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The Dashnaktsutiun and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1905–1911

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Houri Berberian*
Affiliation:
Department of History, UCLA

Extract

Armenian participation in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran remains a subject fraught with ambiguities and unanswered questions. There has not been, to this date, a comprehensive study of Armenian participation, nor on the Caucasian element in general. There have been several articles and also a few biographies of major Armenian figures such as Mirza Malkom Khan (1833–1908) who, though not an active participant, was one of the principal proponents of constitutional government, or Yeprem Khan Davitian (1868–1912), who was instrumental in the battles to restore the constitution. This emphasis, in fact, is a problem. By concentrating on two key individuals, we take away from the larger dynamics and exclude other factors, and their exploits or ideas become merely the exploits and ideas of two individuals who happen to be of Armenian background.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1996

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Nikki Keddie, Richard Hovannisian, and the journal's anonymous reader for their comments and suggestions.

References

1. Some of the relevant documents found at the Dashnaktsutiun Archives in Watertown, Mass., have been previously published in Muter H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutian Hamar, 4 vols. (Beirut: Hamazgayin, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1982) and Amurian, Andre, Dashnaktsutiun, Yeprem, Parskakan Sahmanadrutiun, H.H.D. Kendronakan Arkhiv (A.R. Federation, Yeprem, Iranian Constitution, A.R.F. Central Archives) (Tehran: Alik, 1976)Google Scholar. For the sake of accuracy, the originals have been used whenever possible.

2. Nalbandian, Louise, The Armenian Revolutionary Movement: The Development of Armenian Political Parties through the Nineteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963), 173Google Scholar.

3. Amurian, Andre, H.H. Dashnaktsutiune Parskastanum, 1890–1918 (The A.R. Federation in Iran, 1890–1918) (Tehran: Alik, 1950), 1213Google Scholar.

4. Varandian, Mikayel, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun (History of the A.R. Federation) (Cairo: Husaber Publishers, 1950), 1:123–25Google Scholar.

5. Tasnapetian, Hrach, H.H. Dashnaktsutiune Ir Kazmutenen Minjev X Endhanur Zhoghov (1890–1924) (The A.R. Federation from its Formation to the 10th General Congress [1890–1924]) (Athens: Droshak, 1988), 199Google Scholar; for the English version, see Dasnabedian, Hratch [Tasnapetian, Hrach], The History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutiun (1890–1924) (Milan: Grafiche Editoriali Ambrosiane, 1990), 186Google Scholar; “H.H. Dashnaktsutian Vrezhi Khariskh Zinagortsaran” (A.R. Federation's Central Arms Factory of Vrezh), presented to the Fourth General Congress. This piece is undated, unsigned, and unsealed, but was most probably prepared in 1906 by the Azarbaijan Central Committee as it was found among the committee's papers. It is a brief history of the factory from 1891 to 1906, and includes a list of gunsmiths, their apprentices, and the years they worked. It also mentions that by 1896, the factory had produced 600 firearms.

6. Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 1:123–25. Varandian's account of the monastery of Derik is confirmed by the memoirs of eyewitnesses of activities there, such as Samson (Stepan Tadeosian), Nikol Duman (Nikoghayos Ter Hovhannisian), and others. See N. Hanguyts [Nikol Aghbalian], comp., “Samsoni Hushere” (Samson's Memoirs), Hairenik Amsagir 1, no. 10 (August 1923): 78–97; Hovak Stepanian, “Nikol Duman (Mahvan 15-Amiaki Artiv)” (Nikol Duman [In Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of His Death]), Hairenik Amsagir 8, no. 4 (88) (February 1930): 79–91, 83–84. Earlier, the transfer of arms took place through various locations. In Tabriz, the Dashnaktsutiun used the houses of two members known as Maro (Mariam Makarian) and Miss Atoyan both of whom propagated party ideas among Armenian women. Satenik Matinian (known also as Miss Flower) is frequently mentioned as one of the more active members of the party in Tabriz and Salmas who had the respect of both the men and women among whom she worked. Matinian was also the leader and inspiration of the Tabriz Armenian Women's Benevolent Society. See Hanguyts, “Samsoni Hushere,” 86. Hanguyts relates the story of Matinian's leading role in the escape of her husband from prison (same series, 4 [February 1924]: 138). For further discussion of the work done by Armenian women in Azarbaijan, see Samson, , “Atrpatakani Hay Kanants Gortsuneutiune” (The Activity of the Armenian Women of Azarbaijan), Hairenik Amsagir 18, no. 1 (205) (November 1939): 80103Google Scholar.

