Abovian was born in 1809 in the village of Kanaker, then part of the Qajar Persian Empire, and now a district of Yerevan, Armenia.
Abovian's family were descendants of the Beglaryan melik family in Gulistan, one of five Armenian families who ruled around the current day region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Abovian family held the position of tanuter (a hereditary lordship) in Kanaker; Abovian's uncle was the last tanuter of Kanaker.
His aunt was the wife of Sahak Aghamalian, the last melik of Yerevan at the time of the Russian annexation in 1828.
 His social origins and descent imbued him at an early age with a sense of responsibility to his people.
He was born six years after his parents, Avetik and Takuhi, married.
He had a brother, Garabed, who died at the age of three.

At age 10, Abovian was taken by his father to Echmiadzin to study for the priesthood.
He dropped out after five years and moved to Tiflis in 1822 to study Armenian studies and languages at the Nersisyan School under the guidance of Harutiun Alamdarian.
Abovian graduated in 1826 and began preparing to move to Venice to further his education.
However, the outbreak of the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) curtailed his plans.
For the following three years he taught briefly at Sanahin and then worked for Catholicos Yeprem of Armenia as his clerk and translator.
While working for the Catholicos, the twenty-year-old Abovian met many notable foreigners, including the diplomat and playwright Alexandr Griboyedov, who was stuck in Echmiadzin en route to Tabriz in September 1828.
Griboyedov's weekly Tifliskiye Vedemosti became the first paper to publish an article on Abovian.
Abovian was born in 1809 in the village of Kanaker, then part of the Qajar Persian Empire, and now a district of Yerevan, Armenia. Abovian's family were descendants of the Beglaryan melik family in Gulistan, one of five Armenian families who ruled around the current day region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Abovian family held the position of tanuter (a hereditary lordship) in Kanaker; Abovian's uncle was the last tanuter of Kanaker. His aunt was the wife of Sahak Aghamalian, the last melik of Yerevan at the time of the Russian annexation in 1828.  His social origins and descent imbued him at an early age with a sense of responsibility to his people. He was born six years after his parents, Avetik and Takuhi, married. He had a brother, Garabed, who died at the age of three.
At age 10, Abovian was taken by his father to Echmiadzin to study for the priesthood. He dropped out after five years and moved to Tiflis in 1822 to study Armenian studies and languages at the Nersisyan School under the guidance of Harutiun Alamdarian. Abovian graduated in 1826 and began preparing to move to Venice to further his education. However, the outbreak of the Russo-Persian War (1826–28) curtailed his plans. For the following three years he taught briefly at Sanahin and then worked for Catholicos Yeprem of Armenia as his clerk and translator. While working for the Catholicos, the twenty-year-old Abovian met many notable foreigners, including the diplomat and playwright Alexandr Griboyedov, who was stuck in Echmiadzin en route to Tabriz in September 1828. Griboyedov's weekly Tifliskiye Vedemosti became the first paper to publish an article on Abovian.
Khachatur Abovian