Editing Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (section)

== History ==
=== Early history ===
[[File:The grave monument of the prophet Noah.JPG|thumb|upright|A modern [[Noah's Mausoleum (Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan)|mausoleum]] marks the place in [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan City]], which is traditionally believed to be the site of [[Noah]]'s grave]]
The oldest material culture artifacts found in the region date back to the [[Neolithic Age]]. On the other hand, Azerbaijani archaeologists have found that the history of Nakhchivan dates back to the Stone Age ([[Paleolithic]]). As a result of archaeological diggings, archaeologists discovered a great number of Stone-Age materials in different regions of Nakhchivan.<ref name="nakhchivan.preslib.az">{{Cite web|url=http://nakhchivan.preslib.az/en_b1.html#l3|title=Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|website=nakhchivan.preslib.az|access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> These materials were useful to study the Paleolithic age in Azerbaijan. Pollen analysis conducted in Gazma Cave (Sharur District) suggests that humans in the Middle Palaeolithic ([[Mousterian]]) lived not only in the mountain forests but also in the dry woodlands found in Nakhchivan.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zeinalov |first1=A.A. |last2=Valiev |first2=S.S. |last3=Tagieva |first3=E.N. |title=Human environment in the Nakhchivan region during the Mousterian (Based on the Gazma Cave Site, Azerbaijan) |journal=[[Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia]] |date=June 2010 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=2–6 |doi=10.1016/j.aeae.2010.08.002 |issn = 1531-832X }}</ref> Several archaeological sites dating from the [[Neolithic]] and [[Chalcolithic]] periods have also been found in Nakhchivan, including the ancient towns of [[Kültəpə#Nakhchivan Tepe|Nakhchivan Tepe]] (near the city of Nakhchivan) and [[Ovchular Tepesi]].<ref name="Marro 2022 pp. 111–130">{{cite journal | last=Marro | first=Catherine | title=The View from the North | journal=Paléorient | publisher=OpenEdition | issue=48–1 | date=2022-07-29 | issn=0153-9345 | doi=10.4000/paleorient.1675 | pages=111–130| s2cid=251329025 | url=https://hal.science/hal-03919274/file/PAL48-1_marro-1.pdf }}</ref> Some of the oldest salt mines in the world have also been discovered.<ref>Catherine Marro and Thomas Stöllner, eds. {{cite book | title=On salt, copper and gold: The origins of early mining and metallurgy in the Caucasus | publisher=MOM Éditions | year=2021 | isbn=978-2-35668-074-7 | doi=10.4000/books.momeditions.12257 | page= | editor-last1=Marro | editor-last2=Stöllner | editor-first1=Catherine | editor-first2=Thomas }}</ref>

The region was part of the states of [[Urartu]] and later [[Medes|Media]].<ref name="GreatSoviet">[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article080490.html Нахичеванская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref> It became part of the [[Orontid Dynasty|Satrapy of Armenia]] under [[Achaemenid Persia]] c. 521&nbsp;BC. After the death of [[Alexander the Great]] in 323&nbsp;BC several generals of the Macedonian army, including [[Neoptolemus (general)|Neoptolemus]], attempted but failed to take control of the region, and it was ruled by the native Armenian dynasty of [[Orontid Dynasty|Orontids]] until [[Armenia]] was conquered by [[Antiochus III the Great]] (ruled 222–187&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/armol-2-R.html|title=Early Indo-European Online: Introduction to the Language Lessons|access-date=June 12, 2016|archive-date=April 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410040514/http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/armol-2-R.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=May 2023}}

[[File:93-vaspurakan908-1021.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|left|The Nakhichevan region (light purple) at the time of Armenia's [[Vaspurakan|Kingdom of Vaspurakan]] (908–1021).]]

In 189&nbsp;BC, Nakhchivan became part of the new [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] established by [[Artaxias I]].<ref name="Monuments">Ayvazyan, Argam. ''The Historical Monuments Of Nakhichevan'', pp. 10–12. {{ISBN|0-8143-1896-7}}</ref> Within the kingdom, the region of present-day Nakhchivan was part of the [[Ayrarat]], [[Vaspurakan]] and [[Syunik Province|Syunik]] provinces.<ref>Hewsen. ''Armenia: A Historical Atlas'', p. 100.</ref> According to the early medieval Armenian historian [[Movses Khorenatsi]], from the third to second centuries, the region belonged to the Muratsyan ''[[nakharar]]'' family but after disputes with central power, King [[Artavasdes I of Armenia|Artavazd I]] massacred the family and seized the lands and formally attached it to the kingdom.<ref>{{in lang|hy}} [[Aram Ter-Ghevondyan|Ter-Ghevondyan, Aram]]. ''"Մուրացյան"'' (Muratsyan). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. viii. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1982, p. 98.</ref> The area's status as a major trade center allowed it to prosper; as a result, many foreign powers coveted it.<ref name="Hewsen" /> According to the Armenian historian [[Faustus of Byzantium]] (5th century), when the [[Sassanid Dynasty|Sassanid Persians]] invaded Armenia, Sassanid King [[Shapur II]] (310–380) removed 2,000 Armenian and 16,000 Jewish families in 360–370.<ref name="Sapor2">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1787&letter=A|title=ARMENIA |access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> In 428, the Armenian [[Arshakuni Dynasty|Arshakuni]] monarchy was abolished and Nakhchivan was annexed by Sassanid Persia. In 623, possession of the region passed to the [[Byzantine Empire]]<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> but was soon left to its own rule. [[Sebeos]] referred to the area as Tachkastan. According to the 5th-century Armenian author [[Koriun]], Nakhchivan was the place where the Armenian scholar [[Mesrop Mashtots]] finished the creation of the [[Armenian alphabet]] and opened the first Armenian schools. This occurred in the province of [[Goghtn|Goghtan]], which corresponds to Nakhchivan's modern Ordubad district.<ref>Կորյուն, Վարք Մաշտոցի, աշխարհաբար թարգմանությունը, ներածական ուսումնասիրությամբ, առաջաբանով և ծանոթագրություններով՝ Մ. Աբեղյանի, Եր., 1962, էջ 98։</ref><ref>Koryun: Life of Mashtots [http://armenianhouse.org/koryun/mashtots-en.html Koryun, The Life of Mashtots]</ref>