7. “Teghekagir H.H. Dashnaktsutian Gortsaktsutiun Vrezhstanum, 1904–1906” (Report of the A.R. Federations’ Activity in Vrezhstan, 1904–1906) to the Fourth General Congress, Vienna 1907.

8. “Atrpatakani 1906 Petrvari Shrjanakan Zhoghov, Nist 3” (Azarbaijan Regional Congress, Session 3), Tabriz, 3 February 1906.

9. “Atrpatakani 1906 Petrvari Shrjanakan Zhoghov, Nist 4” (Azarbaijan Regional Congress, Session 4), Tabriz, 4 February 1906.

10. “Teghekagir H.H. Dashnaktsutian.“

11. See note 7.

12. Hnchakists wounded Golitsyn in October 1903. See Hovannisian, Richard G., Armenia on the Road to Independence (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967), 18Google Scholar.

13. Ibid., 18–20.

14. Minassian, Anahide Ter, “The Revolution of 1905 in Transcaucasia,” Armenian Review 42 (Summer 1989): 123Google Scholar, 10–11. See also Suny, Ronald G., The Baku Commune, 1917–1918: Class and Nationality in the Russian Revolution (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972)Google Scholar; Swietochowski, Tadeusz, Russian Azerbaijan, 1905–1920: The Shaping of National Identity in a Muslim Community (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15. Ter Minassian, “Revolution,” 11; idem, Nationalism and Socialism in the Armenian Revolutionary Movement, trans, from the French by A. M. Berret (Cambridge, Mass.: The Zoryan Institute, 1984), 42–44.

16. Ter Minassian, “Revolution,” 16–17 admits that these figures might be inflated, but even so Dashnakist popularity and power at the time cannot be denied. The party was, however, accused by Armenian, Russian, and Georgian Social Democrats in 1905/1906 of stirring up racial and religious antagonisms and destroying the unity of the revolutionary movement and class consciousness. Partly as a result of this, it revised its program by increasing its socialist orientation. See Minassian, Ter, “Revolution,” 11–12; H.H. Dashnaktsutian Tsragir (Program of the A.R. Federation) (Vienna, 1907)Google Scholar.

17. See Bayat, Mangol, Iran's First Revolution: Shi'ism and the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1909 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 156Google Scholar; Ter Minassian, “Revolution,” 19.

18. Kitur, Arsen, Patmutiun S.D. Hnchakian Kusaktsutian (History of the S.D. Hnchakian Party) (Beirut: Shirak Press, 1962), 1:399Google Scholar. For the French translation see Chaqueri, Cosroe, ed., La Social-democratie en Iran: articles et documents (Florence: Mazdak, 1979), 237Google Scholar.

19. Kasravi, Ahmad, Tārīkh-e mashrūṭeh-ye Īrān (Tehran, 1984), 727Google Scholar. One such lab operated in Tabriz under the supervision of a Dashnakist named Gevorg Kirakosian who died while making a bomb in March 1910. The supervision of the lab was taken over by one of the founders of the Dashnaktsutiun, Rostom (Stepan Zorian). See Elmar, H., Yeprem (Tehran, 1964), 125–45Google Scholar, repr. in Tasnapetian, H[rach], Rostom: Mahvan Vatsunamiakin Artiv (Rostom: In Commemoration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of His Death) (Beirut: Hamazgayin Vahe Sedan, 1979), 268–69Google Scholar.

20. Ter Minassian, Nationalism, 54.

21. “Teghekagir H.H. Dashnaktsutian.“

22. Droshak, no. 7 (173), July 1907.

23. Hayat gazetesi (Life Gazette) was established by Ali Merdan Bey Topgubesli, but his involvement in the paper was minor. It was Aghaev and Ali Bey Hüseyinzade who served as the real force behind the paper. Aghaev wrote a great number of articles in the daily many of which demanded “equal rights for Muslims” and denounced “Armenian intrigues.” I would like to thank Holly Shissler for providing me with the information by making available her paper entitled, “Loyal Subjects, Lies, and Liberties: Ahmet Aghaev, Hayat Gazetesi, and the Defense of Transcaucasian Muslims, 1905–1906,” presented at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, Washington, D.C., 1995.

