Zakarid Armenia

Coordinates: 40°30′27″N 43°34′22″E / 40.5075°N 43.5728°E / 40.5075; 43.5728
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Zakarid Armenia
Զաքարյան Հայաստան
1201–1350
Coat of arms of Zakarids
Coat of arms
Zakarid territories in the early 13th century[1][2]
Zakarid territories in the early 13th century[1][2]
CapitalAni
Common languagesArmenian
Religion
Armenian Apostolic
GovernmentMonarchy
Zakarids 
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
1201
• Conquered by Chobanids
1350
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Seljuq Armenia
Ilkhanate
Principality of Khachen

Zakarid Armenia[3][4] (Armenian: Զաքարյան Հայաստան, romanizedZakaryan Hayastan) alternatively known as the Zakarid Period, describes a historical period in the Middle Ages during which the Armenian vassals of the Kingdom of Georgia were ruled by the Zakarid-Mkhargrzeli dynasty.[5] The city of Ani was the capital of the princedom. The Zakarids were vassals to the Bagrationi dynasty in Georgia, but frequently acted independently[6] and at times titled themselves as kings.[7][8] In 1236, they fell under the rule of the Mongol Empire as a vassal state with local autonomy.

During the reign of George V and Bagrat V, the Zakarid territories once again reverted to the Kingdom of Georgia.[9][10] The Zakarid dynasty continued to rule Ani until around 1350, when it was conquered and ravaged by the Chobanids.[11]

Inception[edit]

Following the collapse of the Bagratuni dynasty of Armenia in 1045, Armenia was successively occupied by Byzantines and, following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, by the Seljuks.[12] Khosrov Zakarian, the first historically traceable member of the Zakarid family, moved from Armenia to southern Georgia during the Seljuk invasions in the early 11th century. Over the next hundred years, the Zakarids gradually gained prominence at the Georgian court, where they became known as Mkhargrdzeli (Long-shoulder) or in Armenian: Երկայնաբազուկ, (Yerkaynabazuk). A family legend says that this name was a reference to their Achaemenid ancestor Artaxerxes II the "Longarmed" (404–358 BC).[13][14]

During the 12th century, the Bagratids of Georgia enjoyed a resurgence in power, and managed to expand into Seljuk-occupied Armenia.[15] The former Armenian capital Ani would be captured five times between 1124 and 1209.[16] Under King George III of Georgia, Sargis Zakarian was appointed as governor of Ani in 1161. In 1177, the Zakarids supported the monarchy against the insurgents during the rebellion of Prince Demna and the Orbeli family. The uprising was suppressed, and George III persecuted his opponents and elevated the Zakarids.

Zakare and Ivane[edit]

Zakare II and Ivane I on the east facade at Harichavank, Armenia, 1201.[17] They wear the contemporary costume, with tall sharbush hat and kaftans.[18]
Approximate Zakarid territory within the Kingdom of Georgia , circa 1210

Despite some complications in the reign of George III, the successes continued in the reign of the Queen Tamar.[15] This was chiefly due to the Armenian generals Zakare and Ivane.[19][20] Around the year 1199, they retook the city of Ani.[15] Zakare and Ivane commanded the Georgian-Armenian armies for almost three decades, achieving major victories at Shamkor in 1195 and Basian in 1203 and leading raids into northern Persia in 1210.

Because of their successes, Zakare and Ivane reached the heights of the Georgian army and court.[21] Queen Tamar gave them the status of nakharar feudal lords, who took the name "Zak'arians", in honor of Zak'are. She gave them control of almost all her Armenian territories, with Ani as capital.[21][15][22]

Consolidation of Armenian rule (1201-1239)[edit]

Thereafter, Zakarids maintained high degree of autonomy and often acted independently.[7] The volume of trade seems to have increased in the early 13th century, and under the Zakarid princes the city prospered, at least until the area was occupied by the Mongols in 1237. The Zakarians amassed a great fortune, governing all of northern Armenia. Zakare and his descendants ruled in northwestern Armenia with Ani as their capital, while Ivane and his offspring ruled eastern Armenia, including the city of Dvin. Eventually, their territories came to resemble those of Bagratid Armenia.[12] They maintained a high level of local autonomy, acting as an Armenian state with the right to court and collect taxes, while under nominal Georgian suzerainty.[6][23] While they were vassals of the Georgian king, the Zakarids often acted independently and established their own political and tax systems. Their allegiance to the Georgian kings was mostly confined to providing the kings with military assistance during times of war.[6] In their capital city of Ani, they named themselves the “Kings of Ani” exemplifying their independent ambitions from the Kings of Georgia.[8] The Zakarid also had the ability to establish their own nakharar feudal vassals, often selected from the ranks of their best general, as in the case of the Proshian clan.[21] They adopted "the trappings of both Christian and Muslim royal power", as shown in their adoption of the title "Shahanshah" (king of kings) for their names and titles.[24] In the dedicatory inscription of Tigran Honents, the Zakarians are referred to as the only "overlords", and the "powerful masters of the universe".[24][25]

