The available sources and facts allow us to create a publication with undeniable documentary foundations. It reveals the deep roots of the Artsakh issue, dating back to the early 19th century.

What began as the military conquest of the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands by Tsarism received its legal seal with the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813. The Russian Empire, aiming toward the warm south, закрепed Artsakh as its colonial possession.

But why, instead of defining it as a “conquered territory,” was it presented to Armenians as a liberation from Persian colonial rule?

The Language of Numbers (1805–1823)
If we turn to the censuses conducted by Tsarist military authorities, the picture is clear. In the early 1800s, within the territories of the five principalities of Artsakh, an overwhelming majority—84.6%—were Armenians, indigenous inhabitants whose ancestors had cultivated this land for centuries. The Tatar element constituted only 14.7%.

By 1823, data (according to George Bournoutian) presents a striking picture: in Jraberd and Khachen, Armenian villages accounted for 100%. Gulistan, Varanda, and Dizak also retained a clearly Armenian character.

Was pilaf being cooked long before Stalin? It is often claimed that the region’s ethnic mosaic is a result of the Stalinist period. However, facts suggest otherwise: the Tsarist administration had already applied the principle of “divide and rule” much earlier.

In 1813, the Shushi district, replacing the Artsakh Khanate, was included in the Caspian region. Instead of creating a separate Armenian district, the Tsarist administration merged it into a region with a Muslim majority to destroy the ancient autonomy of indigenous Armenian princes.

Looking at the administrative map of 1840–1859, we see how historical territories were reshaped into artificial borders where the interests of the indigenous Armenian population were subordinated to the strategic balance of the Russian Empire.

Conclusion

The Russian Empire attempted to “organize” the Caucasus in a Robinson-like manner. But numbers and maps do not lie: Artsakh was not merely a territory on a map, but a millennia-old Armenian habitat whose demographic reality confirms its undeniable identity.

Yes, the pilaf began cooking long before Stalin—but at the heart of the recipe has always been the land and water of the indigenous Armenian.