Restoration of Kingdom
The Bagradouni Princes and the Arab expansion
Around 590, Armenia was once again partitioned between Persia and the Byzantine Empire. The western provinces of Greater Armenia came under the authority of kuropalats, governors appointed by the Byzantine Emperor. During this period, the noble Mamikonean family gradually ceded its political dominance to other Armenian dynasties, among which the Bagradouni Princes rose to exceptional power and influence.
Meanwhile, the Sassanian Persian Empire fell into deep decline. In the early seventh century, a new political and religious force emerged in the Middle East—the Arabian Caliphate. Its first great wave of expansion transformed Egypt and Syria into Islamic regions, and Persian armies were repeatedly defeated. By 680, the Arabs crushed the last remnants of Persian resistance and occupied all Persian territories, replacing Zoroastrianism with Islam.
Arab invasions and Armenian revolts
The Arabs first invaded Armenia in 640. Prince Theodoros Rshtuni led the Armenian resistance. In 652, a peace agreement was concluded, granting Armenians freedom of religion. Prince Theodoros himself traveled to Damask, where he was officially acknowledged by the Arab rulers as the governor of Armenia, Georgia, and Albania.
By the late seventh century, however, the Caliphate adopted a harsher policy toward Armenia and its Christian identity. The Caliphs sent special governors known as ostigans to rule the land, establishing their residence in Dvin—formerly the seat of the Armenian Catholicos.
A gold dinar, of approximately AD 700, representing Caliph Abd-Al-Malik, from the British Museum.
Despite being declared a domain of the Caliph, Armenia remained steadfastly Christian. Multiple attempts to convert Armenians to Islam failed. Infuriated by Armenian resistance, Caliph Abd al-Malik issued an unprecedented command in 705: the extermination of all Armenian nakharars (nobles). More than 400 Armenian lords were lured into a church in Nakhichevan, where the doors were sealed and the church set ablaze. Arab chroniclers later referred to this atrocity as The Year of the Great Burning. Quoting John VI, “an ocean of tears flooded Armenia.” A series of unsuccessful uprisings followed throughout the eighth century.
By 850, the Bagradouni Princes had risen to supremacy among Armenian nobility. Prince Bagarat Bagradouni enjoyed exceptional trust from high-ranking Arab officials, and the Caliph granted him the title of Grand Prince. Yet soon thereafter, several Armenian nakharars revolted against him.
In 851, Yussouf, a Caliphal commander, arrived in Armenia to suppress the rebellion. To his astonishment, he found no nobles ready to submit. Enraged, he arrested the Grand Prince and sent him in chains to the Caliph. Shortly afterward, the two sons of Bagarat avenged their father by rallying the highlanders of the Sassun region. Under the cover of night, the armed rebels stormed Yussouf’s fortress and killed him.
Enraged, the Caliph dispatched a massive army under the command of Bugha, a former slave notorious for his cruelty. Bugha’s campaign devastated the country: many Armenian cities and fortresses were burned to the ground. Historians later called him “the butcher” and “the brutal murderer.” Panic spread across Armenia, and only a few nakharars managed any meaningful resistance. Isaiah, the valiant Prince of Artsakh, proved Bugha’s most determined adversary. Yet ultimately Bugha captured him and sent him, along with other noble prisoners, to Baghdad. Many perished in its dungeons.
Recognizing the unique prestige of the Bagradouni house, the Caliph attempted to convert its members to Islam. Sembat Bagradouni, Sparapet (Commander-in-Chief) of Armenia, refused to apostatize and was tortured to death.
Restoration of Kingdom
A decade later, Ashot Bagradouni, son of Sembat, was proclaimed Prince of Princes. A wise and skillful political leader, he carefully balanced relations between the Arabs and the Byzantines. Under his rule, Armenia experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity.
In 884, Ashot I was formally crowned King of Armenia. Both the Caliph and the Byzantine Emperor recognized his authority by sending him crowns and splendid gifts. Thus, the Armenian kingdom was restored de jure.
Basil I, his son Constantine, and his second wife, empress Eudokia Ingerina. During Ashot’s reign, Basil I, founder of the Macedonian dynasty, ascended the Byzantine throne. Basil I—and several of his successors—were of Armenian descent. He even proclaimed himself a descendant of the ancient Arshakid kings. Traditionally, during the coronation of Armenian kings, a member of the Bagradouni family placed the crown upon the monarch’s head. In accordance with this custom, Basil I sent his court eunuch Nikita to Armenia to request that Ashot Bagradouni symbolically send him a crown.
