According to the Armenian historian Hovhannes Gharagyozian, the town's historical name of Pirchivan, which it held until 1957 when it was renamed to Zangilan, originates from the settlement of Ashtarak mentioned by Stepanos Orbelian in his list of villages in the Kovsakan county of Syunik. The word ‘Ashtarak’ is seen as a synonym for ‘burj’ (tower/fortress) in the Armenian language. The name of the settlement next to the fortress comes from the joining of the words “Burj” + the Armenian suffix “-avan” (settlement). Thus creating “Burgi avan>Burjevan>Brjevan,” which was transformed into Pirchivan under Turkic phonetic influence.[2]
History
Soviet-Armenian historian Suren Yeremian states that the area of present-day Zangilan was part of the Kovsakan gavar (county) of the Syunik province within the Kingdom of Armenia.[3] According to Armenian historian Konstantin Khudaverdyan, the area that would become Pirchivan was originally an Armenian settlement named Verjnavan (Armenian: Վերջնավան).[4] In the 14th century, Verjnavan was mentioned as being a part of the Kovsakan gavar of the province of Syunik, during the period of Mongol Armenia.[5]
After the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the nineteenth century, Zangilan (then called Pirchivan) became part of the Zangezur Uyezd of the Russian Empire's Elisabethpol Governorate. According to 1886 census data, there were 50 homes and 211 Azerbaijanis (classified as "Tatars" in the census) of the Shiite branch of Islam in Pirchivan.[6] According to the 1912 Caucasian Calendar, the village of Zangilan was home to 762 people, the majority of whom were Azerbaijanis (classified as "Tatars" in the census).[7]
Pirchivan I and Pirchivan II were part of the village council of the same name in the Zangilan District of the Azerbaijan SSR during the early Soviet period in 1933. Pirchivan I was the administrative centre of the district, with 574 residents and 95 farms, while Pirchivan II had 148 residents and 35 farms. The village council's population, which also included the villages of Genlik, Malatkeşin, and Tağlı, was 98.7 percent Azerbaijani.[8]
During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenian forces occupied the city on 29 October 1993, forcing the Azerbaijani population to flee.[12] It was later incorporated into the breakawayRepublic of Artsakh as part of its Kashatagh Province, where it was known as Kovsakan (Armenian: Կովսական). Following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Armenian refugees from Syria, mostly farmers, settled in the city.[13][14][15] Azerbaijan protested and described the settlement of Syrian Armenians on its internationally recognised territory as a violation of international law that impeded the peace process.[16]
^Hewsen, Robert (1992). The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (Asxarhacoyc): The Long and the Short Recensions. Wiesbaden: Reichert. p. 193 [1]. OCLC643843083.
^ abСвод статистических данных о населении Закавказскаго края, извлеченных из посемейных списков 1886 г. Tiflis: Transcaucasian Statistical Committee. 1893. p. 255.
^ abКавказский календарь на 1912 год [Caucasian calendar for 1912] (in Russian) (67th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1912. p. 155. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
^Административное деление АССР [Administrative divisions of the ASSR] (in Russian). AzUNKHU. 1933. p. 101.