SEARCH SYSTEM OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLAND MONUMENTS

Bavra 10 Monuments

Georgia (Country) / Javakhk (District) / Akhalkalak (District) / Bavra (Village)

Location

The village extends at the edge of a gorge lying on the right bank of the river Parvana, a kilometre east of Akhalkalak in a straight line, between 1,660 and 1,700 metres of altitude above sea level.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

Historical Introduction
1595 y․

According to the გურjისტანის ვილაიეთის დიდი დავთარი (1595), Bavra had a population of 6 houses and paid 7,665 akches to the State Treasury.

“გურჯისტანის ვილაიეთის დიდი დავთარი”, էջ 228: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

1726 — 1727 yy․

After the forced Islamisation of the local inhabitants, between 1726 and 1727, when the village was governed by a certain Abdullah, this state tax was reduced to 4,000 akches.

“ჩილდირის ეიალეთის ჯაბა დავთარი 1694-1732 წწ.”, էջ 192: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

Population
16 — 19 cc․

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the Armenians of Artahan and a number of other districts of Western Armenia converted to Catholicism, hoping to earn themselves the protection of the great European states. Thus, the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants of Bavra belonged to the Catholic world almost two centuries before their arrival in Javakhk in 1829 to 1830.

Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

1829 y․

The forefathers of the present-day inhabitants of Bavra moved here from Vel (Artahan) and other adjacent villages in 1829. For almost several decades after their resettlement in Javakhk, these people remained Turkish-speaking—a lamentable heritage from their native district of Artahan, where the pasha had issued a special law banning the use of the Armenian language. Part of the villagers retained Turkish as their main means of communication even in the ‘30s of the 20th century.

Vel represented an Armenian-inhabited village situated at the edge of a gorge extending on the right bank of the river Kur, 25 kilometres east of Artahan in a straight line, 45 kilometres south-west of Akhalkalak. At present it lies totally uninhabited. «Արձագանք», 1894, N 118, էջ 3-4: ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 107: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

Bavra participated in World War II with 103 of its residents, 50 of whom were killed on the battle-field.

Դավթյան Ա., Ջավախք, Երևան, 1994, էջ 101: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.

Priests
1915 — 1916 yy․

As late as 1915, Bavra did not have its own spiritual shepherd and was under the spiritual guidance of priest of Kartikam Michael Kotanjian.18 In 1916 Priest Simeon Khachatrian served the village community.19

«Օրացոյց և պատկեր տօնից», Թիֆլիս, 1915, էջ 82, 1916, էջ 82: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 99.

Description

In the course of archaeological studies in the territory of Bavra, scholars unearthed traces of human habitation dating back to the Upper Paleolithic Age in a cave located at a height of 9 metres above the bank of the river Parvana, amidst some rocks towering on the slope of a nearby gorge.

Վերին պալեոլիթյան առաջին կայանը Ջավախքի բարձրավանդակում.– «Լրաբեր ՎՍՍՀ ԳԱ», 1988, N 2, էջ 135-147: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 95.

Type Photo
View General
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

The available statistical records relating to the population of Bavra represent the following picture:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1884				310		«Արձագանք», 1885, N 26, էջ 368: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1908	50			455		Հայաստանի ազգային դիվան, (National Archives of Armenia), ֆ. 316, ց. 1, գ. 102, թ. 40: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1912				407		Յակոբեան Պ., Հրաւէր ողջմտութեան, Էջմիածին, 1993, էջ 95: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1914				597		“Кавказский календарь на 1915 г.”, Тифлис, 1914, էջ 94. Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1915				481		«Օրացոյց և պատկեր տօնից», Թիֆլիս, 1915, էջ 82: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1916	62	272	224	496		Հայաստանի ազգային դիվան, (National Archives of Armenia), ֆ. 316, ց. 1, գ. 65, թ. 36-37: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.
1987	346			1387		Attested by the Village Council. Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 96.