Melik Shahnazar II

Melik Shahnazar II (Armenian: Մելիք Շահնազար Բ) was the melik of Varanda, one of the five Melikdoms of Karabakh, in the 18th century. He is a controversial figure in Armenian history, whose actions contributed significantly to the demise of the Armenian Melikdoms of Artsakh.

Early years

Shahnazar's date of birth is unknown. His father was Melik Hussein of Varanda, and his mother the daughter of the

Accession to power

Shahnazar killed his half-brother Melik Hovsep Shahnazarian and the latter's son Sahi Beg in 1750 and seized control of

Armenian liberation movement figure Joseph Emin calls Shahnazar a traitor and a villain for killing his relatives, usurping the melikdom of Varanda and allying himself with Panah Ali against the rest of the Meliks of Karabakh.^[1] Emin wrote that Shahnazar "adopted in his private life the polygamous customs of the Persians", whereby he "greatly shocked and revolted the religious feelings of the people, and incurred the hatred of all the other Meliks".^[1]

According to Bishop Makar Barkhudaryants, although Shahnazar regretted his actions in the last years of his life, the Armenians of Karabakh did not forgive him, slamming him in their folk stories with satire via Pele Pughi's character, which depicted the latter as the melik's disobedient jester who constantly provokes the ruler to do silly things, so that he would remain on the right path out of fear of finding himself in laughable situations.^[5]

Shahnazar restored Amaras Monastery in the late 1780s, hoping to achieve forgiveness for his sins by this. His descendants, who continued to live in Shushi, took good care of Amaras Monastery, restoring it for the last time in 1858.^[4]

Descendants

Shahnazar's son Melik Jumshud, together with Melik Abov of the House of Melik-Beglarian, helped Ibrahim Khan against

Karen Shakhnazarov, a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter, is one of several living descendants of the Melik-Shahnazarian princely family.^[7] His father Georgy Shakhnazarov was a Soviet politician and political scientist who was a close aid of Mikhail Gorbachev.^[8]

References