Berdkunk

Berdkunk (Armenian: Բերդկունք) is a village in the Gavar Municipality of the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia.

Berdkunk Բերդկունք
Scenery around Berdkunk Fortress
Berdkunk Show map of Armenia Berdkunk Show map of Gegharkunik
Coordinates: 40°26′40″N 45°06′02″E
Country	Armenia
Province	Gegharkunik
Municipality	Gavar
Elevation	1,930 m (6,330 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	296
Time zone	UTC+4 (AMT)
Berdkunk at GEOnet Names Server

Etymology

The village was previously known as Aghkala^[2][3] or Aghgala (Azerbaijani: Ağqala;^[4] Russian: Агкала;^[5] Armenian: Աղկալա^[6]), consisting of Turkic agh (ağ, meaning "white") and Arabic gala (qala, meaning "castle" or "tower"). Berdkunk is a combination of two words in Armenian: berd (բերդ, meaning "fortress") and kunk (կունք, meaning "place" or "foundation").

History

The village was once a transit point on the ancient road between Dvin and Partev. There are cyclopean fortresses nearby with megalithic tombs. One of the fortresses in particular, Berdkunk Fortress (also known as Ishkhanats Amrots and Spitak Berd lit. 'White fortress'), is located along the eastern edge of the village and was built in the 10th century BC.^[2][7] There is also an 11–12th century church, a 12–20th century cemetery, and 16–17th century tombstones in the village.^[8]

Berdkunk, then known as Aghkala, was part of the Nor Bayazet uezd of the Erivan Governorate within the Russian Empire.^[5] Bournoutian presents the statistics of the village in the early 20th century as follows:^[3]

Ownership	Treasury
Inhabited space	27 desyatinas (0.44 sq km)
Unirrigated plowed fields	633 desyatinas (10.37 sq km)
Yaylaks	233 desyatinas (3.82 sq km)
Total land	893 desyatinas (14.63 sq km)
Total households	62 (All Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani))
Total income	1,436.50 rubles
Total land taxes	320.12 rubles
Army tax	18.87 rubles
Upkeep of officials	215.39 rubles
Total revenue	554.38 rubles
Large livestock	620
Small livestock	990

Economy

The population of the village is engaged with animal husbandry, cultivation of forage crops and potatoes.^[8]

Demographics

The population of the village since 1831 is as follows:^{[6][8] [better source needed]}

Year	Population	Note
1831	39	100% Muslim
1873	191	100% Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani)
1886	253
1897	331	100% Muslim
1904	424
1914	507	Mainly Tatar. Also recorded as 448
1916	520
1919	0	Formerly Turkish
1922	34	31 Armenians, 3 Turkish-Tatars
1926	224	105 Armenians, 76 Turks, 43 others
1931	368	202 Turks, 111 Armenians, 55 others
2001	253
2004	265
2011[1]	296

Gallery

• 
  Front view of Berdkunk Fortress
• 
  A view of Lake Sevan and Berdkunk Fortress
• 
  Berdkunk Fortress

References

1. Statistical Committee of Armenia. "The results of the 2011 Population Census of Armenia" (PDF).
2. Kiesling, Brady (June 2000). Rediscovering Armenia: An Archaeological/Touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2021.
3. Bournoutian, George A. (2018). Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900–1914. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-06260-2. OCLC 1037283914.
4. Nişanyan, Sevan. "Berdkunk". Index Anatolicus (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 January 2024.
5. Кавказский календарь на 1910 год [Caucasian calendar for 1910] (in Russian) (65th ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1910. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022.
6. Korkotyan, Zaven (1932). Խորհրդային Հայաստանի բնակչությունը վերջին հարյուրամյակում (1831-1931) [The population of Soviet Armenia in the last century (1831–1931)] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Pethrat. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2022.
7. HelpMe.am - Berdkunk (White Fortress)
8. Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բնակավայրերի բառարան [Republic of Armenia settlements dictionary] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Cadastre Committee of the Republic of Armenia. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2018.

External links

• Report of the results of the 2001 Armenian Census, Statistical Committee of Armenia
• Kiesling, Brady (June 2000). Rediscovering Armenia: An Archaeological/Touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2021.