From
Fire and sword in the Caucasus by Luigi Villari,
Turmoil
in Ganja / Gendge Fall of 1905
This
" Pax Caucasica" lasted about a
fortnight, during which every one thought that
the Empire was on the high-road to freedom and
prosperity. But at the end of November the town
of Elizavetpol, which had hitherto been free from
disturbances, felt that its reputation as a
respectable Caucasian city was seriously
compromised, and that it must not remain out in
the cold. Elizavetpol has some 33,000
inhabitants, of whom the majority are Tartars and
the rest Armenians; the government of which it is
the capital contains 557,000 Moslems (of whom
374,000 are Shias) and 293,000 Armenians.
Throughout the summer and autumn a number of
outbreaks had occurred in the province, though
not in the town, where only murders and
abductions had been committed. The
Governor-General Takaishvili took no measures to
avert trouble, although the two races were arming
fast. The town is divided into two parts by the
Ghanjinka, at that time a dry watercourse; the
Armenians live on the right bank, the Tartars on
the left. On the 29th of November the Tartars,
reinforced by armed and mounted bands from
outside, proceeded to attack the Armenians, but
the latter, although less numerous, were better
disciplined. For two days the fighting went on,
and a large part of the town was set on fire.
General Takaishvili ordered the troops not to
interfere, but at last the Viceroy dismissed him
and put General Fleischer in his place. The
latter now took energetic measures and placed a
detachment of troops at the bridge across the
Ghanjinka, with one gun pointing up stream and
another down, and he threatened to fire on all
who should try to cross. But fighting did take
place on a large and systematic scale; the
station, which is five versts from the town, was
defended by some soldiers and Armenian and
Russian volunteers against a horde of Tartars. A
good half of Elizavetpol was in flames, and
numbers of people were killed. General Malama now
arrived from Tiflis with reinforcements,
inflicted heavy losses on the Tartars, and
insisted on a pacification. Both parties were
disposed to stop fighting, but unfortunately some
Tartars were murdered in the Armenian quarter and
some Armenians in the Tartar quarter very soon
after, and fighting began again. It is said that
a number of police agents went about carefully
undoing the work done by General Malama, and
egging on the two races against each other.
Nevertheless, after a few days' desultory firing,
quiet was restored. In the remote districts there
were sporadic encounters from time to time, and
Tartar bands plundered the countryside.
The Elizavetpol
riots were followed by a similar outbreak at Tiflis
a few days later. The Tartars there number about
10,000 or 15,000, and live in the southern
quarters round the Maidan. The trouble began with
the inevitable series of murders of Tartars and
Armenians, which many people believe to have been
organized or instigated by the police. Much
excitement was caused thereby, and it spread to
the surrounding country. On December 3rd the
Tartars and Turks attacked the Armenians in the
bazaar quarter, but the Christians being
prepared, defended themselves successfully and
burnt some Tartar houses. But a rumor was spread
about that the Tartars from Borchalu, a place
southwest of Tiflis, were marching towards the
city to plunder it under the leadership of one
Yedigaroff, a Tartar officer in the Russian army,
and that a number of Georgian and Armenian
villages had been looted and their inhabitants
killed. There was great alarm among all classes,
and the Solalaki quarter, where the Armenians
live, "was," in the words of an
eye-witness, "like a disturbed ant-hill.
Many families left Tiflis, and every man armed
himself, even the schoolboys went about with
revolver or kinjal." Mounted troops
patrolled the town ceaselessly, and the Viceroy
solemnly promised the citizens that the Borchalu
Tartars would be kept out. The Armenians occupied
the citadel hill and the Avlabar on the opposite
side of the river, thus commanding the Borchalu
road. Suddenly it became known that Tartars from
other places had come into the town; a deputation
of the town council immediately repaired to the
Viceroy at 9 p.m., and after waiting some hours
was informed by his Excellency that he had
promised to keep out the Borchalu Tartars, and
this he had done, but he was not responsible for
the others! However he promised to expel those
who had got in and prevent further incursions.
The Maidan (Tarter quarter) was still in flames,
and a determined attack on the Armenian position
was made by the Borchalu Tartars, who were driven
back with heavy losses. For two or three days the
fighting continued, but the Armenians were
admirably organized and disciplined and gave a
very good account of themselves." Fire
and sword in the Caucasus, Luigi Villari, T. F.
Unwin, 1906