Esayi Hasan Jalaleants‘ was the Kat‘oghikos, that is, the Supreme Patriarch of the Holy See of Aghuank‘ (Karabagh-Artsakh and Ganje-Utik‘) located in the Monastery of Gandzasar. His tenure, from 1702 to 1728, coincided with the temporary decline of the Mother See of Armenia, at Holy Eòjmiatsin. Taking advantage of this, Esayi managed to establish close ties with the Russians and the Georgians and was instrumental in encouraging Peter the Great to invade Transcaucasia and Iran in 1722.
Esayi’s Brief History of the Aghuank‘ Region, that is, the historic Armenian provinces of Artsakh and Utik‘, concentrates on the Armeno-Georgian efforts against the incursions by Lezgi tribesmen and their hope in the arrival of the Russian army to liberate them from Muslim rule.
The work covers the years 1702 to 1723 and sheds light on a corner of the Persian Safavid Empire during its decline and final collapse. This, the first English translation of Esayi’s important primary source, also confirms the large Armenian presence in the Karabagh-Artsakh region long before its conquest by the Russians in the nineteenth century.