The Avagyan family of Tsghna, Nakhijevan, 1880

The photograph shows the Avagyan family from the settlement of Tsghna in Nakhijevan, 1880. Seated are a white-haired elderly man and a woman in a tall headdress, the lower part of her face covered. Standing are a bearded young man and a little girl in a headscarf.

Since ancient times Nakhijevan was part of various Armenian kingdoms, and for centuries Armenians made up a considerable part of its population. In the 19th century the region became part of the Russian Empire; after the empire collapsed it became a disputed territory and, in Soviet times, an autonomous republic within Azerbaijan. Reports and studies, including those supported by Cornell University, have documented the systematic destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage there in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.