The Qandak village of Yevlakh district

The Armenian-inhabited village of Qandak in the Yevlakh district was located on the left bank of the Kura River, near the Mingachevir settlement, on a trade route. It was one of the historically Armenian-populated settlements in the region. The village was first mentioned in Armenian sources in 1628, with another record in 1640. According to the testimony of Catholicos of Gandzasar, Esayi Hasan-Jalalyan, Qandak was subjected to a devastating raid by the Lezgins in 1712: “Coming to the village called Qandak, they completely destroyed it.” The village is also mentioned in a Georgian travelogue dated 1806: “Crossing the Kura River, one reaches the Armenian village of Qandak.”

The village was mentioned again in the early 19th century, and by the middle of the same century, it was exclusively Armenian-inhabited with 60 households. During the visit of Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants in 1888, the village had 120 Armenian households with a population of 825. By 1914, it was entirely Armenian-populated with 977 residents.

In 1918, like other Armenian settlements in the region, the village of Qandak was attacked by Turkish troops and Musavatists, leading to the depopulation of its Armenian inhabitants. According to testimonies, by the late 19th century, there was a church named Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) in Qandak, with a small cemetery in its yard containing inscribed tombstones. Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants copied the inscription from one of the tombstones preserved there.

This is the tombstone of Melik-Melkum, son of Chalapov.

Whoever reads it, let them say – may he rest in peace. 1840.

The former territory of the village of Qandak is now included within the boundaries of the city of Mingachevir and has become its southern suburb.

Bibliography

Barkhutaryants M., Land of Aghvank and its Neighbors: Artsakh, Yerevan, 1999.

Esayi Hasan-Jalalyants, A Brief History of Aghuank Region, Yerevan, 1997, p. 24.

Karapetyan S., The Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions of Aghvank Proper, Yerevan, 1997.

Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts of the 17th Century, vol. 2, Yerevan, 1978, p. 302.

Jalalyants S., A Trip to Great Armenia, Part B, Tbilisi, 1858.

Chobanyan P., Georgian Travelogues and Their Information about Armenians, Yerevan, 1981, p. 150.

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