Dervish and spiritual statues in the village of Kichik Zeyva

In the Echmiadzin district of the Yerevan province, then in the village of Kichik Zeyva of the Uchkilsa district

The village of Kichik Zeyva, Uchkilsa district-Echmiadzin, was renamed Aratashen on January 5, 1978.

Architecture

Although many were destroyed by the Armenians, more than 20 statues from the Safavid period in the village are now lined up side by side along a path in the ancient cemetery on a high hill. They are presented as "Armenian monuments."

Dervish and clerical statues are located in the village of Kichik Zeyva, 5 km southeast of the district center. The village was also called Turkish Zeyva, Tatar Zeyva. It is also marked on the 5-verst map of the Caucasus. During the Safavid period, clericals occupied the second place after feudal lords among the privileged classes. The clericals included sheikhs-ul-Islams, preachers, and finally, sheikhs in dervish mansions (khanegahs and zawiyas) in each province. Houses built in a corner, in a corner, away from the community for clerics and recluses who spent their lives in worship were called zawiyas, and later those places turned into residential areas. Therefore, the villages of Zeyva were formed on the basis of the word zawiya. On the other hand, this once again shows that the area was under the rule of the Safavids. Statues of the clerics and dervishes who lived here were erected in the village area. The height of the statues was about 1.5–2 meters. They were made of gray rock and red tuff. They have headdresses worn by dervishes, sheikhs and other Muslim clerics. Today, more than 20 statues remain in the village area.
In 1831, 234, in 1873, 492, in 1886, 516, in 1897, 580, in 1904, 550, in 1914, 598, in 1916, 491, in 1919, only Azerbaijanis lived in the village. Azerbaijanis were subjected to Armenian aggression and were deported from their historical and ethnic lands through massacres. In 1918, the Azerbaijani population was expelled.

The village is a locality formed from the toponym Zeyve (later Yukhari Zeyve) of Turkish origin. The toponym is formed from the combination of the word "kichik" (small), which denotes a distinctive feature in Azerbaijani, and the word zawiya (corner, corner, angle) in Arabic. It is a complex toponym formed on the basis of relief.