The district was formed on 8 August 1930, as the
Jrabert district. It was renamed to Mardakert district on 17 September 1939. The district was the largest one in NKAO in terms of area and population. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was
abolished on 26 November 1991 and the district was renamed Aghdara (). On 13 October 1992, the Aghdara district was also abolished and split between the three neighbouring districts, with the western part being incorporated into
Kalbajar District, the northeastern part into the
Tartar District and the southeastern part into the
Ağdam District. Following the
First Nagorno-Karabakh war, most of the former district came under the control of the
self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and was incorporated into its
Martakert Province, while
Azerbaijan retained control of part of the eastern part of the district, including the urban settlement of
Maragha (later renamed to Shikharkh). During the
Madagiz offensive of the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Azerbaijan recaptured north-eastern part of the former district, including the villages of
Talish and
Madagiz (later renamed to Sugovushan). == Demographics ==