“A JOURNEY TO ARMENIA, TURKEY AND CILICIA” BY THE BISHOP VARDAN ODZNETSI AS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE ON THE HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS OF THE XVIII–XIX CENTURIES

Authors

  • Sahban Magomedovic Hapizov Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of RAS 0000-0002-1958-9498 (unauthenticated)
  • Ajk Erdzanikovic Akopan Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran), Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of NAS of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH16176-84

Keywords:

Armenia, Dagestan, Georgia, Heraclius II, Ummah Khan, Aga Muhammad Khan

Abstract

The paper analyses the content of some of the parts of the work of the Armenian author of the 19th century bishop Vardan Odznetsi, kept in Matenadaran – the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts of Armenia. The full text of the work has not yet been published. The text is unique, as it is one of the last sources, written in the style of the Armenian historical literature of the Middle Ages. In his work, Vardan Odznetsi tells in detail about the court of the Georgian king Heraclius II (1720–1798). It also provides information about the Talysh Khan Mustafa and the Avar Nutsal Ummah Khan, known in historiography under the distorted name of Omar Khan. Thus, the chronicle of Odznetsi covers the history of not only Transcaucasia, but also the North Caucasus. In addition, the author describes in sufficient detail the events of the Crimean War (1853–1856).

The information, provided by Vardan Odznetsi, is quite important in the context of studies devoted to the anti-Ottoman and anti-Iranian wars of the peoples of the Caucasus. In his work, a special attention is drawn to the scrupulous description of the invasion of Tbilisi in the summer of 1795 by the Iranian shah Aga-Muhammad Khan Kajar. With deep regret he tells about the destruction of the city, believing that this is the fault of the Georgian king, who showed political shortsightedness. In the 1790s Avar nutsal Ummah Khan (1761-1801) started to play an important role in the military-political events taking place in the South Caucasus, which is also mentioned in the work under review. He describes the relations of Umma Khan and his son-in-law Ibrahim-khan of Karabakh, their joint military campaigns on adjacent lands. At the same time, the work under study is an important source describing the transition of the kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, and subsequently the entire Caucasus, under the protection of the Russian Empire. A study of this manuscript will serve as a more detailed source-study of the history of the Caucasus of the 18th – 19th centuries.

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Author Biographies

  • Sahban Magomedovic Hapizov, Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of RAS
    Researcher
  • Ajk Erdzanikovic Akopan, Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenadaran), Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of NAS of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
    PhD (History), Senior Researcher

References

The catalogue of manuscripts of Matenadaran named after Mashtots. Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the ArmSSR, 1970. Vol. II: 819. (in Armenian).

Titanyan RT. Travel notes of Vardan Odznetsi Bulletin of general science. Yerevan, 1977. № 8: 50. (in Armenian).

Armenian sources about the Transcaucasian campaigns of the Aga-Muhammed Khan (1795 - 1797) / Text, introduction and notes by R.T. Titanyan. Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the ArmSSR, 1981: 259. (in Armenian).

Danielyan K. From the History of Armenian Memoirs. Yerevan: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the ArmSSR, 1966: 215. (in Armenian).

Mkhitaryan G. Administrative and political units of the Caucasus in the second half of the XVIII century. Yerevan: NAS RA Publishing House, 2018: 74. (in Armenian).

Takayshvili S. Historical records of two Kinklos and a chronological list of events according to some sources Collection of materials for describing the lands and tribes of the Caucasus. Tiflis, 1896. Vol. XXI: 1–60.

Khapizov SM. Uma-nutsal (Umakhan) the Great (a sketch of the history of Avar natsalstvo of the second half of the XVIII century) [Uma-nutsal (Umakhan) Velikiy (ocherk istorii Avarskogo nutsal'stva vtoroy poloviny XVIII v.)]. Makhachkala: Media-Polis, 2013: 216.

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Published

2020-04-30

Issue

Section

History

How to Cite

1.
Hapizov SM, Akopan AE. “A JOURNEY TO ARMENIA, TURKEY AND CILICIA” BY THE BISHOP VARDAN ODZNETSI AS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE ON THE HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS OF THE XVIII–XIX CENTURIES. ИАЭК. 2020;16(1):76-84. doi:10.32653/CH16176-84