Religion[edit]

The reconquered regions of historical Armenia had mixed confessional identities, with Armenians being mainly Monophysites, and Georgians and Greeks mainly Chalcedonian Christians, and relations were often conflictual.[28] But the boundaries were moveable: Ivane I Zakarian had converted to Chalcedonism in the early 13th century, and a significant number of Armenians had followed him, voluntarily or not.[28]

The Zakarids seem to have promoted a level of ambiguity between the two faiths, and voluntarily mixed elements from both, minimizing differences, possibly as a political expedient helping them better rule their realm.[29] In the church St Gregory of Tigran Honents, dedicated in 1215 in Ani, the combination of scenes with the myths of the evangelists of Armenia and Georgia might suggest a conflation of Armenian Monophysite and Georgian Chalcedonian rites.[28] The Zakarids are also known for their efforts in bringing together the Monophysite and Chalcedonian faiths at the level of church councils.[30]

Constructions[edit]

The Zakarids, under Georgian overlordship since 1199-1200, were active builders of religious monuments, such as the church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents, built in 1215 in Ani, or the Church of Kizkale.[31] The donators of St Gregory of Tigran Honents were identified as Armenian Monophysites in their inscriptions, but on the other hand the artistic program rather reflected the Chalcedonian faith, suggesting that the church may have belonged to a Chalcedonian community of Armenians, who had chosen to adopt Georgian styles and practices.[32] Alternatively, this church may have served a larger community of both Armenians and Georgians.[33]

Conflicts[edit]

Zakarid Prince Grigor Khaghbakian on horse, in his khatchkar (1233).[27][34]

The 13th century Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi reports the first 1220 Mongol incursions under Subutai, part of the Mongol invasions of Georgia. The Zakarids served under the Georgian king George IV of Georgia to repulse them, with Ivane I Zakarian acting as atabeg (Governor General) and Amirspasalar (Commander-in-chief).[35]

Later c. 1222, the Kipchaks came to the Armenian city of Gandzak, where they again encountered the troops of King Lasha of Georgia and his atabeg Ivane Zakarian.[35][36] Although the Georgians ultimately prevailed, the Zakarian Prince Grigor Khaghbakian was captured and tortured to death by the Kipchak Turks.[35]

When the Khwarazmian Empire invaded the region, Dvin was ruled by the aging Ivane, who had given Ani to his nephew Shahnshah, son of Zakare. Dvin was lost, but Kars and Ani did not surrender.[15]

However, when the Mongols took Ani in 1239, they accepted the submission of the Zakarids and left them in place.[15] They confirmed Shanshe in his fief, and even added to it the fief of Avag, son of Ivane. Further, in 1243, they gave Akhlat to the princess T’amt’a, daughter of Ivane.[15]

Mongol suzerainty (1239-1357)[edit]

The Mongols under General Chormaqan conquered the whole of historical Armenia and Georgia in 1238-39, leading to the submission of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 1239 treaty. Three Mongols campaigns took place altogether from 1239 to 1244: capture of Ani and Kars in 1239, Karin in 1242, and defeat of the Seljuk Sultan in 1243-44 with the major Battle of Köse Dağ.[37] After the Mongols captured Ani, the Zakarids ruled not as vassals of the Bagratids, but rather as vassals of the Mongols, under the governorships of Arghun Aqa.[12] Still, while under Mongol control, the Zakarids maintained nominal suzerainty to the Georgian, who were themselves tributaries of the Mongols.[31] After 1256, Armenia was directly incorporated into the Il-Khanate founded by Hulegu, and again under the Jalayirid and Chobanids Mongol successors, until Tamerlane brought a whole new era of devastation.[38][31]

The Zakarids were effectively part of the Mongol Il-Khanate, after 1256. Their new vassals the Proshyans also had arisen.[38]

