Minkend

Min from the Azerbaijani language is translated as "thousand", while kend derives from old Turkic, meaning "village".{{cite book |last1=Гуриев |first1=Тамерлан Александрович |last2=Никонов |first2=Владимир Андреевич |title=Ономастика Кавказа: межвузовский сборник статей |chapter=Названия курдских селений в Закавказье |trans-title=Onomastics of the Caucasus: interuniversity collection of articles |date=1980 |publisher=North Ossetian State University |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZUaAAAAIAAJ |language=ru}}

According to an Turkic legend, Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur invaded Armenia and destroyed one village after another. Having devastated many villages in Zangezur, he began to count the number of destroyed settlements. After counting to a thousand, Timur said out loud "Min kend" (a thousand villages). Since then, the village has been called "Minkend".{{cite book |last1=Ganalanyan |first1=Aram |title=Армянские предания |trans-title=Armenian legends |date=1979 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences of Armenia |location=Yerevan |page=147 |language=ru}}

The village was mentioned as Hak in the records of the medieval Armenian Orbelian Dynasty, It was first mentioned by Stepanos Orbelian in the 13th century, and there is an inscription on the walls of the village's St. Minas Church that reads "this newly baptized holy church was built by the people of Caucasian Albania in 1675".{{Cite book|title=Armenian Cultural Monuments In The Region Of Karabakh|url=http://www.raa-am.com/raa/pdf_files/136.pdf|author=Samvel Karapetyan|author-link=Samvel Karapetyan (author)|publisher=Research on Armenian Architecture|date=2001}}{{Cite book|title=Արցախի Հանրապետության բնակավայրերի պատմության ուրվագծեր|author=Վահրամ Բալայան|publisher=Զանգակ հրատարակչություն|date=2020|language=hy}}{{cite web|url=https://monumentwatch.org/en/monument/st-minas-church-of-hak/|title=St. Minas Church of Caucasian Albans|website=Monument Watch}}

Minkend was part of the Zangezur Uyezd of Elisabethpol Governorate during the Russian Empire. According to 1856 census data, Minkend was populated by Shiite Kurds who spoke Kurdish.{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417284 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1856 год |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1856 |edition=11th |publication-place=Tiflis |pages=365 |language=ru|trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1856 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209114902/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417284 |archive-date=9 December 2021}} The village had 70 homes and 600 residents in 1886, 453 of whom were Armenians and 147 of whom were Shiite Tatars (later known as Azerbaijanis).{{cite book |title=Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказскаго края, извлеченных из посемейных списков 1886 г. |date=1893 |publisher=Transcaucasian Statistical Committee |location=Tiflis |page=[https://viewer.rsl.ru/ru/rsl01005403186?page=250 250] |trans-title=A summary of statistical data on the population of the Transcaucasian Territory, extracted from the family lists of 1886}} According to the 1897 Russian Empire Census, Minkend had 506 Armenian and 396 Muslim residents.{{cite book |title=Населенные места Российской империи в 500 и более жителей с указанием всего наличного в них населения и числа жителей преобладающих вероисповеданий, по данным первой всеобщей переписи населения 1897 г. |date=1905 |publisher=Tipografiya "Obshchestvennaya pol'za" parovaya tipo-litografiya N. L. Nyrkina |location=Saint Petersburg |page=[https://viewer.rsl.ru/ru/000200_000018_v19_rc_1792161?page=312 31] |trans-title=Populated areas of the Russian Empire with 500 or more inhabitants, indicating the total population in them and the number of inhabitants of the predominant religions, according to the first general population census of 1897.}}

The village was badly damaged during the Armenian–Tatar massacres of 1905–1906. The first attack on the village took place in March 1905, while the second happened from June 5 to 6, during which 50 Armenians were killed. The attacks continued in August when a detachment of Cossacks was sent to protect the Armenians of Minkend, but the bailiff of Zangezur, Melik-Aslanov, convinced them that there was no danger for the Armenians. The Cossacks left Minkend to defend another village. When the Cossacks left, the Tatars killed 140 Armenians and wounded another 40 in front of the bailiff, who did not try to stop the killings.{{cite book |last1=Villari |first1=Luigi |title=Fire and Sword in the Caucasus |date=1906 |location=London |isbn=978-1-294-94544-4 |pages=218–219 |language=en}} However, according to the August 1905 issue of the Syn otechestva newspaper, over 300 people were killed, and the bailiff did not even report the incident to his superiors.«Сын отечества» 2 October 1905«Сын отечества», 30 August 1905, вечерн. вып.