24. S. Tseruni's letter to Eastern Bureau, dated 4 July 1906 (no. 153).

25. Droshak, no. 8 (174), August 1906. The same letter was sent to the Iranian ambassadors in Paris and Berlin.

26. Keddie, Nikki R., “Iranian Revolutions in Comparative Perspective,” American Historical Review 88, no. 3 (June 1983): 586CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27. Droshak, no. 10 (15), October 1904.

28. Droshak, no. 7 (204), July 1909. The concept stated earlier in 1906 was reiterated by the Tabriz Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Iran in its declaration: “Now, thanks to our unity, any undertaking is possible, just as Japan, thanks to her alertness and iron determination, defeated an enemy like Russia.” See “Declaration of the Social Democrats of Iran,” signed by the Tabriz Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Iran, 1906 from “Komīteh-ye Tabrīz-e ḥezb-e ejtemā'īyūn-e ‘āmmīyūne Īrān,” in Javid, Salamollah, Nahżat-e mashrūīīyat-e Īrān va naqsh-e āzādīkhwāhān-e jahān (Tehran, 1968), 75–76Google Scholar, French trans, in Chaqueri, La Social-democratie en Iran, 139.

29. Droshak, no. 7 (204), July 1909.

30. Droshak, no. 5 (202), May 1909.

31. Droshak, nos. 11–12 (198), November-December 1908.

32. Malekzadeh, Mahdi, Tārīkh-e enqelāb-e mashrūṭīyat-e Īrān (Tehran: ‘Elmi Press, 1984), 3:596–98Google Scholar. See also Afary, Janet, “Grassroots Democracy & Social Democracy in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906–1911” (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1991), 298–99Google Scholar. Rūḥ al-qodos, edited by Soltan al-'Olama of Khorasan, was well known for its personal attacks on Mohammad ‘Ali Shah. Mosāvāt (1907–1908), edited by Sayyid Mohammad Reza Shirazi and Sayyid ‘Abd al-Rahim Khalkhali, was a great supporter of civil rights. See Afary, “Grassroots Democracy,” 270, n. 7.

33. Droshak, no. 4 (192), April 1908 and no. 7 (204), July 1909.

34. Droshak, no. 7 (204), July 1909.

35. Droshak, no. 10 (187), October 1907. See also nos. 11–12 (188), November-December 1907, no. 4 (192), April 1908, and no. 5 (193), May 1908, in the last of which the article cautions the Iranian Constitutional government against Ottoman designs on Azarbaijan.

36. Bayburdyan, V. A., Turk-Iranakan Hamberutiunnere, 1900–1914 (Turco-Iranian Relations, 1900–1914) (Erevan: Haykakan Sah Gitutiunneri Akademia, 1974), 82Google Scholar.

37. Ibid., 90, 93–94.

38. The last such article appeared in May 1908.

39. For the information on the policy of the Young Turks towards Iran, I have drawn on Bayburdyan, Turk-Iranakan Haraberutiunnere, 146–48, 163–64, 171.

40. See “K. Kautsky à A. Tchilinkarian,” in Chaqueri, La Social-democratie en Iran, 23–25. For a detailed discussion of the correspondence and relations between the Tabriz Social Democrats and Kautsky see Afary, Janet, “Social Democracy and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906–11,” in Foran, John, ed., A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1994)Google Scholar.

41. Droshak, nos. 11–12 (198), November-December 1908.

42. Droshak, no. 5 (202), May 1909.

43. “Parskastani Shrjanum (26)” (Persian Region [26]), Voroshumner Chorrord Endhanur Zhoghovi (Decisions of the Fourth General Congress) (Vienna, 1907).

44. Tsragir (Program of the A.R. Federation) (Vienna, 1907).

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid., emphasis added.

47. See, for example, Ter Minassian, Nationalism; Suny, Ronald Grigor, “Marxism, Nationalism, and the Armenian Labor Movement in Transcaucasia, 1890–1908,” Armenian Review 33, 1–129 (March 1980): 30–47Google Scholar.