The Proshyan dynasty was a family of the Armenian nobility, under Zakarid Armenia during the 13th–14th century CE. They too prospered as allies of the Mongols, as did the Zakarids and Orbelians.[39] They benefited from trade routes to China under the control of the Mongols, and built many magnificent churches and monasteries.[39] The later kings of Zakarids continued their control over Ani until the 1360, when they lost to the Kara Koyunlu Turkoman tribes, who made Ani their capital.[12]

Mongol rule was considered as particularly harsh, as described by a 1292 Armenian colophon:[40]

This book was written in the Armenian calendar year 741 (1292), under the rule of the oppressor, of strange appearance and ruthless, which is called Tatar, of the impious race of Cathay, who invaded the whole world because of our sins. And they are so ruthless and cruel that brother kills brother and father kills son, but God's punishment will come.

— Colophon of Xalbakeank.[40]

Taxes[edit]

From 1236 to 1250, the Mongols essentially left Armenian governing structures in place. They initially satisfied themselves with plunder and booty from vanquished areas, but from 1243 Guyuk Khan ordered the introduction of permanent formal taxes, consisting in a general tax of 1/13th to 1/10th on every property, and a large head tax of 60 silver drams spitaks (aspers) per male.[35] According to the History of the Nation of the Archers, if a man could not pay, he was beaten, and given alive to the dogs.[41] During the rule of the Il-Khanate under Hulegu, taxes were further increased:[41]

Hulegu commanded that the tax called taghar be collected from each individual listed in the royal register. From such he demanded 100 litrs of grain, 50 litrs of wine, 2 litrs of rice and [of] husks 3 sacks, 1 spitak [silver coin], 1 arrow, to say nothing of the bribes; and of 20 animals they demanded, plus 20 spitaks. From those who could not pay they took their sons and daughters as payment.

— Kirakos Gandzaketsi, History of Armenia, 182.[41]

Political autonomy[edit]

Probable depictions of Shahnshah Zakarian (center), his wife Vaneni (left), and a kindred in military uniform (right), as donators at the Kobayr Monastery, Chapel-Aisle, 1282.[42]

Following the Mongol conquest in 1236, Georgia and the Zakarid principality were organized into a province broken down into 8 administrative units (tumans). 5 of the tumans were Georgian while the remaining 3, composed of the Zakarid principality in Kars and Ani, as well as, the Awagids in Syunik and Artsakh, were Armenian.[43] From 1236 to 1246, the Mongols did not interfere with the governing structure of the Zakarid state and appointed the Zakarids as heads of the tumans.[43] While Zakarid Armenia was a vassal state of the Mongols and therefore subject to taxes and loyalty to the Khan, they were otherwise left to govern themselves and had relative autonomy during this period.[44]

Throughout the 13th century, the high offices Atabeg (Governor General) and Amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief of the Georgian army) had been held by the Zakarids, but following the Mongol invasions of Georgia the Mongol victors gave these offices to the "renegade" Sadun of Mankaberd in 1272.[45] When Abaqa became the new Mongol ruler, Sadun received from the title of Atabeg Amirspasalar for the Georgian Bagratid Kingdom.[46][47]

Warfare[edit]

Gergian-Amenian soldiers in uniform, Kobayr Monastery, 1270s

The Armenians had to participate to most of the campaigns of the Mongols. They participated to the Siege of Baghdad in 1258. In 1259-1260, Shahnshah Zakarian participated to the Mongold-led Siege of Mayyāfāriqīn, together with the Armenian Prince Prosh Khaghbakian.[48] The reduced Kingdom of Georgia (1256–1329) also under Mongol control, participated to most of these campaigns as well.[49]

Monastic sponsorship[edit]

Under Mongol rule, Armenia enjoyed relative political stability and prosperity from the end of the 13th century to the early 14th century.[50] In particular, the Syunik Province became a center of intellectual, literary and artistic creativity.[50] Monastic institions grew under the patronage of the Proshians and the Orbelians, who built numerous monasteries and provided them with various financial ressources.[50] Smbat Orbelian (1249/50-73) had obtained from Möngke Khan that monastic properties which had been seized should be returned, and that they would be free from taxation.[50] This tax-exempt status, contrasting with the generally heavy taxation of private property under the Mongols, encouraged nobility to transfer part of their wealth for safeguarding to monastic institutions, either temporarily or permanently, all of this secured by Mongol edicts.[50] In some cases, members of the nobility could become abbots, so as to secure the direct ownership and management of these eclesiastical ressources.[50] Some of the main monastic holdings were in the monasteries of Kecharuyk and Geghard, Aghjots Vank or the Tanahat Monastery (1273-1279).[50] From this period, the Church of Areni was built in 1321 by Bishop Yovhannes Orbelian under the artistic supervisation of Momik, while the church of Spitakavor Monastery was built in 1321 by the Proshyan family.[51]

