Shortly after the Armenian Genocide and the end of the Caucasus Campaign in 1918 , a Pogrom instigated by the Muslim Azerbaijani Population in 1920 resulted in the destruction of the entire Armenian quarter of the city , which had a devastating effect on cities architecture heritage and position as a major trade city and producer of silk in the 19th century . After the entry of Turko-Islamic nomads to Karabakh 's highlands in the 1750s , the city became divided into two parts : Armenian and Muslim . Although the Islamic Turkic tribesmen ( known since the 1930s as " Azerbaijanis " ) constituted a small percentage of the population of Artsakh 's highlands , their largest concentration was in Shusha , where they lived in peace with the Armenian population there . However , during the early 20th century the cities cosmpolitan and tolerant attitude began to fall apart , and became a venue of sporadic inter-communal violence , but it was in March 1920 when it received the deadliest blow of all . Aided by expeditionary Ottoman forces , armed Turko-Tartar ( " Azerbaijani " ) bands burned and destroyed the Armenian section of the city , murdering most of its Armenian residents in the process — some 20,000 people in total
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Culture of Artsakh