Kingdom of Armenia

The medieval Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in 885 following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With the two

contemporary powers in the region, the Abbasids and Byzantines, too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the people of the region and the dissipation of several of the Armenian nakharar noble families, Ashot was able to assert himself as the leading figure of a movement to dislodge the Arabs from Armenia. Ashot's prestige rose as he was courted by both Byzantine and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state near their frontiers. The Caliphate recognized Ashot as "prince of princes" in 862 and, later on, king in 884 or 885. The establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms: Taron, Vaspurakan, Kars, Khachen and Syunik. Unity among all these states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines and Arabs lost no time in exploiting the kingdom's situation to their own gains. Under the reign of Ashot III, Ani became the kingdom's capital and grew into a thriving economic and cultural center Government The king of Bagratuni Armenia held unlimited powers and was the ultimate authority when it came to resolving questions on foreign and domestic affairs. The princes and nakharars were directly subordinate to the king and received and kept their lands only through his permission. Should certain nobles have disobeyed the king's orders, he would have the right to confiscate their lands and distribute them to other nobles. The concept of divine right, however, did not exist and insubordination by the nakharar elite could only be matched by the steadfastness of the king himself. Established Disestablished Capital 884 1045 Dvin Kars Ani (from 961) Armenian Monarchy

Languages Government

Bagratid Dynasty of Kings of Ani (Armenia) - Kingdom of Ani

857; 884-890 Ashot I (V) the Great ; son of Smbat (the Confessor) 857 - sparapet (hereditary military rank that originated in the 2nd century BC and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia - in Cilicia, the bearer of the title was known as a Constable-- ; supreme commander of the armed forces) of Sper and Tayk 884 first King of Armenia since 428: Recognized as king in 884 by Caliph Al-Mu'tamid who was reacting to the demands of Armenian princes, religious leaders and security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit- and also by Emperor Basil I

862 - title prince of princes - ishkhanats ishkhan and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, 884 - Recognized as king in 884 by Caliph AlMu'tamid who was reacting to the demands of Armenian princes, religious leaders and security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit- and also by Emperor Basil I 890; 892- 914 Smbat I (IX) the Martyr (son) crowned king in 892, following a brief attempt by his uncle Abas to disrupt his succession to the throne April 21, 892 = recaptured the historic city of Dvin from the Arabs. 914 - tortured by Yusuf ostikan who put his headless body on display on a cross in Dvin Pretender king & civil war: Ashot's cousin, Ashot Shapuhyan, was crowned as king of Armenia (914-920) by ostikan Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj Ashot III's official investiture as king of Armenia took place in 961, following the relocation of the Holy See from Vaspurakan to Argina, near the city of Ani. Created Sub-kingdoms: sent his brother Mushegh I to rule in Kars (Vanand) and had allowed him to use the title of king. The administrative district of Dzoraget near Lake Sevan was given to Ashot's son Gurgen, the progenitor of the Kyurikid line, in 966, who would later assume the title of king. 977-989 Smbat II (X) the

914- 928 928-953 953-977

Ashot II (VI) the Iron (son) King of Kings Abas I (brother) Ashot III (VII) the Merciful (son)

Conqueror (son) NOTE: Abbasid ostikans (emirs/ governors) of Armenia still existed!

Ostikans Arab governors (emirs?)

? d. 901 Muhammad Ibn Abi'l-Saj (Afshin) - 884, the Caliph Al-Mu'tamid - reacting to the demands of Armenian princes and religious leaders and the security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit - sent a crown to Ashot; recognizing him as king = first king of Armenia since 428 - continued to have ostikan of al Arminiya 901-919; 923-? Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj ostikan of Arminiya after death of brother Muhammad Ibn Abi'l-Saj (Afshin) 908 - awarded Gagik crown making him King Gagik I of Vaspurakan to create an Armenian state opposed to the one led by Smbat I (IX) the Martyr; king of Armenia (890; 892- 914) 914 being unable to stop him aligning himself with Byzantines, crowned Ashot's cousin, Ashot Shapuhyan, as king of Armenia (914-920) 919-923 Subuk 919- instigated a rebellion against caliph and was removed Subuk recognized Ashot Ashot II (VI) the Iron (914-928) as the legitimate ruler of Armenia and awarded him with the title of Shahanshah, or "king of kings." 929 at his death, an immense power struggle ensued between rival Iranian and Kurdish families in Azerbaijan, thus reducing the Arab threat to Armenia

