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29-517: Goght’n was well known for winemaking, the quality of its grape and fruit orchards. The region also was the birthplace of a number of prominent Armenian gusans (minstrels). The ancestors of the renowned twentieth-century Armenian composer and music ethnologist Komitas Vardapet were originally from Goght’n. Some of the region's oldest towns and villages have survived to this day, including Jugha (now Julfa) and Ordvat’ (modern-day Ordubad ). According to Movses Khorenatsi , King Tigran Ervanduni (of

58-530: A Muslim emir called, by the contemporary Armenian historian Hovhannes Draskhanakertts'i , Agarene, probably from the Arab Shaybani tribe. Goght’n may have been referred to at this time as Kilit by the Arabs. When the fortress of Yernjak fell to Yusuf in 912/14, Yusuf awarded it to the emir, whose successors sought to expand their landholdings through the course of the tenth century. The city of Nakhchavan

87-667: A focal point of development during the Sasanian Empire . One of the most famous gusans (minstrel poets) of the Sassanian era was Barbad . Parthian influence has left clear traces in some aspects of Armenian culture . Thus, the gusans mentioned by Armenian authors are a replica of the Parthian gusans. Mary Boyce believes that the Parthian cultural influence was so strong in the region, and in particular in Armenia, that it

116-456: A performing tradition. In ancient Armenia , musicians that were referred to as "vipasans”(storytellers) appeared in historical sources as early as the first millennium BC. Vipasans raised the art of secular song and music to a new level. Over time, the vipasans were replaced by "govasans" which later became known as "gusans.” The art of the latter is one of the most important manifestations of medieval Armenian culture, which left indelible traces in

145-614: A unique dialect of Armenian called Zok . In the spring of 1919, the First Republic of Armenia extended administrative control over the region of Sharur-Nakhchivan , with Agulis being made the centre for the sub-district of Goghtan . But in the summer of the year, a Muslim insurgency broke out against Armenian rule , and in August the region came under the control of the newly appointed commissar of Ordubad , Abbas Guli Bey Tahirov. Agulis pledged its loyalty to Tahirov, although in

174-667: Is assumed to have lived and worked in the town of Msrvanis (Mesropavan) during his stay in Goght’n. The Armenian princes of Goght’n probably had branched off from the family in Syunik ’ and had their own regional bishop. The second Gahnamak , or Military List, notes that the princes were expected during time of war to furnish 500 cavalry to help defend the Kingdom of Armenia 's southern gate (that is, its southern border). The seventh-century Armenian atlas Ashkharhats’uyts’ mentions Goght’n as

203-623: Is attested in Manichaean Parthian as gwsʾn . For a thorough linguistic treatment of the word see gwsʾn . Music and poetry constituted an essential part of Parthian culture , serving as an important indicator of belonging in the secular society of ancient Parthia. It is not known from ancient sources how the Parthian gosans were trained, but the predominance of hereditary transmission of professions in Ancient Iran makes it possible for transmission from family education and

232-570: Is likely that the Parthian gusans influenced not only the name but also, the Armenian art form. The origin of Armenian religious and secular songs and their instrumental counterparts takes place in time immemorial. Songs arise from various expressions of Armenian folk art such as rituals, religious practices and mythological performances in the form of music, poetry, dance and theatre. Performers of these forms of expression, gradually honing their skills and developing theoretical aspects, have created

261-544: Is located in the left and right sides of the Ordubad-Aylis highway, 12 km in the north-east from the district center. Its population is busy with gardening, farming, animal husbandry. There are secondary school, club, library, communication branch and a medical center in the village. It has a population of 1,916. The village was an important settlement of the Vaspurakan province of the Kingdom of Armenia or

290-719: The Monastery of St. Thomas the Apostle in Upper Agulis , Holy Mother of God Church in Ts’gnay , and Monastery of St. Mesrop in Msrvanis. Gusans Gusans ( Armenian : գուսան ; Parthian for poet-musician or minstrel) were creative and performing artists - singers, instrumentalists, dancers, storytellers, and professional folk actors in public theaters of Parthia and ancient and medieval Armenia . In Armenia,

