The Karmakhan village in the Ismayilli district

2025-05-26

Until 1918, Karmakhan (Khoyli) was an Armenian-inhabited village in the Ismayilli district. It was located about 4 km south of the district center. In the 17th–18th centuries, the village was destroyed. Later, Persian-Armenians resettled in the village. According to Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants, these residents migrated in 1832 from the village of Lar near Tehran. According to the version of the village name “Khoyli,” the settlers came from the city of Khoy.
In 1861, Karmakhan had 36 Armenian households. During Makar Barkhutaryants’ visit in 1886, the village had 48 Armenian households with a population of 228.

In 1914, Karmakhan was entirely inhabited by Armenians (242 residents). In 1915, the village was home to 47 Armenian households.
In the summer of 1918, Karmakhan was attacked by Turkish troops and local Tatars. By 1919, the village had been completely depopulated of Armenians.
After the establishment of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan, a small number of Karmakhan residents who had survived the massacres settled in various locations.

In Karmakhan, there was a church named Saint Gregory the Illuminator, which was destroyed during 1918–1919. During his visit, Makar Barkhudaryants mentioned khachkar (cross-stone) in the cemetery dated to 1419. The medieval cemetery of Karmakhan testified to the antiquity of the village.

Makar Barkhudaryants copied and published inscriptions from four of the oldest preserved tombstones in the local cemetery, of which the most complete is the following:

Makar Barkhutaryants copied and published the inscriptions of four of the oldest preserved tombstones from the local cemetery, the most complete of which is the following:

“Saint Gevorg... passed on to Christ.
Whoever reads this, may the Lord have mercy on him.”

The territory of the ancient village of Karmakhan (Khoyli) is currently plowed land; even the traces of Armenian homes have not been preserved.

Bibliography

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

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

Karapetyan, S., Aghvank Proper, Part 1, Yerevan, 2024, pp. 144-146.

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