Falsification of the history of the Artsakh Meliqdoms by Azerbaijani historiography

The history of the Meliqdoms (Principalities) of Artsakh constitutes
an important part of Armenian history. In the absence of an independ-
ent Armenian state, in the 17 th -18 th centuries the Artsakh Meliqdoms
remained the only power, which could potentially serve as a basis for
the resurrection of the Armenian state.
Since the Soviet period, for decades in spite of the historical reality
Azerbaijani historiography has spared no effort to falsify and present
in a distorting mirror the history of Armenia and everything that is
Armenian. In this context, Armenian Artsakh – it’s past and present
– remains the primary target of the Azerbaijani pseudo-history con-
structions. There is not a single period in the history of Artsakh, which
would not be purposefully falsified by Azerbaijani pseudo-historians.
One of main topics of their falsifications is the history of the Meliqdoms
of Khamsa, which in reality were a manifestation of the Armenian state-
hood in Artsakh. The “studies” are published in Azerbaijan and other
countries in which the Meliqdoms of Artsakh are falsely presented as
“Albanian” formations in sharp contrast and contradiction to numerous
historical sources and original documents of the time. The Azerbaijani
state-sponsored propaganda translates these pseudo-scientific “studies”
into various languages and disseminates them around the world.
The present article focuses on two such pseudo-scientific publica-
tions, namely by O. Efendiev, Corresponding Member of the Azerbai-
jani National Academy of Sciences 1 and G. Mamedova, PhD of His-
tory 2 . Their articles were included in a collection of articles entitled
“Garabag: Kurekchay – 200” published by the A. Bakikhanov Institute
of History of the NAS of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the 200th an-
niversary of the Treaty of Kurakchay. Although we have addressed our
response to the above-mentioned authors, it is also addressed to the
other authors falsifying the history of the Meliqdoms of Artsakh.
At the beginning of his article of O. Efendiev writes: “In Armen-
ian historiography the Meliqdoms of Garabag are unconditionally
considered Armenian: their origin from Caucasian Albanians is com-
pletely ignored” 3 . For anyone more or less familiar with the history
of Artsakh it is clear that this unsubstantiated announcement by the
Azerbaijani historian has nothing to do with reality. On this occasion,
we would like to remind O. Efendiev and his fellow scribblers of the
following well-known lines written by Russian Tsar Peter the Great in
the edict of November 10, 1724 in response to the petition of the Meliqs
of Artsakh: “This Armenian people We received under Our particu-
lar Imperial mercy and protection” 4 . We believe that no reasonable
person would think that Peter the Great did not know which nation
he was taking under his protection. This fact is enough to destroy
the above mentioned false thesis of Azerbaijani pseudo-history con-
structors. It should also be mentioned that in the Russian documents
of the Armenian national liberation struggle’s period of the 1720s the
system of the Armenian defence known under the name of the “Ar-
menian sghnakh” 5 was simply translated into Russian «Армянское
собрание» (“Armenian Assembly”).
There are a great number of similar facts the credibility of which is
beyond doubt. Here we would like to refer to an extract from the “De-
scription of countries and cities neighboring Georgia” by the Georgian
king Heraclius II, dated 1769, where he writes about Artsakh: “Khamsa
is a principality... the whole population of which are Armenians (this
and the further underlines are ours – A. M.)... The Armenian patriarch
(the Catholicos of Gandzasar – A. M.) is there ... The Armenians have
a great fortress, forests, as well as fertile fields. Two thousand five hun-
dred Jivanshir people will enter the battle and four thousand five hun-
dred Armenians. The Armenians of Khamsa are very brave fighters” 6 .
No one can accuse the Georgian king of partiality or moreover, of not
knowing his neighbors well. We think that G. Mamedova, O. Efendi-
ev and their fellow scribblers will also agree with us that Heraclius II
simply could not fail to know or could not confuse the nationality of
the Meliqs of Artsakh who he was in immediate relations with.
The Azerbaijani pseudo-history constructors should know that the
Meliqs of Artsakh considered themselves “the heirs descending of the
noble military men of the Armenian kings” 7 . Lord of Dizak prin-
cipality Meliq-Yegan, the great prince of the Meliqdoms of Khamsa in
the lapidary inscription at the entrance of his chamber clearly men-
tions: “I did not allow that people from Armenia be taken captive.
Shah Nadir from Araghi came with his troops and took the country
from the hands of Osmanlu. And I was of so much service to him
that he appointed me khan (landlord) 8 and beklarbek 9 (governor) of
the Christian nation’s 6 mahals 10 (gavars) – Talish, Charaberd, Kha-
chen, Varanda, Qochiz and Dizak: he did a favor” 11 . Meliq-Yegan, the
renowned governor of Dizak Meliqdom died in 1744 and was buried
in the vestibule of the church of the village Togh where the ancestral
cemetery of Meliq-Yeganyans was located. His tombstone bore the fol-
lowing verse epitaph:

