Armenian liberation struggle (1722–1730)

The Armenian liberation struggle of 1722–1730 was a period of armed resistance by Armenians in the regions of Syunik and Artsakh (Mountainous Karabakh) in Iranian Armenia against Safavid rule and the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in 1722 in Syunik and 1724 in Artsakh, the movement sought to establish Armenian autonomy amid the collapse of the Safavid state and the threat of Ottoman occupation.

Under the leadership of Davit Bek in Syunik and a group of military commanders called yuzbashis in Artsakh—most notably Avan Yuzbashi—the Armenian lords (meliks) were united into a semi-independent principality and fortified mountain camps known as sghnakhs. From 1725, these forces resisted the Ottoman Empire's attempts to occupy the South Caucasus. While the Armenians won significant victories, such as the Battle of Halidzor (1727) in Syunik and the surprise defeat of an Ottoman detachment in Varanda (1725), the rebellion ultimately lost momentum after the death of Davit Bek in 1728 and his successor Mkhitar Sparapet in 1730. By 1731, the organized resistance had largely dispersed, though it paved the way for the later recognition of the Melikdoms of Karabakh by Nader Shah.

Background

In the early eighteenth century, Armenia was divided between the Ottoman and Safavid empires. In the mountainous regions of Syunik (also known at the time as Ghapan) and Mountainous Karabakh (also known as Artsakh by Armenians), remnants of the old Armenian nobility called meliks continued to exist as autonomous rulers of small principalities under Iranian suzerainty. In the late seventeenth century, Russian southward expansion under Peter the Great had raised hopes among these local Armenian leaders that an alliance could be made with Russia to free Armenia from Safavid and Ottoman rule. In 1701, Israel Ori, an Armenian noble from Syunik, went to Moscow and drew up a plan for a rebellion in Iranian Armenia with Russian help.