Sünik

The south-eastern group was comprised of the provinces of Otene or Uti, Arts’akh, Caspiane or P’aytakaran, and, between the last two and west of them, Siunia or Siunik'; the south-western group contained the provinces of Tayk' and of Upper Armenia.

Sivniet’i is the Armenian region Siwnik'; Guaspuragani is the Armenian region Vaspurakan.

Vayots Dzor was the largest district of the kingdom of Siwnik which was founded in 987 by the 'principal prince' Smbat, son of Sahak prince of Baghk

The third great family of Armenia was the Orbelians of Siounia. Siounia was the large canton to the east of the country, which stretched from Lake Sevan to the southernmost bend of the Araxes. Siounia was subdivided among various members of the princely house, and possessions seem to have changed hands among them fairly frequently. There were main branches of the family; of the elder the head at the time of Sembat’s martyrdom was the Grand Ischkan Sembat whose possessions lay on the west of Siounia, including Vaiotzor and Sisagan (which he apparently acquired from his cousins of the younger branch) and extending down to Nakhidchevan. He had married an Ardzrouni princess, Sophie, Gagic’s sister, and was one of the most prominent figures in Armenia. His brother Sahac owned the districts of Siounia on the east, with his capital probably at Erendchac; a third brother Papgen, the villain of the family, owned a town or two on the east and was jealous of his richer brothers; a fourth, Vasac, had already been killed in the interminable civil wars. The possessions of the younger branch clustered round Lake Sevan.

The south-eastern group was comprised of the provinces of Otene or Uti, Arts’akh, Caspiane or P’aytakaran, and, between the last two and west of them, Siunia or Siunik'; the south-western group contained the provinces of Tayk' and of Upper Armenia.

The highly mountainous area extending roughly between Lake Sevan and the Araxes bore in Armenian the name of Siunik'. The river Hakar (now Akera), which like a sword-cut divides the rugged highlands, separates Siunik' from its eastern neighbour Artsakh (now Qarabagh). In the North-East Siunik' bordered on the territories lying immediately west of Ganja. In the West lay the plains of the Armenian districts the left bank of the Araxes (Dvin, Nakhchevan).

Sot’k may be Sot’k, a district of Siunik lying to the South-East of Lake Sevan, see Humschmann, p. 348. If so, the Local ruler might have been the prince of Gelam of Gelakuni (the basin of Lake Sevan). In fact some Haykids of Siunik' had this region as their special fief.

Une autre sourche de la vie du diacre de Nisibe est la Préface à la traduction arménienne de son Commentaire sur l'Évangile de Jean, achevée sous le patronage de la fille de Asot le Carnassier la princess Mariam (Marem; † 914), femme du prince du Gelakunik' (Siwnik' occidental) Vasak Gabur.

Siunik' had its own ancient dynasty claiming descent from Hayk, the founder of the Armenian nation. According to the local historian: "the race of Sisak, issued from Hayk…"

795. СХП. Тогда царь, немедля, со страхом и великой радостью позаботился о том, чтобы собрать главных нахараров и наместников страны: первым [был] ишхан Ангехтуна, вторым — ишхан Алдзника, который был великим бдешхом, третьим — ишхан мардпетского княжества, четвёртым — венцевозлагатель ишхан, наделенный аспетской властью, пятым — ишхан спарапетства, военачальник страны Армянской, шестым — ишхан края Кордук, седьмым — ишхан земли Цопк, восьмым — ишхан земли Гугарк, именуемый другим бдешхом, девятым — ишхан земли Рштуник, десятым — ишхан земли Мокк, одиннадцатый -ишхан земли Сюник, двенадцатый — ишхан земли Цавда, тринадцатый — ишхан земли Утик, четырнадцатым — шаап, ишхан областей Зараванд и Гер, пятнадцатым — ишхан дома малхазутюн, шестнадцатым — ишхан Арцруника.

The political weight of these houses is best illustrated by the size of their cavalry contingents, placed at the service of their suzerain, the King of Armenia and, later, the Great King: Gogarene and Arzanene, 4500 and 4000 horse respectively; Ingilene, 3400; Artsruni, Bagratids, Mamikonids, Sophene, 1000 each; Kamsarakan, 600; Siunia, at a later period, 9400 horse; cf. C. Toumanoff, 'Introduction', II, table V.

