Nagorno Garabagh

APA's correspondent traveled to territories liberated from occupation by the Azerbaijani army under the leadership of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev. Our employees have prepared a series of reports from these territories under the heading "In the wake of victory". Another report from this series is dedicated to the village of Tugh, Khojavend region.

“We fought for every inch of these lands - from Alkhanly to these places. The enemy has set traps for us everywhere, set up ambushes, dug tunnels. But we drove them away like dogs."

One officer told us about this, who wished to remain anonymous. He was wounded in one of the battles and, without waiting for recovery, again rushed into battle. Finally, on November 9, our tricolor flag was hoisted in one of the largest villages of Karabakh, in Tugh.

Yes, we are in Tugh. In the village of Tugh, Khojavend region.

In the very Tugh, which, in my opinion, would be more correctly called paradise.

In that very Tugh, which is one of the villages of Karabakh with the most ancient culture.

In the same Tugh, which is considered one of the cradles of humanity, civilization ...

It may seem strange to you, but Tugh is one of the ancient settlements of mankind, from which the development of modern civilization began. It is thanks to the Azikh cave that the territory of Azerbaijan is included in the map of "Ancient settlements of Europe". It is not without reason that we started our conversation by mentioning Azykh.

November 9.

The Azerbaijani army liberates Tugh from the occupation in 29 years and ...

And in one of the houses on the territory of the village, an amazing find was discovered. The soldiers say that while examining one of the houses, they found boxes with archaeological materials and the inscription “Azikh”. The leadership of the State Security Service and ANAS was immediately informed about this find. During the preliminary investigation, it was established that one of the boxes contained some documents from the research carried out by the illegal expedition of the occupiers. Apparently, the invaders failed to take these finds out of Azerbaijan.

After the occupation of Tugh, the Azykh cave was vandalized by the Armenians. They even invited scientists from foreign countries to conduct illegal archaeological research in the cave. Thus, they tried to prove that the cave was related to Armenian history, to erase the traces of Azerbaijan. By the way, the Armenians used the cave not only for illegal research but also as an ammunition depot.

Let's go back to the boxes. Due to the fact that this information was of great importance, a representative of the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a doctor of philosophy in history Azad Zeynalov were urgently sent to this region.

During the study of the contents of the boxes, it was found that they contain finds discovered as a result of illegal archaeological excavations carried out during the occupation by Armenian scientists and scientists of other countries in the Azykh cave, which is a monument of world importance, a settlement of primitive people of the Paleolithic era. Most of them are the remains of ancient fauna. These finds, collected in about 90 plastic boxes, were delivered to Baku.

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The name of the village of Tugh, located 53 km south-west of the regional center Khojavend, in the south-west of Nagorno-Karabakh, on the slope of the Karabakh ridge at an altitude of 1400-1500 m above sea level, means "banner" in the ancient Turkic language. According to some historical sources, "tugh" means a spear, to the tip of which a horse or bull's tail is attached. The name of the village of Tugh, which is one of the most ancient villages of Karabakh, is mentioned in the sources of the V-VIII centuries. There are many historical monuments in the village of Tugh. There is the Ki-Tysh fortress ("Ritish fortress"), monuments from the times of Caucasian Albania, and in the village itself more than 50 architectural monuments of historical importance.

During the period of the Karabakh Khanate, Tugh was considered the center of the Dizak mahal. Sources concerning 1727 say that 73 non-Muslims lived in the village of Tugh. There were 10 mills in the village. The population sowed wheat and barley from grain crops. Sericulture was also developed. The income of the village of Tugh was 80,000 agcha.

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One of the first secular schools opened in Azerbaijan was also located in the village of Tugh

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In the 80s of the XIX century, when the educational movement was expanding, and the intelligentsia with advanced thinking waged a stubborn struggle for the opening of schools of a new type, as a result of reforms in the field of education carried out by tsarist Russia, a secondary school in the village of Tugh began to function in Azerbaijan. celebrates its 135th anniversary. One of the documents signed in 1883 by the Emperor of Russia Alexander II states that the eastern school of the village of Tugh, Shusha district, Elizavetpol province, operating since the 1850s, is granted the status of a Russian-European school.

A well-known representative of the intelligentsia of that time Mir Mekhdi Khazani played an important role in the creation of the school in the village of Tugh. He directed this school until 1894. Later, the directors of the school were Muhammad bey Melikyeganov in 1894-1922, and Mustafa Jahangirov in 1922-1934. Such outstanding representatives of the intelligentsia of that time as a graduate of the Gori Pedagogical Seminary Mustafa Jahangirov, Mirza Gara Maharramov, Abdulla bey Aslanbekov, Mukhammed bey Melikyeganov, a graduate of Kazan University Asker bek Eyvazov taught at the school.

The greatness of the school in the village of Tugh is evidenced by the fact that among its graduates there were two members of the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR). These are the Minister of Railways and Communications of the ADR Khudat bey Agabey oglu Melikaslanov and Javad bek Rza oglu Melikyeganov, who held a number of leading posts. Many graduates of the school, including the famous educator Ibrahim Meshedi Allahveryan oglu Jahangirov, made a great contribution to the improvement of the village of Tugh and the rural school in the 20s.

In 1978, the secondary school of the village of Tugh experienced its rebirth. Our national leader Heydar Aliyev, who was in charge of Azerbaijan at that time, paid special attention to the development of the Azerbaijani-populated villages of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was on his instructions that a new two-story modern school building for 640 pupils was built in the village of Tugh in 1975-1978. The school had 4 subject laboratories equipped with all the necessary equipment, 3 language laboratories, an elementary military training class, a rich library, an extensive gym, an assembly hall for 100 seats, a canteen with hot meals for students. The presence of a boarding school for students who came to study at this school from neighboring villages was an innovation for that time. One interesting fact. Mirza Fatali Akhundov wrote about this village in his work "Haji Gara", and in the play "1905" by Jafar Jabbarli. At one time, the great Uzeyir bey taught at the Tugh village school.

He taught at the Tugh village school after graduating from the Gori pedagogical seminary. It was from here, from the Dzhabrail district, that he sent his first manuscripts to the “Caspian” newspaper. The first manuscript sent by him was published on September 24, 1904, in the 215th issue of the “Kaspiy” newspaper with the following accompanying inscription: “Correspondence. From Dzhabrail district (from our correspondent) ”.

There are many historical and cultural monuments in Tugh. In this village, located in the Guruchay valley, there is the Ritish fortress, which is sometimes called the Tugh fortress.

There is also an Albanian temple, the foundation of which was laid in 1197, the Red Temple, which is more than 10 centuries old, a bridge built in the 18th century, and dozens of such historical monuments.

Winemaking was developed here. Viticulture was considered one of the main symbols of Tugh and Hadrut.

The red wine produced here in Soviet times was included in the diet of the Kremlin magnates.

By the way, since we are talking about the Kremlin, do you know what the Armenians living in Tugh did in 1991?

This is a topic for another conversation. Tomorrow you will find out:

- Why did the Armenians send over 200 telegrams to Moscow in one night?

- We mentioned Azykh, but what about the Taghlar cave?

- What did our employee find in Tugh?

Stay with us, you won't find it anywhere, only here ...

Author: Sabuhi Mammadli

Photo - Vugar Alioglu © APA GROUP