Berdkunk

Berdkunk
Բերդկունք
Scenery around Berdkunk Fortress
Scenery around Berdkunk Fortress
Berdkunk is located in Armenia
Berdkunk
Berdkunk
Berdkunk is located in Gegharkunik
Berdkunk
Berdkunk
Coordinates: 40°26′40″N 45°06′02″E / 40.44444°N 45.10056°E / 40.44444; 45.10056
CountryArmenia
ProvinceGegharkunik
MunicipalityGavar
Elevation
1,930 m (6,330 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total
296
Time zoneUTC+4 (AMT)
Berdkunk at GEOnet Names Server

Berdkunk (Armenian: Բերդկունք) is a village in the Gavar Municipality of the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia.

Etymology

The village was previously known as Aghkala[2][3] or Aghgala (Azerbaijani: Ağqala;[4] Russian: Агкала;[5] Armenian: Աղկալա[6]), consisting of Turkic agh (ağ, meaning "white") and Arabic gala (qala, meaning "castle" or "tower"). Berdkunk is a combination of two words in Armenian: berd (բերդ, meaning "fortress") and kunk (կունք, meaning "place" or "foundation").

History

The village was once a transit point on the ancient road between Dvin and Partev. There are cyclopean fortresses nearby with megalithic tombs. One of the fortresses in particular, Berdkunk Fortress (also known as Ishkhanats Amrots and Spitak Berd lit. 'White fortress'), is located along the eastern edge of the village and was built in the 10th century BC.[2][7] There is also an 11–12th century church, a 12–20th century cemetery, and 16–17th century tombstones in the village.[8]

Berdkunk, then known as Aghkala, was part of the Nor Bayazet uezd of the Erivan Governorate within the Russian Empire.[5] Bournoutian presents the statistics of the village in the early 20th century as follows:[3]

Ownership Treasury
Inhabited space 27 desyatinas (0.44 sq km)
Unirrigated plowed fields 633 desyatinas (10.37 sq km)
Yaylaks 233 desyatinas (3.82 sq km)
Total land 893 desyatinas (14.63 sq km)
Total households 62 (All Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani))
Total income 1,436.50 rubles
Total land taxes 320.12 rubles
Army tax 18.87 rubles
Upkeep of officials 215.39 rubles
Total revenue 554.38 rubles
Large livestock 620
Small livestock 990

Economy

The population of the village is engaged with animal husbandry, cultivation of forage crops and potatoes.[8]

Demographics

The population of the village since 1831 is as follows:[6][8] [better source needed]

Year Population Note
1831 39 100% Muslim
1873 191 100% Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani)
1886 253
1897 331 100% Muslim
1904 424
1914 507 Mainly Tatar. Also recorded as 448
1916 520
1919 0 Formerly Turkish
1922 34 31 Armenians, 3 Turkish-Tatars
1926 224 105 Armenians, 76 Turks, 43 others
1931 368 202 Turks, 111 Armenians, 55 others
2001 253
2004 265
2011[1] 296
  • Front view of Berdkunk Fortress
    Front view of Berdkunk Fortress
  • A view of Lake Sevan and Berdkunk Fortress
    A view of Lake Sevan and Berdkunk Fortress
  • Berdkunk Fortress
    Berdkunk Fortress

References

  1. ^ a b Statistical Committee of Armenia. "The results of the 2011 Population Census of Armenia" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b Kiesling, Brady (June 2000). Rediscovering Armenia: An Archaeological/Touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Bournoutian, George A. (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06260-2. OCLC 1037283914.
  4. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan. "Berdkunk". Index Anatolicus (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b Кавказский календарь на 1910 год [Caucasian calendar for 1910] (in Russian) (65th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1910. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b Korkotyan, Zaven (1932). Խորհրդային Հայաստանի բնակչությունը վերջին հարյուրամյակում (1831-1931) [The population of Soviet Armenia in the last century (1831–1931)] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Pethrat. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2022.
  7. ^ HelpMe.am - Berdkunk (White Fortress)
  8. ^ a b c Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բնակավայրերի բառարան [Republic of Armenia settlements dictionary] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Cadastre Committee of the Republic of Armenia. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2018.
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