Շիրվանցի հայ հրամանատարների սպանդն Ավետարանոցում (1723 թ. հունիս) / The Massacre of the Shirvan Armenian Commanders in Avetaranotz (June 1723)

Abstract

Armenian sources from the 1720s recount a treacherous fratricide that took place in the Karabakh village of Avetaranotz in June 1723. A thorough analysis of these records reveals various details about this tragic event, including the number of victims (47 or 55 men) and the identity of their commander, Shirvan-Yuzbashi. The motives and consequences of the massacre are examined within the context of the complex domestic political situation that had developed since 1722 in the de facto independent Armenian principalities of Karabakh, also known as the Karabakh Armenian Sagnaks. Between 1723 and 1728/29 in Karabakh (Artsakh), two independent Armenian military-feudal factions coexisted. They sometimes united against external enemies and at other times competed and feuded with each other. The more powerful and cohesive of these groups consisted of professional Armenian military commanders who had immigrated from the province of Shirvan. In 1722, they moved to Karabakh and led the process of reviving, forming, and arming Armenian troops. The other group included part of the local aristocracy, specifically the traditional rulers (meliks) of the Gulistan, Dzhraberd, and Varanda cantons of Karabakh, who opposed the expansion and strengthening of the Shirvan commanders' power. The murder of the Shirvan Armenian commanders in Avetaranotz, orchestrated by Melik-Bagher of Varanda, left a deep wound in the memory of contemporaries. This crime seriously undermined efforts to unite all Karabakh Armenian forces into a national liberation front under a single command. Nevertheless, thanks to the high level of patriotism, effective military organization, and exceptional resilience of the Shirvan commanders (Avan-Yuzbashi, TarkhanYuzbashi, and several other prominent generals affectionately known among the Karabakh populace as the “Shirvan guys”), a destructive civil war was avoided. Moreover, beginning in early 1725, Melik Bagher joined the camp led by his former rivals and engaged in a determined struggle against the Ottoman conquerors, remaining devoted to this cause until his death between 1727 and 1730