“This is the courageous prince’s grave,
Yegan the name of great Melik,
Who is the son of pious
Vardapet by name Ghukas.
Being beloved by everyone and
The shah by name Nadir.
He ruled in the land,
The province of Ałuank,
He was greatly honoured by the Persian nation,
As the prince of the Armenian country.
Armenian calendar
– 1193 (1744)” 12 .

As it is said in such cases – comments are unnecessary. It is no coinci-
dence that renowned Persian historian Muhammad-Kyazim men-
tions Meliq-Yegan as a wise man gifted with exceptional abilities char-
acteristic of a delicate politician who enjoyed Nadir Shah’s great love
and trust. By analyzing the situation in Transcaucasia in 1723, Muham-
mad-Kyazim gives first place to Melik-Yegan among the leaders of the
Armenian military men 13 .
On the tombstone [which is in the church vestibule of the monas-
tery Kusanats Anapat (Virgins’ desert) in the village Avetaranots] of
Meliq-Husein Meliq Shaynazaryan, a contemporary prince of Meliq-
Yegan, the following is recorded:
“This is a tombstone of Meliq Shahnazar‘s son Meliq Husein of
1736, I will speak words of praise to Meliq Husein, writimg them on
this tombstone. He was the lord of the land of Varanda, 35 villages,
he was a man with a table full of bread, had mercy upon everyone, his
image was worthy of praise, he did not pay tribute to the king, he was
a strong wall of the country, the Armenian nation’s crown and pride,
he struggled against the Ottomans and beat the Turks” 14 .
The latter was proclaimed the Armenian nation’s crown and pride
by his contemporaries for the victories against the Ottoman Turks.
Here we should like to bring the example of Meliq-Adam (Hatam)
Meliq-Israyelyan, the renowned lord of Jraberd gavar (district), who
____________________
(1) Эфендиев О., Еще раз о так называемых «Гарабагских меликствах»,
«Гарабаг: Курекчай - 200», Баку, 2005, с. 85-90.
(2) Мамедова Г., К вопросу о христианских меликах и меликствах
Северного Азербайджана в XVIII в., «Гарабаг: Курекчай – 200»,
Баку, 2005, с. 68–84. The fraud is seen from the title, because artificial
“Azerbaijan” did not exist before the middle of 1918.
(3) Эфендиев О., оp. cit., p. 85.
(4) Эзов Г., Сношения Петра Великого с армянским народом, СПб., 1898,
док. 255 и 257, с. 395; Армяно-русские отношения в первой трети XVIII
века. Сборник документов, т. II, ч. II, под ред. А. Иоаннисяна, Ереван,
1967, док. 293 и 294, с. 210.
(5) Sghnakh – a defensive stronghold.
(6) Грамоты и другие исторические документы XVIII столетия,
относящиеся к Грузии, т. I, под. ред. А. Цагарели, СПб., 1891, с. 434-435;
Армяно-русские отношения в XVIII веке. Сборник документов, т. IV,
под ред. М. Нерсисяна, Ереван, 1990, с. 94-95.
(7) Армяно-русские отношения в XVIII веке, т. IV, с. 179.
(8) “The word khan has roots in Sanskrit and Persian and Sogdian
languages; word khana or khanva meaning chief and khan in
Persian means landlord and chief of town” (https://en.wikipedia.
org/?title=Khan_(title)#Etymology).
(9) Bek (beg