From 640 on, the [[Arabs]] invaded Nakhchivan and undertook many campaigns in the area, crushing all resistance and attacking Armenian nobles who remained in contact with the Byzantines or who refused to pay tribute. In 705, after suppressing an Armenian revolt, Arab viceroy [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]] decided to eliminate the Armenian nobility.<ref name="Lang01">[[David Marshall Lang]], ''Armenia: Cradle of Civilization'', p. 178 {{ISBN|0-04-956009-3}}.</ref> In Nakhchivan, several hundred Armenian nobles were locked up in churches and burnt, while others were crucified.<ref name="Bauer" /><ref name="Lang01" />
[[File:Armenia, beginning of the 13th Century.png|thumb|Caucasus region, beginning of the 13th century]]
The violence caused many Armenian princes to flee to the neighboring [[Kingdom of Georgia]] or the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="Lang01" /> Meanwhile, Nakhchivan itself became part of the autonomous [[Principality of Armenia]] under Arab control.<ref name="Byzantium">Mark Whittow. ''The Making of Byzantium, 600–1025''. Berkeley: [[University of California]] Press, 1996, p. 210. {{ISBN|0-520-20497-2}}</ref> In the eighth century, Nakhchivan was one of the scenes<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> of an uprising against the Arabs led by Persian<ref>M. Whittow, ''"The Making of Byzantium: 600–1025"'', pp. 195, 203, 215: Excerpts:''[Iranian] Azerbaijan was the scene of frequent anti-[[Caliphate]] and anti-Arab revolts during the eighth and ninth centuries, and Byzantine sources talk of Persian warriors seeking refuge in the 830s from the caliph's armies by taking service under the Byzantine emperor Theophilos. [...] Azerbaijan had a Persian population and was a traditional centre of the Zoroastrian religion. [...] The Khurramites were a [...] Persian sect, influenced by Shiite doctrines, but with their roots in a pre-Islamic Persian religious movement.''</ref><ref>Armenian historian [[Vardan Areveltsi]], c. 1198 – 1271 notes: In these days, a man of the PERSIAN race, named Bab, who {{sic|hide=yes|had went}} from Baltat killed many of the race of Ismayil (what Armenians called Arabs) by sword and took many slaves and thought himself to be immortal. ..Ma'mun for 7 years was battling in the Greek territories and ..came back to Mesopotamia. See: La domination arabe en Armènie, extrait de l’ histoire universelle de Vardan, traduit de l’armènian et annotè, J. Muyldermans, Louvain et Paris, 1927, pg 119: ''En ces jours-lá, un homme de la race PERSE, nomm é Bab, sortant de Baltat, faiser passer par le fil de l’épée beaucoup de la race d’Ismayēl tandis qu’il..''
Original Grabar: Havoursn haynosig ayr mi hazkes Barsitz Pap anoun yelyal i Baghdada, arganer zpazoums i sour suseri hazken Ismayeli, zpazoums kerelov. yev anser zinkn anmah. yev i mium nvaki sadager yeresoun hazar i baderazmeln youroum ent Ismayeli</ref><ref>Ibn Hazm (994–1064), the Arab historian mentions the different Iranian revolts against the Caliphate in his book Al-fasl fil al-Milal wal-Nihal. He writes: ''The Persians had the great land expanse and were greater than all other people and thought of themselves as better... after their defeat by Arabs, they rose up to fight against Islam, but God did not give them victory. Among their leaders were Sanbadh, Muqanna', Ostadsis and Babak and others. Full original Arabic:''
: «أن الفرس كانوا من سعة الملك وعلو اليد على جميع الأمم وجلالة الخطير في أنفسهم حتى أنهم كانوا يسمون أنفسهم الأحرار والأبناء وكانوا يعدون سائر الناس عبيداً لهم فلما امتحنوا بزوال الدولة عنهم على أيدي العرب وكانت العرب أقل الأمم عند الفرس خطراً تعاظمهم الأمر وتضاعفت لديهم المصيبة وراموا كيد الإسلام بالمحاربة في أوقات شتى ففي كل ذلك يظهر الله سبحانه وتعالى الحق وكان من قائمتهم سنبادة واستاسيس والمقنع وبابك وغيرهم ». See: al-Faṣl fī al-milal wa-al-ahwāʾ wa-al-niḥal / taʾlīf Abī Muḥammad ʻAlī ibn Aḥmad al-maʻrūf bi-Ibn Ḥazm al-Ẓāhirī; taḥqīq Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Naṣr, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ʻUmayrah. Jiddah : Sharikat Maktabāt ʻUkāẓ, 1982.</ref> revolutionary [[Babak Khorramdin]] of the Iranian [[Khurramites|Khorram-Dinān]] ("those of the joyous religion" in Persian).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002797 |title=Babak |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref> Nakhchivan was finally released from Arab rule in the tenth century by [[Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia|Bagratuni]] King [[Smbat I]] and handed over to the princes of Syunik.<ref name="Monuments" /> This region also was taken by [[Sajids]] in 895 and between 909 and 929, [[Sallarid]] between 942 and 971 and [[Shaddadid]] between 971 and 1045.

