Ancient history and Middle Ages The area of present-day Meghri has been settled since the
Bronze Age. Many archaeological sites are found in the vicinity of the town dating back to the 7th and 6th centuries BC, during the period of the kingdom of
Urartu. of the 11th century With the establishment of the
Tatev Monastery in the 8th century, the region of modern-day Meghri witnessed a rapid social and economic development. In 906, the settlement of
Karchavan was founded by king
Smbat I Bagratuni of the
Bagratuni dynasty. In 987, the town (known as
Meghri) was included within the newly-founded Armenian
Kingdom of Syunik. In 1105, the region of Meghri was occupied by the
Seljuks. The town was completely destroyed in 1126 and 1157 by the invading Seljuk forces.
Iranian and Russian rule At the beginning of the 16th century, Meghri became part of the
Erivan Province within
Safavid Persia. At the beginning of the 18th century, the region was involved in the liberation campaign of the Armenians of Syunik led by
David Bek against
Safavid Persia and the invading Ottoman Turks. Bek began his campaign in 1722 with the help of thousands of local Armenian patriots who liberated Syunik. He united the
Armenian nobility in the region to form the
Principality of Kapan, which included Meghri. Local Armenian rule of the region lasted until 1747, when the region was brought back under Persian control as part of the
Nakhichevan Khanate and then the
Karabakh Khanate in 1750. During the
Russo-Persian war of 1804-1813, Meghri became a notable center for military operations in the region. In early 1810, Iranian crown prince
Abbas Mirza sent thirty thousand troops to
Nakhichevan in order to invade the
Karabakh Khanate and go on to seize
Georgia. Having crossed the Aras river on May 15, the Persians occupied Meghri. In response, the commander of the Karabakh detachment of Russian troops, Major General Pyotr Nebolsin, sent a detachment battalion of about 500 people under the command of Colonel
Pyotr Kotlyarevsky with the task of reconquering Meghri, which, due to its strategic position, was known as the “key to
Karabakh and
Tabriz.” The Persian garrison in Meghri consisted of 1,500 regular Persian infantry (Sarbaz) with artillery stationed on the right, steep bank of the Meghri River. The Persians heavily fortified the villages, which was defended by two hundred sarbaz. Divided into three columns, the Russian detachment secretly approached Meghri along the valley of the Aras River and on the morning of June 17 suddenly attacked the central fortification of the Persians, broke into the village and, after a stubborn battle, captured it. The
Persians lost more than 300 people, the losses of the Russian detachment amounted to 35 people. Subsequent attempts by the Persian troops to return to Meghri were unsuccessful. In 1810, young British army officer
William Monteith visited the region as part of his service with the British embassy to Persia. His 1856 memoirs paint a vivid picture of the Meghri valley which he describes as a "romantic glen" that he rates as "one of the most beautiful in Persia, or indeed in any country." He notes that "in former times [it] has evidently been densely peopled for churches, abandoned but still perfect, are thickly scattered on the slopes of the mountains, which here rise to a height on the western side of 8000 to 10,000 feet, covered with forests. The trees are of no great size, and much interspersed with apple, pear, and walnut, probably the remains of former gardens, or produced by seeds carried by the birds and wind into the once cultivated land." In October 1813, during the peace negotiations between Iran and Russia that would lead to the
Treaty of Golestan, the Iranian representative
Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi convinced the Russian representative
Nikolay Rtishchev to return Meghri to Iran as an act of goodwill. In 1828, Meghri became part of the
Russian Empire as a result of the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28 and the signing of the
Treaty of Turkmenchay. It was included within the Karabakh province until 1868 when it became part of the newly-formed
Zangezur uezd of the
Elizavetpol Governorate. In 1881, the first mixed school was opened in Meghri. In 1901, a
consumers' co-operative was opened in Meghri, which was the first of its type in Armenia. The
Soviets established the
Meghri raion in September 1930, and the settlement of Meghri became the centre of the newly-formed raion. In 1959, Meghri was given the status of an
urban-type settlement. In 1984, Meghri was granted with the status of a town. It was developed as a centre of
food industry based on the local agricultural products of the region. After the independence of
Armenia, Meghri was included within the newly-formed
Syunik Province, as per the administrative reforms of 1995. == Geography ==