(Turkish-Persian “black garden”, allegedly because of the fertility of its upland valleys, but this is probably a folk etymology), the recent name of the mountainous region lying to the north of the middle course of the Araxes River in Transcaucasia, corresponding to the southern part of the mediaeval Islamic Arrān [q.v.]. The mountains of Ḳarābāg̲h̲ rise to over 12,000 feet, and the modern population (mostly Armenian, with some S̲h̲īʿī Azeri Turks) is concentrated in the deep valleys.
The original Armenian princes of Artzak̲h̲ were dispossessed after the Sald̲j̲ūḳ drive…