Economy

The name of Karhat indicates what the local business was: it is composed of the word ‘kar,’ (Armenian for ‘stone,’) and the root ‘hat’ of the verb ‘hatel,’ i.e. (Armenian for ‘to quarry.’)^[3]

The locals used to extract iron ore and obtain iron, but when iron imported from Russia proved far cheaper, they gave it up.^[9]

By the second half of the 19th century, the number of the Karhat Armenians engaged in husbandry was reduced because of the appropriation of most of the village lands by the Siemens German Company.^[9]

Between 1894 and 1895, some of the local Armenians founded another village in the area of the upper course of the river Artinajur, 4 kilometres south-west of their previous place of living. It was called Verin (i.e. ‘Upper’) Karhat while the old village which was later renamed Nerkin (i.e. ‘Lower’) Karhat.^[3]

Education

In 1905, when the Tsarist Government had granted permission to Armenian educational institutions to resume their activity, the Armenians of Karhat convened a meeting on September 27 of the same year and decided to found a one-year school.^[10] Gandzak inhabitant Mrs. Yeghisabet N. Hambardzumian Malkhassiants sponsored the construction of that school in memory of her late husband Stepanos Malkhassiants.^[11]

St. Stepanossian Unisex School opened in 1908.^[12] That year, the school had 54 pupils.^[13] In 1909, the school had a single teacher and 70 schoolchildren, including 4 girls.^[14] In 1911, the school had 82 pupils of which 6 were girls and 2 teachers.^[15] In 1913, the school closed since it had no teachers.^[16]

Culture

According to some manuscripts, Karhat had two churches: St. Hakob church, mentioned in 1656, and Sourb Astvatsatsin church (demolished in 1927), mentioned in 1656 and 1659.^[3] A great number of documents dating from before 1878 (1849,^[17] 1852,^[18] 1861,^[19] 1872,^[20] 1878^[21]) attest that the village had a church with a wooden roof called St. Stepanos. From 1882 (1882,^[22] 1885^[23]), the same sanctuary is known as a stone monument dedicated to the Holy Virgin.

In the centre of the village, there are inscribed cross-stones dating from the 9th to 11th centuries.^[3]

A khachkar called Gyozal Kar (i.e. Beautiful Stone) was located where the village started.^[24] Later the inhabitants of Karhat moved that valuable cross-stone to the centre of the village, where it stood until the deportation of Armenians in 1989.^[3]

Hardly a kilometre south of the village, there is a small medieval building towering at the top of a rock, the fort of Ghala. It has a semi-circular tower in the north-west.

Population

Education

Upper Karhat school opened 1908 as a co-ed institution and had 70 students, 4 of which were girls.

In the 1911-1912 school year, the school operated with a three-year course, had 3 classes, 26 male students, 3 female students, and 2 teachers (Aram Papyants, Ishkhan Hayryants).^[25]

Culture

The church of Verin Karhat was built on the eastern edge of the village at the left mouth of Artinajr river. The building of the chւռցհ was consecrated with the name of Holy Translator. In 1914, the spiritual authorities satisfied the request of the village residents to repair the roof of the church. The church was destroyed in the 1920s.^[3][26][27]