48. Tsragir.

49. “Sotsialistakan Kusaktsutiunneri Het Gortsaktsutiun (16)” (Collaboration with Socialist Parties [16]), Voroshumner.

50. Ibid.

51. Briefly, Social Democrats were more orthodox Marxists and internationalists who abandoned the national question and viewed industrialization as an essential stage in economic development leading to socialism. Social Revolutionaries were influenced by the Russian populists of narodnaya volya (people's will) and, unlike Social Democrats, gave a place to the national question and believed industrialization was not an essential stage leading to socialism.

52. “Gaghutner (25)” (Communities [25]), Voroshumner.

53. Ibid. There were two Persian-language papers with the name Ḥabl al-matīn. One published in Calcutta and the other in Tehran. According to Afary, the Tehran-based Ḥabl al-matīn (1907–1908) was the most influential paper in Iran at the time. Its editor, Sayyid Hasan Kashan, was the brother of the Calcutta-based Ḥabl al-matīn's editor. Afary calls the Calcutta paper “pan-Islamic,” while the Tehran one was more liberal. The Tehran paper ceased publication after the coup of 1908 but was later published in Rasht in the winter of 1909 and then Tehran after July 1909. See Afary, “Grassroots Democracy,” 270, n. 5. See also E. G. Browne, The Press and Poetry of Modern Persia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1914; repub. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1983), 73–75. Astghuni (Grigor Yeghikian), a leading Armenian and Iranian Social Democrat who acted as advisor to Mirza Kuchek Khan, leader of the Jangali movement (1914–1921), also states that the Calcutta Ḥabl al-matīn was pan-Islamic, adding that during the Armenian and Muslim conflict (1905–1906) it advised Iranians to act against Armenians. See G. Astghuni, “Chshmartutiunner Parskastani Heghapokhakan Sharzhumneri Masin (Akanatesi Hishoghutiunnerits)” (Truths about the Persian Revolutionary Movements [From the Memoirs of an Eyewitness]), Yeritasard Hayastan 9, no. 36 (13 June 1913).

54. “Teghekagir H.H.D. Vrezh Komitei” (Report of the A.R.F. Vrezh Committee), 25 November 1906.

55. Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:61, 63.

56. Afary, “Grassroots Democracy,” 120, 128–29.

57. Ibid., 122–23.

58. “Endhanur Zhoghov,” 106th Session, 26 April 1907.

59. “Parskastani Shrjan (26),” Voroshumner.

