Leader of the fedayi
The Holy Apostles Monastery of Mush
Aghbiur Serob, the main leader of the fedayi in the 1890s, was killed in 1899 by a Kurdish chieftain, Bushare Khalil Bey.Months later, Bey committed further atrocities against the Armenians by killing a priest, two young men and 25 women and children in Sasun's village of Talvorik. Andranik replaced Serob as the head of the Armenian irregular forces "with 38 villages under his command" in the Mush-Sasun region of Western Armenia, where a "warlike semi-independent Armenian peasantry" lived. Andranik sought to kill Bey; he captured and reportedly decapitated the chieftain, and took the medal given to Bey by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Andranik thus earned an undisputed authority among his fedayi.
Although small groups of Armenian fedayi conducted an armed struggle against the Ottoman state and the Kurdish tribes, the situation in Turkish Armenia deteriorated as the European powers stood indifferent to the Armenian Question. Article 61 of the 1878 Treaty of Berlin intended the Ottoman government to "carry out, without further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by the Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds" remained unimplemented.According to Christopher J. Walker, the attention of the European powers was on Macedonia, while Russia was "in no mood for reactivating the Armenian question".
Battle of Holy Apostles Monastery
In November 1901 the fedayi clashed with the Ottoman troops in what later became known as the Battle of Holy Apostles Monastery. One of the best-known episodes of Andranik's revolutionary activities, it was an attempt by the Ottoman government to suppress his activities. Since Andranik had gained more influence over the region, more than 5,000 Turkish soldiers were sent after him and his band. The Turks chased and eventually circled him and his men, numbering around 50, at the Arakelots (Holy Apostles) Monastery in early November. A regiment under the command of Ferikh Pasha and Ali Pasha besieged the fort-like monastery. The Turkish generals leading the army of twelve hundred men asked the fedayi to negotiate their surrender.
After weeks of resistance and negotiations – in which Armenian clergy and the headman of Mush and foreign consuls took part – Andranik and his companions left the monastery and fled in small groups. According to Leon Trotsky, Andranik – dressed in the uniform of a Turkish officer – "went the rounds of the entire guard, talking to them in excellent Turkish", and "at the same time showing the way out to his own men." After breaking through the siege of the monastery, Andranik gained legendary stature among provincial Armenians. He became so popular that the men he led came to refer to him always by his first name. Andranik intended to attract the attention of the foreign consuls at Mush to the plight of the Armenian peasants and to provide hope for the oppressed Armenians of the eastern provinces. According to Trotsky, Andranik's "political think took shape in a setting of Carbonarist activity and diplomatic intrigue."
Andranik on his horse, early 1900s
1904 Sasun uprising and exodus
In 1903, Andranik demanded the Ottoman government stop the harassment of Armenians and implement the reforms in the Armenian provinces. Most fedayi were concentrated in mountainous Sasun, an area of about 12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi) with an overwhelming Armenian majority – 1,769 Armenian and 155 Kurdish households – which was traditionally considered their main operational area. The region was in "a state of revolutionary turmoil" because the local Armenians had refused to pay taxes for the past seven years. Andranik and tens of other fedayi – including Hrayr and Sebouh – held a meeting at Gelieguzan village in the third quarter of 1903 to manage the future defense of the Armenian villages from possible Turkish and Kurdish attacks. Andranik suggested a widespread uprising of the Armenians of Taron and Vaspurakan; Hrayr opposed his view and suggested a small, local uprising in Sasun, because the Armenian irregulars lacked resources. Hrayr's suggestion was eventually approved by the fedayi meeting. Andranik was chosen as the main commander of the uprising.
The location of the Sasun uprising (orange) and the Bitlis Vilayet (yellow).
The first clashes took place in January 1904 between the fedayi and Kurdish irregulars supported by the Ottoman government. The Turkish offensive started in early April with an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers and 7,000 Kurdish irregulars put against 100 to 200 Armenian fedayi and 700 to 1,000 local Armenian men. Hrayr was killed during the intense fighting; Andranik survived and resumed the fight. Between 7,000 and 10,000 Armenian civilians were killed during the two months of the uprising, while about 9,000 were left homeless. Around 4,000 Sasun villagers were forced into exile after the uprising.
After weeks of fighting and cannon bombardment of the Armenian villages, the Ottoman forces and Kurdish irregulars suppressed the uprising by May 1904; they outnumbered the Armenian forces several times. Minor clashes occurred thereafter. According to Christopher J. Walker, the fedayi came "near to organising an uprising and shaking Ottoman power in Armenia", but "even then it was unthinkable that the empire would lose any of her territory, since the idea of intervention was far from Russia". Trotsky wrote that international attention was on the Russo-Japanese War and the uprising went largely unnoticed by the European powers and Russia.
In July–August 1904, Andranik and his fedayi reached Lake Van and got to Aghtamar Island with sailing ships.They escaped to Persia via Van in September 1904,"leaving little more than a heroic memory. Trotsky states that they were forced to leave Turkish Armenia to avoid further killings of Armenians and to lower the tensions, while Tsatur Aghayan wrote that Andranik left the Ottoman Empire because he sought to "gather new resources and find practical programs" for the Armenian struggle.