ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Khachbulagh 4 Monuments

Azerbaijan (Country) / Northern Artsakh (Area) / Dashkesan (District) / Khachbulagh (Village)

Location

The village is situated on the south-facing slope of a gorge lying on the left bank of the river Artinajur, 9 kilometres south-west of the district centre, at an altitude of 1,710 to 1,790 metres above sea level.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

Name Origin

‘Khachbulagh,’ which is translated from Turkish into Armenian as ‘Khachaghbyur’ (‘bulagh’ is the Turkish equivalent for the Armenian word ‘aghbyur,’ i.e. ‘spring’), is used with reference to a local spring whose name has spread to the entire village: “A fast-flowing spring located a little below the church has a cruciform basin; hence comes its name of Khachbulagh (‘Khach’ is the Armenian equivalent for ‘Cross’).”

Barkhutariants, M., Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 287.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

Monuments

The archaeological monuments preserved both in the territory and neighbourhood of Khachbulagh attest that it has been inhabited since time immemorial. Working in a site called Hamamgyuzi in 1959, the archaeological expedition of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, headed by I. Narimanov and G. Ismayilov, unearthed three burial mounds covered with soil and stones.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

One of them was absolutely empty, while the other two contained a silver button, 4 bronze volutes, 16 grey-blackish clay vessels, some cornelian beads and a metal spearhead, all these findings dating back to the middle of the second millennium B.C.

Narimanov, I., Ismayilov, G. Archaeological Excavations in Khachbulagh in 1959 (in Azerbaijanian). In: “Izvestya Akademii Nauk Azerbaijanskoy SSR.” A serial of social sciences, 1961, No. 3, pp. 19-30.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

It is interesting to note that similar articles and clay containers were also discovered in a number of other Bronze Age monuments found in the territory of Armenia.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

The ceramic objects remarkable for their white ornaments have their parallels in the archaeological finds of Ljashen (in Gegharkunik Marz of the Republic of Armenia) dating from the 16th to 14th centuries B.C.

Mnatsakanian, A. About the Two-Coloured Ceramics of Ljashen. In: “Izvestya,” 1957, No. 5, p. 109, in Russian.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

Historical Introduction
1691 y․

The earliest records containing reference to Khachbulagh trace back to the late 17th century. Thus, in 1691 mention is made of “... Usta Papum from Khachpulagh...” and “...sexton Khachum from Khachpulagh...”

“Ararat,” 1900, p. 320.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

18 c․

Stripped of its Armenian population between the ‘50s and ‘60s of the 18th century, the village remained derelict until the ‘70s to ‘80s of the following century, when it was inhabited by a small number of stock-breeding Muslim tribes.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

1890 y․

Stripped of its Armenian population between the ‘50s and ‘60s of the 18th century, the village remained derelict until the ‘70s to ‘80s of the following century, when it was inhabited by a small number of stock-breeding Muslim tribes.

Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 287.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 196.

Resettlement
1839 y․

A list (1839) of the population of Pib Village mentions a certain David Khachbulaghian, whose family name, undoubtedly, derives from that of his birthplace. This suggests that the inhabitants of Pib also included some of the natives of Khachbulagh.