Before the downfall of the Arsacid Monarchy in the fifth century, all the outlying territories, save Tayk', Siunia, and Moxoene, had been lost to it.

St. Sahac, the patriarch, and King Vramshapuh encouraged various attempts to constitute a national writing system, but the merit of having resolved the problem falls to St. Mesrop Machtots. Mesrop had studied Greek literature in his youth, after which he served as "chancellor of the ordinances of the sovereign" and custodian of the royal archives until he went to evangelize the province of Siunia.

So now Caucasia was divided into the following large states: the kingdom of Abasgia; Armenia with the Bagratid principalities of Bagaran (Arsharunik'-Siracene) and Taraun, Artsrunid Vaspurakan, Siunia, and the Muslim amirates; Iberia with the Bagratid principalities of Tao, Cholarzene, and Javakhet’i, the amirate of Tiflis, and Kakhetia; and Albania with lesser princedoms dependent on it (3)

On the north facade are also representations of the founders of the church – Prince Ashot, his wife Shushan, Grigor Supan, the ruler of Gegharkunik, and Prince Dzagik.

The catholicos promptly excommunicated Ashot, and the prince died one year later, in 904. Gagik Artsruni succeeded his brother as prince of Vaspuarakan. Smbat, unsure of Artsrunik' loyalty, took Nakhchavan from them and restored it to the prince of Siunik'.

Путь из Берда’а в Дабиль: от Берда’а до Каль-катуса 9 фарсахов; из Калькатуса в Метрис 13 фарсахов; из Метриса в Давмис 12 фарсахов; из Давмиса в Киль-Куй (А без точек; В: "Киль-курэ"; D: "К-н-клуин"; Е: "Киликун"; Мукаддаси: "Килвай"; Якут: "Кидькуй") 16 фарсахов; от Киль-Куй до Сисаджана (E: "Сисаян") 16 фарсахов и от Сисаджана до Дабиля 16 фарсахов.
|194| Путь из Берда’а в Дабиль идет по землям армян, и все эти города в царстве Санбата, сына Ашута.

By the beginning of the 10th century the family domains were divided into two principalities: Smbat took the western part consisting of Vayots'-dzor and Shahaponk', and his brother the eastern part, namely Balk' down to the river Akera.

Войска вассальных государств принимали участие во всех внешнеполитических акциях анийских Багратидов. В качестве примера можно привести конфликт владетеля Тао Давида Куролалата с царём Абхазии Картли Багратом III и его отцом Гургэном (988). Союзник Давида шаханшах Смбат II направил ему на помощь войска Вананда, Сюника, Васпуракана и Ташир-Дзорагета.

Войска вассальных государств принимали участие во всех внешнеполитических акциях анийских Багратидов. В качестве примера можно привести конфликт владетеля Тао Давида Куропалата с царём Абхазии Картли Багратом III и его отцом Гургэном (988). Союзник Давида шаханшах Смбат II направил ему на помощь войска Вананда, Сюника, Васпуракана и Ташир-Дзорагета.

Так, в 974 году византийская армия во главе с императором Иоанном Цимисхием двинулась к границам армянских государств, что вызвало немедленную реакцию с их стороны. Объединенная восьмидесятитысячная армия царей Васпуракана, Сюника, Ташир Дзорагета и Анийского царства, возглавляемая шаханшахом Ашотом III, двинулась навстречу византийским войскам и расположилась в Харке

All, except for the house of Siounia which on the whole remained close allies of the Bagratids, spend their days in a mass of intricate and changeful intrigues, alliances and wars directed solely by envy and the desire of self-aggrandizement.

Alp-Arslan’s victory at Malazgirt also meant that, apart from the districts of Tashir and eastern Siunik', Armenia passes definitely into Muslim hands; and within the nest decade or so, the Byzantines, resolutely anti-Armenian to the end, exterminated several survivors of the native Bagratid and Ardzrunid dynasties.

The Byzantine conquest was short-lived: in 1048 Toghrïl Beg led the first Seljuq raid into Armenia, in 1064 Ani and Kars fell to Toghrïl’s nephew and heir Alp-Arslan, and after the Battle of Manzikert (1071) most of the country was in Turkish hands. In 1072 the Kurdish Shāddādids received Ani as a fief. A few native Armenian rulers survived for a time in the Kiurikian kingdom of Lori, the Siuniqian kingdom of Baghq or Kapan, and the principates of Khachen (Artzakh) and Sasun.

