Shaki tower

Monument date:
IX c.
Placement /
Previous toponym:

On the left bank of Ba­zarchay near Shaki village in Garakilsa dist­rict of Zanga­zur mahal.

Placement /
Current toponym:

On the border of Sunik.

Classification:

Architec­ture

Current situation

The ruins of the Shaki fortress, which is known to belong to Caucasian Albania, are located on the left bank of the Bazarchay near the village of Sha­ki in the Garakilsa (Sisi­yan) district.

Information:

Shaki Castle was the main residence of the Albanian prince Sahl Ibn Sumbat in the second half of the 9th century. It played the role of an important defense and control point on the road leading to the desert in Bichanak Pass. In 837, as a result of the treachery of Sahl Ibn Sumbat, Babek was captured in the Shaki fortress and handed over to the Arabs. Shaki Castle is also the meeting place of Gizil Arslan and Nizami Ganjavi.

The Shaki fortress has preserved the name of the Saka (Shaka, Saklar) Turkic tribe that settled in Azerbaijan in the VII-V cen­tu­ries BC and also proves the fact that the foun­dation of the fortress was laid by the Sa­kas.

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