Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd

The Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd (Russian: Шаруро-Даралагезский уезд; Armenian: Շարուր-Դարալագյազի գավառ; Azerbaijani: Şərur-Dərələyəz qəzası) was an uezd (county) of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the governorate's Erivan and Nor Bayazet Uyezds to the north, the Nakhchivan Uyezd to the south, the Zangezur and Jevanshir Uyezds of the Elisabethpol Governorate to the east, and Persia to the southwest. It included most of the Vayots Dzor Province of present-day Armenia and the Sharur District of the Nakhchivan exclave of present-day Azerbaijan. The administrative center of the uezd was the town of Bash-Norashen (Sharur).[1]

Sharur-Daralayaz Uezd
Шаруро-Даралагезский уезд
Uezd
Coat of arms
Location in the Erivan Governorate
CountryRussian Empire
GovernorateErivan
ViceroyaltyCaucasus
Established1849
Abolished1929
SeatBash-Norashen (Sharur)
UchastoksFirst, and second
Area
 • Total2,971 km2 (1,147 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total90,250
 • Density30/km2 (79/sq mi)

Economy

Armenians were mostly concentrated in mountainous Daralayaz, while lowland Sharur was overwhelmingly Tatar. The population in Daralayaz was engaged primarily in cattlebreeding while the residents of Sharur were engaged in agricultural farming and gardening. Manufacturing was not developed in this part of the governorate. Only 47 winemaking enterprises, 299 mills, 89 cotton-cleaning, 4 rice-cleaning factories existed in the Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd.[2]

Geography

The geography of the uezd resembled a crater surrounded from the south, north and east by tall mountain ranges of the Lesser Caucasus. The plain, which made up a small part of the uezd, was close to the Aras River, into which the only river irrigating the plains, the Arpa-chay, discharged. The mountainous part of the territory was called Daralayaz and the lowland part was called Sharur. Daralayaz constituted approximately 70% of the whole uezd area and Sharur constituted approximately 30%, even though it included about half of the uyezd's population. The Arpa-chay started at the southeastern tip of Lake Sevan (Gokcha) and flowed 107 versts before discharging into the Aras. It had many tributaries, the Alagyoz-chay being the longest. Approximately 12,150 desyatins of the mountainous part of uezd was forested. The temperature in the winter reached -27 °C.[2]

History

The territory of the uezd was part of Persia's Erivan and Nakhchivan Khanates until 1828, when according to the Treaty of Turkmenchay, they were 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 Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd formed part of the Tiflis Governorate. In 1849, the Erivan Governorate was established, separate from the Tiflis Governorate. It was made up of the Erivan, Nakhchivan, Alexandropol, Nor Bayazet, and Ordubad Uyezds. Following administrative reforms, the northern part of the Nakhchivan Uyezd (Daralayaz) was separated to form part of the new Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd in 1870.[4]

In 1918-1920, the uezd was disputed between the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.[5]

After the establishment of Soviet rule in 1920, the territory of the uezd was divided. Daralayaz became part of the Armenian SSR and Sharur became part of the Nakhichevan ASSR of the Azerbaijan SSR in accordance with the treaties of Moscow and Kars.[5][6]

Administrative divisions

The Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd was split into 2 unnamed contiguous uchastoks (subcounties):

  • 1st (1-ий участок)
  • 2nd (2-ий участок)

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire census of 1897, the Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd had a population of 76,538, including 41,055 men and 35,483 women. The plurality of the population indicated Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani) to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian and Kurdish speaking minorities.[7]

Linguistic composition of the Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd in 1897[7]
Language Native speakers %
Tatar[lower-alpha 1] 51,560 67.37
Armenian 20,726 27.08
Kurdish 3,761 4.91
Assyrian 331 0.43
Russian 61 0.08
Ukrainian 57 0.07
Polish 12 0.02
Georgian 7 0.01
Jewish 6 0.01
Belarusian 4 0.01
Greek 4 0.01
German 1 0.00
Italian 1 0.00
Other 7 0.01
TOTAL 76,538 100.00

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

The 1917 Caucasian Calendar which produced statistics of 1916 indicates 90,250 residents in the Sharur-Daralayaz Uyezd, including 47,399 men and 42,851 women, 88,496 of whom were the permanent population, and 1,754 were temporary residents. The statistics indicated the uezd to be overwhelmingly Azerbaijani, with a sizeable Armenian minority which was mainly concentrated in the eastern Daralayaz subdistrict:[8]

Nationality Sharur-Daralayaz
Azerbaijanis 58,493 64.8%
Armenians 29,165 32.3%
Kurds 1,861 2.1%
Assyrians 598 0.6%
Russians 122 0.1%
TOTAL 90,250 100.0%

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. Шаруро-Даралагезский уезд [Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia Dictionary. Sharur-Daralagyoz 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. "Административно-территориальные реформы на Кавказе в середине и во второй половине XIX века" [Administrative-territorial reforms in the Caucasus in the middle and second half of the 19th century] (in Russian).
  5. Tsutsiev, pp. 71–76.
  6. 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.
  7. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  8. Кавказский календарь .... на 1917 год (in Russian). pp. 367–370.

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