319-639: The Orontid line) of Armenia settled his wife and his daughters in an area to the east of ( Ararat ) and up to Goght’n, in Tambat, Oskiokh, Djaghguyn and other settlements giving them also three towns – Khram, Jugha and Khoshakunik, and on the other bank of the river ( Arax ) all the fields from Ajanakan up to the Nakhchavan Fortress. Mesrop Mashtots , the inventor of the Armenian alphabet ,

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348-448: The 19th century Kerovbe Patkanian identified it as a common word possibly meaning "musician" and suggested that it was an obsolete Persian term, currently found in a form of a loanword in Armenian . In 1934 Harold Walter Bailey linked to origin of the word to the Parthian language. In Hrachia Acharian 's opinion the word was borrowed into Parthian from Armenian govasan "praiser", then borrowed back into Armenian as gusan . The word

377-567: The 31st of the 35 districts of Vaspurakan. Its last hereditary Armenian prince, Vahan, who had been brought up in Damascus as a Muslim, converted back to his Christian faith after returning to Armenia. For this act of apostasy , he was seized by the Muslims and sent to Syria , where he was tortured and executed in 737. Sometime in the early tenth century, during the tenure of the emir of Iranian Azerbaijan Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj , Goght’n fell to

406-699: The Vaspurakan Kingdom, and a number of Armenian merchants who plied their trade along the Silk Road were of Agulis origin. The settlement was first mentioned in historical sources in the 11th century under the Armenian name Argulik ( Armenian : Արքուլիք ). Agulis was known from antiquity as an Armenian cultural center of trade and crafts being a part of the Vaspurakan province of the Kingdom of Armenia. Its Armenian population specialized in

435-747: The adjoining Nerkin ("Lower") Agulis , was a major Armenian settlement in the Nakhchivan Uyezd of the Erivan Governorate , with twelve churches and monasteries. The most important church was the St. Thomas the Apostle Monastery , founded in the first century and restored in 1694. The monastery was an important center of learning whose alumni included the merchant and traveler Zakaria Aguletsi, A. Araskhanyan, animal breeder Avetis H. Kalantar, and L. Manvelyan. The community also spoke

464-460: The consciousness and spiritual life of people. Gusans, cultivating this particular art form, created monumental works in both lyric and epic genres, thus enriching both national and international cultural heritage (such examples are the heroic epic “ David of Sasun ” and a series of lyric poems -hairens) In the early Middle Ages the word gusan was used as an equivalent to the classical Greek word mimos (mime). There were 2 groups of gousans: 1.

493-566: The eventual replacement of gusans with ashughs . The center of gusans was Goghtn gavar - a region in the Vaspurakan province of Greater Armenia and bordered with province of Syunik . Yuxar%C4%B1 %C6%8Fylis Yuxarı Əylis ( Armenian : Վերին Ագուլիս , romanized :  Verin Agulis , lit.   'Upper Agulis') is a village and municipality in the Ordubad District of Nakhchivan , Azerbaijan . It

522-631: The fighting in Armenia, made its way to Lower Agulis and began to attack its Armenian inhabitants, forcing them to retreat to the upper town. On December 24, the mob, joined by the local Azerbaijani gendarmerie, entered Upper Agulis and started to pillage the town. They then proceeded to massacre its Armenian population, leaving Upper Agulis in smouldering ruins the next day. According to the Armenian government, up to 400 Armenians were killed in Lower Agulis and up to 1,000 in Upper Agulis. The town

551-661: The first were from aristocratic dynasties (feudal lords) and performed as professional musicians. 2. the second group comprised popular, but illiterate gusans. Gusans wore long hair, combed up in a cone so that the hairstyle resembled the "tail" of a comet. This hairstyle was supported by a "gisakal" placed under it, which was the prototype of "onkos" - a triangle placed under the wig of ancient tragedians. The gusans were sometimes criticized and sometimes praised, particularly in medieval Armenia . The adoption of Christianity had its influence upon Armenian minstrelsy, gradually altering its ethical and ideological orientation. This led to