Clothing styles and depictions[edit]

Armenian Prince Eacch'i Proshian wearing a Mongol-style dress (cloud collar and Mongol hat), c. 1300 on the Reliquary of the "Holy Cross of the Vegetarians",[54][55] and his son Amir Hasan II (letters ԱՄՐ ՀՍ "AMR HS") hunting on horseback in Mongol attire, Church of the White Virgin (completed 1321). History Museum of Armenia, Yerevan.[56]

A few depictions of Armenians under Mongol rule are known, as in the Spitakavor Monastery, which was built by two princes from the Zakarid Proshian dynasty in 1318-1321, the father Eachi and his son Amir Hasan.[57][58][59] The construction of the church was begun by Prince Eachi Proshian (died in 1318) (a grandson of Prosh Khaghbakian), and completed in 1321 by his son Prince Amir Hasan II.[57][58] Eachi Proshian (-1318) is depicted in one reliefs from Spitakavor, and on a golden reliquary, he which he shown holding his hands up in prayer, and wearing a Mongol-style dress (cloud collar).[60]

Also from the Monastery, a relief represents a young rider in princely attire with a bow, with the letters ԱՄՐ ՀՍ (AMR HS), indicating Prince Amir Hasan II of the Proshians, son of Eachi Proshian, who completed the church his father had started. The relief is dated to 1320–1322, date the church was completed.[61][62] In these depictions, the Proshyans wear close-fitting clothing with an ornate belt and tall hats, and have round cheeks and almond-shaped eyes in a style characteristic of Mongol-era Armenia.[63] Riding a horse, Prince Amir Hasan wears a close-fitting tunic and a three-pointed hat with two ribbons, characteristic of 14th century Mongol nobility, and his facial features are similar to those of the Mongols.[56] Prince Eacchi Proshian on his reliquary, dated circa 1300, is shown wearing a Mongol-style royal dress (cloud collar).[64]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bournoutian 1993, p. 137, Map 18.
  2. ^ Eastmond, Antony (20 April 2017). Tamta's World. Cambridge University Press. p. Map 2. ISBN 978-1-107-16756-8.
  3. ^ Dashdondog 2010, pp. 103, 106, 109, 114.
  4. ^ Šahnazaryan, Armen (2011). Zakaryan, Anushavan (ed.). "Zakarid Armenia in the First Era of the Ilkhanate". Patma-Banasirakan Handes (in Armenian) (1). Armenia: Armenian National Academy of Sciences: 129–140. ISSN 0135-0536.
  5. ^ Chahin, Mack (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia: A History (2. rev. ed.). Richmond: Curzon. p. 235. ISBN 0700714529. The most influential lords of north-eastern Armenia were members of the Zakarian family. Hence, the first half of the thirteenth century is known as the Zakarid Period...Although of Armenian foundation, members of that family held eminent positions among the Georgian lords.
  6. ^ a b c Grekov, Boris, ed. (1953). Очерки истории СССР. Период феодализма IX-XV вв.: В 2 ч. [Essays on the history of the USSR. The period of feudalism IX-XV centuries: In 2 volumes]. Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. OCLC 8470090. …the political power of the Zakarids was formed and strengthened, heading the restored Armenian statehood in indigenous Armenia. The territory subject to the Zakarids was an Armenian state, vassal to the then reigning house of the Georgian Bagratids; The Zakharid government had the right to court and collect taxes. The main responsibility of the Armenian government to the Georgian government was to provide it with military militia during the war.
  7. ^ a b Strayer, Joseph (1982). Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol. 1. p. 485. The degree of Armenian dependence on Georgia during this period is still the subject of considerable controversy. The numerous Zak'arid inscriptions leave no doubt that they considered themselves Armenians, and they often acted independently.
  8. ^ a b Eastmond, Antony (2017). Tamta's World. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. In one inscription on the palace church on the citadel of Ani, the brothers' principal city and the former capital of Armenia, they refer to themselves as 'the kings of Ani', suggesting loftier ambitions, independent of Georgia, and in the inscription at Haghartsin quoted in the first chapter, they claimed descent from the Bagratunis, the Armenian kings of the region until the eleventh century.
  9. ^ W. Barthold, ' Die persische Inschrift an der Mauer der Manucehr-Moschee zu Ani ', trans. and edit. W. Hinz, ZDMG, Bd. 101, 1951, 246;
  10. ^ Ivane Javakhishvili, The History of the Georgian Nation, vol. 3, Tbilisi, 1982, p.179
  11. ^ Dadoyan 2018, p. 432 “Ani oscillated between being ruled by Georgians, Shaddädids and Seljugs, all equally violent, until the rise of the Georgian-Armenian Zakarid dynasty at Shirak (1201-C. 1350).”.
  12. ^ a b c d Sim, Steven. "The City of Ani: A Very Brief History". VirtualANI. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
