Jangir Agha (, , , c. 1874–1943) was a prominent military and social figure of

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 ...

in the early 20th century. He is considered a national hero of the

Yazidi people Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The maj ...

. He died in prison after bing arrested during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

in 1938; he was posthumously rehabilitated. He was born in Chubuhly village of

Van Province Van Province ( tr, Van ili, ku, Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,035,418 at ...

of present-day

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

(currently included in Turkey). A number of songs are written about Jangir Agha by the Yazidis. Around 1909, Jangir Agha met with

Andranik Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik;. Also spelled Antranik or Antranig 25 February 186531 August 1927), was an Armenian military commander and statesman, the best known '' fedayi'' and a key figure of the ...

, the champion of Armenian independence from the Ottoman Empire. Jangir Agha supported the Armenian loyalists, providing them with military and material aid. During the First World War, he was the commander of the irregular cavalry as a tribal leader. At the beginning of the war, Jangir Agha's First Nodist Yezidi regiment tried not to engage in combat operations against the Russian army. In 1915, after the capture of Van by the Russian army, Jangir Agha with his regiment and four other Yezidi regiments led by Sardar Bey, Najid Bey, Osman Agha and Hussein Bey went over to the side of the Russians. During the Armenian-Turkish battles in 1918 he greatly helped in the Armenian victory over the Turks and Sunni Kurds in the village of Molabalzet. Agha participated in the

Battle of Bash Abaran The Battle of Bash Abaran ( hy, Բաշ Աբարանի ճակատամարտ ''Bash Abarani chakatamart'', tr, Baş-Abaran Muharebesi) was a battle of Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the vicinity of Bash Abaran, in 1918. The ...

, which took place on May 16-18, 1918, with his Yazidi battalion of three hundred horsemen against the Turkish Army, which had invaded Armenia. He welcomed the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia in 1920. He later joined in the anti-Bolshevik revolts of February 18, 1921 and participated in battles for

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. He was arrested in 1938 during the

and died in 1943 at the age of 69 in one of the

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

prisons. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1959.

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Armenian Yazidis Gulag detainees Armenian military personnel of the Turkish–Armenian War Soviet rehabilitations 19th-century Kurdish people 20th-century Kurdish people 1870s births 1943 deaths Year of birth uncertain {{Yazidi-stub

See also

References

External links