a video from the city, confirming full Azerbaijani control. On the same day, Artsakh authorities confirmed that they had lost control of Shusha. A ceasefire signed two days later reaffirmed Azerbaijan's gains, resulting in the city staying under its control. The Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...
subsequently claimed that Azerbaijani soldiers had vandalised Armenian churches and cultural landmarks, including Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and Kanach Zham, which was supported by reports from FreedomHouse and CaucasusHeritageWatch. Azerbaijani officials claimed that the Mamayi Mosque and a nearby fountain was vandalised by Armenian forces. In August 2023, a mass grave was found in Shusha prison. In total 17 corpses with signs of torture were exhumed.
Culture
Shusha contains both Armenian and Azerbaijani cultural monuments, while the surrounding territories also include many ancient Armenian villages.[''Crossroads and Conflict: Security and Foreign Policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia'', by Gary K. Bertsch - 2000 - 316 pages, p. 297]
Shusha is often considered the cradle of Azerbaijan's music and poetry and one of the leading centres of the Azerbaijani culture, having been declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan in January 2021. The city is particularly renowned for its traditional Azerbaijani genre of vocal and instrumental arts called mugham
Mugham () or Mughamat () is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik.
It is an art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. ...
. For the Azerbaijanis, Shusha is the "conservatoire
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...
of the Caucasus". Khurshidbanu Natavan, Azerbaijan's most famous woman poet, composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the Az� ...
, opera singer Bulbul
The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropic ...
and one of Azerbaijan's first twentieth-century novelists, Yusif Vezir Chemenzeminli, were born here. Molla Panah Vagif
Molla Panah (), better known by his pen-name Vagif (), was an 18th-century Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani poet, statesman and diplomat. He is regarded as the founder of the realism genre and the modern school in Azerbaijani literature, Azerbaijani poe ...
, a prominent Azerbaijani poet and vizier of the Karabakh khanate, lived and died in Shusha. Vagif Poetry Days were held in Shusha annually since 1982. The tradition was resumed in 2021.
Shusha is also a historical Armenian religious and cultural center. The Armenian population of the town historically had four main churches, each named after the place of origin of the Armenian inhabitants: Ghazanchetsots (after Qazançı; officially named Holy Savior Cathedral), Aguletsos Holy Mother of God Church (after Agulis), Meghretsots Holy Mother of God Church (after Meghri), and Gharabakhtsots (after the region of Karabakh; the church is better known as Kanach Zham). Shusha was also home to a monastery complex called Kusanats Vank ("Virgins' Monastery") or Anapat Kusanats ("Virgins' Hermitage")․ In 1989, Ghazanchetsots Cathedral was made the seat of the newly reestablished Diocese of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...
.
Shusha serves an important role in the history of Armenian music, being the hometown and headquarters of Armenian composer Grikor Suni and his chorus. Suni was an instrumental figure in establishing the national identity of Armenian music and considered one of the many founders of modern Armenian music. In addition, the Khandamirian or Shushi theater which opened in 1891 would become regionally famous for its important contributions to the Armenian cultural arts, especially music. In the Khandamirian theater, Suni gave his first ever performance. By 1902, Suni had organized his Oriental Cultural Ensemble in Shusha and had their first big concert which would get them in trouble with Russian authorities forcing the ensemble out of Shusha where they went on to spread Armenian cultural music around the world. Shusha was also the hometown of Arev Baghdasaryan, the prominent Armenian singer, dancer, and People's Artist of the Armenian SSR.
Shusha is also well known for sileh rugs, floor coverings from the South Caucasus
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
. 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.
In November 2020, the organizers of the Turkvision Song Contest stated that they were exploring the possibility of holding the contest's 2021 version in Shusha, and in January 2021, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture started preparatory activities on the Khari Bulbul Festival and Days of the Poetry of Vagif.
Museums
During the Soviet period, Shusha was home to museums such as the Shusha Museum of History, the house museum of Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the Az� ...
, the house museum of the Azerbaijani singer Bulbul
The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropic ...
, and the Shusha Carpet Museum. The Azerbaijan State Museum of History of Karabakh was founded in Shusha in 1991 shortly before the outbreak of 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 ...
