Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of West Asia located in the southern part of the Lesser Caucasus range, at the eastern edge of the Armenian Highlands, encompassing the highland part of the wider geographical region known as Karabakh.Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies: JSAS., Volume 8. University of Michigan, 1997, p 54. Under Russian and Soviet rule, the region came to be known as Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning "Mountainous Karabakh" in Russian. The name Karabakh itself (derived from Persian and Turkic and meaning "black vineyard") is first encountered in Georgian and Persian sources from the 13th and 14th centuries and refers to lowlands between the Kura and Aras rivers and the adjacent mountainous territory.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of this area came under the control of the Artsakh Republic, which had economic, political, and military support from Armenia but has been internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. As a result of the 2020 war, all surrounding territories and some areas within Nagorno-Karabakh were taken back by Azerbaijan. On 1 January 2024, the Republic of Artsakh was dissolved.
Ancient history The region of Nagorno-Karabakh, located between the Kura and Araxes rivers, was once occupied by the people known to modern archaeologists as the Kura–Araxes. Little is known about the ancient history of the region, primarily because of a scarcity of historical sources.
The first mention of the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh is in the inscriptions of Sardur II, King of Urartu (763–734 BC), found in the village of Tsovk in Armenia, where the region is referred to as Urtekhini. There are no additional documents until the Roman epoch.
By the beginning of the Hellenistic period the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was not clear, some say that It was populated by mostly Armenian tribes, who have been native to the region according to the Armenian hypothesis, which has been backed up by genetical studies or who have settled there in the 7th century BC, while others say that the population of that time was neither Armenian nor even Indo-European, and that it was Armenized only in the aftermath of Armenian conquest.Robert H. Hewsen, "Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians", in Thomas J. Samuelian, ed., Classical Armenian Culture: Influences and Creativity. Pennsylvania: Scholars Press, 1982. "What do we know of the native population of these regionsArc'ax and Utikprior to the Armenian conquest? Unfortunately, not very much. Greek, Roman, and Armenian authors together provide us with the names of several peoples living there, howeverUtians, in Otene, Mycians, Caspians, Gargarians, Sakasenians, Gelians, Sodians, Lupenians, Balas[ak]anians, Parsians and Parrasiansand these names are sufficient to tell us that, whatever their origin, they were certainly not Armenian. Moreover, although certain Iranian peoples must have settled here during the long period of Persian and Median rule, most of the natives were not even Indo-Europeans." Robert Hewsen does not exclude the possibility of the Armenian Orontid dynasty exercising control over Nagorno-Karabakh in the 4th century BC, however, this hypothesis is disputed by many other scholars, who believe the extent of Orontid Armenia was limited to the vicinity of Lake Sevan.Susan M. Sherwin-White, Amalie Kuhrt. From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, p. 16. "There are many problems over the boundaries of Seleucid Armenia, which have not be studied, but could be illuminated by the accounts of the expansion of the Armenian Kingdom beyond the limits of "Armenia" after Antiochus III's defeat by the Romans in 189. The frontiers on the south and south-west are roughly: the Seleucid satrapies of Seleucid Cappadocia, Mesopotamia and Syria, and of Commagene; in the north, Iberia in the Lower Caucasus, north of the river Araxes and Lake Sevan, and western Media Atropateneroughly equivalent to modern Azerbaijan; in the north-west, separating Armenia from the Black Sea, were independent tribes"George A. Bournoutian. A Concise History of the Armenian People: (from Ancient Times to the Present), p. 33. "After the death of Alexander, the Armenians maintained this stance towards the governors imposed by the Seleucids. The Yervandunis gained control of the Arax Valley, reached Lake Sevan, and constructed a new capital at Yervandashat."Elisabeth Bauer-Manndorff. Armenia: Past and Present, p. 54. "Armenia Major, under the rule of the Ervantids consisted of the central area east of the upper Euphrates, around Lake Van and the Araxes as far as Lake Sevan."
Similarly, Robert Hewsen in his earlier workRobert H. Hewsen, "Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians", in Thomas J. Samuelian, ed., Classical Armenian Culture: Influences and Creativity. Pennsylvania: Scholars Press, 1982. "From Strabo we learn that under King Artashes (188–ca. 161 B. C.), the Armenians expanded in all directions at the expense of their neighbors. Specifically, at this time they acquired Caspiane and 'Phaunitis', the second of which can only be a copyist's error for Saunitis, the principality of Siwnik. Thus, it was only under Artashes, in the second century B.C., that the Armenians conquered Siwnik' and Caspiane and, obviously, the lands of Arc'ax and Utik', which lay between them. These lands, we are told, were taken from the Medes. Mnac'akanyan's notion that these lands were already Armenian and were re-conquered by the Armenians at this time thus rests on no evidence at all and indeed contradicts what little we do know of Armenian expansion to the east." and Soviet historiography date the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh into an Armenian kingdom to the 2nd century BC.
