Avan Yuzbashi (; ca. 1670–1735) was an 18th-century Armenian military leader in Karabagh, and an important figure of the Armenian liberation struggle during the 1720s in Karabagh.

Biography

Avan and his family were originally from Lori. They eventually moved to

Shushi / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

in Varanda in 1717. Armenian historian

Ashot Hovhannisian Ashot Garegini Hovhannisian ( hy, Աշոտ Գարգինի Հովհաննիսյան; russian: Ашот Гарегинович Иоаннисян, ''Ashot Gareginovich Ioannisyan''; June 17, 1887June 30, 1972) was an Armenian Marxist historiography, ...

wrote that Avan Yuzbashi likely laid the foundation for Shusha's fortress walls in 1724, if not earlier.Quoted in Avan was instrumental in aiding

David Bek Davit Bek or David Beg (; died 1728) was an Armenian military commander and the leader of an Armenian rebellion against invading Ottoman forces and implanted Safavid Muslim tribes in the mountainous region of Zangezur (today the Armenian provin ...

's forces and gaining victories over the forces of

Safavid Iran Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in the

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 Ir ...

region. In a letter to the Russian monarch, Yuzbashi wrote, "We will fight until that time when we will enter the service of the tsar, and all will perish to the last one but we will not leave Christianity; we will fight for our faith." Kekhva Chelebi, an Armenian patriot who maintained correspondence between the

meliks Мelik (also transliterated as ''Meliq'') ( ''melikʿ''; from ar, ملك ''malik'' (king)) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as ''melikdom''s encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhichev ...

of Karabakh and the Russian authorities, reports: Avan was given the title of "

khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

" by king

Tahmasp II Tahmasp II ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 1704? – 11 February 1740) was one of the last Safavid rulers of Persia (Iran). Name "Tahmasp" ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb) is a New Persian name, ultimately derived from Old ...

and was appointed as commander-in-chief of Karabagh by him.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Armenian revolutionaries 17th-century people of Safavid Iran Persian Armenians 1670 births 1735 deaths 18th-century people of Safavid Iran {{Armenia-mil-bio-stub