Arabo or Arapo (, 1863–1895), born Arakel Mkhitarian,
was an
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
n
fedayi of the late 19th century. He was a member of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...
(ARF) political party.
Arabo was born in the village of
Kurter in the region of
Sasun
Sason is a town in the Batman Province of Turkey. It is the seat of the Sason District.[İl ...]
in the
Bitlis vilayet.
Arabo studied at the
Arakelots Monastery
Arakelots Monastery (, ''Mšo Surb Arakelots vank' '', "Holy Apostles Monastery of Mush") was an Armenian monastery in the historic province of Taron, 11 km south-east of Mush (Muş), in present-day eastern Turkey. According to tradition, ...
school in
Mush
In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on Multi-user dungeon, MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social m ...
.
Beginning in the late-1880s, he led the Armenian fedayi groups in Sasun and
Taron.
Initially, Arabo had formed a group modeled on those of the Kurdish bandits, to rob their enemies in turn and becoming a folk hero among Armenians. However, he became a revolutionary during his time in the Caucasus.
Starting in 1889, Arabo visited the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
several times. In 1892, he was arrested by Turkish authorities and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment, but escaped from prison and resumed his fedayi activities.
He took part in the first
ARF conference in
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
in 1892.
In spring of 1893, while returning to Ottoman Armenia from the Caucasus to help rebels from Sasun, he was killed in 1895 along with four of his comrades during a battle with Kurdish bands on the road from
Khnus to Mush.
Genocide.ru (Russian)
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See also
* " Zartir lao", a popular folk song about Arabo
* Armenian fedayi
''Fedayi'' ( Eastern ; , , , ), also known as the Armenian irregular units, Armenian militia, or Armenian Hayduks were Armenian civilians who voluntarily left their families to form self-defense units and irregular armed-bands in reaction to ...
* Armenian national movement
The Armenian national movement ( ''Hay azgayin-azatagrakan sharzhum'') included social, cultural, but primarily political and military movements that reached their height during World War I and the following years, initially seeking improved statu ...
References
External links
Arabo's Biography
{{Armenian nationalism
1863 births
1893 deaths
People from Bitlis
Armenian fedayi
Armenian nationalists
Armenian people imprisoned in the Ottoman Empire
Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
Highwaymen