ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Yanshagh 7 Monuments

NKR (Country) / Karvajar (District) / Yanshagh (Village)

Location

It is situated on the left slope of the gorge of the Meydan - the fullest tributary to the Lev, on the altitude of 1700-1750 m.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 35.

Historical Introduction

Hanshagh is one of the oldest settlements in the region.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 35.

1662 y․

The village was mentioned for the first time under the same name in 1662, in the colophon of the manuscript Typicon (“Mashtots”): “I handed this Holy Mashtots of my soul to priest David in the memory of pious Hur who was the spouse of Avazak, from the land of Tzar, from the village of Hanshagh. Whoever reads let him say “Lord have mercy, amen.”

M. Bishop Barkhutariants, Artsakh, Baku, 1895, p. 22; Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 35.

1763 y․

About a hundred years later (in 1763) the village is mentioned among the estates of Dadi Vank.

"Jambr" Assembled and Rendered by Simeon Catholicos Yerevantsi, Vagharshapat, 1873, p. 283; Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 35.

Population
19 c․

This village was reinhabited at the end of the XIX cent, by a few Kolani Kurdish families, later, particularly during the Soviet period they were totally assimilated.

Leo, History of the Armenian Parish Schools in Karabakh in 1838-1913, Tiflis, 1914, p. 686; Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, pp. 35-36.

As regards the aboriginal population, they left the village in the middle of the XVIII cent, together with the inhabitants of many other Armenian villages. As many others the population of Hanshagh resettled in Georgia, in the village of Tabakhmela (Tabakhmelik) not far from Tbilisi. Currently this village is still populated with a large number of Armenians, speaking mostly Georgian, bearing the family name of Hanshaghiants (or now Hanshaghov, or Hanshaghishvili).

The inscription on the altar stone of the Tabakhmela St. George church indicated the church was founded in 1840-ies by the Hanshaghiants family, and renovated by the off-springs of the founder in 1877: 1877 ԱՄԻ ԱՅՍ ՍԲ ԳԷՈՐԳԱՑ ԵԿԵՂԵՑԻՆ, ՈՐ ՀԻՄՆԱՐԿԱԾ է ԵԱՆՇԱՂԵԱՆՑԻ, ԿՐԿԻՆ ՆՈՐՈԳ(Ե)ՑԻՆ ՆՈՐԱ ՈՐԴԻՔ ԴԱՒԻԹ, ԿՕՆԻ, ՊԵՏՐՈՍ, ՍԱՐԳԻՍ, ԳՈԳԻ, ՑԱՐՈՒԹԻՒՆ, ԳԷՈՐԳԻ, ԳՈԴԼԱՑ ԵԱՆՇԱՂԵԱՆՑՆԵՐԸ։ ՅԻՇԱՏԱԿ է ԱՅՍ ՄԲ ԳէՈՐԳԱՅ ՀԻՆ ԵԿԵՂԵՑԻՆ ԿՐԿԻՆ ԱՆԳԱՄ ՆՈՐՈԳԵՑԻՆ ԵԱՆՇԱՂԵԱՆՑԻ ՈՐԴԻՔԸ։ IN YEAR 1877. THIS CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED BY HANSHAGHIANTS. IT WAS RENOVATED AGAIN BY HIS SONS DAVID, KONI, PET-ROS, SARKIS, GOGI, HARUTYUN, GEORGE, GODLA HANSHAGHIANTS: THIS OLD CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE WAS RENOVATED IN THE MEMORY OF THE SONS OF HANSHAGHIANTS. A few tombstones of the Hanshaghiants' are inscribed in Georgian. The Artsakh immigrants of the second half of the XVIII cent. constituted considerable part of the population of Tiflis and especially the adjoining villages, e.g. the communities of Shamkhor and Gandzak established in Havlabar, the communities of Brajur and Voskanapat established in the village Lis, that of Hanshagh established in Tabakhmela, etc. It seems the renowned Chirkiniants family was outcomers from the Chirkin village of Karvajar district. Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 36.

Resettlement

Description

Except for a few khachkars preserved in Hanshagh, we found no traces of a church, which should have been there.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 36.

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Yanshakh	1812 — 1920 yy․
Yeanshagh	1600 — 1812 yy․
Yanshagh	5 — 16 cc․