Zar (; ; , also ''Tzar'') is a village in the

Kalbajar District Kalbajar District () is one of the 66 Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan, districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin Distric ...

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 ...

Etymology

Armenian architectural historian Samvel Karapetyan writes that the settlement was first mentioned as "Tsar" in 1289. In the records of Dadivank Monastery in 1763, it is referred to as ''Mets Tsar'' (, ), and in the 18th century, with an increased nomadic presence in the region, ''Zar'', a derivative of ''Tsar'', began to be used as a name for the village. An Azerbaijani legend suggests a different origin. A poor young man named Zaza once lived in this village. He was in love with a girl named Nazı, but her parents were against their relationship. Zaza then decided to seek assistance from

Nadir 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 ...

. He planted a watermelon in a narrow-necked jar. The surprised shah approved and ordered that Nazı be given to Zaza. However, as soon as Nadir Shah left town, Nazı's family went to Zaza's house and murdered him before throwing his body into a well. Zaza's mother cried for several days after that. The name ''Zar'' was said to have derived from this legend as the Azerbaijani word "zarıldamaq" translates as "to sob".

History

The history of the village goes back to the early medieval period, when it was the administrative center of the

Kingdom of Artsakh The Kingdom of Artsakh () was a medieval dependent Armenian kingdom on the territory of Syunik and Artsakh provinces, Gardman canton of Utik province, Mazaz and Varazhnunik canton of Ayrarat province. Contemporary sources referred to it ...

's canton of Tsar. Until the 11th to 12th centuries, the village went by the name of ''Vaykunik'' (). Ulubabyan, Bagrat. s.v. "Tsar,"

Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia (also rendered ''Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia''; , ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) is the first general encyclopedia in the Armenian language. It was published in 1974-1987 by the main editorial office of th ...

, 1979, vol. 5, p. 120. In 1250, a

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

peasant movement was recorded to have taken place in the village of Tsar in Armenia. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Armenian Dopian dynasty, closely related to the

Zakarids The Zakarid dynasty, also Zakarids or Zakarians () were an Armenian noble dynasty, rulers of Zakarid Armenia (1201–1350) under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Georgia, and from 1256 under the control of the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia. Their dyn ...

, established itself in Tsar. During the invasions of

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

in the 14th century, the population of the region of Tsar was almost totally massacred. However, the Dopian principality survived, with the region of Tsar coming to serve as a stronghold and refuge for Armenian refugees from regional conflicts. In the late 16th century, Tsar came under Persian rule, with the Dopian

melik Мelik (, from ) was a hereditary 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 Persian nobility ...

s preserving their titles as the rulers of the Melikdom of Tsar, legitimized by an edict in 1603 by Shah Abbas. In the late 17th century, the melikdom of Tsar was incorporated into the melikdoms of Jraberd and Sotk. In the middle of the 18th century, Armenian historian Yesai Hasan-Jalalyan of the princely Hasan-Jalalyan family, states that: Beginning in 1724, an exodus of the Armenian population of the region took place. From the late 18th century and onwards, there was an increased Turkish and Kurdish nomadic presence in the region. In the early 19th century, the village was destroyed by the armies of the

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 ...

. Archbishop and scholar Makar Barkhutariants visited Tsar in 1880, noting the many remaining tombs and khachkars around the village, with many having been broken and inscriptions having been erased. The cathedral (or "large temple") in the centre of the village was still largely preserved at this time, with a khachkar on its walls with an inscription that read "I Melik, and my god-son Akutin, and my brother Mkhitar erected this cross in year 1225". The village was located in the

Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh The Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were areas of Azerbaijan, situated around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which were occupied by the ethnic Armenian military forces of the breakaway Republic ...

, coming under the control of ethnic 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 ...

in the early 1990s. The village subsequently became part 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 ...

as part of its Shahumyan Province. The village was handed over to Azerbaijan on 25 November 2020 as part of the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement was an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pr ...

Historical heritage sites

Historical heritage sites in and around the village include medieval tombstones,

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 ...

s from between the 12th and 17th centuries, a 12th/13th-century castle and chapel, the church of ''Surb Grigor'' (, ) consecrated in 1274, the church of '' Surb Sargis'' (, ) consecrated in 1279, a 13th-century bridge, and the 17th-century church of ''Surb Astvatsatsin'' (, ). Two of the four churches of Tsar of as well as two nearby monasteries have been destroyed. Armenian churches, monasteries and cemeteries in the village started to be destroyed by Kurds at the end of the 19th century, and the destruction continued on a larger scale 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, especially during the 1940s and 1950s.

Tsar monastery

The monastery of Tsar, also called Tsara Surb Astvatsatsin (), or Holy Mother of God Church (), was an

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 ...

monastery located at the edge of the village. It was built and consecrated in 1301 when the village was part of the

Principality of Khachen The Principality of Khachen ( Modern Armenian: ) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Karabakh).''Abū-Dulaf Misʻar Ibn Muhalhil's Travels in Iran (circa A.D. 950)'', ed. and trans. Vladi ...

, and included two 13th-century chapels and numerous

s. It was destroyed by Azeri authorities during the Soviet era. The monastery was blown up, two 13th-century chapels were razed. The elaborately engraved stones of the church were used to build storehouses, and are now visible in the foundations of barns built by the Azeris. Stones from the church were used to build a school in the village in the 1950s, with 133 carved or inscribed stone fragments reused within the walls of the school. In 2024, Azerbaijan bulldozed the school buildings which contained many fragments from the monastery.

Demographics

The village had 52 inhabitants in 2005, and 83 inhabitants in 2015.

Gallery

Tsar001.JPG, A view of the village Zar village, Azerbaijan.jpg, A view of the village Tsar015.JPG, New village school Tsar023.JPG, Wall of St. Sargis Church with ornaments Tsar_cemetery-raffi_kojian-3222.jpg, Azeri cemetery in the village, tombstones and mausoleum Entrance of St. Grigor church, Tsar village.jpg, The 13th-century St. Gregory Church Tsar046.JPG, A sign in Armenian reading ''"Tsar"'' denoting the boundary limit of the village Tsar004.JPG, A monument built in honour of the Armenian troops who died in the

Tsar005.JPG, One of the canyons that surround the village Tsar010.JPG, Ruins of the village school built in the 1950s and containing stones taken from an Armenian monastery Tsar008.JPG, Fragments of Armenian gravestones Tsar016.JPG, Ruins of Armenian churches Ծար-raffikojian.jpg, Scenery around the village

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Geography Populated places in Kalbajar District