Muslim conquest of Armenia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Early Muslim conquests

Arab invasions of Byzantine Armenia in Anatolia
Date639-645
Location
Result
Arab
victory
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate
Umayyad Caliphate
Sassanid Armenia
Commanders and leaders
Salman ibn Rabiah
Theodore Rshtuni
Constans II
Strength
Unknown 100,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown killed
35,000 captured
Mohammad adil rais-Invasion of Anatolia and Armenia-ar

The Muslim conquest of Armenia was a part of the

Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 CE. Persarmenia had fallen to the Arab Rashidun Caliphate by 645 CE. Byzantine Armenia
was already conquered in 638–639.

Sources

The details of the early conquest of Armenia by the Arabs are uncertain, as the various Arabic, Greek, and Armenian sources contradict each other.[1] The main sources for the period are the eyewitness account of the Armenian bishop Sebeos, along with the history of the 8th-century Armenian priest Łewond. The Arabic historians al-Tabari and Ya'qubi also provide information about the period, but the main source is the 9th-century scholar al-Baladhuri, who, unusually for a Muslim writer, included much information drawn from local accounts from Armenia.[1][2]

Arab raids and conquest of Armenia

According to the Arabic sources, the first Arab expedition reached Armenia in 639/640, on the heels of their

Tiflis further north in Caucasian Iberia.[3] During the same time, another Arab army from Iraq, under Salman ibn Rabi'a, conquered parts Caucasian Iberia (Arran).[3]

The Armenian sources however provide a different narrative, both in chronology and in the details of the events, although the broad thrust of the Arab campaigns is consistent with the Muslim sources.

Byzantine emperor Constans II. At some point soon after, the Armenians recognized Byzantine suzerainty.[3]

When Constans' truce with the Arabs ended in 653, however, and a new Arab invasion became likely, Rshtuni voluntarily agreed to submit to Muslim overlordship.[3] In response, Emperor Constantine in person led an army of reportedly 100,000 men into Anatolia and Armenia. The local princes rallied to him, and both Armenia and Iberia returned to Byzantine allegiance.[3] After spending the winter in Dvin, Constans left in spring 654. An Arab army invaded and captured the regions on the northern shore of Lake Van soon after. With their assistance, Rshtuni evicted the Byzantine garrisons from Armenia and secured Arab recognition as presiding prince of Armenia and parts of Albania.[3] The Byzantines under general Maurianos tried to recover control of the region, but without success. In 655, even parts Byzantine Armenia was invaded, and the Arabs occupied Theodosiopolis (Arabic Qaliqala) and cemented their control of the country by taking Rhstuni to Damascus, where he died in 656, and appointing his rival Hamazasp Mamikonian in his stead.[3] However, with the outbreak of the First Muslim Civil War in 657, effective Arab authority in the country ceased, and Mamikonian returned to Byzantine overlordship almost immediately.[3]

These events are merged into the single campaign of 645/646 in the Arabic sources, who omit any detail about the internal affairs of Armenia or the recognition of Byzantine suzerainty there, and portray the country as being firmly under Arab suzerainty since Habib al-Fihri's campaign.[4] Modern historians generally consider the contemporary account of Sebeos (which is partly corroborated by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor) to be more reliable, and have proposed different reconstructions of the early Arab raids between 640 and 650, based on a critical reading of the sources; it is clear, however, that the country did not submit to Arab rule at this time.[3]

In 661, however, Mu'awiya, now the victor of the Muslim civil war, ordered the Armenian princes to re-submit to his authority and pay tribute. In order to avoid another war, the princes complied.[5]

Armenia within the Caliphate

Caliph Omar
, consenting to pay him tribute.

In 644, Omar was assassinated by a

Chalcedonian creed of Christianity.[6]
He did not succeed in his doctrinal objective, but the new Armenian prefect, Hamazasp, who regarded the taxes imposed by the Muslims as too heavy, yielded to the Emperor.

Armenia remained under Arab rule for approximately 200 years, formally starting in 645 CE. Through many years of

Khazar invaders.[9]

Arab rule was interrupted by many revolts whenever Arabs attempted to enforce Islam, or higher taxes (jizya) to the people of Armenia. However, these revolts were sporadic and intermittent. They never had a pan-Armenian character. Arabs used rivalries between the different Armenian nakharars in order to curb the rebellions. Thus, the Mamikonian, Rshtuni, Kamsarakan and Gnuni families were gradually weakened in favor of the Bagratuni and Artsruni families.[6] The rebellions led to the creation of the legendary character, David of Sassoun.

During Islamic rule, Arabs from other parts of the Caliphate settled in Armenia. By the 9th century, there was a well-established class of Arab emirs, more or less equivalent to the Armenian nakharars.[9]

At the end of this period, in 885, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was established with Ashot I, a Christian king, as the first monarch. The Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate's willingness to recognize the existence of the kingdom stemmed from the need to maintain a buffer state between them.[10] Particularly for the Caliphate, Armenia was more desirable as a buffer rather than a province due to the threat of the Khazars, who were allied with Byzantium.[11] Ashot's regime and those who succeeded him ushered in a period of peace, artistic growth, and literary activity. This era is referred to as the second Armenian Golden Age and is manifested in the magnificent churches built and the illustrated manuscripts created during the period.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Canard & Cahen 1960, p. 635.
  2. ^ Ter-Ghewondyan 1976, pp. 1, 5–6.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Canard & Cahen 1960, p. 636.
  4. ^ Canard & Cahen 1960, pp. 636–637.
  5. ^ Canard & Cahen 1960, p. 637.
  6. ^ a b c d Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1996). Hayots Badmoutioun (Armenian History), Volume II (in Armenian). Hradaragutiun Azkayin Ousoumnagan Khorhourti, Athens, Greece. pp. 3–7.
  7. ^ .
  8. .
  9. ^ a b c Herzig, Kurkichayan, Edmund, Marina (2005). The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity. Routledge. pp. 42–43.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. .
  11. ^ Hussey, Joan Mervyn (1966). The Cambridge Medieval History: The Byzantine Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 607.

Sources