Zangezur

Armenian Tatev Monastery, Xth-XIIIth centuries

There are several theories about of the origin of the name Zangezur. According to Armenian scholar Ghevont Alishan, Zangezur is derived from the name of Dzagadzor fortress (now a village near Goris), which was named after a patriarch of the Sisak clan, Dzagik. Over time the name Dzagadzor changed and became Zangezur.[4]

Some sources also mention a possible connection between the name Zangezur and another toponym—the name of the Tsakedzor gorge (Armenian: Ծակեձոր, from the Armenian tsak - "hole", dzor - "gorge, ravine")[5] located to the northwest of Goris in the valley of the Goris River.[6]

There are also various explanations of the name stemming from folk tradition and legends. For example, the name is interpreted as a combination of Armenian zang ("bell") and dzor ("gorge") or alternatively as zang and zor ("power"), that is, a powerful bell.[4] There was a monastery about 2 kilometers away from Goris which had a loud bell.[4] Another tradition connects the name with the time of the conquests of Timur. According to this tradition, an Armenian prince named Mher offered his help to Timur, saying that he will not be able to conquer Syunik as long as there is the great bell in the village of Khot which will notify the principality in case of danger. Timur promised gold and power to Mher if he would silence the bell, and the latter with his conspirators lit a fire under the bell at night, muffling its sound. When Timur's army crossed the Aras River and invaded Syunik, attempts to notify the people using the bell were in vain. The principality fell overnight, and people asked in amazement "why didn't they ring the bell?" Some answered "ringing in vain", in Armenian: “zange zur e” (Armenian: զանգը զուր է). After that, the principality was also called Zangezur.[7]

Armenian Kingdom of Syunik, 1020–1166

Historically Zangezur was the southern part of the ancient Armenian province of Syunik. A. Redgate notes that the discovery of an Athenian coin of the 6th century BC in Zangezur indicates the presence of trade relations between Armenia and Asia Minor.[8] Inscriptions of the king of Great Armenia Artashes I (189–160 BC) have been found on the territory of Zangezur.[9] At the beginning of the 4th century, Syunik, along with other provinces of Armenia,[10] was converted to Christianity.[11] Of the twelve gavars (regions) of Syunik, seven were located within Zangezur (Chaguk, Agakhechk, Gaband, Bagk or Balk, Dzork, Arevik and Kusakan[12]). At the beginning of the 5th century, the Armenian scientist and educator Mesrop Mashtots conducted preaching and educational activities here.[13] From 428 to the beginning of the 7th century it was a part of the Armenian province of Persia. In the middle of the 7th century, Zangezur, along with the whole of Armenia, was conquered by the Arabs.

At the end of the 9th century, Zangezur, as a part of Syunik,[14] became a part of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia.[15] Later, it became a part of the Kingdom of Syunik (this was due to the fact that in 970–980s the political center of the Syunik region began to move to the south, to the gavar of Balk).

In 1170 the Kingdom of Syunik was defeated by the Seljuks. After the expulsion of the Seljuks, an Armenian principality ruled by the Orbelians existed in this territory (in 1236 they submitted to the Mongols). The principality fell in the first half of the 15th century[16] as a result of several invasions of Khan Tokhtamysh, Timur, the Turkoman tribes of Kara-Koyunlu, and the Timurid Shah Rukh.[17]

In the 15th century, Zangezur fell under the rule of the Kara-Koyunlu confederation of Turkic nomadic tribes, and later under the rule of the Ak-Koyunlu. The domination of the Mongol Ilkhans and especially the Turkmen conquerors Kara-Koyunlu and Ak-Koyunlu had extremely grave consequences: the productive forces were destroyed, part of the population was plundered and exterminated, and many cultural monuments were destroyed.[18] Lands were taken away from the local population and were settled by newcomer nomads,[19] and part of the Armenian population was forced to emigrate from their historical lands.

In the 16th century, Zangezur became a part of the Tabriz beglerbegdom of the Safavid state, and from the second half of the 18th century it was a part of the Karabakh Khanate.[20] During the 16th-17th centuries, Armenian feudal meliks continued to exist in Zangezur, along with Karabakh and Lori.[21]

In the 17th–18th centuries, Zangezur and some neighboring regions became the area of the liberation struggle of the Armenian people against the Ottoman Empire and Persia.[22] In 1722, an Armenian uprising broke out in Zangezur and Karabakh. A few years later, under the leadership of David Bek, Mkhitar Bek and Ter-Avetis, the Armenians fought against the Ottoman invaders. The Persian Shah Tahmasp II recognized the authority of David Bek over this region.[23]

According to the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813, Zangezur was ceded to the Russian Empire. On January 25, 1868, when the Elisabethpol Governorate was created, the Zangezur district was formed from a part of the Shusha district of the Baku province and the Ordubad district of the Erivan province.

In Zangezur, the Kajaran copper-molybdenum plant, the largest in Armenia plant for the enrichment of copper-molybdenum ores, operates, exploiting the Kajaran copper-molybdenum deposit, one of the largest deposits of copper-molybdenum ores in the world. The part of molybdenum in this deposit in the world is approximately 7%. The plant's products are exported to Europe.

• 
  Goris
• 
  Vahanavank, 10th-11th century monastery
• 
  4th-6th century bridge near the town of Kapan
• 
  Meghri, Church of the Holy Mother of God, 1673
• 
  13th century Armenian manuscript from Zangezur
• 
  Khachkar by Armenian architect Momik, 1306
• 
  Tatev hermitage, 17th-18th centuries
• 
  Zorats-Karer prehistoric observatory. 3rd-5th millennia BC