Arshak Gavafian, better known by his '' nom de guerre'' Keri (1858 – 15 May 1916), was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n fedayee military commander and member of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

.Antranig Chalabian, General Andranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement - Page 583

Biography

Arshak Gavafian was born in

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

. He graduated from the local Armenian school. Gavafian had soon taken part in Armenian resistance activity. In 1895, during the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

in Erzurum, Gavafian led an armed group to protect Armenian people in the region and soon became their spiritual leader.K. S. Khudaverdyan, Armenian issue: Encyclopedia, 1991 - 348st; Gavafian moved to Sasun in 1903 and took part in the 1904 Sasun uprising. After moving to

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

, he was one of the organizers of the Armenian self-defense of

Zangezur Zangezur ( hy, Զանգեզուր) is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar I ...

(in particular,

Angeghakot Angeghakot ( hy, Անգեղակոթ) is a village in the Sisian Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia. A large reservoir, the Angeghakot Reservoir, spanning more than the entire length of the village lies to the south. Demographics I ...

) during the Armenian–Tatar massacres. In the following years he took part in the Persian Constitutional Revolution from 1908 to 1912 and was an associate of

Yeprem Khan Yeprem Khan ( hy, Եփրեմ Խան; 1868–1912), born Yeprem Davidian ( hy, Եփրեմ Դավթյան, fa, یپرم‌خان داویدیان), was an Iranian-Armenian revolutionary leader and a leading figure in the Constitutional Revolutio ...

. After Yeprem's death, Gavafian had his killers liquidated in revenge and took the leadership of the Caucasian troops. After the declaration of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Keri became the commander of the 4th Armenian volunteer battalion of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

in 1914. Keri led the volunteer unit in the Battle of Sarikamish at the Barduz pass.Museum of Learning. Explore a Virtual Museum of Knowledge
Arshak Gafavian
/ref> Victory was largely determined by the courage of the Armenian soldiers and military genius of Keri, who relieved the besieged Russian and Armenian troops at

Rowanduz Rawandiz ( ar, رواندز; ku, ڕەواندز, Rewandiz) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, located in the Erbil Governorate, close to the borders with Iran and Turkey, it is located 10 km to the east from Bekhal Waterfall. The d ...

in 1916. In 1916, on his way to

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

from Rowanduz, Keri and his detachment were surrounded and, while trying to get out, he was killed in battle. After his death, his body was transferred to

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

and buried within the Armenian Khojivank cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keri 1858 births 1916 deaths People from Erzurum Armenian fedayi Armenian generals Armenian nationalists Armenian people of World War I Imperial Russian Army personnel Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Persian Constitutional Revolution Guerrillas killed in action Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Burials at Armenian Pantheon of Tbilisi

Biography

See also

References