923-929

Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj (901-919; returns to post 923)

Bagratid Dynasty of Lords of Principality of Tayk (Tayk & Sper)

826- 855 Smbat (the Confessor) (VIII Bagratuni ??) ; son of Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater") - ? Ashot IV Bagratuni Son of Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater") ; given title sparapet (hereditary military rank that originated in

857-862; 885

Ashot I son of Smbat (the Confessor) co-rule (858-895) with brother Davit Arkayik (Little King); Davit Arkayik (Little King); brother of Ashot I sons of Smbat (the Confessor) Gurgen (son)

the 2nd century BC and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia - in Cilicia, the bearer of the title was known as a Constable-; supreme commander of the armed forces) of Sper and Tayk at fathers death Succeeded father Smbat (the Confessor) (VIII Bagratuni ??) ; 862, assumed the title prince of princes ishkhanats ishkhan and appointed his brother Abas sparapet,

(878895; co-ruler since 858) 895

--- 901 Sajid occupation --(898923) (923935) (about 935965) (about 965968) (co-ruler about 965 968) Grigor Tornik; grandson of Bagrat Ishxanats-ishxan Bagrat Pancratius; son Ashot II; brother Grigor; son Bagrat; brother

Bagratid Dynasty of Lords of Principality of Taron ( Taron & Sasun)

830- 852 Bagrat II Bagratuni -- Bagrat Ishxanats-ishxan; son of Son of Ashot Msaker Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater") - ? Ashot IV Bagratuni Inherited title ishkhanats ishkhan, or prince of princes of Taron and Sasun at fathers death Ashot Bagratuni of Taron 967 Byzantines annex principality outright and convert it into a theme

?? -967

Bagratid (Bagratuni) Dynasty of Kings of Kars (Kingdom of Vanand)

962-984

Mushegh I (son of Abas I of Armenia; 928-953)

Bagratid (Bagratuni) Dynasty of Kings of Kingdom of Lori (Tachir ) (9791118)

(979989) ***ALSO: - Bagratid (Bagratuni) Dynasty in Principality of Tayk - Bagratid (Bagratuni) Dynasty in Georgian Bagratuni Kingdom Rebellions against Arab Rule In 774, a rebellion under the leadership of Mushegh Mamikonian and with the support of other nakharars (from "holder of the primacy" = hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility). The Abbasid Arabs, however, marched into Armenia with an army of 30,000 men and decisively crushed the rebellion and its instigators at the battle of Bagrevand on April 24, 775, leaving a void for the sole largely intact family, the Bagratunis, to fill Rise of the Bagratids The Bagratuni family had done its best to improve its relations with the Abbasid caliphs ever since they took power in 750. The Abbasids always treated the family's overtures with suspicion but by the early 770s, the Bagratunis had won them over and the relationship between the two drastically improved: the Bagratuni family members were soon viewed as leaders of the Armenians in the region. Following the end of the third rebellion, which the Bagratunis had wisely chosen not to participate in, and the dispersal of several of the princely houses, the family was left without any formidable rivals. Nevertheless, any immediate opportunities to take full control of the region was complicated by Arab immigration to Armenia and the caliph's appointment of emirs to rule in newly created administrative districts (emirates). Fortunately for the Armenians, the number of Arabs residing in Armenia never grew in number to form a majority nor were the emirates fully subordinate to the Caliph. As historian George Bournoutian observes, "this fragmentation of Arab authority provided the opportunity for the resurgence" of the Bagratuni family headed by Ashot Msaker (the "Meat-Eater"). Ashot began to annex the lands that formerly belonged to the Mamikonians and actively campaigned against the emirs as a sign of his allegiance to the Caliphate, who in 804 bestowed upon him the title of ishkhan (local prince that ruled although there was an official caliphal Kiurike I, son of Ashot III