About 1055, the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] took over the region.<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> In the 12th century, the city of Nakhchivan became the capital of the state of [[Atabegs of Azerbaijan]], also known as Ildegizid state, which included most of [[Iranian Azerbaijan]] and a significant part of the South Caucasus.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071016065206/http://iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f8/v2f8a073.html Encyclopedia Iranica, "Atabakan-e Adarbayjan"]}}, Saljuq rulers of Azerbaijan, 12th–13th, Luther, K. pp. 890–894.</ref> The magnificent 12th-century [[Momine Khatun Mausoleum|mausoleum of Momine Khatun]], the wife of Ildegizid ruler, Great [[Atabeg]] Jahan Pehlevan, is the main attraction of modern Nakhchivan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1173/|title=The mausoleum of Nakhichevan (#) – UNESCO World Heritage Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> At its heyday, the Ildegizid authority in Nakhchivan and some other areas of South Caucasus was contested by Georgia. The Armeno-Georgian princely house of Zacharids frequently raided the region when the Atabeg state was in decline in the early years of the 13th century. It was then plundered by invading Mongols in 1220 and Khwarezmians in 1225 and became part of [[Mongol Empire]] in 1236 when the Caucasus was invaded by [[Chormaqan]].<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> In the 13th century, during the reign of the Mongol horde ruler [[Güyük Khan]], Christians were allowed to build churches in the strongly Muslim town of Nakhchivan; however, the conversion to Islam of Gazan khan brought about a reversal of this favor.<ref>[http://www.iranica.com/newsite/search/searchpdf.isc?ReqStrPDFPath=/home1/iranica/articles/v3_articles/azerbaijan/islamic_history_to_1941&OptStrLogFile=/home/iranica/public_html/logs/pdfdownload.html Encyclopedia Iranica. C. Bosworth. History of Azerbaijan, Islamic period to 1941, page 225]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The 14th century saw the rise of [[Armenian Catholic Church|Armenian Catholicism]] in Nakhchivan,<ref name="Hewsen" /> though by the 15th century the territory became part of the states of [[Kara Koyunlu]] and [[Ak Koyunlu]].<ref name="GreatSoviet" />

=== Iranian rule ===
[[File:Coin of Shah Suleiman I, minted in Nakhchivan (Nakhjavan).jpg|thumb|right|Silver coin of Shah [[Suleiman of Persia|Suleiman I]] ({{reign}}1666–1694), struck at the Nakhchivan mint, dated 1684/5]]
In the [[16th century]], control of Nakhchivan passed to the [[Safavid dynasty]]. Until the demise of the Safavids, it remained as an administrative jurisdiction of the [[Erivan Province (Safavid Empire)|Erivan Province]] (also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd).{{sfn|Floor|2008|page=171}} Because of its geographic position, it frequently suffered during the wars between the Safavids and the [[Ottoman Empire]], from the 16th to 18th centuries. Turkish historian [[İbrahim Peçevi]] described the passing of the Ottoman army from the [[Ararat plain]] to Nakhchivan:

{{blockquote|On the twenty-seventh day they reached the plain of Nakhichevan. Out of fear of the victorious army, the people deserted the cities, villages, houses, and places of dwelling, which were so desolate that they were occupied by owls and crows and struck the onlooker with terror. Moreover, they [the Ottomans] ruined and laid waste all of the villages, towns, fields, and buildings along the road over a distance of four or five days' march so that there was no sign of any buildings or life.<ref name="Monuments" />}}

In 1604, [[Abbas I of Persia|Shah Abbas I]] of Iran, concerned that the skilled peoples of Nakhchivan, its natural resources, and the surrounding areas could get in danger due to its relatively close proximity to the Ottoman-Persian frontline, decided to institute a [[scorched earth]] policy. He [[Great Surgun|forcefully deported]] the entire hundreds of thousands of local population—Muslims, Jews, and Armenians alike—to leave their homes and move to the provinces south of the [[Aras River]].<ref>The Status of Religious Minorities in Safavid Iran 1617–61, Vera B. Moreen, Journal of Near Eastern Studies Vol. 40, No. 2 (April 1981), pp.128–129</ref><ref>The history and conquests of the Saracens, 6 lectures, Edward Augustus Freeman, Macmillan (1876) p. 229</ref><ref name="Lang02">Lang. ''Armenia: Cradle of Civilization'', pp. 210–1.</ref>
[[File:Armenian Cemetery in Julfa (1830, Francis Rawdon Chesney).jpg|thumb|[[Armenian cemetery in Julfa]], 1830, by [[Francis Rawdon Chesney]]]]
Many of the Armenian deportees were settled in the neighborhood of [[Isfahan]] that was named [[New Julfa]] since most of the residents were from the original [[Julfa, Azerbaijan (city)|Julfa]]. The Turkic Kangerli tribe was later permitted to move back under [[Abbas II of Persia|Shah Abbas II]] (1642–1666) to repopulate the frontier region of his realm.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071006080544/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp5/ot_kangarlu_20040211.html Encyclopedia Iranica. Kangarlu]}}.</ref> In the 17th century, Nakhchivan was the scene of a peasant movement led by Köroğlu against foreign invaders and "native exploiters".<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> In 1747, the [[Nakhchivan Khanate]] emerged in the region after the death of [[Nader Shah]] Afshar.<ref name="GreatSoviet" />