With the approval of the conciliatory Seljuk Sultan Melik Shah, son of the conqueror Alp Arslan, Senekerim assumed his throne on the death of Grigor and reigned from 1072 to 1094 or 1096.

This Senek’erim received the royal title from Malikshah but after the latter’s death (in 1092) he was attacked and killed. Our sources, however, are at variance.

In 1170, with a new invasion, the Armenian Kingdom of Siunikʿ was terminated. The Armeno-Georgian armies, challenged by the troops of the Azerbaijan atabegs and the emirate of Ganǰa were defeated in the great battle of 1196, and a few years later the Zakʿarids liberated the capital Dvin

The brother Ivane and later his son, Avag, ruled over the extensive eastern areas of the reconquered land: Hayots Dzor, Siunik, Nakhichevan, Erevan and most of Artsakh, as well as Dvin and later Bjni. The Orbelians, Khaghbakian and others became subjects of Ivane’s house.

The subjects of Iwanē's family were the Orbelians, Khaghbakians, Dopians, HasanJalalians and others (see Map 4).18 The representatives of these major Armenian families entered into direct contact with the Mongols in order to retain their conquered lands, the discussion of which follows in nest chapters.

В числе других были захвачены сын Хахбака Григор, брат храброго Васака, и племянник его Папак. У Васака было трое сыновей: Папак, Мкдем и Гасан, коего называли Прошем, — мужи храбрые и знатные, от страха перед которыми дрожало все мусульманское войско […] И были они родом из Хачена, знатного происхождения, по вере православные христиане и армяне по национальности.

Prince Vasak I of the Xalbakian family, who had played an important role in the reconquest of Siwnik, was rewarded with the district of Vayoc' Jor and a series of fortress and monasteries in Kotayk'.

Opposition in Greater Armenia now centred in the south in Siwnik' under the Orbelean house, whose fortunes had been rising since 1256 when they had received their lands as an inju directly under Mongol suzerainty

However, Prince Smbat of the Orbelid feudal dynasty ruling in the province of Siwnikʿ in southeastern Armenia, had been able to obtain certain rights from the great khan Möngke (Mangū Qāʾān) preserved later on by Hūlāgū Khan and thereafter. Thanks to this feudal immunity, there existed in that part of Armenia relatively bearable conditions which reflected in the economic and cultural life.

When the Orbelians served under the Mongols, Siunik' was a refuge where Armenian culture flourished.

The most illustrious medieval armenian monastic centre of higher learning at this time was founded at Glajor in the region of Siwnik', whose activities spanned the years 1280—1340.

During his eighteen-year rule Tarsayics principality encompassed all of Siwnik' including the cantons of Vayoc' Jor and Gelark’unik.

Under Elikum III (1290—1300) Siwnik' enjoyed relative peace. While other parts of Armenia suffered from the civil strife that followed the murder of Argun Khan in 1291.

Elikums son and successor, Prince Burt’el, maintained the Orbelian control of Siwnik' through a long rule of over four decades (1300—44?). Contemporary sources refer to him as the «great commander-in-chief of the Armenians and the Georgians», and it was under his rule that the monastery of Glajor enjoyed its most conspicuous flowering.

В Армении, вошедшей вместе с большей частью Азербайджана в начале XV века в состав туркменской державы Каракойюнлу, именно к XV веку завершился в основном процесс исчезновения старинной местной армянской феодальной знати; лишь немногие её представители уцелели (в Сюнике, Маку и т. д.), да ещё монастыри остались представителями старинного армянского землевладения.

During these years of confusion in certain Armenian provinces, the feudal principalities were partially revived, particularly the Orbelids of Siwnikʿ and their vassals the Prošians, within whose boundaries comparatively favorable conditions were created for the development of Armenian academic life, literature, and medieval science.
In those years (1282), the famous university of Glajor was founded, which extended its function to the other spiritual and cultural institutions of the province of Siwnikʿ, e.g., the monasteries of Taṭʿev, Hermon, Aprakunis, and Vorotni and elsewhere

The latter began persecutions in the Siunik area, forcing the Armenian noble Beshken Orbelian with 6,000 house-holds to emigrate north to Lori, at the time under the control of King Alexsander of Georgia, who was married to Beshken’s sister.

