Oshakan. The Great Surgun of 1604

Oshakan is one of the oldest Armenian settlements, best known for its fortress dating back to the 7th–5th centuries BC, its heroic battles, and the tomb of Saint Mesrop Mashtots.

In 1603–1604, a war broke out between Persia and Ottoman Turkey. Shah Abbas I of Persia launched a large-scale campaign to the north with the aim of conquering the entire eastern part of Armenia, including Artsakh, Nakhichevan, and Javakhk. Turkish Qizilbash tribes held an important place in the Persian army and were known for their particular cruelty toward Christians.

However, in 1604, Oshakan also became a target of Shah Abbas I’s large-scale campaign. The historian Arakel Davrizhetsi describes with sorrow how the Qizilbash troops depopulated Oshakan. The population was forcibly deported deep into Persia, while the homes and gardens were left in ruins.

Despite strict supervision, the threat of execution, and pressure to convert to another religion, Armenian families fled in small groups at night, avoiding guard posts in order to return to their homeland.

Decades later, the people of Oshakan who returned to the ruins, initially living in caves and beneath partially destroyed walls, devoted themselves to preserving the Chapel of Saint Mesrop Mashtots and rebuilding the village.

More interesting details about the settlement can be found in the video.

Let us know our Homeland, so that we may love it and take responsibility for it.