Zangezur

In Soviet times, the Goris, Kapan, Meghri and Sisian regions of the Armenian SSR were located within Zangezur, which in 1995 became part of the Syunik Province of Armenia.

According to this tradition, an Armenian prince named Mher offered his help to Timur, saying that he will not be able to conquer Syunik as long as there is the great bell in the village of Khot which will notify the principality in case of danger.

When Timur's army crossed the Aras River and invaded Syunik, attempts to notify the people using the bell were in vain.

A. Redgate notes that the discovery of an Athenian coin of the 6th century BC in Zangezur indicates the presence of trade relations between Armenia and Asia Minor.

[11] Of the twelve gavars (regions) of Syunik, seven were located within Zangezur (Chaguk, Agakhechk, Gaband, Bagk or Balk, Dzork, Arevik and Kusakan[12]).

After the expulsion of the Seljuks, an Armenian principality ruled by the Orbelians existed in this territory (in 1236 they submitted to the Mongols).

The principality fell in the first half of the 15th century[16] as a result of several invasions of Khan Tokhtamysh, Timur, the Turkoman tribes of Kara-Koyunlu, and the Timurid Shah Rukh.

[21] In the 17th–18th centuries, Zangezur and some neighboring regions became the area of the liberation struggle of the Armenian people against the Ottoman Empire and Persia.

After the October Revolution of 1917 and the creation and disintegration of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federal Republic, disputes arose between the newly created republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the ownership of a number of territories with a mixed population, including Zangezur, which also became the site of fierce Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes.

In November, near Geryusy (Goris), Armenian troops managed to stop an Azerbaijani offensive, after which they launched a counterattack.

Dashnak detachments began a partisan war against Soviet troops and allied Turkish units.

On December 25, the congress held in the Tatev Monastery proclaimed the "Autonomous Syunik Republic", which was actually headed by Nzhdeh, who assumed the ancient title of sparapet (commander-in-chief).

[27] After the defeat of the February Uprising in central Armenia, parts of the rebels moved to Zangezur and joined the Nzhdeh's forces.