Avan Yuzbashi

Supreme commander of the five melikdoms of Artsakh.

Avan Yuzbashi (1670–1735) wis an 18t century commander o Armenie airmies in Nagorno-Karabakh. He wis instrumental in aidin David Bek's forces an gainin victories ower the forces o Safavid Iran an the Ottoman Empire in Zangezur region. In a letter tae the Roushie monarch, Yuzbashi wrote, "We will fecht till that time when we will enter the service o the tsar, an aw will perish tae the last ane but we will no leave Christianity; we will fecht for oor faith." Kekhva Chelebi, an Armenie patriot who maintained correspondence atween the meliks o Karabakh an the Roushie authorities, reports:

Avan Yuzbashi
Born1670
The veelage o Shosh o the Principality o Varanda (Askeran region o wha is nou the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).
Dee'd1735
AllegianceArmenie naitional muivement
Years o service1724-1728
RankSupreme commander o the five melikdoms o Artsakh.
… The nearest Armenie stranghauld … wis Shushi. Shushi is fower days' distance frae Shemakhi. Airmit Armenies unner the command o Avan Yuzbashi guard it. Efter meetin wi the Armenie leaders, includin the Patriarch, they returned tae Derbent via Shemakhi. Rocky muntains surroond the toun o Shushi. The nummer o the airmit Armenies haes no been determined. Thare are rumors that the Armenies hae defeatit the Turks in a nummer o skirmishes in Karabagh …[1]

References eedit

  1. Bournoutian, George A. Armenians and Russia, 1626-1796: A Documentary Record. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2001, page 133, (Kekhva Chelebi’s Report to the Collegium of [Russian] Foreign Affairs (17 December 1725))
  • Kiesling, Brady (2005), Rediscovering Armenia: Guide, Yerevan, Armenia: Matit Graphic Design Studio
  • Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993), Looking Toward Ararat:Armenia in Modern History, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press