 The name of the town derives from () which derives from Old Armenian "Partaw" (Պարտաւ), itself from Iranian *"pari-tāva-" 'rampart', from *"pari-" 'around' and *tā̆v- 'to throw; to heap up'.In the 460s AD, King Vache II of Caucasian Albania, acting under the orders of the Sasanian Emperor Peroz I, had founded the settlement known as Partav, which was initially called Perozapat, and replaced Qabala as the capital of Caucasian Albania.According to the seventh-century atlas, the "Ashkharhats'uyts'", attributed to Anania Shirakatsi, Barda was known by the name of Partav (Partaw) during the period of late antiquity and was located in the district of Uti Aṛandznak in the province of Utik', which was at that time in the possession of Albania.