According to the 1912 "Caucasian Calendar", the village of Minkend in 1911 was home to 731 people, the majority of whom were Kurds.{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417317 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1912 год |trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1912 |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1912 |edition=67th |publication-place=Tiflis |page=183 |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211164139/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417317 |archive-date=11 December 2021}} However, in the 1915 edition of the "Caucasian Calendar", it was indicated that Minkend in 1914 was predominantly Armenian, with a population of 1,532 people.{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417320 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1915 год |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1915 |edition=70th |publication-place=Tiflis |pages=158 |language=ru |trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1915 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104234033/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417320 |archive-date=4 November 2021}}

Minkend was part of the village council of the same name in the Lachin District of the Azerbaijan SSR during the early Soviet period in 1933. The village had 280 farms and a total population of 1,355 people. The population of the village council was 58.1 percent Kurdish.{{cite book |title=Административное деление АССР |trans-title=Administrative divisions of the ASSR |date=1933 |publisher=AzUNKHU |language=ru |page=[https://viewer.rusneb.ru/ru/000200_000018_rc_2682917?page=11 5]}} The village had 2,306 residents in 1981. Its residents' main occupation was animal husbandry. There was a middle school, a club, a library, and a hospital in the village.{{cite encyclopedia |title=МИНКӘНД |encyclopedia=Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia |year=1982 |location=Baku |volume=6 |page=578 |url=https://archive.org/embed/ace-vi-cild/page/615}}

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, in May 1992, Armenian forces occupied the village, forcing the Kurdish and Azerbaijani population to flee. It was later incorporated into the breakaway Republic of Artsakh as part of its Kashatagh Province, where it was known as Hak ({{langx|hy|Հակ}}). Minkend was returned to Azerbaijan on 1 December 2020 as part of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement.{{Cite news|title=Azerbaijani Forces Enter Third District Under Nagorno-Karabakh Truce|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijani-forces-enter-third-district-under-nagorno-karabakh-truce/30977052.html|access-date=23 April 2022|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty}}

File:Hak Church 1969 y. - panoramio.jpg

Historical heritage sites in and around the village include a 13th-century khachkar, a cemetery from the 14th to the 20th centuries, St. Minas Church ({{langx|hy|Սուրբ Մինաս եկեղեցի|Surb Minas Yekeghetsi}}) consecrated in 1698, two temples from the 15th century, and two arch bridges from the 19th century.{{cite web |title=Azərbaycan Respublikası ərazisində dövlət mühafizəsinə götürülmüş daşınmaz tarix və mədəniyyət abidələrinin əhəmiyyət dərəcələrinə görə bölgüsünün təsdiq edilməsi haqqında |url=https://e-qanun.az/files/framework/data/2/c_f_2847.htm |trans-title=On approval of the distribution of immovable historical and cultural monuments taken under state protection in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan according to their degree of importance |website=Cabinet of Azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928050108/https://e-qanun.az/files/framework/data/2/c_f_2847.htm |archive-date=28 September 2013 |language=az |date=2 August 2001}}

• Nurmammad bey Shahsuvarov (1883–1958) – Azerbaijani statesman who served as Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in the fifth cabinet of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic{{cite web |last1=Həmid |first1=Tural |title=Azərbaycan kürdləri |url=https://azlogos.eu/az%C9%99rbaycan-kurdl%C9%99ri/ |website=Azlogos |access-date=26 June 2022 |language=az |date=12 June 2020}}

Old image of Minkənd village, Azerbaijan.jpg|Old image of Minkend

Ruins of Minkənd village, Azerbaijan.jpg|Ruins of Minkend during Armenian occupation 1993

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• {{GEOnet2|32FA881502BB3774E0440003BA962ED3}}
• {{YouTube|Nko20VKRBAg|Video of Minkend in 2021}}

{{Lachin District}}

{{Kashatagh Province}}

{{Portal bar|Geography}}

Category:Populated places in Lachin District

Category:Kurdish villages in Azerbaijan

Category:Villages in Azerbaijan