The Origin of the Khanate of Karabakh

Abstract

In the absence of the Armenian independent statehood, the Artsakh principalities (melikdoms) were the only force based on which, if possible, the Armenian state could revive. In general, the Artsakh principalities were free and sovereign, so long as the heart of the ruler of one of them was not captured with the sense of treachery. When in 1752 by the connivance of the governor Varanda Melik-Shahnazar II Panah Khan, the head of a tribe of nomadic Sarijallu, was firmed up in Artsakh, he and his son Ibrahim managed to significantly weaken the Armenian principalities. Inflicting great damage they could not change the situation in the province. With the establishment of the Russian dominion in Karabakh the khanate was abolished because of its administrative and political failure and the lack of significant support among the local population.