Стр. 40 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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ish. This indicates that Azerbaijani Turks lived and settled in this land and had been engaged in agriculture, especially farming. All
this proves that Armenians came to this area later.
Year-round cattle farming specific to Azerbaijan’s other regions developed in the Agri valley. Pastures in the districts of Girkh-
bulag, Goyche, Aparan, Darachichak, Garnibasar, Vedibasar, and Talin created fertile conditions for cattle rearing. According to a
contemporaneous source, a number of caravans were brought from Tabriz to Iravan. Iravan exported cotton to Tbilisi, Erzurum,
Akhaltsikhe, and Kars, as well as rice, wheat, barley, and salt to Tabriz, Khoy, and Bayazid. Iravan’s position at a crossroads created
a reason for the construction of many bridges, caravanserais, zerbkhanas (mint), and bazaars. One of the trade routes was a caravan
road connecting India, Central Asia, and Iran with the Iravan Khanate through Tabriz and Nakhchivan. This road was also called
the Erzurum or Bezirgan road. Another caravan road from Iravan to Erzurum passed through the northern foothills of the Aparan
and Alagoz Mountains and reached Kars and Hasangala, joining a major route there. The caravan road from Iravan to Tbilisi passed
through Uchkilse, Sardarabad, Hamamli, Jalaloglu, and Shulaver as well. In the seventeenth century, French traveler J. Chardin
wrote that this road was as long as the Iravan-Agstafa road. Chardin even mentioned the names of residential settlements situated
on this road: Bjni, Keshikkend, Delijan, Garadash, Melikkend, and Korpukend. This road linked Iravan to Ganja. Then in Shamakhi
it merged with Azerbaijan’s main trade road going to Russia. In the districts within the Iravan Khanate, the writings on monuments,
inscriptions on rocks, and the symbols carved on stones hinted at the lifestyle of the residents. Emblems of Turkic Oghuz sagas and
even occasionally their names were clearly depicted in these areas, which are unmistakably similar to the monuments in other dis-
tricts of Azerbaijan.
The remains of some constructions from the second century B.C. found in the Zangazur district at Garakilse were known as “Gos-
hun Dash” and they resembled the monuments encountered in several ancient Turkish settlements.
A number of monuments in Zangazur’s Urud village denote that this land is ancient. Some examples include ancient bridges,
graveside monuments, ram statues, the Babek Castle kurgans (burial tombs), a nine meter grave-top monument from the seventh
century in Agdu village that was decorated with Turkish ornaments, the remains of the fortress walls in Kirmizi Tepe, cuneiform
scripts on the ruins of Kolagiren castle on the shore of Goyche lake, the Gerni castle of Gargars with calligraphy patterns and or-
naments, monuments belonging to the fourth century near Uchkilse, the Goy Melekleri (sky angels) Temple rich with cuneiform
scripts, Galinja, Anagala, Ganlija, Kechorus, Gosh, Gipchag Ojagi, Ergez Pir, and numerous other monuments.
Akhi Tavakkul Zaviyeh ruins in Daralayaz district are very interesting. There is a board three meters tall and two meters wide
at the entrance of the Zaviyeh. Three circles representing three beliefs in Earth, Moon, and Sun were engraved on this board, and
in each circle there are twelve lines symbolizing the twelve Imams and eight-pointed stars indicating the number of Turkish tribes
living in this district. In general, 120 historical monuments, 230 mosques and pirs (sacred places), and 670 cemeteries existed in the
area of Iravan. Even before the existence of the Iravan Khanate, carpet weaving held a special place in the decorative applied arts
here. For years, samples of Iravan carpet-weaving schools have been exhibited in foreign countries and as resources of Armenian
collectors, although their pattern compositions are closer to Gazakh, Karabakh, and Tabriz carpet-weaving schools. These unique
samples introduced as Armenian carpets were woven by Azerbaijani carpet masters. Woven products like carpets, kilims, palazs, and
sheddes, among others were not characteristic for Armenians, who did not historically raise sheep.
Another area of national ingenuity is embroidery. Two needlework samples from Iravan Khanate are preserved in the National
History Museum of Azerbaijan. In fact, the flags of the Iravan Khanate captured when the Russians invaded in 1827 are believed to
be rare needlework samples. Historical facts confirm that colorful dyes were extracted from plants in the Shilechi district, formerly
located in the middle of Iravan, and fabrics with pressed patterns were made from these dyed threads. Western Azerbaijan’s dis-
tricts were identifiable by their various and colorful carpets: Loru, Pambak, Shamshaddin, Aparan, Talin, Ashtarak, Arzin, Akhti,
Girmizikend, Basarkechar, Kavar, Sardarabad, Uchkilse, Daralayaz, Vedi, Gamarli, Zangibasar, and Soylan. In general, just as the
rich culture, literature, and folklore of Azerbaijanis living in western Azerbaijan affected their neighbors, carpets woven here also
influenced others. Art played an essential role in the life of the Iravan Khanate, including Azerbaijan’s traditional arts such as weav-
ing and pottery that were widespread in all of western Azerbaijan. General weaving as well as carpet and palaz production were
particularly specialized. The travelers of that time wrote about how local people raised sheep and wove beautiful carpets, bags,
palazs, chuls (saddle blankets), warm winter clothes, gloves, and socks out of sheep wool. I. Chopin particularly noted that every
household had weaving equipment. Another art related to weaving was dyeing. Different shades of a dye called girmiz or koshenli
were used in this region. Gammel, an Academician of the Russian Science Academy, researched this dye and compared the quality
of Iravan girmiz to Mexican dyes.
The region was also famous for the production of leather products and soap making, as well as butter and salt production.
Given their historical roots, the carpets of the region were famous across the world. The carpets discussed in this book mostly
cover the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result of the deportations of 1948-1953, thousands of people were forced to leave
their homelands and move to different places. There is no doubt that these villages lost their carpet traditions. Analysis on historical
districts is specifically important for the study of carpets woven in the territory of Western Azerbaijan.