Behbud Khan Javanshir
Encyclopedia
Behbud Khan Javanshir Azad Khan oglu (1877 – July 18, 1921) was an Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani people
The Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as in the neighbourhood states, Georgia, Russia and formerly Armenia. Commonly referred to as Azeris or Azerbaijani Turks , they also live in a wider area from the Caucasus to...
politician, diplomat, Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
Minister of Internal Affairs (Azerbaijan)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan is an Azerbaijani government ministry for internal affairs, which is responsible for keeping the order, security and safety of population, officials, buildings and structures in the country...
(ADR) and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
Early life
Behbud Khan Javanshir was born in 1877 in Azad QaraqoyunluAzad Qaraqoyunlu
Azad Qaraqoyunlu is a town and municipality in the Tartar Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 2,487. The municipality consists of the villages of Azad Qaraqoyunlu, Qapanlı, and İlxıçılar.- Notable natives :...
village of Javanshir Uyezd
Javanshir Uyezd
Dzhevanshirsky Uyezd also spelled as Jevanshir Uyezd, was one of the uyezds of Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire, with its center in Tartar in 1869–1918.-Geography:...
of Elisabethpol Governorate
Elisabethpol Governorate
Elisabethpol Governorate or Elizavetpol Governorate was one of the guberniyas of the Russian Empire, with its centre in Elisabethpol . Its area was 44,136 sq. kilometres, and it had 878,415 inhabitants by 1897....
. His father Azad Khan Javanshir was the great grandson of the founder of Karabakh Khanate
Karabakh khanate
The Karabakh khanate was a semi-independent khanate on the territories of modern Azerbaijan and Armenia established in about 1750 under Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas. The Karabakh khanate existed until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over it from Persia...
Panah Ali Khan
Panah Ali Khan
Panah-Ali khan Javanshir was the founder and first ruler of Karabakh khanate, initially under nominal Persian suzerainty and by 1748 an independent feudal state that existed in 1747–1822 in Karabakh and adjacent areas..-Origins and early life:Panah Ali Khan was from the Sarijali branch of the...
. From 1890 through 1898, he studied at Tiflis Realny School where he learned German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. In 1902, he got enrolled in Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg is a small German University of Technology with about 5000 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony...
graduating cum laude in 1906. He then moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and learned English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Upon his return to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
in 1907, he started working as senior engineer in the oil industry. According to archival documents, Behbud Khan was a member of anti-government Difai organization along with Ahmad Bey Agayev, Garay Bey Garaybeyov, Mammad Hasan Hajinski
Mammad Hasan Hajinski
Mammad Hasan Jafargulu oglu Hajinski was an Azerbaijani architect and statesman. He also served as a Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the last Prime Minister of ADR.-Early life:...
, Isa Bey Ashurbayov and Niftali Bey Behbutov.
While travelling to Germany, Behbud Khan brought German wheat to Karabakh
Karabakh
The Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...
which was acclimatized
Acclimatization
Acclimatisation or acclimation is the process of an individual organism adjusting to a gradual change in its environment, allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions...
by local farmers and is used today. He was also the first person to bring an automobile to Karabakh region at a time when roads were built. After March massacres
March Days
The March Days, or March Events, refer to an inter-ethnic strife and massacres of up to 12,000 Azerbaijanis and other Muslims that took place between March 30 and April 2, 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of Russian Empire.Facilitated by a political power struggle...
of 1918, Behbud Khan was a member of Azerbaijani-Armenian reconciliation commission.
Political career
On June 17, 1918 Behbud Khan was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. On December 26, 1918 he was replaced by Khalil Bey Khasmammadov. Starting from October 6, 1918 as a deputy minister he was appointed actingActing (law)
In law, when someone is said to be acting in a position it can mean one of three things.*The position has not yet been formally created.*The person is only occupying the position temporarily, to ensure continuity.*The person does not have a mandate....
Minister of Trade and Industry. Behbud Khan also served in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan
National Assembly of Azerbaijan
The National Assembly , also transliterated as Milli Majlis is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional...
.
After establishment of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan, with the assistance of Azerbaijani communist leader Nariman Narimanov
Nariman Narimanov
Narimanov Nariman Karbalayi Najaf oglu was an Azerbaijani revolutionary, writer, publicist, politician and statesman. In 1920, Narimanov headed the Soviet government of Azerbaijan, the Provisional Military-Revolutionary Committee , replacing Mirza Davud Huseynov, then he was the Chairman of the...
, Javanshir was able to avoid imprisonment by the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s and was assigned to work in Soviet oil fields in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. Due to his education in Germany, he was later assigned to represent the Soviet government first in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, then from the summer of 1921 in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
Assassination
Behbud Khan was assassinated on July 18, 1921 in Constantinople, in front of the Pera Palace Hotel by an ArmenianArmenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Misak Torlakian, with assistance of other participants Ervand Fundukyan and (H)Arutiun (H)Arutuinyan for his role in the massacre of Armenians in Baku
September Days
The September Days refers to a period during the Russian Civil War in September 1918 when ethnic Armenians were massacred by Enver Pasha's Army of Islam and their local Azeri allies when they captured Baku, the soon-to-be capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic...
. A Dashnak officer who had known him from Baku recognized him. Fundukyan and Arutuinyan were to follow Behbud Khan and Torlokyan was to shoot him. Behbud Khan was accompanied by his wife Tamara, brothers Jumshud and Surkhay were returning back to the Pera Palace Hotel through the park after an evening at Tepebashi Theatre. Torlakian shot Behbud Khan with a Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
pistol, once in his face and twice in the chest, after which he was pronounced dead in the hospital. Torlakian was apprehended.
Court and sentencing
When questioned by the police, Torlakian said the assassination was justified because of killings of Armenians in Baku. He was sued by the British Military Tribunal. Torlakian's defense attorneys and an Armenian neurologist who examined him in prison and claimed he had epileptic seizures due to "the emotional crises to which he is subject" making him "not responsible for his actions" while a Turkish doctor claimed that he had no epilepsy or any mental disorders.In the court testimony, Torlokyan claimed he was wounded and his family was killed before his eyes in Baku. However, Torlakian was from Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
, Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and his family members died there. In October of 1921, the tribunal issued a guilty verdict but ruled that he did not take responsibility for his actions due to his illness. Torlokyan was then sent to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, where he was released and left for the United States.
Further reading
- Yeghiayan, VartkesVartkes YeghiayanVartkes Yeghiayan is an Armenian-American attorney specializing in international law best known for his role in leading federal class action lawsuits against insurance companies for insurance policies issued to Armenians in the early twentieth century during the time of the Armenian...
and Ara Arabyan. The Case of Misak Torlakian. Center for Armenian Remembrance, 2006. ISBN 0-9777-1530-2. - Letter published in French newspaper in Istanbul by Behbud Javanshir's wife Tamara Javanshir and reprinted in John Dos Passos's book The Orient Express in a chapter entitled "Constantinople, July 1921: Assassination" (New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1927), pp. 14-16.
- John Dos PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
' account of the event as a witness of the commotion of the murder at Pera Palace Hotel, Istanbul on June 18, 1921. Dos Passos was staying at Pera Palace and witnessed the commotion around the crime scene at the hotel. See John Dos Passos's book, The Orient Express, chapter 2: "Constantinople, July 1921: Assassination" (New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1927), page 9.