Shusha Uyezd

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Shusha Uyezd
Шушинский уезд
Coat of arms of Shusha Uyezd
Shusha Uyezd of Elisabethpol Governorate.png
CountryRussia
Political statusUyezd
RegionCaucasus
Established1840
Abolished1921
Area
 • Total5,034 km2 (1,944 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total188,745
 • Density37/km2 (97/sq mi)
Karabakh Khanate on a map of 1823

The Shusha Uyezd (Russian: Шушинский уезд) also transliterated as Shushinskiy Uyezd, was one of the uyezds (administrative units) of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, and then of Ganja Governorate of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Shusha in 1840–1921.[1]

Geography[]

The Elisabethpol Governorate as a whole consisted of the Elisabethpol, Nukha, Shusha, Zangezur, Kazakh, Aresh, Jebrail, and Jevanshir Uyezds.[2] The Shusha Uyezd was located in the southeastern portion of Elisabethpol Governorate, bordering the contiguous Javanshir Uyezd on the north, the Jabrayil Uyezd to the south, the Zangezur Uyezd to the west and the Baku Governorate in the east. The area covered 4,316 square verst, or 4,911 km (3,052 mi). The uyezd was normally divided into the mountainous, submountanous and lowland parts. The mountains covered the southwestern part of the uyezd and were part of the Lesser Caucasus range, reaching as high as 8,988 ft (2,740 m) above sea level. The gorges and valleys towards the northeast made up the submountainous areas of the uyezd. The lowland part of the uyezd is rich with rivers. The Khachinchay river formed the natural boundary between the Shusha and the Javanshir Uyezds.[3]

History[]

The territories of Shusha Uyezd once formed part of the Karabakh Khanate until the latter's dissolution in 1813, when the area was ceded by Qajar Iran to the Russian Empire in accordance with the Treaty of Gulistan. Russian rule was officially established in the region by 1823.

On April 10, 1840 Shusha Uyezd was established as a separate administrative unit within of the empire with Shusha as its capital. From 1846 on, it was an administrative unit of Shemakha Governorate (later renamed to the Baku Governorate in 1859). In 1868, the uyezd was incorporated into the Elisabethpol Governorate.[3] In 1873, the territories of Javanshir and Jabrail of the Shusha Uyezd were detached and established as separate administrative uyezds.[4]

After the dissolution of the Russian Empire and the formation of the independent Transcaucasian republics, including the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, the western mountainous districts of the Elisabethpol Governorate including the Shusha, Zangezur, Jebrail, Jevanshir, Kazakh and Elisabethpol Uyezds became subject to intense territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan throughout 1918-1920, both of whom included these areas in their territorial pretensions that they presented in memorandums to the Paris Peace Conference.

Since the collapse of Russian authority in the Transcaucasus, the mountainous portion of the uyezd which was overwhelmingly Armenian and included the administrative center of Shusha was governed by the de-facto Karabakh Council which vehemently rejected Ottoman and Azerbaijani attempts to subordinate the region. However, following the arrival of British forces in Transcaucasia, the Karabakh Council reluctantly submitted to provisional Azerbaijani rule through the Governor-Generalship of Karabakh, led by Dr. Khosrov bey Sultanov, due to the exerted British pressure on the council in August 1919.[5][6]

Demographics[]

Russian Imperial Census of 1897[]

According to census held in 1897, the population of the uyezd was 138,771, of which 73,953 were Armenians and 62,868 were Tatars (i.e. Azerbaijanis).[7] The population was engaged primarily in agriculture and farming in the mountainous areas, gardening, sericulture and cattlebreeding in submountainous areas. The lowland area was used for growing cotton, which produced 20 thousand pounds of cotton per year. Vineyards covered as much as 4,494 desyatinas of land, producing 106,860 lbs of grape. Nearly 10,000 lbs of silk pods were being collected per annum. Cattlebreeding which played an important role in the regional economy accounted 38,888 of cattle, 10,918 buffalos, 133,648 sheep, 3,052 goats, 8,016 horses, 4,052 donkeys, 1,052 mules, 340 camels, 4,052 pigs. [3]

Caucasian Calendar of 1917[]

The 1917 Caucasian Calendar which produced statistics of 1916 indicates 188,745 residents in the Shusha Uyezd, including 102,134 men and 86,611 women, 182,429 of whom were the permanent population, and 6,316 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated ethnic Armenians to be the majority of the population of the both the city Shusha and in the rest of the uyezd, with a sizeable Azerbaijani, and lesser Russian minority:[8]

Area Russians Other

Europeans

Georgians Armenians North Caucasians Other Asian Nationalities Jews TOTAL
Orthodox Sectarian Christian Shia Muslim Sunni Muslim
Shusha 1,249 ... 35 36 23,396 25 ... 19,091 30 7 43,869
Rural 2,787 55 56 24 75,413 31 9 61,618 4,883 ... 144,876
TOTAL 4,036 55 91 60 98,809 56 9 80,709 4,913 7 188,745
2.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 52.4% 0.0% 0.0% 42.8% 2.6% 0.0% 100.0%

References[]

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Elisavetpol (government)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 09 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 280; see first para, penultimate sentence. Thus, at Shusha.....
  2. ^ "Административно-территориальные реформы на Кавказе в середине и во второй половине XIX века" [Administrative-territorial reforms in Caucasus in middle and second half of 19th century]. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  3. ^ a b c "Брокгауз-Ефрон и Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Шуша" [Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia. Shusha]. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  4. ^ Milman, Aron Shmulyevich (1966). Политический строй Азербайджана в XIX-начале XX веков: административный аппарат и суд, формы и методы колониального управления. USA: Azerbaijan State Publishing. Original from Pennsylvania State University. p. 114.
  5. ^ Hille, Charlotte (2010). State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus. Leiden, the Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-90-04-17901-1. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  6. ^ "Общие сведения об административно-территориальном деле��ии" [Presidential library. General data about administrative-territorial divisions] (PDF). Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  7. ^ "Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и у��здам Российской Империи кроме губерний Европейской России" [First All Russian Imperial Census of 1897. Population split according to languages spoken; uyezds of Russian empire except for governorates in European part of empire]. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  8. ^ Кавказский календарь .... на 1917 год (in Russian). pp. 355–358.
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