Qazakh District

Gazakh (Azerbaijani: Qazax; also known as Kazakh or Qazakh) is a rayon of Azerbaijan. It has two exclaves inside Armenia, Yukhari Askipara and Barkhudarli, both of which came under Armenian control during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

History

In antiquity, this rayon was part of the province of Utik. The region was conquered by a succession of neighbouring powers or invaders, including Sassanid Persians, the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs, the Seljuq Turks, the Georgians, the Mongols, the Timurids, the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkoman tribes, and finally Safavid Iran. It was also ruled by Ottoman Empire between 1578 and 1607 and again 1722 and 1735.

After the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), the Russian Empire gained control of the area by virtue of the Treaty of Gulistan. Under Russian rule, it was part of Tiflis Governorate before forming the northeastern part of the Kazakh uyezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate in 1868. A contemporary military historian noted the following ethnographic detail: "Abbas Mirza's route lay through the country of the great tribe of the Casaks, which is extremely strong and thickly wooded." He further notes that: "These have no connection with the Russian Cossacks. They are descended from men of the Kirgis Casaks, left by Genghis Khan. They are frequently called Kara Papaks, from wearing black sheep-skin caps."

Qazax

Coordinates: 41°05′36″N 45°21′58″E / 41.09333°N 45.36611°E / 41.09333; 45.36611

Qazax (also known as Gazakh or Qazakh) is a city in and the capital of the Qazax Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 20,900.

History

In the 18th century, Qazax was the capital of the Qazax sultanate. During Russian Empire, city was the administrative center of the Gazakh uezd of Elisabethpol Governorate, 10 km from the Ağstafa station of Transcaucasus Railway. Since 1930, Qazax became the administrative center of the Qazax Rayon of Azerbaijan.

Economy

The economy of Qazax is partially agricultural, partially tourism-based, with some industries in operation.

Culture

Sports

The city has one professional football team, Göyazan Qazakh, currently competing in the second-flight of Azerbaijani football, the Azerbaijan First Division.

Transport

Public transport

Qazakh has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

Notable residents

Some of the city's many prestigious residents include: poets Samad Vurgun, Molla Panah Vagif, Mirvarid Dilbazi and Nusrat Kasamanli, scholar Molla Vali Vidadi, lieutenant-general of the Russian imperial army Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, writer Ismayil Shykhly and wrestler Hasan Aliyev.