Albanian monuments in the village of Zod

In the village of Zod (its first name from the 3rd–5th centuries – until the end of the 14th century (1387–1388), Bashkalafa until the beginning of the 15th century (1400), and Veliagha in 1813–1814) of the Basar-Kechar district of the Goycha district

Basarkechar district – since 11.06.1969 Vardenis, Zod village – since 09.04.1991 Sotk

Architecture

Currently, the upper part of the Albanian monuments located in the village of Zod has been partially destroyed. Most of the monuments in the cemetery are broken and lying on the ground.

In the center of the village of Zod, there are valuable historical monuments such as cross stones dating back to the 3rd–5th centuries, written in the “Grabar” alphabet, telling about the history of the Albanians. In the ancient cemetery with residential houses around it, several gravestone cross stone monuments dating back to the Albanian period have been partially preserved. The height of the yellow gravestones, carved from rock, is about 1.5–2 meters, and the width is about 0.5–0.6 meters.
The village of Zod is found in the list compiled by I. Chopin. According to official data, at that time Zod was a purely Turkish village in terms of the ethnic composition of its population, and 425 people lived here. In 1873, the village population increased to 905, and in 1897 to 1588 people.
During the deportations in 1905–1907, the village had about 100 houses and a population of about 300–350, and in 1914, it had 1,988 people. During the deportations in 1918–1920, the village had 200–230 houses and a population of about 800–1,000. During the deportations in 1948–1953, 125 houses and a population of about 500 people settled in the Goygol region of Azerbaijan. During the last deportations in 1987–1991, the village had 400–450 houses and a population of about 1,600–2,000 people, and they became refugees. The village population settled in Baku, Ganja, Khanlar (now Goygol), Samukh, and other places. The villagers still live in the areas they settled in. The village had 650–700 houses and a population of about 4,700 people.

According to some sources, “zod” means “a people settled in a harsh, impassable high mountainous area, a place of settlement” in ancient Turkic languages. According to another explanation, the Albanian historian Musa Kalankatli, speaking of the middle of the first century AD, mentions the Armenian Savdey / Tsavdey among the tribes living in Albania, and the 5th century Armenian author Moisey Khorenasi mentions the Sod tribe and notes that it was a descendant of the Albanian Tsar Ere. This ethnonym/tribe name is reflected in the toponym Zod in the Goycha district.