Province of the Arab Caliphates
Arminiya
, also known as the
Ostikanate of Arminiya
(
Armenian
:
????????? ??????????????
,
[1]
Hayastani ostikanut'yun
) or the
Emirate of Armenia
(
Arabic
:
????? ???????
,
im?rat arm?niya
), was a political and geographic designation given by the
Muslim
Arabs
to the lands of
Greater Armenia
,
Caucasian Iberia
, and
Caucasian Albania
, following their conquest of these regions in the 7th century. Though the
caliphs
initially permitted an
Armenian
prince to represent the province of
Arminiya
in exchange for tribute and the Armenians' loyalty during times of war, Caliph
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
introduced direct Arab rule of the region, headed by an
ostikan
with his capital in
Dvin
. According to the historian
Stephen H. Rapp
in the third edition of the
Encyclopaedia of Islam
:
[2]
Early Arabs followed
S?s?nian
,
Parthian Arsacid
, and ultimately
Achaemenid
practice by organising most of southern
Caucasia
into a large regional zone called Arm?niya (cf. the Achaemenid
satrapy of Armina
covering much of southern Caucasia and the subsequent K?st-i Kapk?h of the S?s?nians).
History
[
edit
]
Early period: the Arab conquest of Armenia
[
edit
]
The details of the early conquest of Armenia by the
Arabs
are uncertain, as the various Arabic sources conflict with the Greek and Armenian sources, both in chronology and in the details of the events. However, the broad thrust of the Arab campaigns is consistent between the sources, allowing for a reconstruction of events by modern scholars.
According to the Arabic sources, the first Arab expedition reached Armenia in 639/640, on the heels of their
conquest of the Levant
from the
Byzantines
and the start of the
Muslim conquest of Persia
.
The Arabs were led by
Iyad ibn Ghanim
and penetrated as far as
Bitlis
. A second expedition occurred in 642, only to be defeated and pushed out of the country.
After this setback, the Arabs only undertook a raid from
Adharbayjan
in 645, led by
Salman ibn Rabi'a
, but this only touched the Armenian borderlands.
The Muslim sources place the actual conquest of the country in 645/646, under the command of
Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri
. The Arabs first moved against the western, Byzantine portion of the country, captured
Theodosiopolis
and defeated a Byzantine army, before subduing the Armenian princes around
Lake Van
and marching onto
Dvin
, the capital of the former Persian portion of Armenia. Dvin capitulated after a few days of siege, as did
Tiflis
further north in
Caucasian Iberia
.
During the same time, another Arab army from
Iraq
, under Salman ibn Rabi'a, conquered
Caucasian Albania
(
Arran
).
Although Arab sources imply that the country was henceforth effectively under Arab rule, modern historians generally consider the contemporary account of the Armenian bishop
Sebeos
, partly corroborated by the Byzantine chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor
more reliable, and have proposed different reconstructions of the early Arab raids between 640 and 650, based on a critical reading of the sources; it is clear, however, that the country did not submit to Arab rule at this time.
Armenian histories report that the Arabs first arrived in 642, penetrating the central region of
Ayrarat
, and sacked Dvin, returning with over 35,000 captives.
In 643, the Arabs invaded again from the direction of Arran, ravaged Ayrarat and reached Iberia, but were defeated in battle by the Armenian leader
Theodore Rshtuni
and forced back.
After this success, Rshtuni was recognized as ruler of Armenia by the
Byzantine emperor
Constans II
, in exchange for accepting Byzantine suzerainty. When Constans' truce with the Arabs ended in 653, however, to avoid a new Arab invasion, Rshtuni voluntarily agreed to submit to Muslim overlordship.
Emperor Constans then campaigned in person in Armenia, restoring Byzantine rule, but soon after his departure in early 654, the Arabs invaded the country. With their assistance, Rshtuni evicted the Byzantine garrisons from Armenia and secured Arab recognition as the presiding prince of Armenia, Iberia, and Albania.
The Byzantines under general
Maurianos
tried to recover control of the region, but without success. In 655, even Byzantine Armenia was invaded, and the Arabs occupied Theodosiopolis (Arabic
Qaliqala
) and cemented their control of the country by taking Rhstuni to
Damascus
, where he died in 656, and appointing his rival
Hamazasp IV Mamikonian
in his stead.
However, with the outbreak of the
First Muslim Civil War
in 657, effective Arab authority in the country ceased, and Mamikonian returned to Byzantine overlordship almost immediately.
In 661, however, Mu'awiya, now the victor of the Muslim civil war, ordered the Armenian princes to re-submit to his authority and pay tribute. To avoid another war, the princes complied.
The Arab policy of demanding that the tribute be paid in money affected the Armenian economy and society. Coins were struck in Dvin. The Armenians were forced to produce a surplus of food and manufactured goods for sale. A strong urban life was developed in
Caucasia
as the economy revived.
