[2] With the onslaught of the Armenian genocide, his family emigrated from the city in 1915 and settled in Russian Armenia, where they took refuge at Etchmiadzin Cathedral.

[5] He was released after the establishment of Soviet rule in Armenia in December 1920 and was elected secretary of the Yerevan committee of the Armenian Communist Party, a position he held until February 1921.

[6] Khanjian took over the leadership of the Armenian party at a time when the peasants were being forced to give up their land and were being driven onto collective farms, on instructions in Moscow.

The Soviet press revealed at the time that the communists lost control of parts of Armenia, which were in rebel hands for several weeks in March and April 1930.

"[3] He was a friend and supporter of many Armenian intellectuals, including Yeghishe Charents (who dedicated a poem to him), Axel Bakunts and Gurgen Mahari (all three were subjected to political repressions after Khanjian's death).

[4] In a speech in January 1932, Khanjian condemned “Great Russian chauvinism” and defended the Armenian language, literature, and history.

"[9] Khanjian paid particular attention to encouraging immigration Soviet Armenia from the Armenian diaspora and to the republic's links with diasporic organizations.

He was found in his room by his bodyguards with a bullet wound to the head between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.[12] He was transported to a Tbilisi hospital and operated upon around 1:30 a.m., but was pronounced dead.

"[11][12] On July 20, 1936, Beria published an article in where he accused Khanjian of patronizing "rabid nationalist elements among the Armenian intelligentsia" and "abetting the terrorist group of Stepanyan".

[12] By December 1936, the narrative of Khanjian's suicide was publicly endorsed by Stalin and the USSR's most prominent Armenian politician, Anastas Mikoyan.

[13] Along with an entire generation of intellectual Armenian communist leaders, Khanjian was denounced as an "enemy of the people" during Stalin's Great Purge.