Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, three states simultaneously claimed the former Zakatal Okrug: the MRNC, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

[3] From 25 October to 2 November 1919, a commission was operating to establish temporary boundaries between the Zaqatala Governorate and the Signakh uezd of Georgia.

The Ahrar reached its zenith when a member of the party – ethnic Avar, Bahadur Khan Malachikhanov was appointed as the new governor on January 16, 1920.

[3] According to historian Richard G. Hovannisian, of the more than 2 thousand Armenians that lived in the Zakatal Okrug, only a few hundred remained by 1919, the remainder of whom were being harassed by outlaws.

Nevertheless, in June 1920, at a meeting with Kirov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia stated that the territory of the district was still controlled by the Azerbaijani Soviet troops.

[12] According to the Address-Calendar of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 1920, the Zaqatala Governorate, recorded as Zakatalskiy okrug (Russian: Закатальскiй округъ), had a population of 92,698.

[2] However, the Kavkazskiy kalendar's actual total for the Zakatal okrug is 92,608 – the discrepancy (90 extra people) is due to the address-calendar's increased number of Georgians (4,664) compared to the original's (4,574), hence the difference of 90.