  13. ^ Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, 3th[clarification needed] volume
  14. ^ Paul Adalian, Rouben (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. p. 83.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Minorsky, Vladimir (1953). Studies in Caucasian History. New York: Taylor’s Foreign Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-521-05735-6.
  16. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Ani" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 47
  17. ^ Eastmond, Antony (20 April 2017). Tamta's World. Cambridge University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-107-16756-8. Zakare and Ivane Mqargrdzeli on the east facade at Harichavank, Armenia, 1201
  18. ^ Eastmond, Antony (2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 52-53, Fig.17. doi:10.1017/9781316711774. ISBN 9781316711774. At Harichavank the clothes have been updated to reflect contemporary fashion, with its sharbushes (the high, peaked hats) and bright kaftans, as can be seen when comparing the image with those in contemporary manuscripts, such as the Haghbat Gospels (Matenadaran 6288) of 1211 [Fig. 17].
  19. ^ "The Yezidi Kurds and Assyrians of Georgia - The Problem of Diasporas and Integration into Contemporary Society" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  20. ^ Suny 1994, p. 39.
  21. ^ a b c Mathews, Thomas F .; Taylor, Alice (2001). THE ARMENIAN GOSPEL S OF GLADZOR THE LIFE OF CHRIST ILLUMINATED (PDF). The J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles. p. 22. ISBN 0892366265. The Armenian brothers Ivane and Zak'are served the Georgian Queen Tamar (reigned 1184-1213). Rising to the heights of the Georgian army and court, they achieved for themselves the status of a nakharar family, called the Zak'arians, in honor of Zak'are. Queen T'amar gave the Zak'arians control of almost all her Armenian territories, including the former Armenian capital Ani. The Zak'arians established their own vassals, comprising both surviving nakharars and new men — from among their own Armenian generals — raised to nakharar status, each with smaller territories as their own fiefs. Among the new nakharars was the Proshian clan, who were particularly important for the history of the Gladzor Gospels.
  22. ^ Dadoyan 2018, p. 438.
  23. ^ Thomson, Robert (2014). "From Theology to Law: Creating an Armenian Secular Law Code". In Pirie, Fernanda; Scheele, Judith (eds.). Legalism: Community and Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 25–46. ISBN 9780191785108. The region at the time was under Georgian suzerainty, but the Zakarid princes, Zakaré and Ivané, maintained local Armenian independence.
  24. ^ a b Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 734. ISSN 0038-7134. The reconquest of Ani in 1199 by Zakare and Ivane revived the fortunes of the city and its surrounding region, but it placed it in a new political and cultural context. (...) However, other evidence suggests that this hierarchical structure may well have been purely nominal, leaving the brothers effectively as independent rulers of the region. Their subjects, such as Tigran Honents, refer to them alone as overlords, and the adoption of Shahanshah (king of kings) as both a name and title for their children demonstrates their appropriation of the trappings of both Christian and Muslim royal power. It has been argued, correctly I believe, that the Zakarids were trying to re-create the Armenian Bagratid kingdom of Ani of the tenth and eleventh centuries.
  25. ^ Palakʻean, Grigoris (2019). The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia's Medieval Capital and Its Legacy. Rutgers University Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1-9788-0291-9.
  26. ^ Eastmond, Antony (2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 52-53, Fig.17. doi:10.1017/9781316711774. ISBN 9781316711774. At Harichavank the clothes have been updated to reflect contemporary fashion, with its sharbushes (the high, peaked hats) and bright kaftans, as can be seen when comparing the image with those in contemporary manuscripts, such as the Haghbat Gospels (Matenadaran 6288) of 1211 [Fig. 17]]].
  27. ^ a b Donabédian, Patrick. "Le khatchkar, un art emblématique de la spécificité arménienne". L’Église arménienne entre Grecs et Latins fin XIe – milieu XVe siècle. pp. 8–9, 15 Figure 10. Outre ces figurations, à partir du début du XIIIe siècle, une autre représentation humaine apparaît, soit sous la croix, soit sur le piédestal du khatchkar : l'image du donateur, ou plus exactement du défunt à la mémoire duquel le khatchkar a été érigé. Ce personnage est représenté en tenue d'apparat, armé et à cheval, rappelant le schéma iconographique sassanide de la chasse royale ou princière que l'architecture arménienne pratiquait depuis la période paléochrétienne.
