Shusha Fortress

History

Historical and political situation

Following the assassination of Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747) in 1747, internal chaos erupted in Iran, particularly in the South Caucasus, where semi-autonomous khanates emerged as a result of the lack of a centralized government, one of them being the Karabakh Khanate. Each of these khanates, which was implementing their own policies and trying to develop their economy, had a center to control the areas that was under their supervisory. This period was associated with several complicated events in the military-political history of the South Caucasus. Some of them are as follows:

1. Forty Years’ War (1709–1749) had not yet ended.

2. The wars and the uprisings of peasants in feudal society were frequent.

3. The region was being attacked by Turks and Iranians.

In such a situation, khanates were mainly in need of a well-fortified capital city because they had to maintain their territorial integrity and political independence. Therefore, the construction of such fortified cities was primarily driven by the demand of military-political situation.

Panah Ali khan who founded the Karabakh Khanate with the support of Armenian Melik Shahnazar in 1747 decided to build a fortress which would help him to control this large country extending from The Aras River to Lake Sevan, from The Tartar River to Meghri, Tatev and Sisian and including the areas of Karabakh, Zangezur and Bargushad. In 1748, Panah Ali Khan ordered to start the construction of Bayat castle near Barda. Panah Ali Khan were willing to build "a fortress where his family can live and he can protect the people in the case of invasion by enemies". Therefore, Bayat castle was surrounded by deep ditches and thick exterior walls.

Bayat castle, which was built with fired bricks, features Khan's palace, mosque, bazaar, bath and houses. Following the settlement of Khan's family in Bayat, artists from nearby villages as well as Ardabil and Tabriz moved here. However, Bayat did not remain as Khan's residence for a long time. Despite numerous reinforcement efforts, the castle was still weak against the attacks of foreigners. Taking into account the threat, Panah Ali Khan started to look for a strategically more favorable area to build a new fort. As a result, the area of Ternekut best known as Shahbulag, which was a foothill located near Shahbulag spring (10 km away from Aghdam), was preferred.

Construction

Ahmad bey Javanshir noted that "The eternally impassable, inaccessible place chosen for construction of the fort would not allow even the strongest enemy to besiege it". The construction of a new fortress required such a location that one of its sides would be open to be in contact with elats as well as would provide Panah Ali Khan with a chance to get in touch with mahals under his control.

"The sole place in whole Karabakh was Shusha lowland, which was a natural fort surrounded by inaccessible rocks". Baharli, the historian of Karabakh, stated that the space selected for the construction of the new fort was surrounded all around, except the east, by dense forests. The area of the fortress is divided into the ravines completed by valleys. The ravines allow natural water to flow out of the fortress, so it reduces the possibility of flooding to zero in Shusha, where the rainy and foggy weather is characteristic.

Due to the lack of flowing water sources in Shusha plateau (except a few springs), numerous groundwater wells were drilled to meet the needs of the castle population for water. One of the most important features of the Shusha plateau was its richness of well-hewn stones used for construction and forests. All of these played an important role and had a great value as local building materials for the construction of the fortress.

Although the fortress walls were vital to the city during the continuous feudal wars, their construction required to spend a large part of the city budget. The choice of a mountainous area for the construction of the town of Shusha also allowed to save some money for the construction of the walls. Rocky cliffs caused an inaccessible environment in almost two-thirds of the defense system. Therefore, Shusha is one of the best examples of how the strategic factor influences the choice of territory.

The testimony of many witnesses proves the success of the site chosen for the construction of the fortress. G. Keppel, the famous English traveler who visited Karabakh in the 19th century, noted the successful strategic location of the Shusha plateau. He writes: "The natural superior position – the location in the almost inaccessible peak of the high hill – caused the need for human defense to play a less important role in the city." Count Platon Zubov who described Shusha fortress at the top of the Caucasus Mountains also stated its natural strategic advantage. The high cliffs surrounding the Shusha plateau on three sides – south, west and east – rise above each other in different directions and they are "completely inaccessible" from all the sides except the north. The height of the rocks surrounding the Shusha plateau even reaches up to 400 meters in some places.

Architectural features

The area in which Shusha fortress was built is a mountainous plateau in the form of amphitheater from the west with numerous hills and rifts. The highest area of plateau is 1600 m and the lowest area is 1300 m above sea level. At present, the territory of Shusha city consists of plateau with a hill located lengthwise in its center. The plateau which turns sharply to the east reaches the hill that dominate the whole area in the west. The hill which is completed by a fault is also the center of a large amphitheater, with one wing reaching south and crossing Jidir Plain, then extends to the north from where it rounds to the south, and is completed by a ravine.

All the outer edges of Shusha plateau are sharply surrounded by hard rocks descending into Dashalticay and Khalfalichay. According to "Qafqaz" newspaper, the main reason for choosing such a unique place was related to the strategic importance that the complex mountainous area had.