=== Passing to Imperial Russian rule ===
After the last [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|Russo-Persian War]] and the [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]], the Nakhchivan Khanate passed into Russian possession in 1828 due to [[Qajar dynasty|Iran's]] forced ceding as a result of the outcome of the war and treaty.<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] pp 728 ABC-CLIO, December 2, 2014 {{ISBN|1598849484}}</ref> With the onset of Russian rule, the [[Tsar]]ist authorities encouraged resettlement of Armenians to Nakhchivan and other areas of the [[Caucasus]] from the [[Qajar Empire|Persian]] and [[Ottoman Empire]]s. Special clauses of the Turkmenchay and [[Treaty of Adrianople (1829)|Adrianople]] treaties allowed for this.<ref>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article112961.html Туркманчайский договор 1828], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref> [[Alexandr Griboyedov]], the Russian envoy to [[Persia]], stated that by the time Nakhchivan came under Russian rule, there had been 290 native Armenians families in the province excluding the city of Nakhchivan, the number of Muslim families was 1,632, and the number of the Armenian immigrant families was 943. The same numbers in the city of Nakhchivan were 114, 392, and 285 respectively. With such a dramatic influx of Armenian immigrants, Griboyedov noted friction arising between the Armenian and Muslim populations. He requested Russian army commander Count [[Ivan Paskevich]] to give orders on resettlement of some of the arriving people further to the region of Daralayaz to quiet the tensions.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://feb-web.ru/feb/griboed/texts/fom88/ps88_150.htm A.S. Griboyedov. Letter to Count I.F.Paskevich].</ref>

The Nakhchivan Khanate was dissolved in 1828 the same year it came into Russian possession, and its territory was merged with the territory of the [[Erivan khanate]] and the area became the [[Nakhichevan uezd]] of the new [[Armenian oblast]], which later became the [[Erivan Governorate]] in 1849. According to official statistics of the Russian Empire, by the turn of the 20th century Tatars (later known as [[Azerbaijanis]]) made up roughly 57% of the ''uezd''<nowiki/>'s population, while Armenians constituted roughly 42%.<ref name="Brockhaus"/> At the same time in the western half of the [[Sharur-Daralayaz uezd]], the territory of which would form the northern part of modern-day Nakhchivan (Sharur District), Tatars constituted 70.5% of the population, while Armenians made up 27.5%.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/brokgauz_efron/114846/Шаруро Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. "Sharur-Daralagyoz uyezd".] St. Petersburg, Russia, 1890–1907</ref> During the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], conflict erupted between the Armenians and the Tatars, culminating in the [[Armenian-Tatar massacres]] which saw violence in Nakhchivan in May of that year.<ref name="Croissant-9">Michael P. Croissant. ''The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications'', p. 9. {{ISBN|0-275-96241-5}}</ref>

=== War and revolution ===
{{Main|Nakhichevan uezd|Muslim uprisings in Kars and Sharur–Nakhichevan}}
In the final year of [[World War I]], Nakhchivan was the scene of more bloodshed between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, who both laid claim to the area. By 1914, the Armenian population had decreased slightly to 40% while the Azeri population increased to roughly 60%.<ref name="NewStates-NewPolitics012"/> After the [[February Revolution]], the region was under the authority of the Special Transcaucasian Committee of the [[Russian Provisional Government]] and subsequently of the short-lived [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]]. When the TDFR was dissolved in May 1918, Nakhchivan, [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], Zangezur (today the Armenian province of [[Syunik Province|Syunik]]), and [[Qazakh]] were heavily contested between the newly formed and short-lived states of the [[First Republic of Armenia|Republic of Armenia]] and the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]] (ADR). In June 1918, the region came under Ottoman occupation.<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> The Ottomans proceeded to massacre 10,000 Armenians and razed 45 of their villages.<ref name="Hewsen"/> Under the terms of the [[Armistice of Mudros]], the Ottomans agreed to pull their troops out of the Transcaucasus to make way for the forthcoming British military presence.<ref name="Croissant-15">Croissant. ''Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict'', p. 15.</ref>

Under British occupation, Sir [[Oliver Wardrop]], British Chief Commissioner in the South Caucasus, made a border proposal to solve the conflict. According to Wardrop, Armenian claims against Azerbaijan should not go beyond the administrative borders of the former Erivan Governorate (which under prior Imperial Russian rule encompassed Nakhchivan), while Azerbaijan was to be limited to the governorates of [[Baku Governorate|Baku]] and [[Elizavetpol Governorate|Elizavetpol]]. This proposal was rejected by both Armenians (who did not wish to give up their claims to Qazakh, Zangezur and Karabakh) and Azeris (who found it unacceptable to give up their claims to Nakhchivan). As disputes between both countries continued, it soon became apparent that the fragile peace under British occupation would not last.<ref name="Atlas">Dr. Andrew Andersen, PhD [http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/Armenia/disp.htm Atlas of Conflicts: Armenia: Nation Building and Territorial Disputes: 1918–1920]</ref>

