He was instrumental in David Bek's victories over the forces of Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire in Armenia's Syunik region.

His head was presented to the Ottoman Pasha at Tabriz, who found this act of treachery detestable and had the murderers decapitated.

The inscription on the tomb, which incorrectly dates Mkhitar's death to 1726, writes that he was "from the land of Ganja" and "died young without having reached his goal.

[4] However, oral traditions from Syunik hold that Armenian resistance continued under different leaders until Nader drove out the Ottomans and restored Iranian control over Transcaucasia in 1735.

[6] A film about Mkhitar Sparapet directed by Edmond Keosayan titled Huso astgh ("Star of Hope") was released in 1978 by Armenfilm and Mosfilm, with Armen Dzhigarkhanyan playing the role of Mkhitar; the film enjoyed success in Soviet Armenia.