  28. ^ a b c Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 735-736. ISSN 0038-7134. The mixed confessional identities of the population of Ani and its surrounding region led to rising tensions. There are numerous references to disputes arising between the two communities on matters including taxation and liturgical/worship practice. The division was matched by a split within the Zakarid family itself. Zakare and Ivane were brought up to adhere to Armenian, Monophysite Orthodoxy, but in the first years of the thirteenth century Ivane converted to Georgian, Chalcedonian Orthodoxy. According to the Georgian sources many Armenians joined him in converting. Ivane also forcibly converted some Armenian Monophysite churches to Chalcedonianism, notably the monastery of Akhtala, where he built his mausoleum church. Ivane's conversion is, unsurprisingly, cele brated in Georgian texts and condemned in Armenian chronicles, which ascribed it to political or religious causes (or to Ivane's infatuation with Queen Tamar).
  29. ^ Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 739. ISSN 0038-7134. It is perhaps more useful to view the paintings in a more ambiguous way. The importance of the church may lie in the inability to ascribe it easily to one group. Such an approach would match the cultural and political policies of the Zakarids. The conversion of Ivane but not Zakare to Chalcedonianism was part of a pragmatic policy of deliberate religious ambiguity that enabled the brothers to avoid being drawn into factional battles between the two religious communities under their rule.
  30. ^ Eastmond, Antony (2003). ""Local" Saints, Art, and Regional Identity in the Orthodox World after the Fourth Crusade". Speculum. 78 (3): 740. ISSN 0038-7134. Seen in this light, the peculiarities of the church of Tigran Honents find a clearer context, if not a complete explanation. The paintings appear to blur distinctions between the two communities and to reflect the ambiguity and pragmatism of the Zakarids' policy, and they suggest that Tigran Honents played a part in the formation or execution of this policy. The combination of languages, cycles, and saints cannot simply be ascribed exclusively to any one religious confession.
  31. ^ a b c d e Sinclair, T. A. (31 December 1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume I. Pindar Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-0-907132-32-5.
  32. ^ Blessing 2017, p. 158.
  33. ^ {{harvnb|Kalas|2008|p=213} The last scene, however, is devoted to St. Nino, the evangelist of Georgia, and depicts the miracle of the life-giving pillar, one of the key events in the establishment of Christianity in Georgia. Eastmond argues: "although the donor of the church (Tigran Honents) was Armenian, the church served a larger community at Ani composed of both Armenians and Georgians".
  34. ^ Manuelian, Lucy Der; Zarian, Armen; Nersessian, Vrej; Stepanyan, Nonna S.; Eiland, Murray L.; Kouymjian, Dickran (2003). "Armenia, Republic of" (PDF). Oxford Art Online: 25. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T004089. Some khatchk'ars have sacred images on the top frame or beside the cross, and a donor image, such as that at the base of Grigor Khaghbakian's khatchk'ar (1233) on the grounds of Ēdjmiadzin Cathedral, where it was brought from Imirzek'.
  35. ^ a b c d Bedrosian, Robert (1997). "Armenia during the Seljuk and Mongol Periods". The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.1 (PDF). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 241–271. The years from 1236 to 1250, though not without conflict, did not witness radical changes in Armenia's governing structure. Apparently, prior to 1243 no permanent formal taxes had been imposed on Armenia, the conquerors contenting themselves instead with the rich booty and plunder to be had from the many areas taken by military force. But in 1243 by command of the Great Khan Guyuk himself, taxes amounting to between one-thirtieth and one-tenth of value were imposed on virtually everything movable and immovable, and a heavy head tax of 60 silver drams was collected from males. The severity of the taxes and the brutal manner of their collection triggered an abortive uprising of the lords in 1248-1249. This rebellion, which was discovered by the Mongols while still in the planning stages, was crushed at the expense of human and animal lives and crops in numerous districts of northeastern Armenia and southern Georgia. Some of the arrested Armenian and Georgian conspirators, unable to raise the huge ransoms demanded for their release, were tortured or killed.
