1. Kevork Ghazarian, commonly known as Kevork Chavush or Gevorg Chaush, was an Armenian fedayee leader in the Ottoman Empire and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
17 Facts About Kevork Chavush
1. 2.
Kevork Chavush attained a legendary status during his lifetime for his extraordinary daring and valor in defense of the Armenian peasantry against harassment by marauding Turkish and Kurdish forces.
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Kevork Chavush was the undisputed leader of Armenian revolutionary forces in the region of Taron-Sasun from 1904 until his death in 1907 after being wounded in a battle with the Ottoman army.
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Kevork Chavush was born Kevork Ghazarian to a family of hunters in the region of Sasun, in the village of Mktink of the Psank district.
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Kevork Chavush's exact date of birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born around 1870.
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Kevork Chavush received his education at the school of the Arakelots Monastery, where he met Arabo, one of the first fedayee leaders.
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Kevork Chavush left school to join Arabo's band of fighters.
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Kevork Chavush worked to raise enough money to buy a rifle.
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Kevork Chavush returned to Taron in 1890 to join his friend Hampartsoum "Murad" Boyadjian's group of Armenian fighters with the aim of defending Armenian-populated villages from Hamidian persecutions.
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Kevork Chavush managed to escape from jail 2 years later and fled to the mountains of Sasun, where he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation political party with his friends and conducted revolutionary activities targeting Turkish officials.
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Kevork Chavush led the Armenian forces in Taron-Sasun from 1904 to 1907, when some of his most famous exploits occurred.
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Kevork Chavush was known to have good relations with some Kurdish leaders of the region.
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Kevork Chavush tried to persuade them not to obey the orders of Sultan Abdul Hamid, who enlisted many Kurds into his Hamidiye regiments.
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At the Fourth World Congress of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation held in April 1907, Kevork Chavush was elected a member of the Sasun-Vaspurakan Responsible Body, which directed all of the party's military and revolutionary activities in the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
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Kevork Chavush's comrades left him under a bridge on the shore of the Aratsani River and told some villagers from Sulukh to watch over him.
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The next morning, on 28 May 1907, Kevork Chavush was found by a Kurdish chieftain named Zaynal Bek and died of his wounds shortly after asking for water.
17.
Kevork Chavush's body was later found by Turkish soldiers who transported Kevork's corpse to Mush city, where the Armenian population mourned him for three days and buried him in an Armenian cemetery in the Kogh neighborhood of the town.