.
While the city was under Armenian control, a number of museums were operated there: the State Museum of Fine Arts, G. A. Gabrielyants State Geological Museum, the Shushi History Museum, the Shushi Carpet Museum and the Shushi Art Gallery.
The Shushi History Museum is located in a 19th-century mansion, in the centre of the historical quarter, and had a collection of artefacts related to Shusha from ancient to modern times. The collection of the museum contains many ethnographic materials, including the goods of local masters. The museum contains household articles, photographs, and reproductions illustrating life of 19th-century inhabitants of Shusha. There are also sections dedicated to the 1920 Shusha Massacre and the capture of Shusha by Armenian forces in 1992. The G. A. Gabrielyants State Geological Museum, named after and created by Armenian geologist Grigori Gabrielyants, was opened in the building of Taza Mahalla Mosque in Shusha in 2014. It contains 480 samples of ore and fossil from 47 countries of the world.
Except for the rugs kept at the Shushi Carpet Museum, which were removed, the collections of the museums in Shusha were left behind and remained in the city after the capture of Shusha by Azerbaijani forces in 2020.
In August 2021, satellite images released by Caucasus Heritage Watch (a watchdog group 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) revealed that between April 10 and June 5, 51 sculptures in the park of the Museum of Fine Arts were removed and the area completely cleared: "CHW is concerned about the condition of these artworks, which are the property of that museum. CHW asks Azerbaijani authorities to disclose the location of the confiscated sculptures and plans for public access" read the Facebook page of the organization.
Demographics
According to the first Russian-held census of 1823 conducted by Russian officials Yermolov and Mogilevsky, in Shusha were 1,111 (72.5%) Muslim families and 421 (27.5%) Armenian families. Seven years later, according to 1830 data, the number of Muslim families in Shusha decreased to 963 (55.8%) and the number of Armenian families increased to 762 (44.2%).["Review of Russian possessions in Transcaucasus" (''"Obozreniye Rossiyskih vladeniy za Kavkazom"''), vol. III, St.-Petersburg, 1836, p. 308]
George Keppel, the Earl of Albemarle, who wrote on his way back to England from India arrived in Karabakh from Persia in 1824, wrote that “Sheesha contains two thousand houses: three parts of the inhabitants are Tartars (i.e. Azerbaijanis), and the remainder Armenians”.
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 seven Tatar 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.
In 1851, the population of Shusha was 15,194 people,[ Caucasian Calendar (Кавказский Календарь), 1853, p. 128] in 1885 – 30,000, and in 1910 – 39,413.
By the end of the 1880s, the percentage of the Muslim population living in the Shusha district (part of the 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. However, after the pogrom against the Armenian population in 1920 and the burning of the town, out-migration, and its decreasing economic importance in relation to other regional cities like Yerevan and Baku, Shusha was reduced to a small provincial town of some 10,000 people. Its population afterward progressively dropped year by year, reaching 5,104 by 1926. Armenians did not begin to return until after World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. 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 the population of Shusha district and 98% of Shusha town were Azerbaijani.[Amirbayov, Elchin. "Shusha's Pivotal Role in a Nagorno-Karabagh Settlement" in Dr. Brenda Shaffer (ed.), Policy Brief Number 6, Cambridge, MA: Caspian Studies Program, Harvard University, December 2001, .]
Following the capture of Shusha by the Armenian forces in 1992, the Azerbaijani population of the town, consisting of 15,000 people, was killed and expulsed. Before 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 ...
, the population consisted of over 4,000 Armenians, mainly refugees from Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
, and other parts of Karabakh and Azerbaijan. As a result of the first war, no Azerbaijanis live in Shusha today, although Azerbaijani authorities plan to repopulate it with Azerbaijani displaced persons who fled Shusha during the first war. Shusha's Armenian population fled shortly before the city was recaptured by Azerbaijani forces during 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 ...
.
