The
Russian army had a string of Armenian generals, both during the
imperial period and its successor, the Soviet Union. One of the most
remarkable was Prince Valerian Madatov, who was also involved in the
campaigns leading to the incorporation of Eastern Armenia into the
Russian Empire.
Madatov
was born Rostom Madatian in 1782 in the village of Chanakhchi (nowadays
Avetaranots), which was part of the historical district of Varanda in
the khanate of Karabagh, then under Persian rule. He belonged to a
family of minor nobles or
meliks.
He
left his birthplace at the age of fourteen with his uncle, in 1797,
along with a delegation of Armenian meliks seeking Russian support in
their efforts to liberate the region from Muslim rule.
Non-Russian
names and last names were usually turned into Russian ones as part of a
trend to blend into the majority. Madatian’s first and last name became
Valerian Madatov. He joined the Russian army at the rank of junior
officer
,
and
spent the next ten years training and serving in lower officer ranks.
Madatov entered military action for the first time in 1808 during the
Napoleonic wars. He joined a regiment of hussars in 1810 as a captain
and then rose to the rank of major. He distinguished himself in Moldavia
and Valachia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, which earned
him the Order of St. George of fourth degree in 1811. He was granted the
rank of colonel for his feats during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. In
1813 he was seriously injured in Leipzig, but, even not fully recovered
from his wound, he commanded his men in a march over Paris. He was
granted the rank of major-general at the age of thirty-one. He remained
in France as one of the commanders of the forces of occupation after the
defeat of Napoleon in 1814.
He
was called back in 1815 to serve in the Caucasus, given his familiarity
with the region and his knowledge of most of the major languages spoken
there. He brokered peace with local regional rulers and helped
consolidate Russian power in the area. In 1816 he was appointed
commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the khanate of Karabagh.
Persia
tried to retake the territories lost in the first quarter of the
century to Russia and attacked Karabagh in 1826, thus starting a new
Russo-Persian war that would last until 1828 and end with a conclusive
victory of Russia. Madatov hurried to Tiflis, where he took command of
Russian forces. Leading a force of 2,000 men, they routed the
10,000-strong Persian army on the banks of the Shamkhor River and retook
Elizavetpol/Gandzak (nowadays Ganja) on September 5. After defeating a
Persian attempt to occupy the city again together with General Ivan
Paskevich, Madatov was made lieutenant general in late September.
However,
due to Paskevich’s intrigues to have his predecessors removed from the
area, Madatov was ordered to move to Tiflis and later to Petersburg.
He
went back to the battlefront during the Russo-Turkish war of 1828-1829,
where he fought the enemy in the European front and won several
significant victories. On September 4, 1829, two days after the war
ended with the signature of a peace treaty, Prince Valerian Madatov died
near the village of Shumla, from a pulmonary disease, sharply
aggravated by the burdens of marching during the war. He was buried in
the yard of the Alexander Nevsky monastery in St. Petersburg.