governor emir or ostikan). Upon his death in 826, Ashot bequeathed his land to two of his sons: the eldest, Bagarat Bagratuni received Taron and Sasun and inherited the prestigious title of ishkhanats ishkhan, or prince of princes, whereas his brother, Smbat the Confessor, became the sparapet (a hereditary military rank that originated in the 2nd century BC and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia - in Cilicia, the bearer of the title was known as a Constable-- ; supreme commander of the armed forces) of Sper and Tayk The brothers, however, were unable to resolve their differences with one another nor able to form a unified front against the Muslims. A new Armenian rebellion against Arab rule broke out in 850 led by Bagarat and Ashot Artsruni of Vaspurakan but like previous rebellions, it failed: an Arab army led by the Turkic general Bugha al-Kabir captured Bagarat, Smbat, and other Armenian princes and brutally put down the rebellion Establishment of the Kingdom - Rise of the Kingdom of Armenia under the Bagratid dynasty. Armenian fortunes were reversed in 867 with the accession of the Armenian emperor of Byzantium Basil I, whose successful military campaigns against the Arabs conclusively weakened Abbasid rule in Armenia. In 857, Smbat had been succeeded by his son Ashot I, who took a measured approach to gradually retake territories formerly held by the Arabs. He assumed the title prince of princes - ishkhanats ishkhan - in 862 and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, as they began to push the Arabs out from their base in Tayk. His initial efforts to expel the ostikan of Arminiya failed, although this did not dissuade him in taking advantage of the Byzantine-Arab rivalry Early on, he was courted by a Byzantium desperate to secure its eastern flank so as to direct its full strength against the Arabs; although Ashot avowed his loyalty to the empire, Byzantine leaders continued their long-standing demand that the Armenian Church make religious concessions to the Eastern Orthodox Church. A synod of Armenian church leaders was convoked and a letter laden with equivocal wording sent to Constantinople was able to sustain a temporary agreement between the two churches. In any case, religious differences mattered little to the Byzantines in consideration of the menace the Arabs continued to pose In 884, the Caliph Al-Mu'tamid, reacting to the demands of Armenian princes and religious leaders and, more importantly, the security risks in allowing Armenia to fall under the Byzantine orbit, sent a crown to Ashot, recognizing him as king. This act was not lost on Basil who similarly sent a crown to Ashot. Ashot relocated his throne to the fortress-city of Bagaran and it was here where his coronation ceremony was held sometime in 884 or 885. Thus, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenia's first king since 428. He secured the favor of both the Byzantines and Arabs but ultimately showed loyalty to Basil and chose to conclude an alliance with the Byzantines in 885. Ashot was not the sole Armenian prince of the region (other principalities existed in Syunik, Vaspurakan, and Taron) yet he commanded the full support of the other princes who recognized his authority in his becoming of king. With his status of king, his authority also carried over to the neighboring states of Georgia, Caucasian Albania and several of the Arab emirates. Ashot's reign was brief and upon his death in 890, he was succeeded by his son Smbat I. Smbat I

