Free Armenia as a Meaning of Life

We are a religious people. Many of us for centuries have considered the power of the Turk to be God’s punishment which must be endured. But people like Makhluto, Nzhdeh, Andranik, Arabo, Dzhoghk, and thousands of other appeared.

They did not agree with that. They did not want to live the life of a slave whose rights were below the rights of livestock. They did not want to pay tribute to the Kurds: it was a humiliation for them.

Free Armenia became the only meaningful thing in their lives. In order not to have weaknesses, a hajduk (a freedom-fighting peasant) had no right to marry or have children. As a rule, he did not have a home either. He slept in the mountains, with stone being his pillow.

He ate the gifts of nature. A hajduk was a very honest and ambitious man. Recall how Gevorg Chavush killed his uncle just because he stole a bride despite the ban.

A hajduk participated in battles against the Turks and Kurds. The whole life of a hajduk was a struggle, a struggle for upholding the honor of its people, a struggle for the independence of its bride – Armenia.