[1][2] The novella was first published in serialized form across eight issues of Mshak, a Tiflis-based Armenian newspaper, in 1878 (exactly one year after the events depicted).

Its title is based on the name of Sheikh Jalaleddin,[3] a Kurdish chief who led his forces on a violent campaign against Armenian and Assyrian villages in the eastern part of Van province at the beginning of the last Russo-Turkish War (1877–78).

While the story is fictional, Raffi based the historical details on eyewitness accounts.

[4] The events of the story take place in the eastern part of the Van Vilayet, in the historical canton of Aghbak near the Ottoman frontier with Persia.

The novella tells the story of Sarhat, a young Armenian man who lives the life of a bandit and seeks to rescue his beloved, Asli, from marauding Kurds under the leadership of the eponymous Sheikh Jalaleddin.