Wounds of Armenia

Wounds of Armenia

Cover of the 1959 edition
Author	Khachatur Abovian
Language	Eastern Armenian
Genre	Historical novel
Publication date	1858

Wounds of Armenia (Armenian: Վերք Հայաստանի Verk Hayastani) is an 1841 historical novel by Khachatur Abovian. Written in the Araratian (Yerevan) dialect,Wounds of Armenia is considered Abovian's chef d'œuvre. It is Abovian's debut novel, the first Armenian novel and the first modern Eastern Armenian literary work. Thanks to Wounds of Armenia, Khachatur Abovian is acknowledged as the founder of the modern Eastern Armenian language.

It was first published in 1858 in Tiflis, which was the cultural center of Russian Armenians before the Russian Civil War, ten years after Abovian disappeared.

The book is commonly known as Wounds of Armenia (Verk Hayastani), although it was originally titled Wounds of Armenia: Lamentation of a Patriot (Վերք Հայաստանի. ողբ հայրենասերի) by Abovian.

Khachatur Abovian was born in Kanaker, a small village near Yerevan in 1809 which was part of the Persian Empire at the time. In 1827, Yerevan was captured by the Russians. From 1830 to 1836, Abovian studied at the University of Dorpat. Abovian wrote the book in 1841.

The story which Abovian named Wounds of Armenia is based on an incident which happened in his hometown Kanaker during the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828.

A young Armenian girl named Takhuni is kidnapped by soldiers of Hossein Khan Sardar, the head of the Persian political entity around Yerevan. Aghasi, who is the main hero, kills the Sardar's men and saves her. The Persian governor's brother Hassan decides to punish Aghasi and thus destroys a number of Armenian towns.