Karekin Srvandztiants was born in
Van in the
Ottoman Empire in 1840. He was the uncle of military commander
Hamazasp Srvandztyan. Srvandztiants was educated at the seminary of
Varagavank monastery under the mentorship of
Mkrtich Khrimian, well-known Armenian religious figure. Under his tutelage, Srvandztiants toured
Eastern Armenian (also known as
Russian Armenia) where he surveyed the living condition and cultural characteristics of the local population. In 1866, two years after being ordained, Srvandztiants moved to
Constantinople where he continued to be a priest and a community figure. A year later, he moved back to Erzurum where he supervised Armenian schools in the area. Thereafter, Srvandztiants was entrusted with the task of carrying out the reforms of the newly drafted
Armenian National Constitution. He was made the head of St. Karapet Monastery where he would serve for several years. After the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), the rights of Armenians were guaranteed under Article 16 of the
Treaty of San Stefano, stipulating that the Russian forces occupying the Armenian-populated provinces in the eastern Ottoman Empire would withdraw only with the full implementation of reforms. Srvandztiants was then tasked to collect data and information of the Armenian population in the eastern provinces and report to the Patriarch of Constantinople. Meanwhile, however, Srvandztiants also documented many Armenian oral histories and collected many examples of epic folklore which had been passed down orally for generations. 's
Amenun Taretsyotse (Everyone's Almanac). In 1886 Srvandztiants went to
Ejmiatsin, where he was consecrated bishop and sent to
Trabzon as prelate. Under suspicion of nationalist sympathies, Srvandztiants was closely monitored by the Ottoman government. He was then sent to Istanbul, where he would be monitored more easily. He taught at the
Getronagan School and became a priest at the Holy Trinity Church located in the
Beyoğlu district. Srvandztiants was honored by the
Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. ==Literary work==