Western Azerbaijan Heritage

In Aghudi villa­ge, Garakilsa district, Zanga­zur mahal

On 07.11.1995, Gafan, Sisyan, Meghri, Gorus districts were can¬celed and Syunik district was formed. Ka¬rakilsa district na¬med Sisian from 02.03.1940, and Aghudi village named Agitu from 19.04.1991.

Architec­ture

In 1918, the Dashnak terro­rist groups of Andronik, who at­tacked the vil­la­ge of Aghudi, committed ge­no­cide against the population of the village, ruined and destroyed ma­ny cultural mo­numents be­longing to Azer­baijanis with a centuries-old his­tory. The vil­lage mosque was also vanda­lized and the Aghudi Mosque was razed to the ground.

Agudi village mosque was built with the financial help of village charitables. People from surrounding villages also benefited from the mosque, which was built using rock and river stones. Since it is close to Turkey and Iraq, there were many religious people in the village who visited the religious and holy places in these countries and received religious edu­cation. The first educational institu­tion in the village was established in 1900 as a 4-class mullah school. On De­cember 25, 1905, a large Armenian ar­med group attacked Aghudi. The people of Aghudi suffer great losses and retreat to the village of Vaghudi. Some of those who remained in the village were hiding in the mosque 95. In 1918, the bloody struggle of Armenians to establish a state in the historical lands of Azerbaijan reached a dangerous level. Armed with the help of foreign countries, Armenian units started a genocidal movement against Azerbaijanis. We regret to note that, like all the Azerbaijani villages of Zangazur, in Aghudi in 1918, the Dash­nak gangs of bandit Andronik, who com­mitted the Muslim massacre, committed unprecedented atrocities and destroyed the Aghudi mosque 96. 60 Azerbaijanis lived in the village in 1831, 450 in 1873, 903 in 1886, 1162 in 1897, 1345 in 1908, and 1070 in 1914. In 1918, Azer­baijanis were victims of Armenian ag­gres­sion and massacres. After the estab­lishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia, the surviving villagers were able to return to their native homes. 298 Azerbaijanis lived here in 1922, 319 in 1926, 496 in 1931, 828 in 1959, and 1222 in 1970