Smbat I was crowned king in 892, following a brief attempt by his uncle Abas to disrupt his succession to the throne. Smbat continued his father's policy of maintaining cordial relations with Byzantium but he remained mindful of the Arabs' fears of the Armeno-Byzantine alliance. Speaking with the Arab ostikan Muhammad Ibn Abi'l-Saj (Afshin), Smbat convinced him that the alliance would not only be for the dual benefit of Byzantium and Armenia but would also work to the economic favor of the Arabs. Smbat also achieved a major victory when on April 21, 892, he recaptured the historic city of Dvin from the Arabs. Smbat's successes shortly came to a halt when Afshin decided that he could not countenance a powerful Armenia so close to his domains. He retook Dvin and managed to take Smbat's wife as a hostage until she was released in exchange for Smbat's son and nephew. The wars against Armenia continued even after Afshin's death in 901, when his brother Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj became ostikan of Arminiya. While Yusuf's reign was not immediately hostile, Smbat committed a series of blunders which led to several of his allies to turn their backs on him: having sought to placate his eastern ally, Smbat of Syunik, by ceding to him Nakhichevan city, Smbat inadvertently drove Gagik Artsruni of Vaspurakan into Yusuf's arms since the city was a part of Gagik's domains. Yusuf took advantage of this feud by awarding Gagik a crown in 908, thus making him King Gagik I of Vaspurakan and creating an Armenian state opposed to the one led by Smbat. As Yusuf began a new campaign against Smbat in conjunction with Gagik in 909, neither the Byzantines nor the Caliph sent aid to Smbat; several Armenian princes also chose to withhold their support. Those who did ally with Smbat were dealt brutally by Yusuf's powerful army: Smbat's son Mushegh, his nephew Smbat Bagratuni, and Grigor II of Western Syunik were all poisoned. Yusuf's army ravaged the rest of Armenia as it advanced towards Blue Fortress, where Smbat had taken refuge, and besieged it for some time. Smbat finally decided to surrender himself to Yusuf in 914 in hopes of ending the Arab onslaught; Yusuf, however, showed no compassion towards his prisoner as he tortured the Armenian king to death and put his headless body on display on a cross in Dvin. Resurgence under Ashot Yerkat Yusuf's invasion of Armenia had left the kingdom in ruins and this fact resonated among the Armenian princes who were left aghast in witnessing the Arab ostikan's brutality. Gagik I was especially shaken and he soon disavowed his loyalty to Yusuf and began to campaign against him. With Yusuf distracted by the resistance put up by his former ally, Smbat's son Ashot II felt it appropriate to assume his father's throne. Ashot at once began to drive the Muslims out of his domains. Support for Ashot also arrived from the west: the Byzantine empress Zoe had watched the Arab invasion of Armenia unfold with consternation and so she ordered the Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos to write an official letter to the Armenian Catholicos to form a new alliance with Armenia. The Catholicos responded amicably and in 914, Ashot accepted an invitation by Zoe to visit Constantinople. There, Ashot was well received, and a Byzantine force was created to assist Armenia in defeating the Arabs. The force, accompanying Ashot and led by the Domestic Leo Phokas, moved out the next year and marched along Upper Euphrates, entering Taron with scant opposition from the Arabs Meanwhile, Yusuf's efforts to crush Gagik had failed miserably; instead, Yusuf turned his attention to Ashot and attempted to weaken his position by crowning Ashot's cousin, Ashot Shapuhyan, king of Armenia. Ashot Shapuhyan's and Yusuf's armies, though, were unable to stop the Byzantine advance, which stopped short of capturing Dvin due to the onset of winter. Nevertheless, the force had returned Ashot to a powerful position in Armenia and managed to inflict heavy casualties against the Arabs. This still left Ashot, the anti-king, in control in

Dvin and civil war raged on from 918 to 920, when the pretender finally conceded defeat. Numerous other rebellions in Armenia also took place but Ashot was able to defeat each one of them. In 919, Yusuf had instigated a failed rebellion against the Caliph and was replaced by a far more well-disposed ostikan, Subuk. Subuk recognized Ashot as the legitimate ruler of Armenia and awarded him with the title of Shahanshah, or "king of kings." Ironically, the Byzantines were distressed with Ashot's close relations with the Arabs and dispatched a new force under the Armenian Domestic of the Scholae John Kourkouas to disrupt Ashot's position as king and to support the rebels fighting him. In 928, Kourkouas reached Dvin in an unsuccessful attempt to capture a city that was defended by both the Arabs and Ashot. In 923, the Caliph, facing troubles at home, released Yusuf, who traveled back to Armenia to unleash his fury against Armenia and especially Gagik I. He began demanding tribute from the Armenians rulers rule but faced considerable resistance by Ashot II. Time and again, Ashot was able to defeat and rout the Arab armies sent against him for several years. Finally, in 929, Yusuf died and an immense power struggle ensued between rival Iranian and Kurdish families in Azerbaijan, thus reducing the Arab threat to Armenia. Byzantine emperor Romanos Lekapenos also turned his attention from the east to fight the Arabs in Syria. Ashot's efforts to preserve and defend the kingdom earned him the epithet "Yerkat", or Iron; he died in 929 and was succeeded by his brother, Abas I Stability under Abas Abas I's reign was characterized with an unusual period of stability and prosperity that Armenia had not enjoyed for decades. His capital was based at the fortress-city of Kars and Abas achieved numerous successes on both the foreign and domestic fronts. In the same year that he became king, Abas traveled to Dvin, where he was able to convince the Arab governor there to release several Armenian hostages and turn over control of the pontifical palace back to Armenia. Conflict between the Arabs were minimal too, with the exception of a military defeat Abas suffered near the city of Vagharshapat. He was far less conciliatory towards the Byzantines, who had repeatedly demonstrated their unreliability as allies by attacking and annexing Armenian territories. Fortunately for him, Romanus of Byzantium was more focused on fighting the Arab Hamdanids, leaving Abas virtually free to conduct his policies without foreign hindrance Another foreign threat that Abas steadfastly confronted was an invasion by king Ber of Abkhazia in 943: a new church had been completed in Kars under Abas' orders and prior to its consecration, Ber had appeared with an army along the river of the Araxes, demanding that the new church be consecrated under Chalcedonian rite. Abas refused to make any concessions and ambushed Ber's forces in a dawn assault. Several more skirmishes took place, wherein Ber was finally captured by Abas' men. Abas took the king to his new church and told him that he would never see it again, blinding him and sending him back to Abkhazia. Abas died in 953, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Ashot III and Mushegh. Armenia's Golden Age Ashot III's official investiture as king of Armenia took place in 961, following the relocation of the Holy See from Vaspurakan to Argina, near the city of Ani. In attendance were several contingents of the Armenian military, 40 bishops, the king of Caucasian Albania, as well as Catholicos Anania Mokatsi who crowned the king with the title of shahanshah. In that same year, Ashot had also relocated the capital from Kars to Ani. The Bagratuni kings had never chosen a city to settle in, alternating from Bagaran to Shirakavan to Kars; Kars never did reach a

