Материал: Payaslian S., The History of Armenia From the Origins to the Present

and parts of Georgia, led by Muhammad ibn Marwan as the ostikan (the Muslim governor), headquartered at Dvin, the regional capital.77 The caliphate stationed Arab forces in key cities, imposed Islamic law, and imprisoned opposing Armenian political and religious leaders, although under Islamic law the Armenian Church, as the leading spiritual institution, was generally treated with some leniency. As Arab rule grew repressive, pro-Byzantine nakharars began to organize rebellions against Marwan and requested Byzantium’s support. Armenians rebelled before guarantees for military aid could be secured from Constantinople. The initial military successes in Vardanakert near the Arax River encouraged compatriots in other areas from Vanand to Vaspurakan to join in the rebellion. The Byzantine emperor Tiberius III (r. 698–705) agreed to appoint Smbat Bagratuni as curopalate of Tayk, despite the favorable disposition shown by Bagratuni nakharars toward the caliphate. The Umayyad response was swift; the Arab military invaded Tayk in 705, followed by another campaign in Nakhijevan, which culminated in the massacre of a large number of nakharars.77 By then, however, the Umayyads were in decline, and their brutal reaction probably represented a desperate effort to save the empire.

The emergence of the Paulician movement as a heretic iconoclastic sect made matters worse for the Christian establishment in Armenia. This movement, believed to have its origins in Manicheanism founded by the Persian prophet Manes (ca. 216–276), underscored the north-south division of Armenia. The Arab occupation of Armenia provided the Paulicians with the political support they had never had. Encouraged by the presence of the Arab military, the Paulicians organized rebellions against the Armenian nobility and Byzantium. Together with Armenian Muslims and Armenian sun worshipers (arevortik) in cooperation with Arab sects, they became known as the Shamsiyya al-Arman in northern Syria. In 719 Catholicos Hovhannes III Odznetsi summoned an ecclesiastical council at Dvin to address the issue of heresy, and the council issued a condemnation of the Paulician movement. In 725–726 he called for another council at Manazkert concerning reconciliation between the Armenian and Syrian churches, one of the primary objectives being to address the growing popularity of the Paulicians. In the early ninth century, Paulician rebellions against the Armenian nobility and the Byzantine empire intensified. Having established the capital of their state at Tephrike, the Paulicians cooperated with the enemies of Byzantium, especially with the Arabs. In 872 the emperor Basil I attacked Tephrike and destroyed the Paulician army and state, forcing the Paulicians to escape southward to Syria and Egypt.78

The Abbasid revolution in Damascus in 750 ended the Umayyad caliphate and transferred the capital to Baghdad. The Abbasids distrusted the Armenian nakharars, particularly the two leading houses—the Bagratunis

and the Mamikonians—for their pro-Umayyad and pro-Byzantine sentiments, respectively. Most of the Armenian public and leaders in turn held a deep hatred toward the Abbasids. The political situation rapidly degenerated into chaos, rebellion, and bloodshed. From 747 to 750 and again in 774–775, led by several nobles, particularly the pro-Byzantium Artavazd and Mushegh Mamikonian, Armenian rebellions in different regions attempted to overthrow Arab rule. Rebels expected Byzantium and the leading Bagratuni, Ashot, to support the movement, but the latter, considering the political and military situation hopelessly volatile, rejected the rebellions as too radical and counterproductive and withdrew his support. Grigor Mamikonian, ill disposed to allowing a Bagratuni to foil a movement led by his family, captured and blinded Ashot (hence his name, Ashot the Blind). The Armenian rebellion regained momentum as neutral nobles now sided with the anti-Abbasid forces. The turbulence and the bloodshed caused most Bagratuni leaders to espouse a conservative and circumspect political philosophy, in sharp contrast to the doctrinaire pro-Byzantium orientation of the Mamikonian and Kamsarakan houses. The Bagratunis henceforth adopted a realpolitik approach to domestic and foreign affairs.79 The revolutionary movement collapsed when the Abbasids retaliated with brutal force; in the spring of 775, an army of 30,000 led by Amr ibn Ismail defeated the Armenians and killed most of the leading members of the nakharar houses, including Smbat Bagratuni, the son of Ashot the Blind, who had sided with the revolutionaries.

