Erivan Uyezd

The Erivan Uyezd (Russian: Эриванский уезд; Armenian: Երևանի գավառ) was an uezd (county) of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. The uezd bordered the governorate's Etchmiadzin and Surmalu Uyezds to the west, the Nor Bayazet Uyezd to the east, the Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd to the south, and Persia to the southwest. It included most of the Ararat Province and southern parts of the Kotayk Province of present-day central Armenia, the Sadarak District of the Nakhichevan exclave of present-day Azerbaijan, and the Aras corridor of the Aralık District of the Iğdır Province of present-day Turkey. The administrative center of the Erivan Uyezd was the city of Erivan (Yerevan, current capital of Armenia).[1]

Erivan Uyezd
Эриванский уезд
Uezd
Coat of arms
Location in the Erivan Governorate
CountryRussian Empire
GovernorateErivan
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
Established1840
Abolished1930
SeatErivan (Yerevan)
UchastoksFirst, second, third, and fourth
Area
 • Total3,032 km2 (1,171 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total205,617
 • Density68/km2 (180/sq mi)

Economy

The population was engaged primarily in agricultural farming, gardening, and winemaking. Approximately 50% of the wine in the Erivan Governorate was produced in the Erivan Uyezd. According to statistical data, there were 129,120 great cattle in the uyezd, which made up 11% of the cattle in the whole governorate.[2]

Geography

The northeastern part of the uezd was mountainous and rocky while the southwestern part consisted of steppes and plains. The southwestern part was watered by the Aras River with the lowest altitude of 2,667 ft (813 m) on the border with Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd. The administrative center Erivan laid at 3,200 ft (980 m) above sea level, which was the highest point of the uezd. Among the rivers discharging into the Aras were the Zanga, the Garni-chay, and the Vedi-chay, which usually dried out during the summers and became active in the winters.[2]

History

The territory of the uezd had been a part of Persia's Erivan Khanate until 1828, when according to the Treaty of Turkmenchay, it was annexed to the Russian Empire. It was administered as part of the Armenian Oblast from 1828 to 1840.[3] In 1844, the Caucasus Viceroyalty was re-established, in which the territory of the Erivan Uyezd formed part of the Tiflis Governorate. In 1849, the Erivan Governorate was established, separate from the Tiflis Governorate.[4]

In 1918, the uezd became a part of the First Republic of Armenia, partially being occupied by the Ottoman army through much of 1918 as a result of the Treaty of Batum until its reincorporation into Armenian administration in the December of 1918.[5] Many of the Azerbaijanis in the southern rural portions of the uezd, particularly in centers including Boyuk Vedi (Vedi), Davalu (Ararat) and Zangibasar (Masis) after being prompted by Kemalist Turkish agents engaged in open rebellion against the Armenian government, hostilities lasting from July 1919 until the Sovietization of Armenia.

After the establishment of Soviet power on 3 December 1920, most of the uezd formed part of the Armenian SSR, the center Erivan (Yerevan) serving as the new government's capital.[6] The southernmost parts of the uezd corresponding to the locality of Sadarak became the northernmost section of the new Nakhichevan ASSR of the Azerbaijan SSR and the outer southwestern strip of the uezd, corresponding to the Aras corridor on the west bank of the Aras river, was ceded to Turkey in accordance with the treaties of Moscow and Kars.[7][8]

Administrative divisions

The Erivan Uyezd was split into 4 unnamed contiguous uchastoks (subcounties):

  • 1st (1-ий участок)
  • 2nd (2-ий участок)
  • 3rd (3-ий участок)
  • 4th (4-ий участок)

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire census of 1897, the Erivan Uyezd had a population of 150,879, including 82,899 men and 67,980 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani) to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian and Kurdish speaking minorities.[9]

Linguistic composition of the Erivan Uyezd in 1897[9]
Language Native speakers %
Tatar[lower-alpha 1] 77,491 51.36
Armenian 58,148 38.54
Kurdish 8,195 5.43
Russian 3,052 2.02
Assyrian 2,288 1.52
Ukrainian 652 0.43
Jewish 326 0.22
Polish 196 0.13
Georgian 152 0.10
German 80 0.05
Persian 76 0.05
Lithuanian 59 0.04
Greek 32 0.02
Belarusian 9 0.01
Italian 3 0.00
Mordovian 1 0.00
Turkish 1 0.00
Other 118 0.08
TOTAL 150,879 100.00

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

The 1917 Caucasian Calendar which produced statistics of 1916 indicates 205,617 residents in the Erivan Uyezd, including 108,228 men and 97,389 women, 157,100 of whom were the permanent population, and 48,517 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population in the capital Erivan, with a significant Azerbaijani population, conversely, in the rural peripheries of the district, the population which was mainly Azerbaijani was concentrated in the fertile lowlands south of Erivan, adjacent to the contiguous Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd:[10]

Nationality Center Rural TOTAL
Armenians 37,223 69,710 106,933 52.0%
Azerbaijanis 12,566 74,175 86,741 42.2%
Russians 1,059 1,435 2,494 1.2%
Kurds 39 6,724 6,763 3.3%
Assyrians 0 1,916 1,916 0.9%
Jews 196 42 277 0.1%
Gypsies 0 237 237 0.1%
Georgians 203 3 206 0.1%
TOTAL 51,286 154,331 205,617 100.0%

Notes
  1. Later known as Azerbaijani.

References
  1. Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780300153088.
  2. Большой энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона. Эривань [Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia Dictionary. Erivan Uyezd] (in Russian).
  3. Bournoutian, George A. (1992). The Khanate of Erevan Under Qajar Rule, 1795-1828. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers. p. 26. ISBN 9780939214181.
  4. Tsutsiev, p. 20.
  5. Tsutsiev, p. 74–76.
  6. Tsutsiev, p. 80–82.
  7. Parrot, Friedrich (2016) [1846]. Journey to Ararat. Translated by William Desborough Cooley. Introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Gomidas Institute. p. xxix. ISBN 978-1909382244.
  8. Договор о дружбе между Армянской ССР, Азербайджанской ССР и Грузинской ССР, с одной стороны, и Турцией - с другой, Заключенный при участии РСФСР в Карсе [Treaty of friendship between the Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, and Georgian SSR on one side and Turkey on the other, with the participation of the Russian SFSR in Kars] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2007-04-24. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  9. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  10. Кавказский календарь .... на 1917 год (in Russian). pp. 367–370.

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