'Syunik liberation struggle') began as a rebellion of the Armenians of the region of Syunik (also known at the time as Ghapan) in Iranian Armenia against Safavid rule and local Muslim tribes and rulers.

After making initial gains and occupying a significant part of the province, the Ottomans were defeated at the Battle of Halidzor on 26 February 1727.

After this victory, Davit Bek's forces completely drove the Ottomans out of Syunik, and he was recognized by the Safavid shah Tahmasp II as ruler of Ghapan.

[3] In the late seventeenth century, Russian southward expansion under Peter the Great had raised hopes among some Armenian leaders that an alliance could be made with Russia to free Armenia from the rule of the Muslim empires.

Most notably, an Armenian noble from Syunik named Israel Ori went to Moscow in 1701 and drew up a plan for a rebellion in Iranian Armenia with Russian help.

[5] The weakening of central authority also allowed Lezgin groups to raid the South Caucasus, prompting the Armenian meliks to strengthen their defenses and military forces.

However, fearing a conflict with the Ottomans and facing logistical problems in his campaign, Peter remained in the Caspian littoral and did not move into the South Caucasus.

[9] With the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, signed on 12 September 1723, Russia annexed the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea and made peace with Iran.

[11] The weakening of the Safavid state also allowed Muslim lords in the South Caucasus to increase their control over the region's Armenian population.

Additionally, Armenians in general and those of Syunik in particular were being taxed heavily to pay for Shah Tahmasp II's campaigns against the Afghans.

[13] Unlike Karabagh, which at this time was exclusively Armenian, Syunik already had a considerable Muslim population, made up of Turkic and Kurdish nomads who would regularly come up to the mountainous grazing lands from the plains of the Kura for part of the year.

[14] Threatened by the local Muslims,[15] in 1722 the meliks of Syunik sent Stepanos Shahumian of Meghri to the court of the Georgian king Vakhtang VI to ask for assistance.

[16] Vakhtang agreed to aid the meliks; he sent Davit Bek, reportedly one of his most capable officers, together with some 30 men Armenian soldiers.

Among these were Melik Toros of Chavndur, the tanuters (mayors or village headmen) of Goghtn and Julfa, the yuzbashis[b] Pap and Pali, and Mkhitar Sparapet.

For panic-mongering and cowardice, he put his friend Pap to death, and had his lieutenants Ter Avetis and Mkhitar Sparapet briefly imprisoned.

[23] Having established order and a strong military force in Syunik, Davit Bek began campaigning against the local khans (formally Safavid governors, but largely independent with the collapse of central authority) and other Muslim lords of varying sizes, who joined forces against Davit Bek.

Davit Bek's first great victory came at the battle of Chavndur, where the Armenian rebels defeated the combined forces of the khanates of Bargushat and Karadagh.

On 29 March 1724, Davit Bek besieged the strategically important fortress of Vorotnaberd and captured it after four days of fierce fighting.

Apparently following the example of the meliks of Artsakh, Davit Bek created a series of fortified military districts in Syunik called sghnakhs.

[30][c] However, Russia had already signed the Treaty of Constantinople with the Ottoman Empire in 1724, recognizing the latter's rights over the Iranian territories of the South Caucasus away from the Caspian coast.

Joined by the khans of Bargushat and Karadagh, the Karachorlu and other local Turkic and Kurdish forces, the Ottomans besieged Halidzor on 26 February 1726.

[33] Although initially Davit's main enemy was the Iranians, he quickly came to the conclusion that it was the Ottomans who posed a much greater danger.