Barda City

Barda  located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Tartar river. It was the capital of Caucasian Albania perhaps since the end of the fourth century, Barda became the chief city of the Islamic province of Arran, the classical Caucasian Albania. And it is remaining so until the tenth century. In about 645, Partav fell under the control of the Muslim Arabs and  referred to as “Barda” or “Barda’a” in Arabic. In 789, it made the second alternate capital (after Dvin) of the governor (ostikan) of the province of al-Arminiya. Its governors strengthened the defenses of the city in order to counter the invasions of the Khazars attacking from north. 

Design of city

The same Muslim geographers describe Barda as a flourishing town with a citadel, a mosque, a circuit wall and gates, and a Sunday bazaar. It called “Keraki,” “Korakī” or “al-Kurki”. In 914, the city captured by the Rus, who occupied it for six months. In 943, it attacked once more by the Rus and sacked. This may have been a factor in the decline of Barḏa in the second half of the tenth century. Along with the raids and oppressions from the rulers of the neighboring regions, when the town lost ground to Beylaqan.

Centuries of earthquakes and, finally, the Mongol invasions destroyed much of the town’s landmarks, with the exception of the fourteenth century tomb of Ahmad Zocheybana, built by architect Ahmad ibn Ayyub Nakhchivani. The mausoleum is a cylindrical brick tower, decorated with turquoise tiles. There is also the more recently built Imamzadeh Mosque, which has four minarets. Agriculture is the main activity in the area. Local economy based on the production and processing of cotton, silk, poultry and dairy products. The cease fire line, concluded at the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, is just a few kilometers west of Barda, near Terter.

Research by: Ulduz Tourism