Battle of Avarayr

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Battle of Avarayr
Part of Vardanank Wars
Depiction of the battle by Grigor Khanjian
Date May 26, 451[1] Location Avarayr Plain, Armenia Poldasht, Poldasht District, Maku County, West Azarbaijan Province, north-western  Iran 39°20′19.65″N 45°3′25.53″E / 39.3387917°N 45.0570917°E / 39.3387917; 45.0570917Coordinates: 39°20′19.65″N 45°3′25.53″E / 39.3387917°N 45.0570917°E / 39.3387917; 45.0570917 Result Pyrrhic Sassanid Persian victory.[2]
Belligerents
Sassanid Empire	Armenian rebels
Commanders
Yazdegerd II	Vartan Mamikonian
Strength
~unknown	~50,000-66,000 casualties1=Heavy; estimated at 3-4 times Armenian casualties.
Casualties and losses
	45,000

The Battle of Avarayr (Persian: نبرد آوارایر , Armenian: Ավարայրի ճակատամարտ) (Avarayri chakatamart) also known as Battle of Vartanantz, was fought on May 26, 451 on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan, between the Armenian Army under Saint Vartan and their Sassanid rulers. Although the Persians were victorious militarily, the Armenians were guaranteed religious freedom.

Contents 1 Background 2 Battle 3 Outcome 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Background

The Kingdom of Armenia was the first nation to officially convert to Christianity, in 301 AD under Tiriades III. In 428, a noble revolt overthrew the Armenian Arsacids, who were a Sassanid dependency at that time, and the Sassanids installed a governor. The Armenians accepted Persian rule, provided they were allowed to practice Christianity; but Yazdegerd II, concerned that the Armenian Church was obedient to the Latin- and Greek-speaking, Roman-aligned Western Christian Church rather than the Aramaic-speaking, Persian-backed Nestorian Church, tried to compel the Armenian Church to abandon Rome and Byzantium in favor of the Nestorians. He summoned the leading Armenian nobles to Ctesiphon, and pressured them into cutting their ties with the Western Church as he had intended. (Note that Yazdegerd II himself was a Zoroastrian rather than a Christian, and his concern was not enforcing a Nestorian orthodoxy but securing political loyalty.)

But Yazdegerd's policy created, rather than forestalled, a Christian rebellion in Armenia. When news about the compulsion of the nobles reached Armenia, a mass revolt broke out; on their return, the nobility, led by Vartan Mamikonian, joined the rebels. Yazdegerd II, hearing the news, gathered a massive army to attack Armenia. Vartan Mamikonian sent to Constantinople for aid, as he had good personal relations with Theodosius II, who had made him a general, and he was after all fighting to remain in the Western Church; but this assistance did not arrive in time.

[edit] Battle

The 66,000-strong Armenian army took Holy Communion before the battle. The army was a popular rising, not a professional force, but the Armenian nobility who led it were accomplished soldiers, many of them veterans of the Sassanid dynasty's wars with Rome; and both officers and men were motivated by a desire to save their religion and their way of life. The Persian army, said to be three times larger, included war elephants and the famous Savārān, or New Immortal, cavalry. Several Armenian noblemen with weak Christian sympathies, led by Vasag Suni, went over to the Persians before the battle, and fought on their side; in the battle, Vartan won initial successes, but was slain along with eight of his generals.

[edit] Outcome

Following the victory, Yazdegerd jailed some Armenian priests and nobles and appointed a new governor for Armenia.

The Armenian Church was also unable to send a delegation to the Council of Chalcedon, as it was heavily involved in the war.^{[citation needed]} The Armenian Church would reject the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, instead adhering to Miaphysitism.

Armenian resistance continued in the decades following the battle, led by Vartan's successor and nephew, Vahan Mamikonian. In 484 AD, Shah Peroz I signed the Nvarsak Treaty, which guaranteed religious freedom to the Christian Armenians ^[3] -- who were, however, no longer in communion with Rome or Constantinople -- and granted a general amnesty with permission to construct new churches. Thus, the Armenians see the Battle of Avarayr as a moral victory; May 26 is considered to be a holy day by Armenians, and is one of the most important national and religious days in Armenia.

[edit] References