  36. ^ Bedrosian, Robert (1997). "Armenia during the Seljuk and Mongol Periods". The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.1 (PDF). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 241–271. The second invasion of the Caucasus took place immediately after the Mongol departure in 1222, and was caused by it. This time the participants were nomadic Kipchak Turks from the plains to the north. In their turn defeated by the Mongols, one sizable body of Kipchaks fled from them in a southward direction. These nomads pillaged and looted from Darband south to Gandzak in Azerbaijan. Atabeg Ivane mustered troops and went against them, but he was defeated, having underestimated their strength. What was worse, many nakharars were captured, then killed or ransomed for huge sums of money. The Kipchaks continued looting and raiding different parts of the Caucasus until 1223, when Ivane, in alliance with other Caucasian peoples, finally defeated them, killing or selling them into slavery. The Kipchak raids, though less serious than the invasions that preceded and succeeded them, nonetheless contributed to the continued unsettled state of affairs initiated by the Mongols, depleted the Armeno-Georgian military of some capable leaders, and undoubtedly weakened the army's morale.
  37. ^ Prezbindowsk, Lauren (2012). The Ilkhanid Mongols, the Christian Armenians, and the Islamic Mamluks : a study of their relations, 1220-1335. University of Louisville. p. 18. The Mongols only completed their conquest of Armenia after three campaigns from 1239 to 1244. (Note 41:The first Mongol campaign took Ani and Kars in 1239, the second took Karin in 1242, and the third with the defeat of the Seljuk Sultan in 1244) The Mongols richly rewarded those who submitted (this acted as an inducement to the hesitant) while simultaneously devastating the lands of those who still resisted.
  38. ^ a b Stopka, Krzysztof; Bałuk-Ulewiczowa, Teresa (2017). Armenia Christiana: Armenian religious identity and the Churches of Constantinople and Rome (4th-15th century) (PDF) (First ed.). Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press. ISBN 978-83-233-4190-1. In 1256 a fifth Mongol ulus was created, with the ilkhan Hulagu, the Great Khan's brother, as its governor. His task was to develop the Mongol Empire in the Near East. The historical territories of Armenia became part of the Ilkhanate of Persia.
  39. ^ a b Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 32. The devastation caused by the Mongols is recorded in the colophons of many manuscripts of the period. Some Armenians, however, prospered as allies of, and soldiers and merchants for, the Mongols, including the Zakarian, Orbelian, and Proshian families. They continued or extended their existing trade routes into China, now controlled by the Mongols. Examples of Proshian success are seen at the church of the White Virgin (Spitakavor Astuatsatsin) with its relief carving of Amir Hasan (cat. 35) and in the exquisite, richly gilded reliquary presented by his father (cat. 36).
  40. ^ a b VANLINT, THEO MAARTEN (2010). "THE MONGOLS IN MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN POETRY" (PDF). Gaznavet: 515–516.
  41. ^ a b c Eastmond, Antony (2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 375. doi:10.1017/9781316711774. ISBN 9781316711774.
  42. ^ Дрампян, Ирина Рубеновна (1979). Фрески Кобайра (in Armenian). Советакан грох. p. 20. The frescoes of the Kobayr monastery (...) The frescoes of Kobayr refer to the second, i . e . to the Zakarian period. There has been a period when most of the structures of the monastery were covered with paintings. Now if we don't count the traces of painting on the other structures, only two monuments have preserved part of their decoration; and those are the Big Church and the Aisle adjoining it from the north. Thanks to the inscription referring to the construction of the building, we are informed of the date, which is the year 1282, and also the name of the donor, the monk George who was the son of Shahnshah, of the Zakarian family. Though we don't have documental informations concerning the paintings of the Aisle , the portraits of the donators whom we consider to be Shahnshah and his wife allow us to look upon the painting as one close to the date of the Big Church; the likeness in the artistic style confirms this suggestion. - From all the wall paintings of the Big Church only that of the altar has been preserved. As for the Aisle , here we can see not only the altar painting, but also remains of frescoes on the northern and western walls. The iconography of the altar paintings of the Big Church and the Aisle, on the whole, can be traced back to the Byzantine system of decoration. Having been already formed in the XI c., it has also some local peculiarities, the sources of which go back to the Armenian monumental art of earlier ages, beginning from the VII c. The set-up of both altar paintings are similar: the Church Fathers are in the lower rank, the Eucharist is in the middle. The difference lies in the upper circle, in the concha...
