Guba, April-May 1918. Documented Pogroms of the Muslims
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Uyezd Commissar. ( days later, Ghelovani’s squad was forced to retreat from Guba
attacked by the Lezghin units. In the course of retreat, majority of Guba’s Christian
population was forcedly evacuated from the town, some of those evacuated were
killed in the exchange of fire. In response to that, a 2000-strong squad led by Ama-
zasp attacked Guba committing pogroms of the local Muslim population both in
town and in 167 villages of Guba Uyezd. Ghelovani was examined twice by the Ad
Hoc Investigation Committee, however he was not found guilty. Upon demise of
the Soviet regime, he stayed in Baku employed by the Inspectorate of Labor at the
Government of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1919 he was assassinated
by an ethnic Armenian, Sarkis Teruntz.
15Srvantsyan Amazasp (1873-1921), a former Russian Army officer, a mem-
ber of Dashnaktsutyun Party and a zealous ultranationalist. Born in Van, Ottoman
Empire, he got involved in the nationalist and terrorist movement since the very
early age. Fearful of the crackdown by the Turkish authorities, he fled to Erivan and
then Shusha making himself known for massacring Turkish and Azerbaijani civi-
lians in 1905-1907. Arrested together with a group of Dashnaktsutyun activists, he
was sentenced to 15 years of exile in Siberia by the Czarist authorities in 1908. In
1913, he succeeded in escaping the prison and moving first to Europe and then to
Istanbul in 1914. During WW1, Amazasp was heading the 3rd Armenian Voluntary
Brigade. In 1915, during the battles in Van, Bitlis and Khizan, Amazasp’s troops were
actively involved in mass extermination of the local Turkish and Azerbaijani popula-
tion. In 1917 he was appointed the commander of police units in Alashkert District,
Russia. In early 1918, Amazasp arrived in Baku to take command of the Armenian
military units. A member of the Armenian National Council and the commander of
the 3rd Red Army Brigade, A.Srvantsyan was masterminding attacks by the Arme-
nian armed units on civilian Muslim population in Baku and Azerbaijani countryside
areas. In late April – May 1918, he was behind the carnage of the Muslim population
in Guba. While Amazasp presented himself as ‘a hero of the Armenian nation and
advocate of its interests’, the punitive squad he led was particularly notorious for its
atrocities. Meanwhile, in the face of advancing troops of the Caucasus Islamic Army
that set Baku free on September 15, 1918, Amazasp defected and fled to Persia
leaving his troops in the field. Once WW1 was over, he returned to Armenia and
was appointed the Army commander in Nor Bayazet. Upon Armenia’s takeover by
the Soviet troops, he was arrested and slain by the Armenian communists in prison.
16The number of villages affected in Guba Uyezd was not precise as shown
in the document. According to the AHIC files, at least 167 villages were affected in
the area the course of events of April-May 1918.
17Typos were found in the names of villages of Guba Uyezd
18The number of people injured and killed in the course of the events in
Guba Uyezd was not precise in the document. According to the rosters presented
by village elders, 580 persons were killed and 55 persons injured as a result of
pogroms of the Muslim population in April-May 1918. 781 more residents passed
away from shock, starvation and diseases while hiding in forests and mountains.
19This figure, as it was mentioned in Novatski’s report, implies the total damage
inflicted by the Armenian militants to the villages of Guba Uyezd only. The document