Editing Nagorno-Karabakh (section)

=== Late Middle Ages ===
{{main|Karabakh Khanate|Melikdoms of Karabakh}}
[[File:Şuşa qalası (2).jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Shusha fortress]], built by the [[Karabakh Khanate]] ruler [[Panah Ali Khan]] in the 18th century]]
[[File:Five principalities of karabakh.png|thumb|250px|left|The semi-independent [[Melikdoms of Karabakh|''Five Principalities'']] (Armenian: Խամսայի Մելիքություններ) of Karabakh (Gyulistan, Jraberd, Khachen, Varanda, and Dizak), widely considered to be the last relic of Armenian statehood (15th–19th century).<ref>Robert H. Hewsen. Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=George A. Bournoutian |title=A History of Qarabagh: An Annotated Translation of Mirza Jamal Javanshir Qarabaghi's Tarikh-e Qarabagh |publisher=Mazda Publishers |date=1994 |isbn=1-56859-011-3}}</ref>]]

In the 15th century, the territory of Karabakh was part of the states ruled subsequently by the [[Kara Koyunlu]] and [[Ak Koyunlu]] [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] tribal confederations. According to [[Abu Bakr Tihrani]], during the period of [[Jahan Shah]] (1438–1468), the ruler of Kara Koyunlu, Piri bey Karamanli held the governorship of Karabakh.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/KitabEDiyarbakriya-AbuBakrTehraniFarsi|title=(original) کتاب دیاربکریه: از تواریخ‌ قراقوینلو و چغاتای. ویسنده: ابوبکر طهرانی. به تصحیح‌ و اهتمام‌: نجاتی‌ لوغال‌، فاروق‌ سومه‌. تهران‌ : کتابخانه طهوری‏‫،۱۳۵۶.|last=Abū Bakr Ṭihrānī. Kitāb-i Diyārbakriyya|pages=138}}</ref> However, according to [[Robert H. Hewsen]], the [[Turkmen people|Turkoman]] lord [[Jahan Shah]] (1437–67) assigned the governorship of upper Karabakh to local Armenian princes, allowing a native Armenian leadership to emerge consisting of five noble families led by princes who held the titles of ''[[melik]]s''.<ref name="Atlas"/> These dynasties represented the branches of the earlier House of Khachen and were the descendants of the medieval kings of Artsakh. Their lands were often referred to as the Country of [[Principality of Khachen|Khamsa]] (''five'' in Arabic). In a Charter (2 June 1799) of the Emperor [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] titled "About their admission to Russian suzerainty, land allocation, rights and privileges", it was noted that the Christian heritage of the Karabakh region and all their people were admitted to the Russian suzerainty.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Полное Собрание Законов Российской Империи c 1649 года. Том XXV. 1798–1799. СПб.: Печатано в Типографии II Отделения Собственной Его Императорского Величества Канцелярии, 1830, № 18.990, c.674–675. (Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire since 1649. Volume XXV. 1798–1799. SPb .: Printed at the Printing House of the II Branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Office, 1830, No. 18.990, p.674-675)}}</ref> However, according to [[Robert H. Hewsen|Robert Hewsen]], the [[Russian Empire]] recognized the [[sovereignty|sovereign]] status of the five princes in their domains by the charter of Emperor Paul I dated 2 June 1799.<ref name="Relations">Robert H. Hewsen. ''Russian–Armenian relations, 1700–1828''. Society of Armenian Studies, N4, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, p 37.</ref>

The Armenian meliks were granted supreme command over neighbouring Armenian principalities and Muslim khans in the Caucasus by the Iranian king [[Nader Shah]], in return for the meliks' victories over the invading [[Ottoman Turks]] in the 1720s.<ref>Walker, Christopher J. ''Armenia: Survival of a Nation''. London: Routledge, 1990 p. 40 {{ISBN|0-415-04684-X}}</ref> These five principalities<ref>Raffi, The History of Karabagh's Meliks, Vienna, 1906, in Armenian</ref><ref>In English, Raffi, ''The Five Melikdoms of Karabagh'' translated by Ara Stepan Melkonian, Garod Books Ltd. 2010, London. {{ISBN|9781903656570}}</ref> in Karabakh were ruled by Armenian families who had received the title Melik (prince) and were the following:
* '''Principality of ''Gulistan''''' – under the leadership of the Melik-Beglarian family
* '''Principality of ''Jraberd''''' – under the leadership of the Melik-Israelian family
* '''Principality of ''[[Khachen]]''''' – under the leadership of the [[Hasan Jalalyan|Hasan-Jalalian]] family
* '''Principality of ''Varanda''''' – under the leadership of the Melik-Shahnazarian family
* '''Principality of ''[[Dizak]]''''' – under the leadership of the Melik-Avanian family

From 1501 to 1736, during the existence of the [[Safavid Empire]], the province of Karabakh was governed by the [[Ziyadoghlu Qajar]] dynasty, until [[Nader Shah]] took over Karabakh from their rule.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Павлова И.К. Хроника времен Сефевидов. Соч. Мухаммад-Масума Исфахани "Хуласат ас-сийар". М.:Наука, 1993, c.59–61.}}</ref> The Armenian meliks maintained full control over the region until the mid-18th century.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In the early 18th century, Iran's Nader Shah took Karabakh out of control of the Ganja khans in punishment for their support of the [[Safavid]]s, and placed it under his own control<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://vostlit.info/Texts/rus2/Bakihanov/frametext5.htm Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov. Golestan-i Iram] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220125707/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus2/Bakihanov/frametext5.htm |date=20 February 2007 }}; according to an 18th-century local Turkic-Muslim writer Mirza Adigezal bey, Nadir shah placed Karabakh under his own control, while a 19th-century local Turkic Muslim writer Abbas-gulu Aga Bakikhanov states that the shah placed Karabakh under the control of the governor of Tabriz.</ref><ref name="Adigezal">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus14/Karabag_name/text1.phtml?id=945|title=МИРЗА АДИГЕЗАЛЬ-БЕК->КАРАБАГ-НАМЕ->ГЛАВЫ 1–6|website=www.vostlit.info|access-date=26 December 2006|archive-date=21 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821124203/http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus14/Karabag_name/text1.phtml?id=945|url-status=live}}</ref> In the mid-18th century, as internal conflicts between the meliks led to their weakening, the Karabakh Khanate was formed. The [[Karabakh khanate]], one of the largest [[Khanates of the Caucasus|khanates]] under [[Iran]]ian suzerainty,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bournoutian|first1=George A.|title=The 1820 Russian Survey of the Khanate of Shirvan: A Primary Source on the Demography and Economy of an Iranian Province prior to its Annexation by Russia|date=2016|publisher=Gibb Memorial Trust|page=xvii|quote=''Serious historians and geographers agree that after the fall of the Safavids, and especially from the mid-eighteenth century, the territory of the South Caucasus was composed of the khanates of Ganja, Kuba, Shirvan, Baku, Talesh, Sheki, Karabagh, Nakhchivan and Yerevan, all of which were under Iranian suzerainty.'' |isbn=978-1909724808}}</ref> was headed by [[Panah-Ali khan Javanshir]]. For the reinforcement of the power of Karabakh khanate, Khan of Karabakh, Panah-Ali khan Javanshir, built up “[[Shusha fortress|the fortress of Panahabad]] (today Shusha)” in 1751. During that time, Otuziki, [[Javanshir clan|Javanshir]], Kebirli, and other Turkic tribes constituted the majority of the overall population.