Panakh Khan was a comparatively tolerable person: he to some extent retained the ingenuity of his tribe, was free from Muslim fanaticism, and viewed the Armenian meliks from the position of not a ruler but an ally. But Ibrahim Khan was not like his father.
Having been educated in Persia since childhood, he absorbed all the fanaticism of the Muslim religion. He not only persecuted Christians but also forced many of them to convert to Islam.
During the reign of meliks in Karabakh, there was not a single Muslim in the principality. But today, if we meet entire villages inhabited by Muslim Armenians in Karabakh, if we meet Turkic families in Armenian villages that confess that their ancestors were Armenians, we should know that they are there due to Ibrahim Khan’s activities.
Khan’s behavior cruelly insulted the religious feelings of the Armenian meliks. They saw no other way to prevent apostasy than to kill the apostates who renounced the faith of Christ. But Dali Mahrasa (vardapet Avag) decided to act differently.
For all Armenians forced into Islam, he swore to kill a corresponding number of Turks. And Tuli-Arzuman acted as a missionary. He, of course, with the help of a sword rather than preaching, forced the Muslims who fell into his hands to recognize the truth of the Christian religion and the falsity of the Muslim religion.
A case that remains in the memory of Karabakh Armenians testifies to the religious zeal of this man. One day, Arzuman met a moll heading towards Shushi fortress. He grabbed the moll and, pointing the sword at his chest, said: “If you acknowledge that Christ is God, I will not kill you.” The moll obeyed his demand. Arzuman made the moll repeat that Christ is God three times before releasing him.
This case was reported to Ibrahim Khan. Khan summoned the moll and angrily asked: “Did you really admit that Christ is God?” “Yes, I did,” replied the moll. “If you, the great Khan, fell into the hands of Arzuman, you would recognize that not only Christ is God but that Arzuman himself is the god of gods…”
An excerpt from the book “Armenian principalities of the Khamsa” by Raffi
