Artsakh (historical province)

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For the republic, see Artsakh Republic
The lands of Syunik (left) and Artsakh (right) until the early 9th century

Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախ, scientific transliteration: Arc'ax) was the tenth province (nahang) of ancient Armenia [1][2] and covered what is now mostly the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.[3][4]. Artsakh was part of Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC till 387 AD. After the partition of Armenia in 387 AD it passed to Caucasian Albania. In 821 it became an Armenian princedom under the House of Khachen. The latter proclaimed in 1000 the Kingdom of Artsakh which comprised also Gardman and was the last of medieval eastern Armenian kingdoms and principalities to survive [5].

Etymology

According to the British historian David M. Lang, the ancient name of Artsakh probably recalls the name of the King Artaxias I of Armenia (190-159 BC), founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty and the kingdom of Greater Armenia [6]. The name today is used mostly by Armenians to refer to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Geography

Part of a series on the
History of
Artsakh
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Early Modern Age
Modern Age

Artsakh covered the north-eastern range of the Armenian Plateau[7] and was mostly mountainous and afforested [8]. In medieval Armenian sources it is styled as a strategical and fortified region [9][10]. It was bounded by the following Armenian principalities: Utik to the east, Gardman to the northeast, and Syunik to the southwest [11]. The river Arax formed the southern boundary. In various times it included also the southeastern shore of the Sevan Lake (the canton Sodk). The area of Artsakh is estimated to have been 11.528 km² [12].

Important places (mostly fortified towns) were Parisos, Tigranakert, Sodk, Tsar, Vaykunik, Asteghblur, Goroz, Berdaglukh. The fortress of Tigranakert, which was for the first time excavated in 2005, was probably founded by King Tigranes I of Armenia (123-55 BC) [13]. Later, in the Albanian period, the village of Guetakan (known as the “Royal Village”) became of great importance as the residence of Vachagan III the Pious (467-510 AD), the last King of Caucasian Albania.

According to anonymous 7th century Armenian “Geography” (Ashkharatsoyts) Artsakh was comprised of 12 cantons (gavars) : [14]

  1. Myus Haband,
  2. Vaykunik,
  3. Berdadzor,
  4. Mets Arank,
  5. Mets Kuenk,
  6. Harchlank,
  7. Mukhank,
  8. Piank,
  9. Parsakank,
  10. Sisakan Vostan,
  11. Qusti Parnes,
  12. Koght.

Status

It is not sure how Artsakh was administrated as a province of Armenia. According to some Armenian, scholars Artsakh formed a principality with the adjacent canton of Sodk, however this is not certain. Conceivably it was royal land. Its northern part also comprised the principality of Koght and it is possible that the princes of Koght were the original owners of Artsakh [14]. Under Albanian rule Artsakh, while often referred to, was not a recognized political entity. By the 9th century it comprised a number of small political units, including the principalities of Khachen in the center and Dizak in the south. Only in the 13th century these two states merged into one - the Kingdom of Artsakh [5].

Population

A medieval Armenian inscription in the monastery of Dadivank.

The original ethnic character of Artsakh is not certain, though it may have been varied as in other parts of northeastern Armenian Plateau [15]. Though the most recent theories suggest that the Armenians were native to the Armenian Plateau, the modern consensus concerning the origin of the Armenian people has been, that the latter represented a fusion of the non-Indo-European natives of the Armenian Plateau (Artsakh included) and the incoming tribes of the “Armens”, who moved through the Armenian Plateau from west to east [16]. Of these pre-Armenian people who lived in Artsakh and the neighboring Utik the names of the following are known Utians, Mycians, Caspians, Gargarians, Sakasenians, Gelians, Sodians, Lupenians, Balas[ak]anians, Parsians and Parrasians. [15][17].

The Armens arrived Artsakh in the 7th century BC [18], though other scholars believe that they entered the Armenian Plateau after the collapse of Urartu (6th c. BC) and that it was by the 2nd century BC that Artsakh got a major Armenian population, who intermarried with the aforementioned natives [16]. Strabo described the Armenian Kingdom in the 2nd century BC already as "monolingual" [2], which is implies that Armenia (Artsakh and Utik included) then was homogeneous, though this does not mean that its population consisted exclusively of ethnic Armenians [19]. The people of Artsakh spoke a local Eastern Armenian dialect, the Artsakhian dialect (today known as the Karabakh dialect), which is mentioned by 7th century grammarian Stepanos Syunetsi in his earliest record of Armenian dialects [14].

Eventually Artsakh became a stronghold of Armenian national identity from at last the 9th century [15].

