հՍ՚ՕԷ VEfiHlSHEH ՀՐԱՏԱՐԱԿՈՒԹԻՒՆ ՎԱՐԳԱՆԱՆ8 ԱՍՊԵՏՆԵՐՈՒ ԵՎՐԱՅՐԱԿ8ՈՒԹԵԱՆ ԱՒԱՐԱՑ ՐԻ ՃԱԿԱՏԱՄԱՐՏԻ ՀԱԶԱՐ ՀԻՆԳ ՀԱՐԻՒՐ ԱՄ ԷԱԿԻՆ ԱՌԻԹՈՎ PUBLISHED BY THE KNIGHTS OF VARTAN, INC. ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF AVARAIR Second Edition — 1975 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA “The heroic battle of Avarair was the ecstatic and inaccessible peak of the struggle for freedom. That is why it has been, now is and shall ever remain the most glorious page of Armenian history; a magnificent page which has inspired and comforted many generations of Armenians and has shown the paths of national and political virtues to the Country, the People and the Church.” KEVORK VI. Catholicos and S upreme Patriarch of All the Armenians . Dedication TO THE MEMORY OF THE PEERLESS AND FEARLESS WARRIORS OF THE HEROIC COUNTRY OF ARMENIANS, WHO, UNDER THEIR BRAVE AND VALIANT LEADER, VARTAN MAMIGONIAN, AND, IN­ SPIRED BY THE RESOLUTE AND ELOQUENT MINISTER OF THE ARMENIAN FAITH, GHEVONT YERETZ, WAGED HOLY WAR FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, OF MIND, AND OF SOUL, AND FELL ON THE FIELD OF AVARAIR, AND THUS BECAME THE EVERLASTING SYMBOL OF THE IDEAL OF RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE. LET THE PUBLICATION OF THIS GOLDEN VOLUME, DEDICATED TO THEIR HEROIC STRUGGLE, BE A TOKEN OF OUR ADMIRATION, REVERENCE, AND PROFOUND GRATITUDE, AND A TRIBUTE TO THEIR BLESSED MEMORY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE IMPASSIONED AND FERVENT COMMEMORATION OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT HEROIC BATTLE. WE OWE TO THEM OUR GLORIOUS PAST, OUR BRILLIANT PRESENT, AND HOPEFUL FUTURE. “BLESSED BE THE MEMORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS” The Second Edition of the History of Vartan and The Armenian War by YEGHISHEH is dedicated to the Memory of Nakhgin Avak Sbarabed DICKRAN H. BOYAJIAN Historian, Prolific Writer, Attorney and Community Leader THE KNIGHTS OF VARTAN Contents Kevork VI (Excerpt from Encyclical) .............................................page v Dedication .........................................................................................vii Preface ......................................................................................xiii Introduction.............................................................................xvii Address to Priest David Mamigon ..................................... 1 First Chapter The Times ......................................................................... 3 S econd Chapter Events Brought About by the Prince from the East . 9 Third Chapter The Unity of the Holy League of the Church ... 33 Fourth Chapter The Disruption of the Seceders from the Holy League . 55 Fifth Chapter The Attack of the Easterners ................................................... 61 S ixth Chapter The War of the Armenians ................................................... 73 S eventh Chapter The Prolongation of Disturbances ....................................................... 79 Eighth Chapter Concerning the Tortures and Martyrdom of Holy Priests . 91 Concerning the Armenian Confessors Khoren and Abraham The Armenian Nakharars in Bondage .................................... Notes ...............................................................................................1*1 Kahnamag ......................................................................................152 Partial List of Names Phonetically S pelled .... 153 Acknowledgment 154 THE bi-lingual translation of what is commonly known as Yeghisheh has come to light in response to a great popular demand. The publishers felt that a reproduction of this golden volume of Armenian classical litera ­ ture might be a fitting tribute to the memory of the gallant warriors, whose undaunted courage and supreme sacrifice in defense of the Christian faith, the cultural achievements and the national aspirations of the Armenian people, became and remained a constant source of inspiration to all the generations that followed. The original text was written in the fifth century, shortly after the Battle of Avarair which is generally assumed to have taken place on the 26th day of May, 451. The language used by the author reaches a sublime peak in its choice of words, poetic expressions, descriptive character, and extraordinary construction, a language that has suffered the fate of Vergil's Latin and Homer ’s Greek, and is no longer spoken, and yet it still com­ pletely dominates the services of the Armenian Church because of its enchant ­ ing beauty, majestic expressions and euphonic effect, as if intermixed with the breath of God. The difficulty of understanding the language even by those who are more or less familiar with modern Armenian, was a compelling force in deciding to embark upon the task of this translation. Furthermore, the