Draft:The Battle of Holy Mother of God Monastery

Battle of Holy Mother of God Monastery
A photo of the Armenian fedayis at Derik Monastery
Date 21 July 1896 Location Derik, Iran Result Armenian victory
Belligerents
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Armenakan Party	Ottoman Empire Hamidiye
Commanders and leaders
Sevkaretsi Sako Nikol Duman Vardan Hovsep Arghutian	Bahri Pasha Hachri Pasha Sharaf Bek
Strength
17 Fedayis	400-500 Hamidiye infantry 50 Cavalry
Casualties and losses
None	Unknown

The Battle of Holy Mother of God Monastery (Armenian: Սուրբ Աստվածածին Վանքի կռիվը, romanized: Surp Astvatsatsin vank'i křivë), or The Battle of Derik (Armenian: Դերիկի կռիվը, romanized: Deriki křivë), was a battle that occurred in Iran near the Perso-Ottoman border between Ottoman forces aided by the Kurdish Hamidiye, and the Armenian fedayi.

Background

As conditions in Turkish Armenia continued to decline, and the demand for weapons rose among the Armenian populace in the Six Vilayets for self defence, Armenian organizations such as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Armenakan Party would participate in weapons smuggling from Russia to the Ottoman Empire through Persia in hopes of arming the population and spreading their ideals. Thus it was necessary to set up a regional base in Salmast to act as a bridge for the fedayis. In Salmast itself, there were 28 Armenian populated villages, 6 of which were exclusively Armenian while the rest were mixed with Assyrians, Turks, Kurds, Persians, and Jews, and in 1895 there were 8,957 Armenian residents in the region. Of the most active bases in the region was the Holy Mother of God Monastery near the village of Derik.

The Monastery of Derik was an ancient Armenian monastery located on the Ottoman-Persian border by Dushman's Gorge and the Dumani mountains. It sat in a predominantly Kurdish area with little to no Armenians or Persians. During the early days of the Hamidian massacres, the bishop of the diocese of Atropatene, Stephanos Mkhitaryan, appointed Movses Ishkhanyan, a man from Artsakh, as head of the Derik Monastery and responsible for its restoration. However Ishkhanyan, and two of his contemporaries would be surrounded and killed by Kurdish bandits in an uneven battle. A year later, the well known Bagrat Vardapet Tavakalyan would visit the monastery and would be appointed it's new head, his appointment would be approved by the then newly formed ARF, who hoped that the monastery could be a more convenient base for arms shipments, assembely of forces, and a stop for Fedayis passing by. The Armenakans, who had operated in the region of Vaspurakan long before the formation of the ARF, also approved of the efforts in the Derik Monastery as all the routes going from Salmast to Van had to pass through Derik. Of the prominent Armenian fedayis who helped in the restoration and protection of the monastery were Sevkaretsi Sako, Vardan, Jallad (Yervand Baberdyan), Pokhik (Ohan Ohanyan), Peto (Agheksandr Petrosyan), Chato, and Shero of the ARF as well as Karabek, Drben (Manuk Vardanyan) and many other Armenakans. According to Artak Darbinyan, who had the opportunity to be a guest at the Derik Monastery, fifteen of the monks living there were Armenakans from Van that took refuge from Ottoman police. There were also 5-6 Dashnaks residing there, among them were Sevkaretsi Sako, Nikol Duman, Vardan, and Hovsep Arghutian.