Economy and tourism
While the town was under Armenian control, there were efforts to revive the city's economy by the Shushi Revival Fund, the ArmeniaFund, and by the government of Artsakh. Investment in tourism led to the opening of the Shushi Hotel, the Avan Shushi Plaza Hotel and the Shushi Grand Hotel. A tourist information office was also opened, the first in 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 two remaining Armenian churches ( Ghazanchetsots and Kanach Zham) were renovated, and schools, museums and the Naregatsi Arts Institute have opened.
After retaking the town, Azerbaijani authorities renovated and inaugurated Khari Bulbul and Karabakh hotels. In August 2021, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev laid foundation stone for Hotel and Conference Center in Shusha.
Twin towns – sister cities
* Gyöngyös
Gyöngyös is a town in Heves County, Hungary, beside of the Gyöngyös creek, under the Mátra mountain ranges. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 27,957 (see Demographics). The town is located 8.4 km from the M3 motorway and 80.8 km ...
, Hungary
* Andong
Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...
, South Korea
* Kayseri
Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...
, Turkey
* Turkistan, Kazakhstan
* Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...
, Turkey
* Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria.
Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...
, Bulgaria
Notable natives
* Vagharsh Vagharshian, was an Armenian actor, director, playwright and public figure. People's Artist of the USSR (1954).
* Ibrahim Khalil Khan
Ibrahim Khalil Khan Javanshir (, 1732–1806) was the second khan of the Karabakh Khanate from the Javanshir family. He was the son and successor of Panah-Ali khan Javanshir.
Early life
He was born in c. 1732 in Karabakh. He was among depo ...
(1732-1806), Azerbaijani khan of the Karabakh Khanate
The Karabakh Khanate (also spelled Qarabagh; ; ) was a Khanates of the Caucasus, khanate under History of Iran, Iranian and later Russian Empire, Russian suzerainty, which controlled the historical region of Karabakh, now divided between modern ...
.
* Gasim bey Zakir (1784–1857), Azerbaijani poet.
* Jafargulu agha Javanshir (1787–1867), Azerbaijani poet and major general of the Imperial Russian Army.
* Abbasqoli Mo'tamad-dawla Javanshir (1804-1862), Azerbaijani statesman and first minister of justice of Iran.
* Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi (1820–1879), Azerbaijani architect and one of the representatives of Karabakh architecture schools.
* Ivan Davidovich Lazarev
Ivan Davidovich Lazarev (, Hovhannes Davti Lazarian; ; 17 October 1820 – 14 August 1879) was an Imperial Russian Army general of Armenian origin. Diloyan, William. ''«Լազարև, Իվան Դավթի»'' (Lazarev, Ivan Davti). Soviet Arm ...
(1820–1879), Armenian lieutenant-general of the Imperial Russian Army.
* Usta Gambar Karabakhi (1830–1905), Azerbaijani ornamentalist painter.
* Khurshidbanu Natavan (1832–1897), one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan.
* Sadigjan (1846–1902), Azerbaijani musician.
* Muratsan (1854–1908), Armenian writer and novelist.
* Karim bey Mehmandarov (1854-1929), Azerbaijani physician, founder of the Russian-Azerbaijani Shusha girls school.
* Amanullah Mirza Qajar (1857–1937), prince of Iran's Qajar dynasty
The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
. Major general in the Russian Empire and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, later military figure and politician in Iran.
* Leo (1860–1932), Armenian historian.
* Stepan Aghajanian (1863–1940), Armenian painter.
* Hambardzum Arakelian (1865–1918), Armenian journalist and public activist.
* Alexander Atabekian (1868–1933), prominent Armenian anarchist.
* Ahmet Ağaoğlu (1869–1939), Azerbaijani politician and journalist.
* Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev (1870–1933), Azerbaijani playwright, stage director, politician and public figure.
* Feyzullah Mirza Qajar (1872–1920), prince of Iran's Qajar dynasty
The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...
. Major general in the Russian Empire and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, later military figure and politician in Iran.
* Suleyman Sani Akhundov (1875–1939), Azerbaijani playwright and journalist.
* Vartan Sarkisov (1875–1955), Soviet-Armenian architect.
* Freidun Aghalyan (1876–1944), Armenian architect.
* Tuman Tumanian (1879–1906), Armenian liberation movement leader.