Establishment of direct Muslim control
[
edit
]
For most of the second half of the 7th century, Arab presence and control in Armenia was minimal. Armenia was considered conquered land by the Arabs but enjoyed
de facto
autonomy, regulated by the treaty signed between Rhstuni and Mu'awiya. Indeed, as Aram Ter-Ghewondyan comments, under Arab suzerainty "the country enjoyed a degree of independence such as it had not known since the fall of the
Arsacids
" in the 5th century.
According to the terms of the treaty, the Armenian princes were submitted to?relatively low?taxation and the obligation to provide soldiers when requested, for which the princes were to be paid an annual subsidy of 100,000
dirhams
. In exchange, no Arab garrison or official was installed in Armenian lands, and Arab assistance was even promised in the event of a Byzantine attack.
The situation changed in the reign of the caliph
Abd al-Malik
(
r.
685?705
). Beginning in 700, the Caliph's brother and governor of
Arran
,
Muhammad ibn Marwan
, subdued the country in a series of campaigns. Although the Armenians rebelled in 703 and received Byzantine aid, Muhammad ibn Marwan defeated them and sealed the failure of the revolt by executing the rebel princes in 705.
Armenia, along with the principalities of
Caucasian Albania
and
Iberia
(modern
Georgia
) was grouped into one vast province called
al-Arminiya
(?????????), with its capital at Dvin (Arabic
Dabil
), which was rebuilt by the Arabs and served as the seat of the governor (
ostikan
) and of an Arab garrison.
For much of the remaining Umayyad period,
Arminiya
was usually grouped with Arran and the
Jazira
(Upper Mesopotamia) under a single governor into an
ad hoc
super-province.
Arminiya was governed by an emir or
wali
headquartered at Dvin, whose role however was limited to defence and the collection of taxes: the country was largely run by the local princes - the
nakharars
. The province was divided into four regions: Arminiya I (
Caucasian Albania
), Arminiya II (
Caucasian Iberia
), Arminiya III (the area around
Aras River
), Arminiya IV (
Taron
).
[13]
The local nobility was headed, as in
Sasanian
times, by a presiding prince (
?????, ishkhan
), a title which in the 9th century, beginning probably with
Bagrat II Bagratuni
, evolved into the title of "prince of princes" (
??????? ?????, ishkhanac' ishkhan
). Acting as the head of the other princes, the
ishkhanac' ishkhan
was answerable to the Arab governor, being responsible for the collection of the taxes owed to the caliphal government and the raising of military forces when requested.
A census and survey of
Arminiya
was undertaken
c.
725
, followed by a significant increase in taxation so as to finance the Caliphate's increasing military needs in various fronts.
The Armenians participated with troops in the hard-fought campaigns of the
Second Arab?Khazar War
in the 720s and 730s. As a result, in 732, governor Marwan ibn Muhammad (the future Caliph
Marwan II
) named
Ashot III Bagratuni
as the presiding prince of Armenia, an act which essentially re-confirmed the country's autonomy within the Caliphate.
Abbasid period until 884
[
edit
]
With the establishment of the
Abbasid Caliphate
after the
Abbasid Revolution
, a period of repression was inaugurated. This was followed by Caliph
al-Mansur
revoking the privileges and abolishing the subsidies paid to the various Armenian princes (the
nakharars
) and imposing harsher taxation, leading to the outbreak of another major rebellion in 774. The revolt was suppressed in the
Battle of Bagrevand
in April 775.
The failure of the rebellion saw the near-extinction, reduction to insignificance or exile to Byzantium of some of the most prominent
nakharar
families, most importantly the
Mamikonian
. In its aftermath, the Caliphate tightened its grip on the Transcaucasian provinces: the nobility of neighbouring
Iberia
was also decimated in the 780s, and a process of settlement with Arab tribes began which by the middle of the 9th century led to the Islamization of
Caucasian Albania
, while Iberia and much of lowland Armenia came under the control of a series of Arab emirates. At the same time, the power vacuum left by the destruction of so many
nakharar
clans was filled by two other great families, the
Artsruni
in the south (
Vaspurakan
) and the
Bagratuni
in the north.
Despite several insurrections, the Emirate of Armenia lasted until 884, when the Bagratuni
Ashot I
, who had managed to win control over most of its area, declared himself "King of the Armenians". He received recognition by Caliph
Al-Mu'tamid
of the Abbasid dynasty in 885 and Byzantine Emperor
Basil I
of the
Macedonian dynasty
in 886.
Ashot was swiftly able to expand his power. Through family links with the two next most important princely families, the Artsruni and the Siwnis, and through a cautious policy towards the Abbasids and the Arab emirates of Armenia, by the 860s he had succeeded in becoming in fact, if not yet in name, an autonomous king.