In December 1918, with the support of Azerbaijan's [[Equality Party (Azerbaijan)|Musavat Party]], [[Jafargulu Khan Nakhchivanski]] declared the [[Republic of Aras]] in the Nakhchivan uyezd of the former Erivan Governorate assigned to Armenia by Wardrop.<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> The Armenian government did not recognize the new state and sent its troops into the region to take control of it. The conflict soon erupted into the violent Aras War.<ref name="Atlas" /> British journalist [[C. E. Bechhofer Roberts]] described the situation in April 1920:

{{blockquote|You cannot persuade a party of frenzied nationalists that two blacks do not make a white; consequently, no day went by without a catalogue of complaints from both sides, Armenians and Tartars [Azeris], of unprovoked attacks, murders, village burnings and the like. Specifically, the situation was a series of vicious cycles.<ref name="DeWaal01">[[Thomas de Waal]]. ''Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. New York: New York University Press, pp. 128–129. {{ISBN|0-8147-1945-7}}</ref>}}

By mid-June 1919, however, Armenia succeeded in establishing control over Nakhchivan and the whole territory of the self-proclaimed republic. The fall of the Aras republic triggered an invasion by the regular Azerbaijani army and by the end of July, the [[Muslim uprisings in Kars and Sharur–Nakhichevan|Armenian administration was ousted from Nakhchivan]].<ref name="Atlas" /> Again, more violence erupted leaving some ten thousand Armenians dead and forty-five Armenian villages destroyed.<ref name="Hewsen" /> Meanwhile, feeling the situation to be hopeless and unable to maintain any control over the area, the British decided to withdraw from the region in mid-1919.<ref name="Croissant-16">Croissant. ''Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict'', p. 16.</ref> Still, fighting between Armenians and Azeris continued and after a series of skirmishes that took place throughout the Nakhchivan district, a cease-fire agreement was concluded. However, the cease-fire lasted only briefly, and by early March 1920, more fighting broke out, primarily in Karabakh between Karabakh Armenians and Azerbaijan's regular army. This triggered conflicts in other areas with mixed populations, including Nakhchivan.

Following the adoption of the name of "[[Azerbaijan (toponym)|Azerbaijan]]" by the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a naming dispute arose with [[Qajar Iran]], with the latter protesting this decision.<ref name="Kamrava">{{cite book |last1=Ahmadi |first1=Hamid |editor1-last=Kamrava |editor1-first=Mehran |title=The Great Game in West Asia: Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190869663 |page=108 |chapter=The Clash of Nationalisms: Iranian response to Baku's irredentism}}</ref> In tandem with this naming controversy, however, the young Azerbaijan Republic also faced a threat from the nascent [[Russian SFSR|Soviets in Moscow]] and the Armenians.<ref name="Kamrava"/> In order to escape the possibility of a Soviet invasion and an even greater imminent threat of an Armenian invasion, Muslim Nakhchivan proposed being annexed to Iran.<ref name="Kamrava"/> The then pro-British government in Tehran led by [[Vossug ed Dowleh]] made endeavours amongst Baku's leadership to join Iran.<ref name="Kamrava"/> In order to promote this idea, Vosugh ed Dowleh dispatched two separate Iranian delegations; one to Baku and one to the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919.<ref name="Kamrava"/> The delegation at Baku, at the behest of [[Zia ol Din Tabatabaee]], held intensive negotiations with the leadership of the Musavat party during the increasing chaos and instability in the city.<ref name="Kamrava"/> During the closing stages, an accord was reached between them; however, before the idea was presented to Vossug ed Dowleh in Tehran, the Communists took over Baku and terminated the Musavat-Ottoman rule.<ref name="Kamrava"/> The Iranian delegation at Paris, which was headed by foreign minister [[Firouz Nosrat-ed-Dowleh III]], reached a unity negotiation with the delegation from Baku and signed a confederation agreement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmadi |first1=Hamid |editor1-last=Kamrava |editor1-first=Mehran |title=The Great Game in West Asia: Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190869663 |pages=108–109 |chapter=The Clash of Nationalisms: Iranian response to Baku's irredentism}}</ref> In the end, these efforts proved to be of no avail, with the Soviets taking over the entirety of Transcaucasia.

=== Sovietization ===
In July 1920, the [[11th Soviet Red Army]] invaded and occupied the region and on July 28, declared the [[Nakhchivan ASSR|Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] with "close ties" to the [[Azerbaijan SSR]]. In November, on the verge of taking over Armenia, the Bolsheviks, to attract public support, promised they would allot Nakhchivan to Armenia, along with Karabakh and Zangezur. [[Nariman Narimanov]], leader of Bolshevik Azerbaijan, issued a declaration celebrating the "victory of Soviet power in Armenia" and proclaimed that both Nakhchivan and Zangezur should be awarded to the Armenian people as a sign of the Azerbaijani people's support for Armenia's fight against the former Armenian government:<ref name="DeWaal022"/>

{{blockquote|As of today, the old frontiers between Armenia and Azerbaijan are declared to be non-existent. Mountainous Karabagh, Zangezur and Nakhchivan are recognised to be integral parts of the Socialist Republic of Armenia.<ref name="Potier" /><ref name="Croissant-18">Croissant. ''Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict'', p. 18.</ref>}}

