Kutkashen village of Nukhi district of Elizavetpol governorate

In the 1890 issue of the periodical Collection of the Materials for Description of Places and Tribes of the Caucasus, Rashid bek Efendiyev, the inspector of the school in the village of Kutkashen in the Nukhi district of the Elizavetpol governorate, authored an article on folk medicine in the village and the district, titled Some Information about the Village of Kutkashen, Elizavetpol Governorate, and Folk Medicine in the Nukhi District.

The author notes that the village of Kutkashen has been mentioned since ancient times. According to a legend, the name and founding of the village are linked to two Armenian brothers, Vardan and Kutk. They established two villages: Vardashen in the Nukhi district and Kutkashen (now Gabala). The name of the latter consists of the proper name "Kutka" and the Armenian word "shen," meaning "village" — hence, "Kutka's village."

The author notes that one could infer from this that the first inhabitants of the village were Armenians, who, shortly thereafter, converted to Islam. According to Rashid bek Efendiyev, this explains why traces of Armenian customs and traditions were scarcely found among the village's residents.

This is another evidence of the Armenian population's ancient presence in the region.

Currently called Gabala, it is the administrative center of the Gabala district in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Nearby are the ruins of Kapalak, the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania.

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