History

Early history

Archaeological evidence reflects the competing influence from around 800 BC of the neighboring rival states Urartu, Assyria, and Mannai. After the fall of Urartu (6th c. BC), Artsakh, as well as most of the region south of the Kura, came under the domination of the Medes and Achaemenian Persians [citation needed]. In 189 BC, when the kingdom of Greater Armenia was established, Artsakh became part of the new Armenian state. Supposedly it was conquered from Medes as the neighboring Utik and Syunik [17], however it is also possible that it had been earlier part of Orontid Armenia in the 4th-2nd centuries BC [20].

Map of Orontid Armenia, 4th-2nd centuries BC (the inclusion of Artsakh and Utik is uncertain.)

According to a traditional Armenian view, based on the accounts of early medieval Armenian historiographers Movses Khorenatsi and Movses Kaghankatvatsi, Artsakh was the original dominion of a certain Aran who was the progenitor of the House of Aranshahik - "the ancient native Armenian family" [21]. Aran was called “the Aghu” (meaning amiable in Armenian[22]) because his good manners [23]. The genealogy of Aran (old spelling: Eran, hence: Eranshahik) is preserved by the historiographer Movses Kaghankatvatsi, who wrote that Aran belonged to the lineage of the ancient patriarchs and kings of Armenia, including Hayk, Armeneak, Aramayis, Gegham, Aram, Ara the Beautiful, Haykak, Norayr, Hrant, Perch, Skayordi, Paruyr, Hrachea, Ervand (Orontes) Sakavakeats, Tigranes et al [21].

Aran was appointed by the King Valarsace of Armenia as hereditary prince (nahapet or genearch) over the plain of Arran until the fortress of Hnarakert [24]. Aran is also known as the divine eponym[25]and the first governor of the Caucasian Albanians, appointed by Valarsace [21].

Strabo mentioned Artsakh (Orchistene) as one of Armenian provinces (along with others such as Phavneni and Kombiseni), which furnished the most cavalry [2].

Christianity

In 301 Armenia was converted to Christianity. The Armenian historian Agathangelos mentioned the princes of Utik and Sawdk (which probably comprised Artsakh) among the sixteen Armenian princes, who escorted Grigor the Illuminator to Cesaria, where he would be enthroned the High Priest of their land[26].

Artsakh became a major stronghold for Armenian missionaries to spread the Christianity in the neighboring countries. In 310 St Grigoris, the grandson of Grigor the Illuminator, was ordained bishop of Caucasian Iberia and Caucasian Albania in the monastery of Amaras, being just 15 years old [27]. After his martyrdom by the Mazkutian king on the field of Vatnean (near Derbent), his disciples conveyed his body back to Artsakh and buried him in Amaras, which has been built by Grigor the Illuminator and Grigoris himself. Hence St Grigoris became a patron saint of Artsakh. The historiographer Pavstos Buzand wrote that “… every year the people of that places and cantons gathers there [in Amaras] for the festive commemoration of his valor” [28].

In the 5th century Christian culture flourished in Artsakh. In c. 410 Mesrop Mashtots opened in Amaras the first Armenian school [29]. Later more schools were opened in Artsakh[30]

Armeno-Persian wars

The second half of the 4th century saw a series of wars between the Kingdom of Armenia and Persian Empire. After it lasted 34 years, the Armenian nobility of Artsakh and most of other provinces of Armenia revolted and refusing to support the Armenian king Arshak II anymore because of war-weariness [31][10]. Following the defeat of the Sassanid and Albanian armies, the Armenian strategist (sparapet) Mushegh Mamikonian punished severely the rebelled Armenian provinces, among others Artsakh, and subjected them to the king’s rule. Then in 372 he attacked Caucasian Albanians and took back from them the neighboring province of Utik and made the river Kur the border between Armenia and Albania as it has been earlier [10].

Medieval Period

However, war between the Sassanid Persians and Romans continued, and in 387 AD, according to the peace treaty between the two powers, the Armenian kingdom was partitioned between them. Albania, as an ally of the Sassanids, gained all the right bank of the river Kura up to the Araxes, including Artsakh and Utik [32]. Albeit, the culture of these regions was essentially Armenian [33].

Following the inconclusive Battle of Avarayr (451), where the Christian Armenian army clashed with the Sassanid army, many of the Armenian nobles retreated to impassable mountains and forests in several provinces, including Artsakh, which became a center for resistance against Sassanid Iran [34].

Furthermore, the Armenian rulers of Artsakh began to play a considerable role in the affairs of Albania [35]. In 498 in the settlement named Aghuen (in present-day Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh[36]), an Albanian church assembly was held, in the presence of the nobility and princes (“azgapetk”) of Artsakh and the king Vachagan the Pious, to adopt the Constitution of Aghven, which would arrange relations between the of nobility (landlords), clergy and village people [37].

