“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
2024-08-07
The Masis region was located in the lower course of the Hrazdan (Zangu) river, from Yerevan city to the Araks River, which corresponded to the southern part of the Kotayk region in the Ayrarat province of Greater Armenia. The area was also called Zangi-basar (Zangibasar), which means irrigated by Zangu or covered by Zangu.
During the Persian rule (1555-1828), the Masis region was one of the 15 mahals (provinces) of the Yerevan Khanate, with Masis as its center.
During the Russian Empire period, the region was included in the Armenian Oblast (1828-1840), then in the Yerevan Governorate (1849-1917), during the years of the First Republic of Armenia in the Yerevan Governorate (1918-1920), and after the Sovietization of Armenia, in the Yerevan Province (1920-1937). On December 1, 1937, the Zangibasar region was formed as a separate administrative unit in the Armenian SSR. It was dissolved in March 1953 and became part of Yerevan's Shahumyan region under the name Hrazdan. On January 14, 1969, it was re-organized as a separate administrative region named Masis, with its center the town of Masis (formerly Ulukhanlu).
The settlements of the Masis region were: Azatashen, Ayntap, Arbat, Argavand, Arevabuyr, Geghanist, Getapnya, Dashtavan, Darakert, Demurchi, Dostlug, Zahmet, Zangilar, Kalinin, Hovtashat, Ghukasavan, Masis, Marmarashen, Nizami, Norabats, Nor Kharberd, Jrahovit, Ranchpar, Sayat-Nova, Sarvanlar, Sarjalar.
The names of the settlements are mostly of Armenian origin. The villages received foreign names from the Muslims who settled there. Part of the ancestors of the local Armenian inhabitants migrated from the Khoy and Salmast provinces of the Parskahayk province of Greater Armenia. The forced deportation of Armenians organized by Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1604 had particularly severe consequences for the Ararat Valley and adjacent areas.
The ethnic picture of this Armenian region has also undergone serious changes over time. Along with the decrease of the Armenian population, the foreign, mainly Turkic-speaking element increased in the province.
In 1832, 2,963 Armenians (35.4%) and 5,413 Muslims (64.6%) lived in the Zangibasar mahal. The latter included Turkic-speaking (Ali-Sharurli, Buyuk-Chobanqara, etc.) and Kurdish, mainly nomadic communities, which appeared in the region starting from the 11th century. By the way, no "Azerbaijani" ethnic unit was mentioned among the Turkic-speaking tribes.
Most of the Armenian villages had historical and cultural monuments - chapels, khachkars, churches, some of which have survived, while there were very few Muslim cultural pieces. Among them are the Turkmen mausoleum of Argavand (15th century) and the Persian Blue Mosque of Yerevan (1766).
The Masis region was one of the densely populated areas of Soviet Armenia. About 70% of the population were Armenians. Azerbaijanis, Russians, and Kurds also lived here. Only in the late 1930s all Turkic-speaking residents were officially named "Azerbaijanis."