Местные армянские феодальные государственные образования в конце XIV в. и в первой половине XV в. были уничтожены, армянская феодальная знать, кроме церковной, частью эмигрировала, как князья Сюника Орбелианы, переселившиеся в Грузию с частью населения

Jihanshah (1437—1467), faced by various enemies, also looked toward the Armenians for support. Several feudal chiefs were given control of one or more regions and even allowed to use the title «prince» (ishkhan); these included the lords of Siunik, Vayots Dzor, Artsakh, and Gugark.

Наряду с этим были и владетельные мелики — армяне в следующих округах: 1) в Лори на севере кавказской Армении, на границе с Грузией; 2) в пяти округах Нагорного Карабага — Чараберд (Джраберт), Гюлистан, Хачен, Варанда и Дизак; эти пять карабагских армянских меликств обычно известны под общим именем «Хамсэй-и Карабаг» («карабагская пятерица»); 3) в Кыштаге по р. Акере к юго-западу от Карабага.

При персидской династии Сефевидов Карабах являлся одной из провинций (бегларбекство), где низменности и предгорья входили в мусульманские ханства, а горы оставались в руках армянских правителей. Система меликств окончательно сложилась в Нагорном Карабахе в годы правления шаха Аббаса I (1587—1629) в Персии. Тогда персидские власти, с одной стороны, поощряли армянских меликов к активным действиям против Османской империи, а с другой, пытались ослабить их, отделив их от основных армянских территорий путем переселения курдских племен в район, расположенный между Арцахом и Сюником. Тем не менее, в XVII—XVIII вв. пять армянских меликств Карабаха составляли силу, с которой приходилось считаться их могущественным соседям. Именно эти горные районы стали тем центром, где возникла идея армянского возрождения и образования независимого армянского государства. Однако борьба за власть в одном из меликств привела к междоусобице, в которую с выгодой для себя вмешалось соседнее кочевое племя сарыджалы, и в середине XVIII в.власть в Карабахе первый раз за всю его историю досталась тюркскому хану

In 1677, with the leadership of Catholicos Yakob of Julfa, a secret meeting was held in Echmiadzin attended by representatives of the clergy, the secular aristocracy, and of the meliks (secular lords) of Siwnikʿ and Arcʿax. The assembly decided to send a delegation to Rome and hoped that by expressing obedience to the Pope they would receive armed assistance to achieve the task of liberation.

One delegation, Israel Ori, son of one of the meliks (secular lords) of Siwnikʿ, attempted single-handedly to pursue negotiations but with no success.

In 1701, Ori traveled to Moscow with the Archimandrite Minas Tigranean, and presented to Peter the Great his plan for the liberation of Armenia, with the help of Russia, by means of the military forces of the meliks of Siwnikʿ and Arcʿax.

Еще до вмешательства России и Турции, в 1722 г., против шахского владычества восстали грузины в Картии и армяне в Зангезуре и Нахчеванском крае, надеясь на помощь единоверной России. Но после Константинопольского трактата христианские районы Закавказья целиком отошли под власть Турции. Армянские повстанцы, основная масса которых состояла из крестьян, под предводительством Давид-бега, ещё долго продолжали бороться с турецкими войсками в трудно доступных горных ущельях Кавказа, Зангезура и Нахчеванского края (район Акулис-Ордубад). Последним успехом Давит-бега было занятие Акулиса. В 1728 г. Давит-бег умер в своей резиденции, крепости Алидзор. Его заместил храбрый Мхитар. Однако раздоры в среде предводителей движения, среди которых было немало меликов, мелких землевладельцев и священников, привели к тому, что в 1729 г. часть их во главе со священником тэр Аветисом вступила в переговоры с турецкими властями и сдала им крепость Алидзор, получив обещание амнистии. Обещание не было выполнено, сдавшиеся были перебиты, их жены и дети обращены в рабство. Тэр Аветис один получил свободу и позволение удалиться со своей семьей в Иерусалим. Мхитар продолжал борьбу, ему удалось ещё взять г. Ордубад. В 1730 г. он был убит предателем, голова его была отослана к турецкому паше в Тебриз, ополчение его было рассеяно. Так кончилось восстание, продолжавшееся 8 лет.

