Martiros Khan Davidkhanian (1843-1905) was an Iranian

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

, the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Persian Cossack Brigade The Persian Cossack Brigade, also known as the Iranian Cossack Brigade (), was a Cossacks, Cossack-style cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Qajar Iran, Iran. It was modelled after the Caucasian Cossack regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. Until 1 ...

, Amir Touman and the

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the Royal Guard of the Qajar Court. He taught Russian to

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...

Early life

Martiros was born in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

in 1843. He studied at the Lazarev Institute in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, graduating with honors. He then returned to Iran where he began teaching Russian and French at the Dar ul-Funun school, the first modern university of higher learning in Iran. He taught there for thirty-two years.

Career

In 1873 Martiros began to work as a

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the Iranian army, while serving as a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

of French and Russian in the Ministry of Publications and Special Governmental Translation Office. In 1879, when the Russian officers took over the training of the

, Martiros began working for the Brigade as a translator. Martiros persistently rose through the ranks until attaining the rank of Raiss-e` Arkan-e Harb, which loosely means the Head of Battle Columns. It was with this rank that he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Persian Cossack Brigade, a position he held for twenty-six years. Towards the end of the

Qajar era The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

, Martiros became Commander of the Royal Guard of the

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

Court.

Philanthropy

Martiros Khan Davidkhanian with his sons in front of the Davidkhanian Mansion

Martiros donated a large tract of land to the Armenian community of Iran, upon which was built a church and a private school named Koushesh. Martiros also built an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

, and was known for his sizable donations to many Armenian charities. He built a large bathhouse behind one of his mansions for the exclusive use of the Armenians of Tehran. This offer was very generous to the community because at the time, Armenians were considered unclean by the Muslims, and were forbidden to use the city's public bathhouses. The people called the bathhouse 'the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

's bathouse.' When his daughter Maryam Davidkhanian married

Alexander Khan Setkhanian Iskandar-Khan Setkhanian (1865–1953), also known as Alexander Khan Setkhanian, was an Iranian general, the Chief of Staff of the Cossack Brigade, a Commander in the Iranian Imperial Army. Early life Iskandar-Khan was born to General Tsatur K ...

, the Commander-in-Chief of the army, Martiros added a vast mansion-compound on the oldest street in Iran to her dowry. The main building had fifty rooms. There were also many separate buildings for family members on the property, as well as a lily pond, four tennis courts, stables for the horses, and a rose garden.

Personal life

Martiros has been referred to as 'Madros' by most writers, and held the aristocratic title of

Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

, and the military titles of Amir Tuman, commander of ten thousand, and

Arteshbod A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online ...

. He was honored with the Order of St. Anne, St. Stanislaus,

Saint Anna According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's na ...

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, and St. Vladimir, and was buried in the

Saint George Church of Tehran Saint George Church of Tehran, (Armenian: , Persian: ), is an Armenian Apostolic church in Tehran, Iran. It is the second-oldest church in Tehran after the Church of Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Location It is located in Darkhungah Alley ...

. He had three sons, including General Eskandar Khan Davidkhanian.{{Cite book, last=Navasargian, first=Alice, title=The Immortals, year=2012

References

Iranian generals Iranian philanthropists Persian Armenians People of Qajar Iran Military personnel from Isfahan 1843 births 1905 deaths 19th-century Iranian military personnel