Arab governors of Armenia
[
edit
]
Early governors
[
edit
]
These are reported as governors under the Caliphs
Uthman
(r. 644?656) and
Ali
(r. 656?661), as well as the early Umayyads:
Emirs (Ostikans)
[
edit
]
With the submission of Armenia to Muhammad ibn Marwan after 695, the province was formally incorporated into the Caliphate, and an Arab governor (
ostikan
) installed at Dvin:
[21]
[22]
Presiding princes of Armenia
[
edit
]
- Mjej II Gnuni
???? ? ??????, 628?635
- David Saharuni
????? ?????????, 635?638
- Theodore Rshtuni
???????? ???????, 638?645
- Varaztirots II Bagratuni
????? ????? ? ??????????, 645
- Theodore Rshtuni
???????? ???????, 654?655
- Mushegh IV Mamikonian
?????? ? ??????????, 654
- Theodore Rshtuni
???????? ???????, 654?655
- Hamazasp IV Mamikonian
???????? ? ??????????, 655?658
- Gregory I Mamikonian
?????? ? ??????????, 662?684/85
- Ashot II Bagratuni
???? ? ??????????, 686?690
- Nerses Kamsarakan
?????? ??????????, 689?691
- Smbat VI Bagratuni
????? ? ??????????, 691?711
- Ashot III Bagratuni
???? ? ??????????, 732?744
- Gregory II Mamikonian
?????? ? ??????????, 745?746
- Ashot III Bagratuni
???? ? ??????????, 746?748
- Gregory II Mamikonian
?????? ? ??????????, 748
- Mushegh VI Mamikonian
?????? ? ??????????, 748?753
- Sahak VII Bagratuni
????? ? ??????????, 755?761
- Smbat VII Bagratuni
????? ? ??????????, 761?775
- Ashot IV Bagratuni
???? ? ??????????, 806?826
- Bagrat II Bagratuni
?????? ? ??????????, 830?851
- Ashot V Bagratuni
???? ? ????? ?????, ???? ? ????? ?????, 862?884
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Yeghiazaryan, Arman (2005).
"????????? ????????????? ?????????? [Borders of the Vicegerency of Arminia]"
.
Patma-Banasirakan Handes
(in Armenian) (1). Yerevan:
Armenian Academy of Sciences
: 243?258.
ISSN
0135-0536
.
- ^
Rapp, Stephen H. (2020).
"Georgia, Georgians, until 1300"
. In Fleet, Kate;
Kramer, Gudrun
; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John;
Rowson, Everett
(eds.).
Encyclopaedia of Islam
(3rd ed.). Brill Online.
ISSN
1873-9830
.
- ^
Robert H. Hewsen. Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001, 107, map 81.
- ^
Arab Governors (Ostikans) of Arminiya, 8th Century
Archived
October 29, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
A. Ter-Ghevondyan's "Chronology of the Ostikans of Arminiya," Patma-banasirakan handes (1977) 1, pp. 117-128.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Blankinship, Khalid Yahya
(1994).
The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hish?m ibn ?Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads
. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
ISBN
978-0-7914-1827-7
.
- Canard, Marius
&
Cahen, Claude
(1960).
"Arm?niya"
. In
Gibb, H. A. R.
;
Kramers, J. H.
;
Levi-Provencal, E.
;
Schacht, J.
;
Lewis, B.
&
Pellat, Ch.
(eds.).
The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition
. Volume I: A?B
. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 634?640.
doi
:
10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0064
.
OCLC
495469456
.
- Jones, Lynn (2007).
Between Islam and Byzantium: Aght'amar and the Visual Construction of Medieval Armenian Rulership
. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN
978-0754638520
.
- Laurent, Joseph L. (1919).
L'Armenie entre Byzance et l'Islam: depuis la conquete arabe jusqu'en 886
(in French). Paris: De Boccard.
- Morgan, Jacques de (1918),
The History of the Armenian People: From the remotest times to the present day
, Barry, Ernest F., trans., Boston: Hairenik Press,
OL
5788153M
- Ter-Ghewondyan, Aram
(1976) [1965].
The Arab Emirates in Bagratid Armenia
. Translated by
Nina G. Garsoian
. Lisbon:
Livraria Bertrand
.
OCLC
490638192
.
- Whittow, Mark
(1996).
The Making of Byzantium, 600?1025
. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.
ISBN
978-0-520-20496-6
.
- Robert H. Hewsen. Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001, Pp. 341.
- Garbis Armen. Historical Atlas of Armenia. A. N. E. C., New York, 1987, Pp. 52.
- George Bournoutian
. A History of the Armenian People, Volume I: Pre-History to 1500 AD, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 1993, Pp. 174.
- John Douglas. The Armenians, J. J. Winthrop Corp., New York, 1992.
|
---|
Muslim states
| |
---|
Christian states
| |
---|