At the beginning of the 18th century, on the eve of the formation of Khanates of the Caucasus, large centers of the traditional school of architecture such as Nakhchivan, Ganja, Shamakhi, were in the period of decline. In the period when Azerbaijan was divided into smaller territories, these centers of architecture lost their power of influence. New capital cities were in need of construction of palaces, castles, and forts. Therefore, feudal lords were forced to make local rural architects involve in the construction of cities. As a result, these architects had a significant impact on the architecture of new cities built in Azerbaijan in the middle of the 18th century. The main buildings of these cities are characterized by the lack of monumentality and the fact that the building materials are not well-hewn stones, which are especially observed in the buildings of Medieval Period.

At the same time, the involvement of architects who are not well known in the building process of cities had a major advantage: they were somewhat acquainted with local building materials and had certain information about how to apply them in construction. They combined the traditions of the old schools of architecture with the works of folk architects in the architecture of new cities. The most interesting syntheses of this period are observed in the architecture of Shaki and Karabakh khanates.

The architecture of Shusha fortress represents basic principles of architecture of feudal period in terms of both the choice of location, structural planning and the artistic appearance of the fort. Ahmad bey Javanshir says:

Gates

Shusha fortress had three main gates: Ganja Gate, İrevan Gate and Aghoghlan Gate. The names of all these gates are often mentioned in historical sources, as well as in all the drawn plans of 19th-century Shusha. For example, in the 25th issue of the "Qafqaz" newspaper published in 1871, it was written: "According to Abix's barometric measurements, the northeastern part of the city where the Aghoghlan and Elisabethpol gates are located is 3,886 feet tall, and the southwestern part known as "Shusha Rock" and Irevan Gate are located is 4,705 feet tall." Even in the 1860s, these gates played an important role in the public life of Shusha, as evidenced by an article published in the «Иллюстрация» newspaper. According to the article, Aghoghlan and İrevan gates were intended for the passage of dignitaries and cargo but Ganja gate were used for the passage of carts. Although some sources mentioned that there was the fourth gate of the castle walls, its location and name have not been determined.

Architects have long considered that the acquaintance with the city began with its castle walls, and the architecture of the city was determined by these walls. Therefore, in terms of architectural composition, the main (northern) gate of Shusha fortress is reminiscent of the arch of victory. A similar attitude to the artistic significance of defense systems is characteristic of the architecture (in terms of fortresses) of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Armenia, Georgia, Central Asia and Ancient Russia.

The gate built during the reign of Panah Ali Khan has been called Ganja Gate or Chilabord Gate since the 18th century. The way through his gate of Shusha fortress connected Ganja city with Chilabord district of Karabakh khanate. After the annexation of the Karabakh Khanate to the Russian Empire in 1805, Ganja was renamed Elisabethpol (1804) and Ganja Gate was called Elisabethpol Gate.

The Northern Gate of Shusha Fortress is located in the middle of the fortress walls – between Aghoghlan and İrevan Gates. Ganja Gate has survived in a better condition to the present day compared to the other gates of Shusha fortress.

The masonry woven from white and black stones in the shape of a checkerboard and a fir effectively surrounds the arched entrance of the castle. There are symmetrical traces of the fake and demolished window exits over the entrance. There are loopholes or tower chimneys among them. The ordering of fake and real window exits was widely used in the architecture of that period to compose the facades of public buildings, and it was adopted by architects as a result of civil architecture.

Inner part

According to the sources, at the same time with the construction of Shusha fortress, a castle was built for Panah Ali Khan inside the fortress. E. Avalov notes that the construction of fortress walls for each of the palaces built for members of the khan's family indicates the absence of inner part of Shusha fortress in the early period. From this point of view, Shusha fortress differs from Shaki and Ganja fortresses. According to the author, it is possible to explain in two ways the reason why the fortress does not have a well-developed inner part. The first one is the natural strategic location of Shusha plateau, and the other one is related to the existence of the safekeeping of an ancient rock-palace located in Dashalty Gorge (outside the limits of the city), which is difficult to pass, and a defense castle in the rock cave across it. According to Ahmad bey Javanshir, the cave connected the castle with Shusha fortress by a secret underground road.

According to the main plan of Shusha whose exact date is unknown, during the later development of the fortress, the inner part with a large complex of buildings and surrounded by castle walls and towers was built on a high hill near Ganja Gate of the fortress. The Khan's Palaces, including the palace of Khurshidbanu Natavan who was the daughter of Ibrahim Khalil Khan was located inside the fortress. E. Avalov notes that neither the main plan, nor the parts of Shusha plan drawn in 1837, which have survived until the present day, do not specify the exact purpose of each of the buildings inside the fortress. In one of the drawings (drawn in 1847), the whole interior complex was generally called "Khanshi House".

General information about the appearance of inner part of the fortress was introduced by Vasily Vereshchagin's painting "The End of Dramatic Play" in 1865. The background of the painting depicts inner part of the fortress and the buildings there. E. Avalov notes that many buildings located in the inner part of Shusha fortress were destroyed in the period when the drawing was painted. The parts of walls of the inner fortress and a round tower have survived until the present.