The increasing repression and financial difficulties (e.g., rising taxes, reduced circulation of silver) under the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785) considerably weakened the resolve of the survivors of the massacres of 775 and forced some nobles to emigrate to Byzantium. Among the principal nakharar houses, the Bagratunis, Artsrunis, and Siunis now cooperated with the caliphate and continued to rule their respective realms. The Bagratunis gained the confidence of the Abbasids and emerged as the leading nakharar family in Armenia.80 Further, under Mahdi’s second son, Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), the empire for the first time promoted the policy of Arab settlements throughout Armenia, which in turn led to fundamental demographic changes across the Armenian terrain. The Arab settlements became part of the East-West geopolitical competition, strategically encouraging the defense of the Arab frontiers against Byzantium until the Arab empire began to decline by the early ninth century.81

The demise of the Abbasids enabled the Bagratunis under Ashot Msaker (Meat Eater), the most prominent nakharar house, to reassert Armenian independent rule. In 806 Harun al-Rashid rewarded Ashot with the title of “Prince of Armenia” for his close relations with Baghdad. Immediately thereafter, Ashot carried out several military campaigns against

Zahap, a leader of the Kaysite (Kaysik) group, who had captured the region of Arsharunik and was poised to attack Taron. Equally troubling for Ashot Msaker was Zahap’s compatriot Sevata, who had married Princess Arusyak Bagratuni for her wealth.82 His good offices with the prominent noble houses and Baghdad enabled Ashot to institute effective administration of law and order. By the time he died in 826, he had strengthened the Bagratunis as one of the most respected nakharar houses in Armenia with enormous international prestige.

Upon Ashot’s death Caliph al-Ma’mun (r. 813–833) elevated Ashot’s eldest son, Bagarat Bagratuni, the leading Bagratuni in the region of Taron, to the post of “prince of princes” (patrik al-patarika), and appointed Bagarat’s brother, Smbat, lord of Shirak, as the military commander. Like their father, Bagarat and Smbat maintained good offices with Baghdad, but political crises in the Abbasid capital, exacerbated by Arab, Persian, and Armenian attacks and counterattacks, led to an intensely hostile reaction by Caliph Zafar al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). He mobilized Muslims against Christians and, no longer considering Arab troops reliable, employed Turkish mercenary forces to reassert control over his domain. The Bagratunis, unable to check Armenian opposition to Mutawakkil, in a rare move joined with other nakharar families in organized rebellions. The joint Bagratuni and Artsruni military defeated the armies of Arab generals Ala Savafi and Musa ibn Zurara across the Lake Van basin from Vaspurakan to Taron, where also the much-feared Arab general Yusuf was killed.83 Smbat Bagratuni opposed the rebellion in Taron. In 852, when one of Mutawakkil’s ostikans, the Turkish general Bugha, invaded the region, Smbat cooperated and guided him through towns and to the forts of the nakharar families. Bagarat was captured and killed in the city of Samarra, followed by the capture of Smbat Bagratuni and a number of nakharars. Bagarat’s sons, Ashot and Davit, and his brother Smbat Bagratuni were held captive in that city under Bugha and forced to apostatize. Smbat, who had collaborated with Bugha, died in prison in Samarra in 859/860. After some of the nobles were released in 858, they resumed their efforts, under the leadership of Ashot Bagratuni (Smbat’s son), to free Armenia from Arab domination.84

Ashot subsequently established an alliance with Byzantium. Troubled by this development, the caliph al-Mu‘tamid in 862 granted the title of “prince of princes” to Ashot and in 884 crowned him as King Ashot I. The Byzantine emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) countered by sending a crown to Ashot.85 After four centuries since the collapse of the Arshakuni monarchy, the Armenian kingdom reemerged, and although Ashot I’s reign was short-lived (he died in 890), the Bagratuni kingdom survived for the next two centuries.

Part II

Transformation and

Transplantation