Hamazasp Srvandztyan ( hy, Համազասպ Սրվանձտյան; 1873 – 18 February 1921), commonly known as Hamazasp, 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 ...

Early life

Hamazasp was born in Van in 1873 and was the nephew of the folklorist

Garegin Srvandztiants Garegin or Karekin Srvandztiants ( hy, Գարեգին Սրուանձտեանց or Սրուանձտեան; November 17, 1840November 17, 1892) was an Armenian philologist, folklorist, ethnographer, and ecclesiastic. Life Karekin Srvandztiants was ...

. Hamazasp was first a member of the

Armenakan Party The Armenakan Party (in Armenian Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն) was an Armenian political party established in Van, Ottoman Empire in 1885 by Mekertich Portukalian as an underground organization against the ruling system. It is ...

and then the

. After finishing school, he began to learn handicraft as a jeweler and a watchmaker. From an early age he was involved in the

Armenian national liberation movement The Armenian national movement ( hy, Հայ ազգային-ազատագրական շարժում ''Hay azgayin-azatagrakan sharzhum'') included social, cultural, but primarily political and military movements that reached their height during Worl ...

. To avoid persecution by the Ottoman government, he moved to

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 ...

, then to Shushi from Van. He participated in the Armenian–Tatar clashes of 1905–07. Hamazasp was especially notable in the Battle of Askeran Ravine on 22 August 1905, defeating a 200-member Turkish detachment of which only 6 survived. He also organized the defense of the Armenian villagers of the

Elisabethpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

. In 1908, the Tsarist government arrested Hamazasp and condemned him to death, but this was replaced by a 15 years of exile to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

sentence. In 1913 he escaped from prison and went to Europe, then to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. At the 8th General Assembly of the ARF party that took place in Karin in 1914, he was strongly opposed to any cooperation with the Young Turks, and largely supported an alliance with the Russian Empire.

World War I

Armenian 3rd battalion cavalry and troops rallying at Etchmiadzin 1914

At the beginning 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 ...

, Hamazasp participated in the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dicta ...

and was appointed Commander of the 3rd Armenian volunteer battalion. He took part in many battles, and also ensured the safe migration of the Armenian population from Basen and Alashkert. He was one of the volunteer liberators of the Siege of Van in May 1915. In June he fought in the

Battle of Bitlis The Battle of Bitlis refers to a series of engagements in the summer of 1916 for the town of Bitlis and to a lesser extent nearby Moush, between Russian Imperial forces and their Ottoman counterparts. The town was the last stronghold of the Ot ...

, and in October fought in

Hizan Hizan ( hy, Խիզան, translit=Khizan, ku, Xîzan) is a town in Bitlis Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Hizan District.February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

in 1917, Hamazasp was appointed the military police commander of Alashkert, until Russian troops left the Caucasian front. Commanders of Armenian volunteer units

In 1918, he fought for the

Baku Commune Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world ...

, as a Commander of the Armenian brigade (3,000 soldiers and officers). He displayed his abilities as an experienced strategist and organizer, playing a decisive role in the operations of Ganja and

Yevlakh Yevlakh ( az, Yevlax, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, 265 km west of capital Baku. It is surrounded by, but administratively separate from, the Yevlakh District. Etymology The settlement is mentioned by the 13th century Armenian historian St ...

and for 4 months fought against overwhelming Turkish forces of the Army of Islam. After the fall of the Baku Commune, he went to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

First Republic of Armenia

In the autumn of 1918, after the defeat of Turkey in the First World War, Hamazasp came back to Armenia and was appointed military commander of the region of Nor Bayazet. He participated in various actions of defense of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...

, including the suppression of the

May Uprising The May Uprising ( hy, Մայիսյան ապստամբություն, translit=Mayisyan apstambutyun) was a coup d'état attempt by the Armenian Bolsheviks that started in Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri) on May 10, 1920. It was eventually suppr ...

in 1920. After the establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia, Hamazasp came to Yerevan with the aim of being helpful for the new government. However, he was arrested by the Bolsheviks and, after two months of imprisonment, he was brutally hacked to death on 18 February 1921, when the

February Uprising The February Uprising ( classical hy, Փետրուարեան ապստամբութիւն, reformed: Փետրվարյան ապստամբություն, ''P'etrvaryan apstambut'yun'') was an anti-Bolshevik rebellion by the nationalist Armenian Re ...

was on the way.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Armenian Genocide profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Srvandztyan, Hamazasp 1873 births 1921 deaths People from Van, Turkey Armenian fedayi Armenian generals Armenian nationalists Armenian people of World War I Imperial Russian Army personnel Russian military personnel of World War I Armenian expatriates in Iran Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Armenian people executed by the Soviet Union