by meliks, rose to struggle for their independence, never having received the promised support from the Russian side. Yet, Peter the Great's march gave a new impulse to the struggle of the Armenians. In the 1720s the host formed in Karabakh concentrated in three military camps or Skhnakhs (fortified place). The first of these, called the Great Skhnakh, was in the Mrav Mountains near the Tartar River. The second, Pokr (Minor) Skhnakh, was on the slope of Mount Kirs in the province of Varanda, and the third, in the province of Kapan. Shkhnakhs, i.e. the Armenian host, possessed absolute power. They were a people's army with the council of military leaders and the Catholicos of Gandsasar also entering it and having a great influence. Proceeding from the demands of wartime, meliks shared their power with iuzbashis, all of them having equal rights and obligations at the military councils. The Armenian host headed by Catholicos Yesai and the iuzbashis Avan and Tarkhan resisted the Ottoman regular army for a long time. In 1733, the Armenians, encouraged Nadir Shah of Persia, on one special appointed day massacred all Ottoman army troops in their winter quarters in Khamsa. After that the former status of the area was restored. In gratitude for services rendered, Nadir Shah freed the Khamsa meliks from the Ganja khans and appointed over them as ruler Avan, melik Dizak, a primary leader of the conspiracy of 1733, giving him the title of khan. However, Avan Khan soon died. Karabakh khanate In 1747, Turkic ruler Panah Ali Khan Javanshir from the Azeri Javanshir clan, by then already a successful naib and royal , found himself displeased with Nader Shah's attitude towards him during the latter's later years of rule, and having gathered many of those deported from Karabakh in 1736 returned to his homeland. Due to his reputation as a skillful warrior and his wealthy ancestor's legacy in Karabakh, Panah Ali proclaimed himself and was soon recognized throughout most of the region as a ruler (khan). The Shah sent troops to bring back the runaways, however the order was never fulfilled: Nader Shah himself was killed in Khorasan in June of the same year. The new ruler of Persia, Adil Shah issued a firman (decree) recognizing Panah Ali as the Khan of Karabakh. Melik of Varanda Shahnazar II, who was at odds with other meliks, was the first to accept the