The Bagratuni family became princes in the 4th century. Their heritable rights were given to them by the Arshakuni dynasty, the kings of Armenia. They were given the title aspet, the commander of the cavalry, and were given the privilege of crowning Arshakuni kings upon their accession to the throne. Their domain included the region of Sper in the Çoruh River valley of Upper Armenia, which was famous for its gold, and Tayk. Movses Khorenatsi claimed they had an ancestor, Sembat, who came to Armenia from Judea in 6th century BC, but this is considered by modern historians to be an invention to give a biblical origin to the family. The Bagratid family first emerged as nakharars, members of the hereditary nobility of Armenia. As early as 288–301, the Bagratid prince Smbat held the hereditary Armenian titles of Aspet, which means "Master of the Horse," and T'agatir, which means Coronant of the King. According to Prince Cyril Toumanoff, the earliest Bagratid prince was chronicled as early as 314 AD. In the 8th century, Smbat VII Bagratuni revolted unsuccessfully against the Abbasid Caliphate. , Southern Armenia, 2.Red: Subordinate Emirates in D. Dvin, E. Nakhichevan, F. Tiflis, 3.other colours: subordinate principalities of G. Syunik, H. Artsakh, I. Parisos, J. Taron, K. Kartli, L. Kakheti, M. Caucasian Albania Albania, N. Kabala, O. Kaysite Emirate, P. Gandzak, etc.. , in Southern Armenia.
Bagratids in Armenia
The Bagratid Princes of Armenia are known as early as 1st century BC when they served under the Artaxiad Dynasty. Unlike most noble families of Armenia they held only strips of land, as opposed to the Mamikonians, who held a unified land territory. These are the earliest Bagratid princes in Armenia prior to the establishment of the kingdom, as mentioned by the Union of Armenian Noblemen. Ashot I was the first Bagratid King, the founder of the Royal Bagratid dynasty. He was recognized as prince of princes by the court at Baghdad in 861, which provoked war with local Arab emirs. Ashot won the war, and was recognized as King of the Armenians by Baghdad in 885. Recognition from Constantinople followed in 886. In an effort to unify the Armenian nation under one flag, the Bagratids subjugated other Armenian noble families through conquests and fragile marriage alliances. Eventually, some noble families such as the Artsrunis and the Siunis broke off from the central Bagratid authority. Ashot III the Merciful transferred their capital to the city ofAni, now famous for its ruins. They kept power by playing off the competition between the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs. They assumed the Persian title of "King of Kings". However, with the start of the 10th century and on, the Bagratunis broke up into different branches, fragmenting the kingdom in a time when unity was needed in the face of Seljuk and Byzantine pressure. The rule of the Ani branch ended in 1045 with the conquest of Ani by the Byzantines. The Kars branch held on until 1064. The dynasty of Cilician Armenia is believed to be a branch of the Bagratids, which later took the throne of an Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia. The founder, Ruben I, had an unknown relationship to the exiled king Gagik II. He was either a younger family member or kinsman. Ashot, son of Hovhannes, was later governor of Ani under the Shaddadid dynasty.
Gallery
Genealogy
Prince Cyrille Toumanoff, Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour l'histoire de la Caucasie Chrétienne . Edizioni Aquila, Roma, 1976. - still remains the only account of the family generally available in the West, although its scientific standard has been criticized as very low.
The Families of the Nobility of the Russian Empire, Volume III, Moscow, 1996. - contains the latest research available in Russian, compiled by Georgian scientists, some of them Bagratids themselves.
