“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
The second section of the 1898 issue (Volume 25) of the Collection of Materials for the Description of Localities and Tribes of the Caucasus periodical provides information about the Armenian villages of Artsvanik in the Zangezur district of the Elizavetpol governorate, Getashen (Chaykend) in the Elizavetpol district, and Karin Tak (Dashalty) in the Shushi district. G. Osipov, a teacher at the Getashen (Chaykend) school, presents the history of the village of Karin Tak (Dashalty, Даш-Алты).
According to him, Karin Tak is located not far from the fortress of Shushi. The author, presenting the origin of the village’s name and its founding history, notes that the Tatar name “Dashalty” is a literal translation of the Armenian Karin Tak, which means “made of stone.” At the beginning of the 19th century, the inhabitants of the village of Khozaberd in the Zangezur district, fleeing persecution by the khans, moved to the territory of Dashalty village. Locals shared this story of migration with the author. According to them, Khozaberd once had 700 households.
G. Osipov writes that the name Khozaberd (in Armenian Khtsaberd) is explained in two ways: as “biting, gnawing fortress” or “stern, strong fortress.” The village was surrounded by high mountains, and its inhabitants constantly warred against their neighbors. Refusing to pay taxes to the Kurdish Aliyanlu tribe, they fought against them. Some of the surviving inhabitants of the village settled in Karin Tak.
According to the 1873 statistics, the population of Karin Tak (Dashalty) village consisted of 147 households with 823 residents, and by 1886, it had grown to 165 households with 944 residents. [1] The author notes that the villagers were peaceful, hospitable, and hardworking, yet rough and superstitious. G. Osipov observes that the villagers had a strong affection for weapons. The village was home to the Holy Mary Mother of God Church, which had two clergy members.
The village had Holy Mary Mother of God Church, which had two clergy members. The author mentions that, due to the lack of proper care and medical assistance, various infectious diseases were widespread in the village.
One of the village’s landmarks is a giant cave, which the author writes could hide an entire village.
The impartial and truthful documentation of eyewitnesses further attests to the ancient and indigenous presence of Armenians in the region, whose ethnic identity was unaffected even by foreign rulers.
Since 2020, the village of Karin Tak has been under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
[1] According to the 1886 census records, in 1886, the village had 164 households with a population of 906. Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказскаго края, извлеченных из посемейных списков 1886 г., издан по распоряжению Главноначальствующаго гражданскою частию на Кавказе Закавказским статистическим комитетом, Тифлис, Тип. И. Мартиросиянца, 1893, с. 269.