History of Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh is the modern designation for a southern part of the Lesser Caucasus range, encompassing the highland part of the wider geographical region Karabakh. The name Karabakh itself (derived from Turkic and Persian, and literary meaning "Black Vineyard") was first employed in Georgian and Persian sources from the 13th and 14th centuries to refer to an Armenian principality known by modern historians as the Kingdom of Artsakh or Khachen. Currently most of this area is under the control of the internationally unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which has economical, political, and military support from the Republic of Armenia, but the region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The final status of the region is still a subject of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This article encompasses the history of the region from the ancient to the modern period.

The region of Nagorno-Karabakh was occupied by the people known to modern archaeologists as the Kura-Araxes, and is located between the two rivers bearing those names. Little is known about the ancient history of the region, primarily because of the scarcity of historical sources. Jewelry has been found within the present confines of Nagorno-Karabakh inscribed with the cuneiform name of Adad-Nirari, King of Assyria (c. 800 BC).

According to the local traditions held by many people in the area, the two river valleys in Nagorno-Karabakh were among the first to be settled by Noah's descendants. According to a 5th-century AD Armenian tradition, a local chieftain named Aran (Առան) was appointed by the Armenian King Vologases I (Vagharsh I) to be the first governor of this province. Ancient Armenian authors, Movses Khorenatsi and Movses Kaghankatvatsi, name of it Aran the ancestor inhabitants of Artsakh and next province Utik, the descendant of Sisak (the ancestor and eponym next province Sisakan, differently Siunik), and through it—the descendant of Haik, the ancestor and eponym of all Armenians.

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