Background The topography of the
uezd was mainly mountainous with most of the lowland located along the
Aras river. The highest peaks of the
uezd (Kambil at ; Damara-dag at ; and
Mount Kaputjukh at ) were located along the
Karabakh Range, which made up the eastern boundary with the
Elizavetpol Governorate. Kyuki-dag at rose from the
Sharur-Daralayaz uezd in the north. The left
tributaries of the Aras (the Nakhichevan-chay, Alinja-chay, and Gilan-chay) flowed through the territory of the
uezd. The population of the
uezd was primarily engaged in cattle breeding and gardening, especially in the Ordubad area. There were practically no industrial plants or factories, but there were however salt plantations which produced approximately 250,000 pounds of salt per annum. On 3 March 1918, in accordance with the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk the
Russian SFSR ceded the
Kars and
Batum oblasts to the
Ottoman Empire who had been unreconciled with its loss of those territories (which they referred to as ) since 1878. Despite the resistance of the
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic which had initially rejected the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Ottoman
Third Army was successful in occupying the
oblasts, and going on to expand into the western districts of the Erivan and Tiflis governorates, including the Nakhichevan uezd. These additional territorial gains were confirmed through the
Treaty of Batum with the individual
South Caucasus republics.
Republic of Aras . As stipulated in the
Mudros Armistice, the Ottoman Empire was compelled to withdraw its armies from the Erivan and Tiflis governorates, thus withdrawing to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk boundaries. One of the commanders of the occupying army,
Yukub Shevki, sponsored the creation of the
Republic of Aras in the occupied Erivan districts, providing it with moral support, weapons, and instructors. Following the conclusion of the 2-week
Armeno-Georgian war, Armenia repositioned its forces to annex the Republic of Aras, however, their advance into the district was halted on 18 January 1919 by Captain F. E. Laughton who established a local British military governorship in the district. On 26 January 1919, the governorship was confirmed by the British military headquarters based in Tiflis (present-day
Tbilisi) as a means to prevent ethnic clashes between
Armenian soldiers and local Muslims of up to "ten thousand well-armed men". The British sympathy to the Aras Republic was later reversed when Major-General
William M. Thomson became the highest-ranking officer in the South Caucasus—believing that
Pan-Turkism was influential in the region, especially in consideration of the presence of
Azerbaijani and Ottoman agents
Samed Bey and Colonel
Halil Bey, respectively. Thomson believed that they were scheming to "forge a bridge between the Ottoman Empire and Azerbaijan and ultimately between
Nationalist Turkey and
Soviet Russia." Following the British announcement of the dissolution of the governorship and the plans to annex the region to Armenia, was selected to become the first governor of the district. Armenia's formal annexation of Nakhichevan was officially declared on 3 May 1919, after which Armenian forces commanded by
Drastamat Kanayan and accompanied by British representative General K. M. Davie advanced southward into the district along the railway. When the force had reached Davalu (present-day
Ararat), Thomson ordered them to stop, believing that Armenia was encouraging the defiance of Zangezur in refusing to submit to British–Azerbaijani authority in a "severe breach of faith". The restriction Thomson had placed was later revoked after acting
prime minister Alexander Khatisian met him in Tiflis to assure him that the Armenians of Zangezur were acting independently of the Armenian government. On 13 May 1919, when Armenian forces had advanced to Bashnorashen (present-day
Sharur), Khatisian arrived in Nakhichevan and met the minister of war of the Aras Republic, , after which the Aras Republic effectively capitulated.
Anti-Armenian uprising telegram describing massacres around Nakhichevan. Despite the apparent defeat of the Ottoman Empire, agents of the
Turkish National Movement were reported to be fostering rebellion amongst the Muslims of Nakhichevan, eventually culminating in a
large-scale anti-Armenian uprising in July 1919. Fearing retaliation by the
Volunteer Army, Azerbaijan did not openly intervene to assist the Nakhichevan rebels, however, on 14 July they provided covert assistance. On 20 July, a pogrom began against the Armenian inhabitants of the city of Nakhichevan—within a few days, the Armenian administration was completely ousted and its Armenian inhabitants expelled. As the uprising spread throughout the Nakhichevan uezd, Armenians in Jugha (present-day
Gülüstan) were forced to escape across the
Aras river into
Iran. Some 6,000 Armenians from Nakhichevan living in the
Ararat Valley managed to escape to Daralayaz, Nor Bayazet, and Zangezur (present-day
Vayots Dzor,
Gegharkunik and
Syunik provinces, respectively). During the uprising, Halil Bey coordinated the destruction of 45 Armenian villages and the massacre of 10,000 of their inhabitants, including the
destruction of the large Armenian town of Agulis (present-day
Yuxarı Əylis) and its 1,400 inhabitants. In late 1919, Samed Bey complained to the Azerbaijani government about the presence of Iranian agents trying to bring refugees from Nakhichevan into Iran. Some months after the
Sovietization of Azerbaijan on 18 June 1920, Armenia issued an ultimatum to the rebels of Zangibasar (present-day
Masis) some 15 kilometers southwest of Yerevan to submit to Armenian rule. Not expecting that the ultimatum would be answered, the Armenian army launched an offensive to recapture the rebelling districts on 19 June. In the fight for Zangibasar, Lieutenant Aram Kajaznuni, the son of the
first prime minister of Armenia was killed, however, the Armenians won the battle on 21 June, with the local Muslims consisting mainly of Tatars fleeing to Aralikh (present-day
Aralık) in the neighbouring
Surmalu uezd to avoid retribution. After the battle, volunteer detachments consisting of Armenian refugees from the
Aresh and
Nukha uezds of Azerbaijan looted the abandoned homes. The militarists in the Armenian government were strengthened by the success in Zangibasar, hence, they prepared to move against the rebels of Vedibasar (present-day southern
Ararat Province) and Nakhichevan; the advance into the former began on 11 July and by the next day, Armenian forces had captured the district and reached the boundary of the Erivan and Sharur-Daralayaz
uezds at the mountain pass known as
Volchi vorota () and the local Muslims fled into Sharur. On 14 July, the Armenian advance continued through
Volchi vorota into the Sharur district, capturing it 2 days later whilst the locals fled across the Aras river into Iran. Before the Armenians could advance into the Nakhchevan
uezd proper, the national council () of Nakhichevan appealed for peace, however, the negotiations only served in delaying Armenia's advance, after which
Şahtaxtı some northwest of the city of Nakhichevan was captured. By this time, the
11th Army of Soviet Russia (which had previously invaded Azerbaijan) occupied southern Nakhichevan with the aim of linking with
Kemalist Turkey. Colonel V. Tarkhov, the commander of the "united troops of Soviet Russia and Red Turkey in Nakhichevan", addressed the Armenians in Shahtaght, proclaiming Soviet control over the rest of the district, thus putting an end to the Armenian campaign. During the
Turkish–Armenian War beginning in September 1920, Armenia for the third time in six years was invaded by Turkish forces; this time under the command of General
Kâzım Karabekir. The outcome of the war was Armenia's formal loss of Nakhichevan as the district became an autonomous protectorate of
Soviet Azerbaijan, as confirmed by the treaties of
Kars and
Moscow in 1921. The Nakhichevan
uezd was combined with the Sharur subdistrict of the Sharur-Daralayaz
uezd and organized into the
Nakhichevan ASSR. The south-easternmost parts of the
uezd,
Karchevan and part of the
Zaritap Municipality (part of the Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces, respectively), were transferred to
Soviet Armenia in 1929–1934 whilst within the Transcaucasian SFSR. ==Demographics==