60. “Teghekagir H.H. Dashnaktsutian.“

61. Bayat, Iran's First Revolution, 157.

62. Elmar, Yeprem, repr. in Tasnapetian, Rostom, 262.

63. The others present at the meeting were Majles delegates Mostashar al-Dawleh (from Tabriz), Hajj Mo'in al-Tojjar and Hajj Amin al-Zarb (the two major benefactors of the movement according to Rostom), Hajj Mirza Aqa Ebrahim (from Tabriz and head of the revolutionary anjomans), and Deputy-Speaker of the Majles Vosuq al-Dawleh. See Rostom's letter dated 10 January 1908 to the Dashnaktsutiun Bureau reporting on the talks (Amurian, Arkhiv, 2–11; also in Tasnapetian, Rostom, 164; Persian trans. Amurian, A., Ḥamāseh-ye Yeprem [Tehran: Javid Press, 1976], 31–32Google Scholar). Two years later, in a letter dated 18 July 1910 from Vahan Zakarian, member of the Azarbaijan Central Committee of the Dashnaktsutiun, to Yeprem Khan, Zakarian warned Yeprem about Taqizadeh whom he considered a clever yet “cunning” politician. This was in reference to the Democratic Party of Iran founded by Taqizadeh and others. According to Zakarian, meetings had taken place the previous winter between Taqizadeh and Dashnakist members wherein the formation of an Iranian party was agreed upon. Zakarian states that the formation of such a party had taken place in Tabriz in November 1908 prior to his discussions with Taqizadeh. Taqizadeh founded the party without the knowledge of the Dashnakists but with the participation of two Armenian Social Democrats, Vram Pilosian and Tigran Darvish (Ter Hakobian), affiliated with the Hnchakian Party. Although the Democrat Party was officially formed in the summer of 1909, Pilosian informed Taqizadeh in a letter dated 9 August 1909 that he had already prepared the rules for the party, which he would send to Taqizadeh once they were translated into Persian. Pilosian added that secondary groups of the party had already begun forming. This indicates that a plan for the Democrat Party had been agreed upon before Taqizadeh left for Tehran where he took his seat in the Majles. According to Browne, Taqizadeh had returned from England at the end of November 1908. Therefore, Zakarian was under the impression that the party's foundations were built on Taqizadeh's return to Tabriz. Moreover, Zakarian expressed disappointment at not being asked to join, adding, however, that this did not mean that the Dashnaktsutiun would have been willing to join, but at least they would have been able to help. For Zakarian's letter see Amurian, Arkhiv, 254–62. For Pilosian's letter, see Afshar, Iraj, ed., Awrāq-e tāzehyāb-e mashrūtṭīyat va naqsh-e Taqīzādeh (Tehran: Bahman Press, 1980), 238–40Google Scholar. G. Astghuni, too, mentions a connection between the Democrat Party and the Hnchaks, at least in the beginning of its history, before it found success and subsequently allied itself with the Dashnaktsutiun. See Astghuni, , “Chshmartutiunner Parskastani Heghapokhakan Sharzhumneri Masin (Akanatesi Hishoghutiunnerits)” (Truths about the Persian Revolutionary Movements [From the Memoirs of an Eyewitness]), Yeritasard Hayastan 9, no. 46 (12 August 1913)Google Scholar.

64. Mirzayan's knowledge of Persian, Armenian, French, and English was sophisticated enough to enable him to translate the works of Sa'di, Hafez, Omar Khayyam, Molière, Byron, and others into Armenian.

65. Rostom's letter, dated 10 January 1908, to the Dashnaktsutiun Bureau.

66. Ibid.

67. Ibid.

68. Kasravi, Ahmad, Tārīkh-e hejdah-sāleh-ye Āẕarbāyjān (Tehran, 1967), 1:8Google Scholar; Malekzadeh, Tārīkh-e enqelāb 5:147–48. Dashnakist historian Varandian inaccurately states that Sattar Khan formed this committee with Yeprem and the Dashnaktsutiun. In fact, the Sattar Committee was only named in honor of Sattar Khan and did not involve him. See Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:70.

69. Khan, Yeprem, Yāddāshthā-ye khoṣuṣī-ye Yeprem Khān mojāhed-e Īrān: az Anzalī tā Tehrān, trans. Narus (Tehran, 1977)Google Scholar. The Armenian original first appeared in Alik [Wave] (1946): 23–25. See also the editor's article entitled “Yeprem in Rasht” (Amurian, Arkhiv, 21), which states that the Barq Committee worked closely with both the Sattar and Jahangir Committees.

70. Kitur, Patmutiun S.D. Hnchakian Kusaktsutian, 399. For the French translation see Chaqueri, La Social-democratie en Iran, 238. See also Afary, “Grassroots Democracy,” 359, who considers the secret council to be the same as the Central Revolutionary Committee headed by Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan.

71. Kitur, Patmutiun S.D. Hnchakian Kusaktsutian, 400.

72. Zinoviev, Ivan Alexovich, Enqelāb-e mashrūtṭīyat-e Īrān: naẓarāt-e yak diīplomāte Rūs, trans, from the Russian by E'tesami, Abu al-Qasem (Tehran: Eqbal, 1983), 83Google Scholar.

73. Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:70.

74. Ibid.

75. Zinoviev, Enqelāb-e mashrūṭīyat, 88, 123.

76. Amurian, Dashnaktsutiun, 57–58; and Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:73–74.

77. According to Hovak Stepanian, who received his information from Nikol Duman's friend, K. Bionian, Duman opposed the participation of the Dashnaktsutiun in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and was convinced that coming to the aid of the Iranian revolutionaries would jeopardize the party by making its activities visible to the Iranian and Ottoman governments. In addition, he felt that involvement did disservice to the national, cultural, and economic inerests of the Armenian people. Despite his views, he accepted his party's decision, but always followed his motto, “They at the head, I at the tail,” meaning Armenian fighters would not be at the forefront of battle, and believing that loss of Armenian blood for this revolution would be “needless and in vain.” See Stepanian, “Nikol Duman,” 158.