[[Vladimir Lenin]], while welcoming this act of "great Soviet fraternity" where "boundaries had no meaning among the family of Soviet peoples", did not agree with the motion and instead called for the people of Nakhchivan to be consulted in a referendum. According to the formal figures of this referendum, held at the beginning of 1921, 90% of Nakhchivan's population wanted to be included in the Azerbaijan SSR "with the rights of an autonomous republic".<ref name="Potier">Tim Potier. ''Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia: A Legal Appraisal'', p. 4. {{ISBN|90-411-1477-7}}</ref> The decision to make Nakhchivan a part of modern-day Azerbaijan was cemented on March 16, 1921, in the [[Treaty of Moscow (1921)|Treaty of Moscow]] between [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] and the newly founded Republic of Turkey.<ref name="NewStates-NewPolitics02">Ian Bremmer and Ray Taras. ''New States, New Politics: Building Post-Soviet Nations'', p. 444. {{ISBN|0-521-57799-3}}</ref> The agreement between Soviet Russia and Turkey also called for attachment of the former [[Sharur-Daralagezsky Uyezd]] (which had a solid Azeri majority) to Nakhchivan, thus allowing Turkey to share a border with the Azerbaijan SSR. This deal was reaffirmed on October 13, in the [[Treaty of Kars]]. Article V of the treaty stated the following:

{{blockquote|The Turkish Government and the Soviet Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan are agreed that the region of Nakhchivan, within the limits specified by Annex III to the present Treaty, constitutes an autonomous territory under the protection of Azerbaijan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://groong.usc.edu/treaties/kars.html|title=ANN/Groong – Treaty of Berlin – 07/13/1878|access-date=12 June 2016}}</ref>}}
Thus, on February 9, 1924, the Soviet Union officially established the Nakhchivan ASSR. Its constitution was adopted on April 18, 1926.<ref name="GreatSoviet" />

=== In the Soviet Union ===
{{main|Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic}}
As a constituent part of the Soviet Union, tensions lessened over the ethnic composition of Nakhchivan or any territorial claims regarding it. Instead, it became an important point of industrial production with particular emphasis on the mining of minerals such as salt. Under Soviet rule, it was once a major junction on the Moscow-[[Tehran]] railway line<ref name="DeWaal03">De Waal. ''Black Garden'', p. 271.</ref> as well as the [[Baku]]-[[Yerevan]] railway.<ref name="GreatSoviet" /> It also served as an important strategic area during the [[Cold War]], sharing borders with both Turkey (a [[NATO member state]]) and Iran (a close ally of the West until the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979).

[[File:265nakhichevan-assr.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of the Nakhchivan ASSR within the Soviet Union]]
Facilities improved during Soviet times. Education and public health especially began to see some major changes. In 1913, Nakhchivan only had two hospitals with a total of 20 beds. The region was plagued by widespread diseases including [[trachoma]] and [[typhus]]. [[Malaria]], which mostly came from the adjoining Aras River, brought serious harm to the region. At any one time, between 70% and 85% of Nakhchivan's population was infected with malaria, and in the region of Norashen (present-day Sharur) almost 100% were struck with the disease. This situation improved dramatically under Soviet rule. Malaria was sharply reduced and trachoma, typhus, and relapsing fever were eliminated.<ref name="GreatSoviet" />

During the Soviet era, Nakhchivan saw a great demographic shift. In 1926, 15% of the region's population was Armenian, but by 1979, this number had shrunk to 1.4%.<ref name="Armcountry2"/> Azeris made up 85% in 1926, but 96% in 1979 (leaving the small remainder mixed or other). Three factors were involved: the emigration of Armenians to the [[Armenian SSR]], the immigration of Azeris from Armenia, and the birth rate of Azeris being higher than that of Armenians.<ref name="Armcountry2"/>

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh noted similar though slower demographic trends and feared an eventual "de-Armenianization" of the area.<ref name="NewStates-NewPolitics02"/> When tensions between Armenians and Azeris were reignited in the late-1980s by the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]], Azerbaijan's [[Popular Front of Azerbaijan|Popular Front]] managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a partial railway and air blockade against Armenia, while another reason for the disruption of rail service to Armenia were attacks of Armenian forces on the trains entering the Armenian territory from Azerbaijan, which resulted in railroad personnel refusing to enter Armenia.<ref>Thomas Ambrosio. Irredentism: Ethnic Conflict and International Politics. {{ISBN|0-275-97260-7}}</ref><ref>Stuart J. Kaufman. Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. {{ISBN|0-8014-8736-6}}</ref> This effectively crippled Armenia's economy, as 85% of the cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic. In response, Armenia closed the railway to Nakhchivan, thereby strangling the exclave's only link to the rest of the Soviet Union.