Legend of Aran According to local traditions held by many people in the area, the two river valleys in Nagorno-Karabakh were among the first lands to be settled by Noah's descendants.Thomas J. Samuelian. "Armenian Origins: An Overview of Ancient and Modern Sources and Theories" (PDF). According to a 5th-century CE Armenian tradition, a local chieftain named Aran () was appointed by the Parthian King (Vagharsh I) as the first governor of this province. Ancient Armenian authors Movses Khorenatsi and Movses Kaghankatvatsi name Aran as the ancestor of the inhabitants of Artsakh and the neighboring province of Utik, the descendant of Sisak (the ancestor and eponym of the neighboring province of Sisakan, also transliterated Siunik).Movses Khorenatsi. "History of Armenia" . I.12, II.8.Movses Kaghankatvatsi, "History of Aluank" . I.4. Through Sisak, Aran descended from Haik, the ancestor and eponym of all Armenians.Movses Kaghankatvatsi, "History of Aluank" . I.15.
Artsakh as province of the Kingdom of Armenia Strabo characterizes "Orchistenê" (Artsakh) as "the area of Armenia with the greatest number of horsemen".Strabo, "Geography", 11.14.4 It is unclear when Orchistenê became part of Armenia. Strabo, carefully listing all territorial gains of Armenian kings since 189 BC, does not mention Orchistenê, which indirectly shows that it probably was transferred to the Armenian empire from the Persian satrapy of Eastern Armenia. Ruins of the city of Tigranakert lie near the modern city of Aghdam. It is one of four cities with this name built in the beginning of 1 BC by the king of Armenia, Tigranes the Great. Recently Armenian archaeologists have conducted excavations at the site of this city. Fragments of a fortress, and also hundreds of artifacts, similar to those found in excavations in Armenia proper, have been unearthed. The outlines of a citadel and a basilica dating to the 5th–6th centuries AD have been revealed. Excavations have shown that the city existed from the 1st century BC to the 13th or 14th century AD.
Ancient inhabitants of Artsakh spoke a dialect of the Armenian language; this is attested by the author of an Armenian grammar, Stepanos Siunetsi, who lived around AD 700.
Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and Claudius Ptolemaeus all state that the border between Greater Armenia and Caucasian Albania was the river Cyrus (Kura).Claudius Ptolemaeus. Geography, 5, 12Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 6, 39 Authoritative encyclopedias on antiquity also name Kura as the southern border of Albania.. Volume I. Stuttgart 1894". p. 1303 Artsakh lies significantly to the south of this river. No contemporary evidence of its inclusion into Caucasian Albania or any other country exists until at least the end of the 4th century.
Armenian historian Faustus of Byzantium wrote that during the epoch of upheaval that followed the Persian invasion of Armenia around 370AD, Artsakh was one of the provinces that rose in revolt, while Utik was seized by the Caucasus Albanians. Armenian military commander Mushegh Mamikonian defeated Artsakh in a massive battle, took many prisoners and hostages, and imposed a tribute on the remaining population. In 372, Mushegh defeated the Caucasus Albanians, took Utik from them, and restored the border along the Kura, "as was earlier".
According to the Geography () of 7th-century Armenian geographer Anania Shirakatsi, Artsakh was the 10th of 15 provinces () of Armenia, and consisted of 12 districts (): Myus Haband (Second Haband, as opposed to Haband of Siunik), Vaykunik (Zar), Berdadzor, Mets Arank, Mets Kvenk, Harjlank, Mukhank, Piank, Parsakank (Parzvank), Kusti, Parnes and Koght.
However Anania predicted that even during his time, Artsakh and the neighboring regions would "tear away from Armenia". This happened in 387, when Armenia was divided between the Roman Empire and Persia, and Artsakh and the Armenian provinces of Utik and Paytakaran were attached to Caucasian Albania. However Azerbaijani historian I. Aliev asserted that by 66 BC Armenian king Tigray II had relinquished most of greater Armenia, and by the end of the first century AD Utik and Artsakh were part of the Kingdom of Albania, whose southern border shifted to the Arax River.
Mashtots and Aranshakhik period
In the early 4th century Christianity spread in Artsakh. In 469 the Kingdom of Albania was transformed into a Sassanid Persian marzpanate (frontier province).
In the early 5th century Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet and founded one of the first schools in Armenia at the Amaras Monastery in Artsakh, sparking a flourishing culture and national identity.Viviano, Frank. "The Rebirth of Armenia", National Geographic Magazine, March 2004John Noble, Michael Kohn, Danielle Systermans. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Lonely Planet; 3 edition (May 1, 2008), p. 307 In the 5th century the eastern part of Armeniaincluding Artsakhremained under Persian rule. But in 451 the Armenians rebelled against the Persians' policy of compelling the practice of the Zoroastrian religion. Artsakh took part in this revolt, known as the Vardan war. Its cavalry particularly distinguished itself. After the Persians put the rebellion down, many Armenians took shelter in the impregnable fortresses and thick woods of Artsakh to continue the fight, leading to the Treaty of Nvarsak in 484 affirming Armenia's right to freely practise Christianity.