Yeprem Khan (; 1868–1912), born Yeprem Davitian (, ), was an Iranian-Armenian member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), revolutionary leader and a leading figure in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran.
He is considered a national hero in Iran.
In his youth, Yeprem participated in Armenian nationalist groups as well as in partisan activities against the Ottoman Empire. In September 1890, Yeprem was arrested by the Russian Cossacks. He was exiled to Siberia by 1892, from where he managed to escape to Tabriz in 1896. While in Tabriz, he began working for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF Dashnaktsutyun), whose activity in Persia was primarily directed against the Ottoman Empire, and established its local branches in Tabriz, Urmia and Rasht.
In October 1908, during Tabriz resistance, Yeprem Khan formed a secret Sattar Committee (in honor of Sattar KhanHouri Berberian. Armenians and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1905–1911, Westview Press, 2001, , p. 132) in Rasht, and established contacts with Social Democrats, Social Revolutionaries, and the ARF in the Caucasus.Yeprem Khan. "Memoirs", Ittila'at-i Mahaneh, 2 (July 1948), p. 19-21 Reinforced by 35 Georgians and twenty Armenians from Baku, Yeprem captured Rasht and then planted his red flag on the town hall of Enzeli. Further reinforced by Mohammad Vali Sepahdar, the main landed magnate of the Caspian provinces and former Qajar commander,Elton L. Daniel. The History of Iran, Greenwood Press, 2000, , p. 312 Yeprem Khan marched his forces of Caucasian guerillas and Mazandarani peasants towards Tehran,Ervand Abrahamian. Iran between two revolutions, Princeton University Press, 1982, , p. 99 which he entered in July 1909. After the capture of Tehran, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar fled from his palace to the Russian Embassy. On the same day, the Iranian Parliament set in an extraordinary meeting to replace Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. On 10 September 1909, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar left the Russian Embassy and went into exile in Odessa in Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine).
Yeprem Khan was killed on 19 May 1912 while he was trying to rescue one of his comrades in a battle in Shurcheh in Kermanshahan Province. He was killed by some of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar's loyal troops who remained in Iran. Arshak Gavafian (Keri) later killed the murderers of Yeprem Khan in revenge.
He is buried in St. Mary Church in downtown Tehran.
|
|