Harar :: ARMENIAN LOCATIONS

9 Monuments

NKR (Country) / Kashatagh (District) / Harar (Village)

Location

Harar is a village of rich historical past. It is situated to the left of Hakari, at a distance (by beeline) of 6 km from the bank, on a slope with the altitude of 1180-1280 m above the sea. The borderline with the Hadrut district of NKR passes 2 km away of the village.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

Historical Introduction
17 c․

There are no records of this village till the 17th century, but samples of material culture, preserved herein witness to the fact that it had been existing since the very early period.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

Scriptoria
1666 y․

The colophon of a Sermon book kept at Matenadaran (N 3437) mentions that the manuscript was copied by the hand of scribe Paghtasar and by the order of priest Martyros in 1666 in Harar village of Hagarian land.”

"List of Manuscripts", vol. 1, Yerevan, 1965, Man. N 3437. (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

1668 y․

Another Sermon book, being till 1885 in possession of V. Ter-Grigorian Dadian, was rewritten two years later “in the land of Hagarian, in the village named Harar.”

"Meghu Hayastani", 1885, N 94, Dec. 1, p. 1 (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

1671 y․

The colophon of another manuscript copied by the hand of the same scribe Paghtasar and completed in 1671 mentioned also the name of the church “Thus, this Holy and revitalizing Gospel is written by the hand of the sinner Paghtasar the scribe in year of Armenian dating 1671, in the land of Hakarean, in the village, which is called Harar, under the auspices of St. Stephanos...” This manuscript is presently kept at the library of the “Welcome” Institute, London.

"Banber Matenadarani", N 15, Yerevan, 1986, p. 323 (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 474.

Historical Introduction
19 c․

There are no records of Harar for about one and a half-century but since the middle of the 19th century the village was mentioned in various deeds and records rather frequently.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

Population
1930 y․

Harar was totally abandoned by Armenians by the thirties of the 20th century. The Kurds and Turks resettled it little by little. In 1976 the village had 268 residents.

Azerbaijanian Soviet Encyclopaedia", Baku, 1976, vol. 1, p. 509. (in Azerb.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

1905 y․

The table above shows that before the November events of 1905 the population of this village was more or less increasing. Then, having not still recovered, came 1918, and within a decade of the establishment of the Soviet power the village was totally emptied.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.

Historical Introduction
1880 y․

It should be mentioned that the situation was rather tense in Harar even during the years of peace. Since the beginning of the eighties of the last century the Armenian population of Harar was in constant fear of the Kolani raids. As testified by an eyewitness: “During the three months of the last year they hijacked more than one hundred heads of cattle.” As a result, 15 households left Harar in 1891 and resettled in the Jivanshir region, where they established a new village at the banks of the Trtu (Tartar). Those who remained in their homeland, lived here till 1905, when “135 households were plundered to the last of their belongings, to the last thread and needle. The Turks kidnapped some of the people. Poor Armenians, for many long days they had been living under the constant horror of death, moral and psychological torture and intimidation, being cut from the outer world, uninformed what was happening out of their village, what death they would take. And when the troops finally came to liberate them, they couldn’t believe their eyes. As those who flee from the executor’s sword, they fled their homeland on the condition that they should never return, and went to seek asylum in other place. Harar had too many victims...” By the way, the inhabitants of Harar didn’t even try to withstand, from the very beginning taking into consideration the unfavorable correlation of the excessive force and the siege. “The village of Harar handed it self over and let the hooligans plunder whatever they possessed even without resistance.”

"Nor Dar", 1885, N 104, p. 4.
"Selected Materials for the Description of the Caucasus Tribes", (here inafter see as SMDST) issue 25, Tiflis, 1898, p. 103. (in Russian). The village where the Harar Armenians found refuge is Chapar, situated in the western corner of the present-day Martakert district, NKR.
A-Do, Armenian-Turkish Conflicts of 1905-1906 in the Caucasus, Yerevan, 1907, pp. 262-263. In that very 1905 Hambardzum Grigorian Adanian was consecrated as priest for Harar ("Ararat", 1905, Apr., p. 312) (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, pp.173-174.

Population
1907 y․

Later in 1907, still having nowhere to live 10 Harar families (78 people) applied to the spiritual authorities for the permit to settle in one of the Amaras monastic estates. In spite of the superior’s consent, for certain considerations, the consistory turned them down in May 1908.
Finally, irrespective of their will, but under the government duress, part of the former inhabitants of Harar was forced to return to their village, but their number, as shown by the table above, for instance by 1 January 1914, constituted only 412 people. The majority never returned, and settled in Khankand (Stepanakert).

SCHARA, F. 56, L. 6, case. 675, pp. 2, 6 (in Arm).
"Mshak", 1906, N 240, Nov. 2, p. 1-2. (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p.174.

Description

During the Soviet rule when Harar was finally occupied by the Turks, the population of the nearby villages and Harar itself took to the deliberate and systematic extermination of any reminder of the former Armenian population, cultural monuments included. Unfortunately, the cultural landmarks of this historical village had not been sufficiently investigated in the past, and presently, the significant part of these monuments is lost.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 175.

Passing to the description of the village, we should first of all observe, that Harar consisted of several quarters, lying in considerable distance of each other, and more often perceived as several villages. “Harar is divided to four quarters, each of them forms a separate village but officially they bear the same name - Harar, while the peasants call them Tez-Kharab, Arpaghadivk, Gonaghgormaz and Sechmanlu...”

"Nor Dar", 1899, N 63, p. 3 (in Arm.).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p.175.

Monuments

"There had been several sanctuaries in the environs of Harar "Amutegh" "Horum ayea" and "Sumuklu baba" by name, which are now totally lost.. ".

"Nor Dar", 1899, N 63, p. 3.
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 176.

Type Photo
View General
Direction From the south
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Tez-Kharab
Arpageadivk
Gonaghgeormaz
Sechmanlu

Particularly, household lists provide the following numbers of the village residents:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1841	31	147	175	322		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 1, c. 305, p. 15 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1850	47	160	112	272		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 1, c. 2596, p. 74 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1876				737		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 1, c. 6775, p. 105-106 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1886	134			1004		Gh. Alishan, Sisakan, Venice, 1893, p. 100 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1889		416	339	755		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 1, c. 8583, p. 39-40 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1891	134	532	482	1014		M. Bishop Barkhutariants, Artsakh, Baku, 1895, p. 401; Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1901		699	561	1260		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 14, c. 205, p. 235-236 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1905	135					A-Do, Armenian-Turkish Conflicts of 1905-1906 in the Caucasus, Yerevan, 1907, p. 261; Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1914				412		"Caucasian Calendar for 1915", Tiflis, 1914, p. 107 (in Russian); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1918		666	412	1078		SCHARA, F. 56, L. 1, c. 59, p. 5 (in Arm.); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.
1921	9	29	26	55		Karapetian M. M., Ethnical Structure of the Population of Nagorno Karabakh in 1921, Yerevan, 1991, p. 17 (in Russian); Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 172.