78. Zinoviev, Enqelāb-e mashrūṭīyat, \TL.

79. Amurian, Arkhiv, 418. This was in preparation for the battle against Mohammad ‘AH Shah's return in July 1911. See Farro, , comp., “Yepremi Gortsuneutiune Parskastanum (Grishayi Hushere)” (Yeprem's Activity in Persia [Grisha's Memoirs]), Hairenik Amsagir 3, nos. 1–5 (29) (March 19251): 110Google Scholar.

80. Farro, “Yepremi Gortsuneutiune,” 113 and in the same series, 2 (26) (December 1924): 71.

81. Yeprem, Yāddāshthā-ye khoṣūṣī, 26, 32, 41.

82. Kitur, Patmutiun S.D. Hnchakian Kusaktsutian, 400.

83. Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:75. Elmar also asserts that all costs were paid by the Dashnaktsutiun, the money being sent through the Bureau. See his Yeprem, 125–45, repr. in Tasnapetian, Rostom, 266.

84. Chaqueri, Cosroe, Asnād-e tārīkh-e jonbesh-e kārgarī/sosyāl demokrāsī va komūnīstī-ye Īrān (Tehran: Padzahr, 1985), 19:67–68Google Scholar, 72–73.

85. Expressing the Social Democratic view, Tria relates that when Tehran was taken it was suggested that the revolutionaries occupy official positions, but, except for the Dashnakists, the revolutionaries refused this offer. He refers to this decision as a “mistake,” because after the convening of the Second Majles, the clerics profited by the action of the Dashnakists, accusing them of monopolizing government positions. See Tria, , “La Caucase et la révolution persane,” Revue du monde musulmane 13, no. 2 (February 1911): 332Google Scholar.

86. Yeprem Khan seldom responded to his critics. For one such occasion, see his letter to Hambartsum Melik Sarkisian, dated 20 July 1911, in Amurian Arkhiv, 169— 70. There were also those who defended Yeprem Khan's actions. See Melik Sarkisian's letter of 22 July 1912 written to the Dashnaktsutiun Bureau after Yeprem's death, in ibid., 163–64.

87. Bayburdyan, Turk-Iranakan Haraberutiunnere, 206, 212, 269, 279. Evacuation of Ottoman forces did not take place until November 1912 (ibid., 329).

88. Great Britain, Further Correspondence, no. 160, 11 August 1910, cited in Afary, “Grassroots Democracy,” 474; see also Malekzadeh, Tārīkh-e enqelāb 6:1350, 1354. According to Grish Khan, a participant in the disarming of the Mojahedin, when Yeprem's men found Sattar Khan they asked him how he was wounded. He replied that it was one of his own people who shot him. See Farro, “Yepremi Gortsuneutiune,” 109.

89. Excerpt from text about Yeprem and his work, unsigned but probably written by Amurian in Amurian, Arkhiv, 91.

90. Amurian, Dashnaktsutiun, 150.

91. Varandian, H.H. Dashnaktsutian Patmutiun 2:93.

92. Shuster, William Morgan, The Strangling of Persia (New York: The Century Co., 1912), 189–90Google Scholar. Contradictory evidence exists regarding the role the Dashnaktsutiun desired to play in the resistance to Russian incursion into Tabriz. Tigran Devoyiants, an eyewitness to the “anarchy” in Tabriz and the “terrorism” of Russian troops, states that after two days of meetings the Azarbaijan Central Committee of the Dashnaktsutiun decided not to raise arms against the Russian forces, because its struggle was against the Iranian monarchy, and ordered all Armenian fighters to withdraw to Van. See Devoyiants, Tigran, “Kiankis Drvagnerits,” Hairenik Amsagir 22, no. 240 (January-February 1944): 84Google Scholar. In contrast, Hovak Stepanian, Nikol Duman's biographer, states that the Central Committee sought to resist Russian troops actively, while Duman opposed such action against the Russians and left for Van. See Stepanian, “Nikol Duman,” 160.

93. Amurian, Arkhiv, 119–20.

94. Ibid., 120–22.

95. Hovannisian, Armenia on the Road to Independence, 43–44.