In the 7th-9th centuries the Southern Caucasus was dominated by the Arabian Caliphate. In the early 9th century two Armenian princes - Sahl Smbatian and Esayi Abu-Muse - who revolted against the Arab rule and established two independant princialpities in Artsakh – Khachen and Dizak. At the time the Byzantine emperor Konstantinos Porphyrogennetos addressed letters "to prince of Khachen - to Armenia", being the residence of the Armenian prince Sahl Smbatian. The House of Khachen ruled Artsakh until the early 19th century, when it was conquered by Imperial Russia [5]. It was then often referred to the Land of Khachen (later Karabakh).

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Anon, Armenian "Geography" («Աշխարհացոյց»), Sec. IV, Asia, The lands of Greater Asia: Greater Armenia.
  2. ^ a b c Strabo, Geography, 11.14
  3. ^ Harvard international Review
  4. ^ Encyclopedia Columbia
  5. ^ a b c Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 118-121.
  6. ^ Lang, David M.The Armenians: a People in Exile. London: Unwin, 1988, p. x. ISBN 0-0440-0289-9.
  7. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: A Preliminary Study. Revue des Études Arméniennes. NS: IX, 1972, pp. 255-329.
  8. ^ Template:Hy icon Arakel Babakhanian. Collected Works. volume IX. Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1989, pp. 246-250. ISBN 5-5500-0407-0.
  9. ^ The History of Caucasian Albanians by Movses Dasxuranci. Translated by C. J. F. Dowsett, London 1961. 1.17, 2.11 2.14.
  10. ^ a b c Pavstos Buzand, The Epic Histories Attributed to P'awstos Buzand, English transl. by N. Garsoian, Cambridge, MA, 1983. IV.50; V.12.
  11. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 63: “The Armenian Principalities in the Fourth Century”
  12. ^ Template:Hy icon S. T. Yeremyan, Armenia according to “Askharatsoyts”, Yerevan 1963, p. 41.
  13. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 62.
  14. ^ a b c Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 100-103. Cite error: The named reference "Atlas2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b c Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 10, 58.
  16. ^ a b Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 58.
  17. ^ a b Hewsen, Robert H., Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians, in: Samuelian, Thomas J. (Hg.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity, Chico: 1982, 27-40.
  18. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica. Armenia and Iran.
  19. ^ V. A. Shnirelman. Memory wars. Myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia. Academkniga, Moscow, 2003 ISBN 5946281186
  20. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 32-33.
  21. ^ a b c The History of the Caucasian Albanians by Movsēs Dasxuranc'i. Translated by Charles Dowsett. London: Oxford University Press, 1961, pp. 3-4, 7, 24.
  22. ^ Template:Hy icon Dictionary of Modern Armenian (Ժամանակակից հայոց լեզվի բացատրական բառարան), volume I. Yerevan 1969, p. 45.
  23. ^ Template:Hy icon Alishan Ghevond, Artsakh, translation from Grabar by G. B. Thorosian, University of Yerevan Press, 1993, p. 8.
  24. ^ Template:Hy icon Stepanos Orbelian, History of the House Sisakan (Պատմութիւն Տանն Սիսական), transl. A. A. Abrahamian, Yerevan: “Sovetakan Grogh”, 1986, pp. 73, 278.
  25. ^ Cyril Toumanoff. Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown University Press 1963, pp. 257-258.
  26. ^ Agathangelos, The Conversion of Armenia, 795-796.
  27. ^ Pavstos Buzand, III.5.
  28. ^ Pavstos Buzand, III.6.
  29. ^ Viviano, Frank. “The Rebirth of Armenia,” National Geographic Magazine. March 2004.
  30. ^ Movses Kaghankatsvatsi, 1.18.
  31. ^ Robert H. Hewsen, Armenia: A Historical Atlas. The University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 73.
  32. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica. M. L. Chaumont. Albania.
  33. ^ Hewsen, Robert H. Ethno-History and the Armenian Influence upon the Caucasian Albanians, in: Samuelian, Thomas J. (Hg.), Classical Armenian Culture. Influences and Creativity, Chico: 1982, 34.
  34. ^ Jeghishe, About Vartan and the Armenian War. Translation and notes by Ye. Ter-Minasian. Yerevan 1989, sec. 6, p. 252-258.
  35. ^ Vladimir Minorsky. A History of Sharvan and Darband in the 10th-11th Centuries. Cambridge, Heffer and Sons, 1958
  36. ^ Leo. History of Armenia, volume ii. Yerevan 1947, p. 156.
  37. ^ Movses Kaghankatvatsi, 1.26
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