Daniel Bek-Pirumian

Who was Daniel Bek-Pirumian?

Daniel Bek-Pirumyan was a famed Armenian military commander and national hero. He was the top commander of the Battle of Sardarabad.

Daniel Bek-Pirumyan was born in 1861 in Nakhichevanik village of the Elisabethpol Governorate of the Russian Empire. He graduated from the public school in Shusha and started his military service in 1881 in Yerevan. In 1890, Pirumyan was promoted to the military rank of captain and in 1913, he became a colonel. During World War I, he fought in the Caucasus Front as a colonel in the Tsarist army. During this period, he was also the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment in Western Armenia. In Erzurum, he captured the Turkish fort of Dalangez and then fought off the Turkish army trying to reclaim it. Of the 1,400 Russian and Armenian officers and soldiers defending the fort, 1,100 were killed and the survivors were injured. Nevertheless, eight assaults were repulsed by the fort and Dalangez was not given to the enemy.

On 26 May 1918, he participated in the Battle of Sardarabad as a commander-in-chief. His cousin, Poghos Bek-Pirumyan also participated in the battle as the commander of the 5th Karabakh Regiment.