Old Jugha

Jugha was an eyewitness to all the historical events which took place on the territory between Nakhichevan and Vaspurakan. In the Middle Ages, this densely populated, prosperous town was often subjected to invasions by foreign forces and was devastated, plundered and set on fire. It was in 1605 that Jugha finally lay in ruins and its population was forced to migrate. The name "Jugha" has not as yet been etymologically studied. Chronologically, the oldest Armenian names of this site from the fifth through 17th centuries were Jughah, Chojha, Jugha. To differentiate it from Nor (new) Jugha in the 17th through 20th centuries, it was called Hin (old) Jugha (it is pronounced "khin" in local dialect). Historians and travelers have called it Djoulfa, Ciulfa, Iulfa, Zulfa, Usulfa, Sulfa, Diulfa, Tulfa, Iula, Chiulfa, and Zugha.

Jugha was founded on an important crossroad of the well known trade and military transit routes of the Old World, through which, routes from the far East passed on their way to the shores of the Mediterranean. It is later found in records of the seventh century, connected with Arab invasions of Armenia. Ghevond, the historian, wrote that the Arabs, attacking the lands of the Armenians, occupied Goghtn and its surrounding provinces "... many men were put to the sword, and others with their wives and children were enslaved, taken over the Yeraskh to the roots of Jugha..."4. Then the Arabs again attacking the lands of the Armenian in 688 "...performed many unlawful acts in Marats, and Khram, in Khoshakunes and in Jugha".



Historical sources speak of the fact that beginning from the X - XII centuries, trade grew equally rapidly with crafts in Jugha. In the XI century it had its center and in rank and fame Jugha was placed along with Nakhichevan. Being located on an important trade route, called the :royal" or merchant route, Jugha became outstanding within a short period of time, as a storehouse and trade exchange center of transit goods in the Arax (Yeraskh) valley. Beginning from the XV century, it achieved unprecedented prosperity. Therefore, the people of Jugha considered being a merchant the main, prime, hereditary occupation - a profession. Thus in the XV - XVII centuries there were many Jugha merchants in Armenian economical life, who called themselves "khojas". They were famous for the tremendous wealth and resources they had accumulated and also as organizers of printing and publishing among Armenians. They were devoted patriots. It was during those centuries, a period of considerable downfall for Armenia politically, economically, and culturally, that Jugha attained great fame: its wealth was known everywhere. The riches of Jughaites were fabulous: decorations and furnishings in the homes and mansions of "khojas" were mostly gold and silver. It was for these reasons that in 1541 Catholicos Grigor XI in his pastoral letter spoke about Jugha as a "divine village"15. In the XV - XVI centuries, Hakob Jughayetsi, the famous miniature painter, when copying the colophon of a Gospel in 1587 called the town a "great religious capital"16. Khachatur Khizanetsi, the merited scribe, in the colophon of the Menology he copied in 1594 wrote that he had copied it in "the capital Jugha, the shelter and pride of the Haigazian family; we beseech the Creator to always keep it prosperous".

In the middle of the XIX century, with the erection of state customs services, garrisons, post office, etc., three kilometers east of Jugha, a new settlement arose on the bank of the Arax which was call Julfa. It is now the center of the district. (The name the Jughaites used to give Julfa was Kraktin.) During wars between neighboring peoples in 1918 - 1818, the Jugha battalion, consisting of Jughaites, heroically opposed and fought to save its native village from destruction. However, in July 1919, to prevent the entry of an army consisting of more than 500 regularly armed fighters into Jugha, a group of 32 brave Jughaites fought self-sacrificingly; after that the whole population was compelled to migrate to Tabriz. In July 1920, when Soviet power was established in Nakhichevan, those Jughaites who had migrated to Tabriz returned to live in their native village.