Residents of the town of New Bayazet (now Gavar, Gegharkunik Province, Armenia) who had arrived in here from the town of Bayazet in Western Armenia in 1830 lived in extreme poverty. They refused to pay taxes and at the same time requested the state to establish a local school. Residents of three dozen other settlements in the area also followed New Bayazet’s example. This caused an uprising among the local population.
Upon learning of the uprising, the governor of the Armenian Oblast Major General Vasili Bebutov arrived in New Bayazet. He set a deadline for paying taxes, otherwise threatening to declare the peasants rebels. Despite Bebutov’s threats, the rebels not only did not fulfill his requirements but also beat and expelled village headmen from a number of villages.
Having not achieved any results, Bebutov returned to Yerevan. On February 19, 1838, he sent a message to the commander in chief of the Caucasus Georg Andreas von Rosen, “An angry mob is looking for a pretext for unrest and is ready to launch riots.”
On March 3, Baron Rosen sent a report to War Minister Chernyshev, writing that “the troublemakers are determined, and delay can serve as an extremely dangerous example for the entire Armenian region and for residents of neighboring regions.”
Having received the consent of Nicholas I, Chernyshev ordered to resort to military force. Succeeding von Rosen as commander in chief, General Yevgeny Golovin sent a Cossack hundred, two Jäger companies, and two howitzers to New Bayazet. By the end of March, the uprising had been crushed and its leaders arrested and put on trial.
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