Abstract:

History and geography of Karabakh has become a frequently referred subject for scientific research after it became the subject of political conflict since the last quarter of the last century. The geographical area, which was named as Arran in sources until the Ilkhanids, was later referred to as Karabakh in the following periods. In the following historical periods, the name of Arran was mostly referring to the plains of the region, while the mountainous regions were called Karabakh or Nagorno-Karabakh. The aim of this study is to illuminate political and military history of Karabakh in the process of Islamization and Turkification in South Caucasus. Throughout the Middle Ages, the political-military events that took place in the region made a serious influence on the ethnic and religious situation of the region. The church policy for the Eastern Anatolia and South Caucasus, starting from the reign of the Umayyad and Abbasids and continuing up until the Great Seljuk period, caused the Gregorian-Armenian church to increase its influence in the region. While the Islamization process was continuing in urban areas and plains, the Christian Albanian population in high mountainous regions of Karabakh was rapidly subjected to Armenianization.

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