The city of Khankendi differs from other cities of Azerbaijan by being relatively young. According to archive records, the city was founded at the end of the eighteenth century as a resting place for the Karabakh khans. The city was established at the foot of the mountain, 10 kilometers from Shusha, the capital of the Karabakh Khanate, to provide the best conditions for the khans’ activities. In the early years, only the khan’s family and relatives lived in the settlement, which is why it was known as “Khanin kendi” (Khan’s village) by the local people. After a short time, this became “Khankendi.” One reason why Ibrahimkhalil Khan chose Khankendi as his estate (mansion) was the suitable natural and geographical location of the village. The presence of a river in the upper part of the village and the thick forests around it affected the choice. Mirza Jamal Javanshir thus wrote that “six mansions (palaces) were left by the late Ibrahimkhalil Khan. One of them is “Xan Bağı” (Khan’s Garden), located a short distance from Shusha.”[1]
The city of Khankendi, which covered 8 km2 of Azerbaijani territory and had 53,100 inhabitants before the occupation, had been held by Armenian military forces since 1991 until its liberation as a result of the Second Karabakh War. The name “Khankendi” can also be encountered in other districts of Azerbaijan, such as Ismayilli, Shamakhi, and Gubadli.[2]
After the Russian Empire occupied the Karabakh Khanate in 1805, it began to use Khankendi as a military camp. When the Karabakh Khanate was abolished in 1822, the military garrison of the Russian Empire was based permanently in Khankendi, and the hospital, military barracks, church, and other administrative buildings were built there. From then on, Armenians who accepted the patronage of the Russian Empire began settling in Khankendi.[3]
After the Red Army occupied Azerbaijan in April 1920, Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan took on a new form. The pro-Armenian policy of Sergei Mironovich Kirov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan from 1921 to 1925, inspired Armenia. The Kavbiuro CC RCP(b), therefore, decided to give Nagorno-Karabakh an autonomous status within the Azerbaijan SSR. On July 7, 1923, the Azerbaijan Central Executive Committee passed a decree authorizing the NKAO to be established as a constituent part of the Azerbaijan SSR, with its capital in Khankendi. The Kavbiuro CC RCP(b) had determined that Shusha should be the capital of the new autonomous region. However, to assimilate the region into Armenia, Khankendi was chosen as the capital of the NKAO instead of Shusha since half of the city was Armenian. By the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR dated August 10, 1923, Khankendi was officially renamed Stepanakert on September 18, 1923, with the support of S.M. Kirov, in honor of Stepan Shaumyan, following a formal appeal by the Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.[4] It was much later, after 68 years, the historical name of Khankendi was restored on November 26, 1991.
During the Soviet era, Azerbaijani people continued to refer to the city informally by its historical name Khankendi. Later on, the historical evidence proved that the main aim of Moscow was not to protect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan but to create such a center within the republic, which would serve the interests of Armenian nationalism and always be a problem for Azerbaijan. After the creation of the NKAO in 1923 until its official abolishment in 1991, the authorities of Khankendi, as well as all small and large institutions in the region, were appointed among the ethnic Armenians. The history, cultural traditions, and ethnic composition of Khankendi and the whole autonomous region were cast aside, and the Armenian presence in the region was exaggerated. Although Khankendi was established as a resting place for the khans of the Karabakh Khanate, it began to develop as a new Azerbaijani industrial and cultural center in the twentieth century, which was renamed as Stepanakert later on. As a result of its rapid development, Stepanakert (Khankendi) was granted city status in May 1978, the center of district was moved to the workers’ settlement of Asgaran, and the Stepanakert (Khankendi) district was called Asgaran.[5]
[1] Qarabaği, Mirzə Camal Cavanşir, Qarabağ tarixi (Bakı: Azərbaycan SSR Elmlər Akademiyası Nəşriyyatı, 1959), p. 48.
[2] Məmmədov, N., Azərbaycanın Xankəndi şəhərinin tarixi (Bakı, 2011), p. 35.
[3] Təkləli, Minaxanam, Türk kitabı: unudulan tarix dəyişdirilən adlar (Bakı: Qafqaz Universiteti nəşri, 2009), pp. 12–13.
[4] Məmmədov, Azərbaycanın Xankəndi şəhərinin tarixi, p. 51.
[5] “Stepanakert,” Azərbaycan Sovet Ensiklopediyası, Vol. 9 (Bakı, 1986), p. 34.