December 1989 saw unrest in Nakhchivan as its Azeri inhabitants moved to physically dismantle the Soviet border with Iran to flee the area and meet their ethnic Azeri cousins in northern Iran. This action was angrily denounced by the Soviet leadership and the Soviet media accused the Azeris of "embracing [[Islamic fundamentalism]]".<ref name="DeWaal04">De Waal, ''Black Garden'', p. 88–89.</ref>

==== Declaring independence ====
On Saturday, January 20, 1990,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Vogt-Downey|editor-first=Marilyn|title=The USSR 1987–1991: Marxist Perspectives|date=1993|publisher=Humanities Press|location=London|page=190|isbn=9780391037724|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1FpAAAAMAAJ&q=nakhchivan+declared+independence}}</ref> the [[Supreme Soviet]] of the Nakhchivan ASSR issued a declaration stating the intention for Nakhchivan to [[secede]] from the USSR to protest the Soviet Union's actions during [[Black January]].<ref>{{cite news |last=William|first=Nick B. Jr.|title= Soviet Enclave Declares Independence|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-21-mn-1001-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 21, 1990|access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> Iranian Press Agency, [[Islamic Republic News Agency|IRNA]], reported that upon its independence, Nakhchivan asked Turkey, Iran, and the [[United Nations]] to come to its aid.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Gwertzman|editor-first1=Bernard M.|editor-last2=Kaufman|editor-first2=Michael T.|title=The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire|date=1992|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|page=229|isbn=9780812920468|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzhpAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> It was the first part of the Soviet Union to declare independence,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Asian Event/USSR|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEQnAAAAMAAJ&q=nakhchivan+declared+independence|magazine=Asian Bulletin|location=Taiwan|publisher=APACL Publications|page=73|volume=15|issue=1–6|date=1990|access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> preceding [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]]'s declaration by only a few weeks.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Kanet|editor-first=R.|title=Russia:Re-Emerging Great Power|series=Studies in Central and Eastern Europe|date=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|page=140|isbn=9780230590489|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jriDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA140}}</ref> Subsequently, Nakhchivan was independent from Moscow and Baku but was then brought under control by the clan of [[Heydar Aliyev]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/iranian-influence-in-nakhchivan-impact-on-azerbaijani-armenian-conflict/|title=Iranian Influence in Nakhchivan: Impact on Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict|website=Jamestown}}</ref>

=== In the post-Soviet era ===
[[Heydar Aliyev]], the future president of Azerbaijan, returned to his birthplace of Nakhchivan in 1990, after being ousted from his position in the [[Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] in 1987. Soon after returning to Nakhchivan, Aliyev was elected to the Supreme Soviet by an overwhelming majority. Aliyev subsequently resigned from the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]], and after the failed [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August 1991 coup]] against Gorbachev, he called for complete independence for Azerbaijan and denounced [[Ayaz Mütallibov]] for supporting the coup. In late 1991, Aliyev consolidated his power base as chairman of the Nakhchivan Supreme Soviet and asserted Nakhchivan's near-total independence from [[Baku]].<ref name="Azcountry01">[http://countrystudies.us/azerbaijan/32.htm Azerbaijan: A Country Study: Aliyev and the Presidential Election of October 1993], The Library of Congress</ref>

Nakhchivan became a scene of conflict during the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]]. On May 4, 1992, Armenian forces shelled the [[raion]] of [[Sadarak District|Sadarak]].<ref>[http://poli.vub.ac.be/publi/ContBorders/eng/ch0701.htm Contested Borders in the Caucasus: Chapter VII: Iran's Role as Mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207061604/http://poli.vub.ac.be/publi/ContBorders/eng/ch0701.htm |date=February 7, 2012 }} by Abdollah Ramezanzadeh</ref><ref name="post">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/ Russia Plans Leaner, More Open Military]. The Washington Post. May 23, 1992</ref><ref name="coe">[http://www.coe.int/t/e/com/files/events/2003-04-Youth-conflicts/Nagorno_conflict.asp Background Paper on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict]. Council of Europe.</ref> The Armenians claimed that the attack was in response to cross-border shelling of Armenian villages by Azeri forces from Nakhchivan.<ref name="thestar">[https://www.thestar.com/ The Toronto Star]. May 20, 1992</ref><ref name="depart">{{Cite web |url=http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/erc/briefing/daily_briefings/1992/9205/078.html |title=US Department of State Daily Briefing #78: Tuesday, 5/19/92 |access-date=January 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908000405/http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/briefing/daily_briefings/1992/9205/078.html |archive-date=September 8, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> David Zadoyan, a 42-year-old Armenian physicist and mayor of the region, said that the Armenians lost patience after months of firing by the Azeris. "If they were sitting on our hilltops and harassing us with gunfire, what do you think our response should be?" he asked.<ref name="baltimore">[http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Armenian Siege of Azeri Town Threatens Turkey, Russia, Iran]. The Baltimore Sun. June 3, 1992</ref> The government of Nakhchivan denied these charges and instead asserted that the Armenian assault was unprovoked and specifically targeted the site of a bridge between Turkey and Nakhchivan.<ref name="depart" /> "The Armenians do not react to diplomatic pressure," Nakhchivan foreign minister Rza Ibadov told the ITAR-Tass news agency, "It's vital to speak to them in a language they understand." Speaking to the agency from the Turkish capital [[Ankara]], Ibadov said that Armenia's aim in the region was to seize control of Nakhchivan.<ref name="reuters">[http://today.reuters.com/news/home.aspx Reuters News Agency] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070112194254/http://today.reuters.com/news/home.aspx |date=January 12, 2007 }}, wire carried by the Globe and Mail (Canada) on May 20, 1992. pg. A.10</ref> According to Human Rights Watch, hostilities broke out after three people were killed when Armenian forces began shelling the region.<ref name="hrw02">[https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/general/general926.pdf Overview of Areas of Armed Conflict in the former Soviet Union], [[Human Rights Watch]], Helsinki Report</ref>

