page_title: Shusha fortress
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Shusha fortress / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Funeral feast in Shusha. The final of dramatic representation
context_page_description: Shusha fortress — the fortress walls surrounding the historical center of Shusha. Newly established castle town was called "Panahabad fortress" named after Panah Ali Khan who was the founder of the fort. In later years, city was just called "Fortress". After a certain period of time, people named it as "Shusha fortress" and later it was simply called "Shusha". The name of Shusha was probably derived from the name of Shushekend village which was near the location where the fort was built.
  Molla Panah Vagif, poet and also the Vizier of Khan of Karabakh, personally supervised and controlled the construction of Shusha fortress. Hasan Ali Khan Garadaghi, the historian of Karabakh Khanate, commented that "Several buildings in Shusha as well as Shusha fortress was built under the direct supervision of Molla Panah Vagif".
  The area where Shusha fortress was built is a mountainous plateau in the form of amphitheater from the west with numerous hills and rifts. The highest area of plateau is 1600 m and the lowest area is 1300 m above sea level. At present, the territory of Shusha city consists of plateau with a hill located lengthwise in its center.
context_section_description: Ahmad bey Javanshir noted that "The eternally impassable, inaccessible place chosen for construction of the fort would not allow even the strongest enemy to besiege it". The construction of a new fortress required such a location that one of its sides would be open to be in contact with elats as well as would provide Panah Ali Khan with a chance to get in touch with mahals under his control. 
  "The sole place in whole Karabakh was Shusha lowland, which was a natural fort surrounded by inaccessible rocks". Baharli, the historian of Karabakh, stated that the space selected for the construction of the new fort was surrounded all around, except the east, by dense forests. The area of the fortress is divided into the ravines completed by valleys. The ravines allow natural water to flow out of the fortress, so it reduces the possibility of flooding to zero in Shusha, where the rainy and foggy weather is characteristic.
  
  Due to the lack of flowing water sources in Shusha plateau (except a few springs), numerous groundwater wells were drilled to meet the needs of the castle population for water. One of the most important features of the Shusha plateau was its richness of well-hewn stones used for construction and forests. All of these played an important role and had a great value as local building materials for the construction of the fortress.
  Although the forest walls were vital to the city during the continuous feudal wars, their construction required to spend a large part of the city budget. The choice of a mountainous area for the construction of the town of Shusha also allowed to save some money for the construction of the walls. Rocky cliffs caused an inaccessible environment in almost two-thirds of the defense system. Therefore, Shusha is one of the best examples of how the strategic factor influences the choice of territory.
  The testimony of many witnesses proves the success of the site chosen for the construction of the fortress. G. Keppel, the famous English traveler who visited Karabakh in the 19th century, noted the successful strategic location of the Shusha plateau. He writes: "The natural superior position - the location in the almost inaccessible peak of the high hill - caused the need for human defense to play a less important role in the city." Count Platon Zubov who described Shusha fortress at the top of the Caucasus Mountains also stated its natural strategic advantage. The high cliffs surrounding the Shusha plateau on three sides - south, west and east - rise above each other in different directions and they are "completely inaccessible" from all the sides except the north.  The height of the rocks surrounding the Shusha plateau even reaches up to 400 meters in some places.
  Russian military historian Vasily Potto described 48-day defense of Shusha against the army led by Qajar crown prince Abbas Mirza and also noted the topographical characteristics of Shusha: “The fort, which was in a dilapidated condition but impassable due to its position, was not in need of a complicated defense plan.” One of the advantages of the site chosen for the construction of the fortress was the good observation and control of all the surrounding areas, which prevented a sudden attack of the enemy. P. Zubov writes: "It is possible to observe the villages, which are scattered along the valley and located on the farthest side from the perspective of Shusha plateau, beautiful vineyards and mountains covered with forests."
  V. Potto and A. A. Caspari who was speaking about the natural impregnability of Shusha fortress also noted that the cliffs which rise to the top, especially in the north-eastern part of the city. They stated that due to these cliffs, "even a few people would be enough to prevent an army consisting of a large number of soldiers as in ancient Thermopylae". The road from Shusha fortress to Ganja fortress was located on the slope of the mountain. In 1870s, the measures were taken to straighten this steep road hindering the development of the economy in Shusha. For this purpose, some rocks which was difficult to pass 
caption: Vasily Vereshchagin - "The End of Dramatic Play", 1865. Shusha fortress and Khan palace can be seen in the background.
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