  43. ^ a b Dashdondog 2010, p. 102.
  44. ^ Hodous, Florence (2018). "Inner Asia 1100s-1405: The Making of Chinggisid Eurasia". In Fairey, Jack; Farell, Brian (eds.). Empire in Asia: A New Global History: From Chinggisid to Qing. Vol. 1. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 20. ISBN 9781472591234. Vassal states such as the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho (until 1335), Zakarid Armenia, Cilicia, Georgia, and Korea similarly owed the empire taxes, troops, and loyalty, but were otherwise left to govern themselves.
  45. ^ Mikaberidze, Alexander (6 February 2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-4422-4146-6.
  46. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 135–136.
  47. ^ Dashdondog 2011.
  48. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 373. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.014. Perhaps the most extreme case came when Armenians, including Avag, his cousin Shahnshah and his vassal Hasan Prosh, were required to besiege Mayyafariqin, the northernmost Ayyubid base in the Jazira before the capture of Akhlat. It took two years to reduce the city, leading to a situation far worse than that faced in Akhlat in 1229–30.
  49. ^ Mikaberidze, Alexander (6 February 2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-4422-4146-6.
  50. ^ a b c d e f g Mathews, Thomas F.; Sanjian, Avedis Krikor (1991). Armenian Gospel Iconography: The Tradition of the Glajor Gospel. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-88402-183-4.
  51. ^ Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 106.
  52. ^ Geghard. p. 8. The inscription carved on the north wall of the church, shows the date of foundation in 1283, and the name of the donator, Prince Prosh.
  53. ^ "Unesco. Geghard Monastery" (PDF). The prosperity of the monastery in the thirteenth century was due to the patronage of the Proshyan prince, who carved out the second cave church in 1283, reached through a rock-cut antechamber which served as their mausoleum. The burials are in a recess behind twin arches, over which two felines on leashes and an eagle with a lamb in its talons, the family's armoured bearings have been sculpted in bold relief.
  54. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107.
  55. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107. Following the custom of the time, a representation of the commissioner, Each'i Proshian, is engraved at the bottom center of the frame. His hands are upraised in the ancient Christian orant prayer pose, and his clothing recalls Mongolian royal dress.
  56. ^ a b Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0892366392. The portrait of the founder as huntsman is an iconographic type common to Islamic art. Amir Hasan's costume, a long tunic drawn in at the waist by a belt decorated with stones, along with a three-pointed cap with two ribbons, is the same as that of the Mongol princes of the fourteenth century. The face itself, with heavy jowls and slightly slanting eves, also recalls that of the Mongols.
  57. ^ a b Spitakavor Church. Find Armenia. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  58. ^ a b "Spitakavor Church". Great Yerevan. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  59. ^ Armenien: 3000 Jahre Kultur zwischen Ost und West. Trescher Verlag. 2008. p. 395. ISBN 978-3-89794-126-7.
  60. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107. Following the custom of the time, a representation of the commissioner, Each'i Proshian, is engraved at the bottom center of the frame. His hands are upraised in the ancient Christian orant prayer pose, and his clothing recalls Mongolian royal dress.
  61. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 104–105.
  62. ^ "Bas-relief presenting a hunting scene – HMA".
  63. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 104. Shown mounted and turning back to shoot his arrow at a deer, he wears a tall hat and a wrapped, close-fitting garment, cinched by an ornate belt. This costume, together with Amir's round cheeks and almond-shaped eyes, finds close parallels in other princely portraits from Mongol-era Armenia, and in particular that of his father on the reliquary of the "Holy Cross of Vegetarians" (Khotakerats').
  64. ^ Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107. Following the custom of the time, a representation of the commissioner, Each'i Proshian, is engraved at the bottom center of the frame. His hands are upraised in the ancient Christian orant prayer pose, and his clothing recalls Mongolian royal dress.

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40°30′27″N 43°34′22″E / 40.5075°N 43.5728°E / 40.5075; 43.5728