From the very beginning of the restoration of the monastery, the Kurds grew suspicious of the Armenians, and attacks became frequent. As a result, the fedayis at Derik rebuilt the walls of the complex to hinder future raids. During Darbinyan's 2-3 day stay, he had witnessed on the second day a clash between the Armenians and Kurdish bandits occurred over an attempt to steal the sheep belonging to the monastery. Following the death of Movses Iskhanyan, the Kurds from both Persia and the Ottoman Empire regarded the Armenians with hostility. The Persian government initially regarded the Armenian Fedayis with goodwill, as they were friendly towards the Persian populace and acted as a small police force in the region. Despite this, mounting pressure from the Ottoman government to rid of any presence of Armenian military groups would result in an order by Persian officials at Tehran to demolish the rebuilt walls of the monastery. Two months following the restoration of the walls, they would be destroyed by an army of 500 men lead by Isa Khan, though the monastery itself was left intact. Following the change in attitude by the Persian government, many fedayis would leave Derik, but a few such as Sako, Vardan, Jallad, and Levon of Akhaltsikhe, would stay and try to rebuild the walls. However they're efforts would constantly be hindered by the Persian authorities under further Ottoman pressure. Sevkaretsi Sako recalled that the court of Salmast constantly demanded passports, and as a result were forced to flee to the mountains until night when they could return to the monastery. The Persian government, would change their stance again following the reappearance of Kurdish bandits and the raiding of not only Armenian settlements but of Persian ones too. Henceforth, the Fedayis were allowed to return to the monastery and Shah Zadeh, the governor of Salmast, gave Sako the express permission to kill any bandit who attacks the monastery, and as a result, the raiding in the region ceased.

In early July of 1894, an clash occurred on the grounds of the monastery between two Armenakans bringing flour to the monastery and five Kurds belonging to the Mazrik tribe which resulted in the deaths of four Kurds and one wounded. The wounded Kurd would be taken to the the Vali of Van, Bahri Pasha, and using this opportunity, devised a plan to destroy the monastery and any Armenian revolutionary activity using the outrage that the clash had produced. Bahri Pasha was then transferred from Van to Bashkale to monitor the situation closely and summoned the Kurdish tribal leader, Mameh, to prepare an attack on the monastery. However the Ottoman government was hesitant to go through with the attack, as an issue arose, considering that Derik Monastery was located on Persian territory, that a diplomatic incident might occur that could result in Russia or Great Britain intervening. However Bahri was persistent in his orders and began preparing an expedition led by the Kurdish Mazrik chief, Sharaf Bek, who he himself would invite many other Kurdish chiefs to participate in the expedition, and would soon send spies to Derik to inspect the village and the monastery. These actions did not go unnoticed by the Armenians of Derik, and many families decided to leave to avoid retribution by the Kurds. The Fedayis, aware of the incoming attack, began preparing and setting up their defensive positions, fortifying the walls and establishing higher positions. After 2-3 days, they were finished and were awaiting the attack. As Sako and Shero were returning to Derik from Salmast at night, they were attacked by a group of Kurds and a battle occurred between the two groups for half an hour before the two fedayis returned to the monastery.

The Battle

On the 21st of July, the Holy Mother of God Monastery fell under siege by Ottoman forces, specifically by around 400-500 Hamidiye infantry joined with 50 Ottoman horsemen under the command of Sharaf Bek. The Armenians numbered only 35, 17 of which were Fedayis spread across four locations, with the rest being clergymen, women, and children. The siege would last for two weeks, where repeated battles would occur at and nearby the monastery. During the siege, around 20 horsemen were repelled from the Armenian's tethered horses and would instead charge for the monastery's herd, which was kept not far from the hill. The herdsman's mother ran to Sako, telling him that they have taken her son and his child. Upon hearing this, Sako and another fedayi, Sakho, would rush towards the herd. They crossed the river and entered into a firefight, seeing this the herdsman and his son ran towards the fedayis and they would return to the monastery, where the battle continued on for six hours. While the fedayis fought, the women would distribute bullets to them.

Seeing that the Ottoman forces were unable to drive out the Armenians, Sharaf Bek ordered his troops to drive the cattle away from the hill in order to lure out the fedayis out of their positions, however the fedayis did not budge. During the battle Sakho would take out a bugle and start blowing it, terrifying the Kurds who retreated to Hachri Pasha along with the herd. Following the failure of the final attack, the Ottoman forces retreated back to Ottoman territory, unable to take down the monastery and to avoid any future confrontation with Persian forces.

Aftermath

After the retreat of the Ottoman forces, the Armenians would remain in the monastery. Eventually, it would be passed on to the Armenakans and many of the Dashnaks would leave. However, eight days after the transfer, the monastery would be abandoned and would return to its ruined state. Today only the remnants of the northern wall is preserved.