The Revenge of Andranik – The Assassination of Bshar-Khalil

In 1894, the Armenians were offended in Sasun. Dashnaktsutyun party sent an armed squad to Sasun located in the Mush plain at the foot of the Sasun mountains. Here, Andranik was baptized with fire.

Heading the Armenian detachment during 1895-1896, Andranik defended Armenian villages, transported weapons, armed the population, and fought against the Kurds and small regular Turkish troops.

In the middle of 1897, he arrived in the Caucasus, entered into direct relations with the center of the Dashnak party, and returned to Armenia empowered with authority and with a large cargo of weapons.

By 1899, Andranik had been entrusted with the leadership of all the squads of the Sasun district, which was the best area in the province for a partisan war. Under his command were 38 villages inhabited by the militant semi-independent Armenian peasantry. Here unfolded Andranik’s epic.

In 1900, a Kurdish military Bshar-Khalil, a servant of the Turks, killed one of the most prominent Armenian revolutionaries Aghbiur Serob. The population of Sasun called him Serob Pasha since he had managed to make Sasun almost completely independent.

For this feat, Khalil was awarded the Sultan Order.

8 months later, Andranik accomplished his revenge. Along with his unit, he caught up with Khalil and killed him and the 17 Kurds accompanying him. As a trophy, he took the Order of Abdul Hamid with him. In the Geneva archive of the Dashnaktsutyun party, the Sultan Order is stored to this day.