It is the image of key of the Shusha fortress. Shusha is one of the ancient towns of Azerbaijan. It was destroyed during mongol conquests of the country. But later on in 1751 khan of Karabakh Panahali built new fortress there. Karabakh was independent after the collapse of Nadeer shah Afshar empire. So, its first head Panahalu khan pay attention to establish strong defence. He built three towers and one of them was Shusha. It is made of mostly river stones, cobble stones and plasters. It had three gates - Ganja, Erivan, and Aghoghlan gates are the entrances to the city.
The key we see on photo was given to Russian army as the symbol of accepting the Russian power. In 1805 Karabakh khanate and Russian empire was signed Kurekchay treaty. According this treaty Karabakh was accepting Russian imperial authority, but also was keeping its internal independence. So, after the agreement keys of the fortresses were given to Russian military forces.
Now, the key if Shusha fortress is being exhibited in the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan in the hall of khanate period along with keys of Ardabil, Tabriz, Ganja, Baku and other cities.
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