In 1722, the Afghan Maḥmūd son of Mīr Ways seized Isfahan, putting an end to the 200-year Safavid kingdom. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Arcʿax and Siwnikʿ in eastern Armenia (Qarabāḡ and Zangezūr), armed strife spread between rebelling Armenian soldiers and local khans and Turkish-speaking nomadic feudal lords seeking self determination in the face of anarchy.

In mountainous Karabakh a group of five Armenian maliks (princes) succeeded in conserving their autonomy and maintained a short period of independence (1722-30) during the struggle between Persia and Turkey at the beginning of the 18th century; despite the heroic resistance of the Armenian leader David Beg, the Turks occupied the region but were driven out by the Persians under the general Nādr Qolī Beg (from 1736-47, Nādir Shah) in 1735.

Although the Turks were successful in capturing those fortresses, as well as most of northeastern Persia in 1724, the Armenian region of Karabagh-Zangezur fought on. The Armenians there were armed and had found a formidable leader in the person of Davit Bek

Having only recently shaken off the yoke of the qezelbāš, the Armenian people reengaged in a struggle for liberation, this time against Ottoman occupation troops. The armed Armenian forces waged heroic battles on the outskirts of Erevan, in Qarabāḡ, in the mountainous regions of Siwnikʿ and elsewhere. Daviṭʿ Beg, leader of the liberation battles being waged in Siwnikʿ, defeated the Ottoman troops and reached the banks of the Aras. He linked with Shah Ṭahmāsp II who was conducting the war against the Ottomans in Azerbaijan. Shah Ṭahmāsp by special edict recognized the dominion of Daviṭʿ Beg over the province of Siwnikʿ

Further south, the Armenians of Siunik were being welded into a nation by an Armenian from Tiflis, David Bek, who for a dozen years created conditions of empire-free autonomy, showing military competence by defeating a Turkish army at Halidsor.

В 1722 г. армяне Карабага и Зангезура, ожидая обещанного Петром I карабагским меликам прихода русских войск, восстали против шаха Хусейна одновременно с Вахтангом VI, царём картлийским. Потом восставшие армяне боролись с турецкой оккупационной армией сперва под предводительством Давит-бега, а после его смерти (1728) — под начальством храброго Мхитара и свяшенника (ерэц — иерей) тэр-Аветиса (до 1730 г.).

In response to the heroic defense by the Armenians, Nader recognized the autonomy of the meliks of Karabagh and rewarded them by recognizing Karabakh and Zangezur as semiautonomous enclaves.

he only work which deals primarily with the Armenian immigration from Persian Azerbaijan to Russia is by Sergei Glinka.(11) He does not supply any numbers, but makes it clear that the majority of the Armenians were headed towards the newly-established Armenian Province, created from the Khanates of Erevan and Nakhichevan. An archival document, however, does shine some light on the issue. The document states that only 279 Armenian families decided to immigrate to Karabakh, and that they settled in Kapan and Meghri on the banks of the Arax (in the southernmost part of Zangezur bordering Iran).(12)

«The treaty of Turkmanchai stipulated mass population transfers: Armenians were to move to the Russian held domains, and Muslims were to leave them. Consequently, after 1828, 30,000 people from various parts of (northern) Iran crossed the Arax river into now Russian Armenia (a 'homecoming' of sorts, 225 years after Shah Abbas' forced migration of Armenians in the opposite direction). Similarly, after the 1828-9 Russo-Turkish war and the treaty of Adrianople, thousands of Armenians moved to Russia from the Ottoman empire. Whereas before 1828 there were 87,000 Muslims and 20,000 Armenians in the Yerevan khanate/province, after the mass migrations Armenians constituted the majority population: 65,000, as opposed to 50,000 Muslims.».

Cultural centres. The aristocratic society of medieval Armenia was hostile to the towns, which were only rarely cultural centers, a role generally reserved for the monastic communities. From the late 9th c., a multitude of monasteries was established in remote, parts of Armenia, among others at Halbat, Sanahin and Horomos, the Bagratid necropolises of the north, Makenoc' and Tat’ew in Siunik, Varag, Albak, Narek and Mus in the south. In these large agglomerations, purely religious buildings were surrounded by libraries and rooms for the translation, copying and illumination of manuscripts, and for discussions and philosophical and theological teaching which transformed them into veritable academies