Khalisa village tombstone monuments

Monument date:
480, 486, 494
Placement /
Previous toponym:

Aran region of Vedibasar ma­hal, Aghridagh valley, 10 km southwest of Ve­di district cen­ter Boyuk Vedi settle­ment, 3 km from the Ira­van-Nakhchi­van-Baku rail­way line, Ira­van-Nakhchi­van highway, above the water ditch that sepa­rates from the Vedi River in Khalisa villa­ge.

Placement /
Current toponym:

The name of Khalisa village was changed to Norakert on 19.04.1991.

Classification:

Architec­ture

Current situation

The monuments were comple­te­ly destroyed by Armenians du­ring the depor­ta­tion of Azer­baijanis.

Information:

Tombstones with inscriptions in the Ara­bic alphabet were found in the ancient cemetery located on the outskirts of Kha­lisa village. A lot of tombstones were found with the dates of death written on the stones as 480th, 486th, 494th Hijri date. 149 Azerbaijanis lived in the villa­ge in 1831, 864 in 1873, 960 in 1886, 1165 in 1897, 957 in 1904, 1053 in 1914, and 1159 in 1916. In 1918, Azer­baijanis were expelled by Armenians with massacres. Armenians from abroad (Iran and Turkey) were also settled in this village. After the establishment of So­viet power in present-day Armenia, Azerbaijanis were able to return to their native villages. In 1922, 311 Azer­baija­nis and 290 Armenians lived here, in 1926, 331 Azerbaijanis and 240 Arme­nians, in 1931, 588 Azerbaijanis and 276 Armenians, in 1972 more than 1,500 Azer­baijanis and up to 600 Armenians lived here. In November-December 1988, Azerbaijanis were completely de­ported from their historical-ethnic lands by Armenia. Now only Armenians live here.

Although the to­ponym is de­rived from the Arabic word kha­lisa, which means "state land, land be­lon­ging to the state", it was a village inhabi­ted by Azer­baija­nis. It is a simple toponym based on relief. It shows that it is an ancient settlement.

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