Armenian Bagratids

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Flag of the Bagratids

The Bagratids ( Armenian Բագրատունյաց Արքայական Տոհմ , transliterated Bagratownyac 'Ark'ayakan Tohm) were an Armenian ruling dynasty . She is one of the longest ruling royal families in the Caucasus , started out as a princely house and gained royal status in Armenia in the 9th century. A possible common origin with the Georgian Bagratids is controversial.

origin

The origin of the Bagratids is disputed. The prevailing opinion is that both dynasties had common roots that lead to Armenia and later branched off to Georgia. The Armenian royal family died out in the 12th century.

Armenian Bagratids

The empire of the Bagratids around the year 1000

It is believed that the Armenian Bagratids are descendants of the Orontid dynasty, who were the satraps of the Achaemenids and ruled Armenia as kings from the 4th to the 8th centuries. The Armenian Bagratids initially ruled the Bagrewand region in the historic north of Central Armenia . They initially claimed to be descended from the sun god Angl-Thork , the pre-Christian patron god of the Orontids . It was later said that they descended from the mythical ancestor of the Armenians, Hayk . Eventually, under biblical influence, they claimed to have come from the Hebrews . The medieval historian Moses von Choren developed the myth further. According to his account, the Bagratids descended from the biblical David . This legend was then adopted somewhat modified by the Georgian Bagratids. Modern history, however, does not confirm any of these myths.

Today's historians consider Bagratades, a military commander under Tigranes II, to be the first known Bagratide. According to the Armenian-Georgian historian and genealogist Cyril Toumanoff , the first recorded Bagratide appeared in 314 BC. BC as a feudal lord in Sper, in northwestern Armenia (today İspir in the province of Erzurum ), a region near the Iberian marshland . His descendants extended their dominion to Kongvit and Tumoriq . Like other Armenian nobles, they did not own a contiguous area, but several strips of land.

In the 6th century , the Bagratids became Marzban of the Sassanids in Armenia. They first achieved the (middle) Byzantine title of patrikios , then the high title of Kuropalate . In the 8th century the Bagratids became the leading force in the Armenian dispute with Arab rule. In 885 they received the royal crown. The rule in Armenia lasted until 1045.

See also

  • Artsruni , southern Armenian opponent of the Bagratuni in the Middle Ages

literature

  • Cyrille Toumanoff: Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour l'histoire de la Caucasie Chrétienne (Arménie-Géorgie-Albanie) . Edizioni Aquila, Roma 1976

Web links