580-549: The following months, its inhabitants faced a growing food crisis and were not allowed to leave the town. The plight of its inhabitants worsened when, in November of that year, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic unsuccessfully attempted to wrest the region of Zangezur from Armenian control. Matters came to a head on December 17, when a frenzied Muslim mob, made up of locals and refugees fleeing from

609-615: The government of the First Republic of Armenia . Its administrative center was at Agulis, with commissar Ashot Melik-Musian and militia chief Movses Giulnazarian at its head. The region suffered intense fighting during a brief conflict between Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in the latter half of 1919, including the destruction of Agulis in December by a Muslim mob. A number of historical Armenian churches were once found in Goght’n. These included Basilica of St. James in Shor’ot’ ,

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638-411: The production of handicraft and sericulture . Numerous sixteenth-century sources spoke of it as a thriving town that maintained strong commercial links with India, Russia , Safavid Persia and Western Europe. In the 18th century, Agulis had its own schools, a library, a silkworm factory, a large market. The town was enclosed by walls and surrounded by orchards and vineyards. Its Armenian population at

667-417: The region was depopulated by Shah Abbas I and its Armenian inhabitants deported to Iran. Goght’n became a part of the khanate of Nakhichevan in the mid-1700s and was divided into five districts ( mahals ): Ordubad, Agulis, Dasht, Belev, and Chananab. In 1752, it was attacked and subjugated by Azad Khan . In the early twentieth century, Goght'an was the name given to the subregion of Sharur-Nakhichevan by

696-447: The term gusan is often used as a synonym for ashugh , a singer-poet and bard. The word gusan is first mentioned in early Armenian texts of V c., e.g. Faustus of Byzantium , Moses of Chorene , etc. In Parsian language the earliest known evidence is from Vis o Rāmin by Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani in the eleventh century. It was originally thought to have been a personal name. However, in

725-609: The time was recorded at 8,000 households. In 1752, it was captured and subjected to a heavy sack by the armies of Azat Khan, the ruler of Āzarbāijān . The town was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1828, following the Russo-Persian War . By 1897, when a census was carried out by the Russian government, Agulis' population had dropped to 1,670. In the nineteenth century, Verin ("Upper") Agulis, together with

754-401: The transfer of knowledge from fathers to children. Historians believe that each feudal clan had its own clan minstrel gosans who knew the history and traditions of the clan and glorified them in their works. The Gosans enjoyed great privileges and authority in ancient Iranian society. According to medieval Iranian sources, not a single significant event could do without them. Gusan art reached

783-558: Was located on the slope of a hill in the northwestern Verin Get district of the village. It has been completely destroyed by February 3, 2000. According to the Russian Empire Census in 1897, where the village was split into Armenian and Tatar ethnic-quarters, it had a total population of 1,971 consisting of 1,325 Armenian Apostolics and 639 Muslims . The village had 863 men and 1,108 women. The 1919 destruction of Agulis

812-481: Was partially rebuilt during the Soviet period. St. Thomas Monastery was, according to the legend, founded by Bartholomew the Apostle . It was last restored in 1694. It, along with other Armenian churches, were destroyed by Azerbaijan state authorities toward the end of the 1990s, at some point between 1997 and 2009 On May 15, 2014, a mosque was constructed on the place of the monastery complex. St. Stepanos Church

841-668: Was taken, though by the second half of the ninth century the emir of Goght’n had lost it to the Bagratuni kings of Armenia . The emirs of Goght’n and Armenians kings continued to struggle over control of the Arax River Valley until King Gagik I ( r.  989–1020 ) reduced them at end of the tenth century. It was later overrun by the Seljuks , passing under the control of the Mongols and later Safavid Persia . In 1604,

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