Characteristics of the Development of the Religious Education System in Karabakh (The Second Half of the Nineteenth - Early Twentieth Centuries)
Elshan Aslanov
Abstract. This article examines the development of the religious education system in Karabakh from the second half of the nineteenth to the early twentieth century through historical-comparative, source-critical, and historical-geographical approaches. It analyses the functional distinction between madrasas and mollakhanas, the territorial distribution of religious educational institutions, Shusha's position as a regional centre, curricular content, waqf financing, the social roles of graduates, and changes associated with Russian imperial policy. The comparison of sources shows that religious education was not confined to urban settings: it also operated in mahals and villages, although institutional density and continuity varied according to population, mosque networks, local resources, waqf property, and the availability of trained teachers. Shusha became the principal centre because administrative, economic, religious, and cultural resources were concentrated there, while rural instruction was organised mainly around mosques, mollakhanas, and local teachers. Madrasas trained religious personnel but also transmitted literacy, written culture, classical languages, and skills relevant to local administration. The expansion of secular schools did not immediately displace traditional education; the two sectors coexisted and served partly different social needs. The study argues that the period was characterised not simply by decline, but by uneven adaptation under conditions of administrative supervision, competition, and institutional diversification.
Keywords: Karabakh, Shusha, religious education, madrasa, mollakhana, waqf