* Zulfugar Hajibeyov (1884–1950), Soviet-Azerbaijani composer.
* Ahmed Agdamski (1884–1954), Soviet-Azerbaijani opera singer.
* Arsen Terteryan (1882–1953), Soviet-Armenian scientist.
* Artashes Babalian
Artashes Babalian (; November 17, 1886 – August 1, 1959) was an Armenian doctor, politician and public figure who served as the minister of social protection in the government of the First Republic of Armenia. Babalian was born in 1886 in Shu ...
(1886–1959), a politician of the First Republic of Armenia
The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...
.
* Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan (1886–1937), Soviet-Armenian statesman.
* Hayk Gyulikekhvyan (1886–1951), Armenian literary critic.
* Ashot Hovhannisyan (1887–1972), Soviet-Armenian statesman and historian.
* Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli (1887–1943), Soviet-Azerbaijani and writer.
* Nariman bey Narimanbeyov (1889–1937), Azerbaijani lawyer and statesman.
* Mikael Arutchian (1897–1961), Soviet-Armenian painter.
* Bulbul
The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropic ...
(1897–1961), Soviet-Azerbaijani opera tenor and folk music performer, father of Polad Bülbüloğlu
Polad Bulbuloghlu (; born February 4, 1945) is a Soviet and Azerbaijani singer, actor, politician, and diplomat. Bulbuloghlu became famous in the Soviet Union with composing jazz-influenced songs with heavy Azerbaijani folk influences in Azer ...
, Azerbaijani singer, actor and diplomat.
* Ivan Tevosian
Ivan Fyodorovich (Hovhannes Tevadrosovich) Tevosian (, ; 1902 – 1958) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician of Armenians, Armenian descent. Hero of Socialist Labor (1943).
Since 1919 Tevosian was the secretary of Russian Communist Party (Bolshe ...
(1902–1958), Soviet-Armenian statesman.
* Khan Shushinski (1901–1979), was an 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 ...
i khananda
A khananda ( ; ; alternative spellings in English: khanende, khanande, khanandeh) is a name generally given to singers of mugham, an Culture of Azerbaijan, Azeri folk music genre. The word is of Persian origin and means "singer". When performin ...
folk singer.
* Süreyya Ağaoğlu (1903–1989), Turkish Azerbaijani origin writer, jurist, and the first female lawyer in Turkish history.
* Ivan Knunyants (1906–1990), Soviet-Armenian chemist.
* Latif Karimov (1906–1991), Azerbaijani carpet designer known for his contributions to a variety of artistic fields, as well as for a number of books classifying and describing various designs of Azerbaijani rugs.
* Gevork Kotiantz
Gevork Vartanovich Kotiantz (; ; 12 November 1909 – 28 August 1996) was a Soviet Armenian painter, who lived and worked in Leningrad, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting.
Biography
He was born on 12 Nove ...
(1909–1996), Soviet-Armenian painter.
* Shamsi Badalbeyli (1911–1987), Soviet-Azerbaijani actor and theatre director.
* Nelson Stepanyan (1913–1944), Soviet-Armenian pilot and Lieutenant–Colonel of the Red Army.
* Barat Shakinskaya (1914–1999), Soviet-Azerbaijani actress.
* Gurgen Boryan (1915–1971), Soviet-Armenian poet and playwright.
* Soltan Hajibeyov (1919–1974), Soviet-Azerbaijani composer.
* Seyran Ohanyan (born 1962), Armenian politician and military commander.
* Abdulla Beg Velizade (1841-1912), poet
See also
* List of Azerbaijanis from Shusha
* List of Armenians from Shusha
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Shusha: from A to Z
by Travel-images.com
Shoushi Foundation
Shushi portal
Armenian Guidebook Chapter on Shushi
Armeniapedia entry on Shushi
"The Twentieth Spring"
– A photo essay on Shushi 20 years after it was taken over by Armenian forces (randbild , 2011)
{{Authority control
Shusha
Populated places in Shusha District
Districts of Azerbaijan
Elizavetpol Governorate
1752 establishments
Former Armenian inhabited settlements
Former Armenian communities in Azerbaijan
Ghost towns in Azerbaijan