status where it could become a capital and Dvin was disregarded altogether, given its proximity to the hostile emirates. Ani's natural defenses were well suited Ashot's desire to secure an area which could withstand siege and fell on a trade route that passed from Dvin to Trebizond Owing to this trade route, the city quickly began to grow and became Bagratuni Armenia's chief political, cultural and economic center. Shops, markets, workshops, inns were established by the city's merchants and populace while the nakharar elite went on to sponsor the building of magnificent mansions and palaces. The construction was also complemented by the King Ashot's own philanthropy, including the building of the famed "Ashotashen" walls that were erected around Ani, monasteries, hospitals, schools, and almshouses (his wife Khosrovanuysh also founded the monastery complexes at Sanahin in 966 and Haghpat in 976). Ashot's sponsorship of the construction of all these edifices earned him the nickname of "Voghormats", or "the Merciful." Ashot was also largely successful in foreign affairs. When a Byzantine army led by the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes entered Taron in 973, purportedly to avenge the death of his Domestic killed at the hands of the Arabs in Mosul, Ashot mobilized an 80,000 man army to meet and force its withdrawal. In the following year, he concluded an alliance with Tzimiskes and sent 10,000 Armenian troops to campaign with the emperor against the Muslim emirates in Aleppo and Mosul. Ashot also had unsuccessfully attempted to capture Dvin from the Shaddadid emir in 953; he had laid siege to it for quite some time but was forced to lift it after finding the city too well defended. Sub-kingdoms A new phenomenon that began under Ashot III's reign, and continued under his successors, was the establishment of sub-kingdoms throughout Bagratuni Armenia. Ashot III had sent his brother Mushegh I to rule in Kars (Vanand) and had allowed him to use the title of king. The administrative district of Dzoraget near Lake Sevan was given to Ashot's son Gurgen, the progenitor of the Kyurikid line, in 966, who would later assume the title of king. The proliferation of so many kingdoms worked to the benefit of Armenia so long as the king in Ani remained strong and maintained his hegemony over other kings. Otherwise, the kings, as well their respective bishops who would claim the position of catholicos and formulate their own doctrines, would begin to test the limits of their autonomy. Progress under Smbat and Gagik This prosperous age which Armenia lived through continued unabated under the reign of Ashot's son and successor, Smbat II. Ani had grown so large by the time of Smbat's accession in 977, that a second set of walls, known as the Smbatashen walls, were ordered built by the new king Bagratid Armenia and neighboring Armenian states of Vaspurakan, Taron, Syunik-Baghk, Khachen, etc. Decline and Byzantine Encroachment The Byzantines had slowly been creeping eastward towards Armenia in the final decade of the tenth century. Emperor Basil II's numerous victories against the Arabs and internal Arab struggles helped clear a path towards the Caucasus. Constantinople's official policy was that no

Christian ruler is equal to or independent of the Byzantine emperor, and even if it was at time masked with diplomatic compromises, the empire's ultimate goal was the complete annexation of the Armenian realms. By the middle of the tenth century, the Byzantine Empire lay along the full length of the western border of Armenia. Taron was the first Armenian region annexed by the Byzantine Empire. In a certain sense, the Byzantines considered the Bagratuni princes of Taron as their vassals, for they had consistently accepted titles, such as that of strategos, and stipends from Constantinople. With the death of Ashot Bagratuni of Taron in 967 (not to be confused with Ashot III, his sons were not able to withstand the pressure from the empire, which annexed their principality outright and converted it to a theme