need for an English translation for the English speaking public was con ­ sidered much greater. In this volume a sincere attempt has been made to give a true version of the original text, both in modern Armenian and in English. The work proved to be exceedingly more difficult than first antici ­ pated, but it was carried on with utmost diligence, untiring effort and unyielding perseverance, the translators being fully conscious of the fact that their struggle was to be a labor of love and duty, far more rewarding and satisfying than any other ordinary undertaking. In this connection it may be appropriate to quote from the Preface of the English translation by C. F. Neumann, to whom reference shall be made later: “. industry and perseverance were requisite in translating Elisaeus . Difficulties of a quite peculiar nature are presented by the Armenian language; as will be readily believed when I mention , that the words are xiii arranged, not as the course of thought might require, but as they best suit each other with regard to euphony. The Armenian authors of the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries were formed in the schools of prostrate Greece. There they acquired all the forms of writing, known under the names of rhetorical figures, antitheses, inversions, and parentheses, and transferred them to the Armenian language; thus doing no little injury to the clearness and easy flow of the language. ” Twenty-eight different editions of Yeghisheh in classical Armenian are known to us. We have, however, chosen for our text one of the most popular and authentic editions, the Antzevatziatz edition, with occasional references for comparison to the one published in Venice in 1859. Yeghisheh has been translated into Russian, Italian, French and English, and there have been five different translations into modem Arme ­ nian, four of which are in the Eastern branch and one in the Western branch of the modern Armenian language. These two branches are not dialects, but are equally well and inde ­ pendently developed modem Armenian, taking their roots exclusively from the basic mother tongue —the classical language of the Golden Era of Armenian culture. The Eastern branch is used within the Soviet Armenian Republic and in other parts of the Caucasus and Trans-Caucasia, as well as in Russia; the Western branch is predominant principally among the Armenians in the Near East west of the Caucasus, in Europe and in the Western Hemisphere including the United States of America. The following books were used or referred to for the translation of Yeghisheh: First: The Antzevatziatz edition in classical Armenian, as the principal copy Second: The translation into Eastern Armenian by Professor Y. Der Mina- sian , published in the Soviet Armenian Republic in 1946. It is most appropriate to note that this excellent volume contains a very valuable Introduction and extensive notes, most of which we have used for a guide in the preparation of the notes appearing in our bi-lingual volume. Third: Yeghisheh, History of Vartan , by Kiud Aghaniantz , published in 1911, in Eastern Armenian, with notes some of which we have incorporated in this volume. xiv Fourth: The translation in Western Armenian by S tepan Panian , of Bridge- water, Massachusetts, still in manuscript form, has been useful in clari­ fying some difficult passages in the classical text. Fifth: The English translation by C. F. Neumann , a commendable work published in London, England, in 1830. It is unfortunate, however, that this work is incomplete. The Eighth Chapter, constituting almost one-third of the book, has been left out in its entirety and many pas­ sages from almost every chapter have been omitted and so noted by the translator: “Here some spiritual reflections are omitted. ” There are, also, numerous errors which, however, may be justified by reason of the fact that the translator, a student of history, was not thoroughly familiar with the difficult Armenian language. The book has an elab ­ orate Preface and valuable notes. We have used it not only for its notes, but for occasional guide and comparison. To all these men of letters we owe a debt of gratitude. The translators are fully aware of their limitations and accept the entire responsibility for any and all errors and defects in this volume. Notwith­ standing that, they wish to believe that their efforts will not have been in vain, and that this bi-lingual volume will serve as a contribution to the spread of Armenian culture in the United States of America and abroad. That will be the reward and satisfaction of those who labored for the publication of this volume. Hovhannes Zovickian Boston, Mass. Dickran H. B oyajian April 25, 1952. In traduction THE publication of this volume in Armenian and English is believed to be a fitting and long-enduring tribute