The heaviest fighting took place on May 18, when the Armenians captured Nakhchivan's exclave of [[Karki (Azerbaijan)|Karki]], a tiny territory through which Armenia's main north–south highway passes. The exclave presently remains under Armenian control.<ref name="hrw01">[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027120149/http://geocities.com/fanthom_2000/hrw-azerbaijan/hrw-contents/hrw-azerbaijan2.html Azerbaijan: Seven Years Of Conflict In Nagorno-Karabakh], [[Human Rights Watch]], Helsinki Report</ref> After the fall of [[Shusha]], the Mütallibov government of Azerbaijan accused Armenia of moving to take the whole of Nakhchivan (a claim that was denied by Armenian government officials). However, Heydar Aliyev declared a unilateral ceasefire on May 23 and sought to conclude a separate peace with Armenia. Armenian President [[Levon Ter-Petrossian]] expressed his willingness to sign a cooperation treaty with Nakhchivan to end the fighting, and subsequently a cease-fire was agreed upon.<ref name="hrw02"/>

The conflict in the area caused a harsh reaction from Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister [[Tansu Çiller]] announced that any Armenian advance on the main territory of Nakhchivan would result in a declaration of war against Armenia. Russian military leaders declared that "third party intervention into the dispute could trigger a [[World War III|Third World War]]". Thousands of Turkish troops were sent to the border between Turkey and Armenia in early September. Russian military forces in Armenia countered their movements by increasing troop levels along the Armenian-Turkish frontier and bolstering defenses in a tense period where war between the two seemed inevitable.<ref name="slt">[http://www.sltrib.com/ Turkey Orders Armenians to Leave Azerbaijan, Moves Troops to the Border]. The Salt Lake Tribune. September 4, 1993. pg. A1.</ref> The tension reached its peak, when Turkish heavy artillery shelled the Nakhchivan side of the Nakhchivan-Armenian border, from the Turkish border for two hours. Iran also reacted to Armenia's attacks by conducting military maneuvers along its border with Nakhchivan in a move widely interpreted as a warning to Armenia.<ref name="Azcountry02">[http://countrystudies.us/azerbaijan/16.htm Azerbaijan: A Country Study: Efforts to Resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis, 1993], The Library of Congress</ref> However, Armenia did not launch any further attacks on Nakhchivan and the presence of Russia's military warded off any possibility that Turkey might play a military role in the conflict.<ref name="slt" /> After a period of political instability, the [[Parliament of Azerbaijan]] turned to Heydar Aliyev and invited him to return from exile in Nakhchivan to lead the country in 1993.

=== Recent times ===
Today, Nakhchivan retains its autonomy as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and is internationally recognized as a constituent part of Azerbaijan governed by [[Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan|its own elected legislative assembly]].<ref name="Planet">Richard Plunkett and Tom Masters. ''Lonely Planet: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan'', p. 243. {{ISBN|1-74059-138-0}}</ref> A new constitution for Nakhchivan was approved in a referendum on November 12, 1995. The constitution was adopted by the republic's assembly on April 28, 1998, and has been in force since January 8, 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nakhchivan.az/english/dov_qur.html |title=State Structure of Nakhchivan |access-date=April 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117180550/http://www.nakhchivan.az/english/dov_qur.html |archive-date=January 17, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the republic remains isolated, not only from the rest of Azerbaijan, but practically from the entire [[South Caucasus]] region. From 1995 until his resignation in December 2022, the region was ruled by [[Vasif Talibov]], who is related by marriage to Azerbaijan's ruling family, the Aliyevs.<ref name="IWPR-nakh">{{cite news| title=Nakhichevan: Disappointment and Secrecy| publisher=Institute for War and Peace Reporting| date=May 19, 2004| url=http://iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=160714&apc_state=henicrs2004| access-date=May 19, 2004 }}</ref> He was known for his authoritarian<ref name="IWPR-nakh" /> and largely corrupt rule of the region.<ref>{{cite news| title=Nakhichevan: From Despair to Where?| publisher=Axis News| date=July 21, 2005| url=http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=263| access-date=July 21, 2005| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112045527/http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=263| archive-date=January 12, 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> Most residents prefer to watch Turkish television as opposed to Nakhchivan television, which one Azerbaijani journalist criticised as "a propaganda vehicle for Talibov and the Aliyevs."<ref name="IWPR-nakh" />

Economic hardships and energy shortages plague the area. There have been many cases of [[Foreign worker|migrant workers]] seeking jobs in neighboring Turkey. "Emigration rates to Turkey," one analyst said, "are so high that most of the residents of the Besler district in [[Istanbul]] are Nakhchivanis."<ref name="IWPR-nakh" /> In 2007, an agreement was struck with Iran to obtain more gas exports, and a new bridge on the Aras River between the two countries was inaugurated in October 2007; the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev and the first vice-president of Iran, [[Parviz Davoodi]] also attended the opening ceremony.<ref>{{cite news |title=Azerbaijani President attends opening of bridge uniting Iran with Azerbaijan |publisher=Azeri Press Agency |date=October 17, 2007 |url=http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=37261 |access-date=January 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021013426/http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=37261 |archive-date=October 21, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As part of the [[2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement|2020 ceasefire agreement]] which ended the [[Second Nagorno-Karabakh War]], Armenia, in the context of all economic and transport connections in the region to be unblocked, agreed "to guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions". As part of the agreement, these transport communications are to be patrolled by [[Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64384|title=Statement by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and President of the Russian Federation|website=[[Kremlin.ru]]|date=November 10, 2020 }}</ref>