Xələc (also, Khaladzh, Khaladj and Khalaj) is a village and municipality in the

Sharur District Sharur District () is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Kangarli, Sadarak, as well as the Vayots Dzor and Ararat provinces of Armenia and the West Azerbaijan Prov ...

of Nakhchivan,

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 ...

. It is located near the Khalaj Mount, north-west of the district center, on the bank of 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 ...

. Its population is mainly busy with farming. There are secondary school, kindergarten, library, club and a medical center in the village. It has a population of 1,268.

Etymology

The name of the village is related with ''xələclər'' (khalajlar) who were within the tribe union of

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

- Oghuz. A part of the ''xələclər'' who have participated in the conquest of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

(12th–13th centuries) now living in Iran and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

.''Encyclopedic dictionary of Azerbaijan toponyms''. In two volumes. Volume I. p. 304. Baku: "East-West". 2007. . Xələclər (Khalajlar) - is the Turkic tribe that lived on the south bank of the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

River in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. They were within of the tribe union of the

– Oghuz. From written sources, it becomes clear that the ''Xələclər'' have served in the armies of the

Arab Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entir ...

. In

Seljuk period The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. The empire spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in t ...

, some of them came to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and from there to Arran. The ''Xələclər'' who consist from several tribes and arms (generation) at the end of the 19th century, have lived in the Javad province. Basically, they were engaged in cattle-breeding. The names of the mountain and the village in the Sharur region are related with ''Xələclər''.

Khalaj archaeological site

Khalaj (Xələc, Khaladj, Халадж) archaeological site is a settlement of the

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

period. It is located 200 m south of the village of same name in the Sharur region, on the left bank of the

, on the slope of the Khalaj mountain. When the local population used the area as a cemetery, many artifacts were scattered around.

Ceramics

Red clay pottery (jugs and bowl-type containers) are found here. Some examples is decorated with the scratching methods. From the settlement were found the grain stones, obsidian and flint panels. It attracts attention that it was painted in the back part of the flint panels with the comb-like instrument. The findings are close to the materials of

Ovçular Tepesi Ovçular Tepesi is an ancient settlement located at the northern end of Dizə, Sharur village in Sharur District of Azerbaijan, on the left bank of Arpa (river). It dates back to the fifth millennium BC, and continued to the third millenniums BC. ...

. Painted ceramic samples are the same with ceramics of the Eneolithic monuments in the east of the lake of Urmiya (

). Along the sides of the irrigation canal which built from slopes of the mountain were found the samples of the ceramic of the first

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(

Kura–Araxes culture The Kura–Araxes culture (also named ''Kur–Araz culture, Mtkvari–Araxes culture, Early Transcaucasian culture, Shengavitian culture'') was an archaeological culture that existed from about 4000 BC until about 2000 BC, which has traditionally ...

). A bit away from the settlement were found samples of whole colored plates of the middle Bronze Age. Those plates, for ornaments and forms are the same of Kultepe I. Entirely, the settlement of Xələc belongs to the 4th–3rd millennium BC.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xelec, Nakhchivan Populated places in Sharur District Kura-Araxes culture Archaeological sites in Azerbaijan Leyla-Tepe culture Archaeological sites in Nakhchivan