The
province of Karabagh, which is separated on the south
by the Araxes from the Persian dominions, and
enclosed on all other sides by the Russian provinces
of Shirvan, Sheki, Elizabethpol, Nakhichevan, and Erivan,
has an area of about 13,000 square versts. From its
extensive forests, it has received the name of
Karabagh, which signifies, in the Turko-Tahtar
language, 'a black garden.' Many parts are covered
with bills; the highest, called Saree Dara, is 5000
feet above the level of the Caspian. These lulls are
generally covered with wood or fine grass, and barren
rocks are very rare. There is a great plain which
contains about 2400 square versts, and a soil almost
universally fertile ; even the greatest part of the
hills are covered with a black loam. The climate in
the high parts is rather cold. The plains are hot and
unhealthy. Besides the Koor and the Araxes, the
province is drained by a great number of small rivers
and mountain streams, which afford great facilities
for irrigation. The products of Karabagh, owing to
the hilly character of the country, are those of a
moderate rather than a warm climate, and the
forest-trees are of the same description as those of Europe,
and supply timbur of the best quality. The mineral
products consist of a small quantity of naphtha,
copper, and salt, collected from lakes.
The population of Karabagh,
according to the official returns of 1832, consisted
of 13,965 Mohammedan and 1491 Armenian families,
besides some Nestorian Christians and Gipsies. This
limited population may be ascribed to the frequent
wars which have long desolated the province, and to
the emigration to Persia of many Mohammedan families
since its subjection to Russia, although many
Armenians were induced by the Russian government,
after the peace of Toorkmanchay, to emigrate from Persia
to Karabagh. All that has been said of the Mohammedan
population of Shirvan and Talish is equally
applicable to that of karabagb, with the exception
that, besides the two Mohammedan sects of the Shiites
and Soonneos, there is a third, called Aliallaga. Its
followers are distinguished, besides a particular
veneration for Ali, by abstinence from tobacco and
snuff, which is carried so far, that they shun the
intercourse of .those who make use of them; but they
drink wine and distilled liquors. The Armenians of
Karabagh have a nobility, consisting of some families
to whom Shah Abbas the Great granted the title of
meliks or princes, which is enjoyed by their
descendants. They have a numerous clergy, comprising
two archbishops, many bishops, abbots, and several
convents, besides the secular clergy. Both clergy and
laity arc very ignorant, and their religious
observances are much relaxed Anybody who is married
to a virgin, and is able to read, may become a priest
by remaining in a church, or a room attached to it,
during forty days and nights, and reading the
Scriptures. Having passed this probation, ho is
consecrated by the local bishop ; but should the
priest, after having lost his first wife, marry
again, he loses his sacred character. The Armenians
of Karabagh have intermingled with their religion
many Mohammedan and even Pagan rites and customs.
They are called to the church by a public crier, and
enter it without uncovering their heads. At the
baptism they give Mohammedan names to their children,
and sacrifice several kinds of animals and birds to
the saints at the entrance of churches. The Nestonans
have emigrated into Karabagh from Persia since the
treaty of Toorkmanchay. The only town in Karabagh is
Shooshee, situated on a high rocky mountain, about
4000 feet above the level of the Caspian. It is
fortified by nature and a little by art : it contains
about 1700 houses. The population is composed of 762
Armenian and 936 Mohammedan families. The Missionary
Society of Basel has an establishment at Shooshee,
composed of a few missionaries, who maintain
gratuitously a school for the natives, where, besides
the Christian religion, are taught the Armenian
language, arithmetic, and geography, as well as the
Greek and English languages. The missionaries have
also a small printing-office, in which they print
some religious tracts and school-books in Armenian.
There are also two Armenian schools, one for boys,
and another for girls ; and 7 Mohammedan schools,
besides one established by the Russian
government.
Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge
By Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
(Great Britain)
Published by C. Knight, 1838