Chapter 1 - The Rise of the Bagratids (884-929)
Chapter 1 - The Rise of the Bagratids (884-929)
Flag of Bagratid Armenia
Following nearly two centuries of foreign domination in Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule, the kingdom of Armenia was reestablished under the leadership of Ashot I Bagratuni, as he succeeded in asserting himself as the leading figure of the movement to liberate Armenia from the Arab oppressors. With each of the two contemporary powers in the region - the Abbasids and Byzantines - too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the people of the region, as well as the dissipation of several of the Armenian noble families, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and was crowned King in the year 884, becoming the first king since 428.Flag of Bagratid Armenia
Reign of Ashot I (884-890)
The Coronation of Ashot I "the Great"
The Kingdom of Armenia (Hayk) in 884
Ashot's reign was brief and upon his death in 890, he was succeeded by his son Smbat I 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 the Byzantine Empire but remained mindful of the Arabs' fears of an Armeno-Byzantine alliance.
Reign of Smbat I (890-914)
Smbat I, King of Armenia
Smbat's successes shortly came to a halt when Afshin (Arab governor of the region) 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 succeeded him as governor. While Yusuf's reign was not immediately hostile, Smbat committed a series of blunders that 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 the city of Nakhichevan, 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.
Gagik of Vaspurakan and Yusuf the cruel
The Kingdom of Armenia (Hayk) in 908 after the loss of Dvin to Yusuf (Sajid Emirate) and the rise of Vaspurakan (Sajid's tributary in red)
As Yusuf began a new campaign against Smbat in conjunction with Gagik in 909, neither the Byzantines nor the Abbasid caliph, Yusuf's nominal sovereign, sent aid to Smbat; several Armenian princes also chose to withhold their support. Those who did ally with Smbat were brutally dealt with by Yusuf: Smbat's son Mushegh, his nephew Smbat, and Grigor II of Syunik were all poisoned.
Yusuf's army ravaged the rest of Armenia as it advanced toward Berd Kapoyt (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, but Yusuf showed no compassion toward his prisoner as he tortured the Armenian king to death, beheaded him, and put the headless body on display on a cross in Dvin.
Reign of Ashot II "Yerkat" (914-928)
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 governor's brutality. Gagik I of Vaspurakan 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.
Ashot II, third Bagratid monarch
Support for Ashot also arrived from the west as the Byzantine empress Zoe had watched the Arab invasion of Armenia unfold with consternation and so she ordered Patriarch Nicholas to write an official letter to the Armenian Catholicos (Armenian Patriarch) 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 moved out the next year and marched along the Upper Euphrates, entering Taron with scant opposition from the Arabs.
Empress Consort and Regent Zoe Karbonopsina of the Byzantine Empire
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 as king of Armenia. Ashot Shapuhyan's and Yusuf's armies however were unable to stop the Byzantine advance, which stopped short of capturing Dvin due to the onset of winter.
The Kingdom of Armenia (Hayk) in 918 during the civil war with the Anti-King in Dvin.
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 governor named Subuk, who 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 commander Ioannes 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.
This continued cooperation would not last however, for 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 of Vaspurakan. He began demanding tribute from the Armenian 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. The Byzantines also turned their 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 who's reign would bring much needed stability to Armenia following the decades of constant warfare.
The Kingdom of Armenia (Hayk) in 929, following Ashot II's death
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