History of Armenia

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For the book with the same name, see History of Armenia (book).
See also: Timeline of Armenian history

Yerevan with Mount Ararat in the background

History of Armenia

 Etymology

 Timeline

 Traditional

 Urheimat

Prehistory[hide]
Stone and Copper Age

Shulaveri-Shomu culture

c. 6500–3400 BC

Areni-1 Cave Complex

Kura–Araxes culture

c. 3400–2000 BC

Legend of Hayk

(?) 2492 BC

Bronze and Iron Age

Hayasa-Azzi
c. 1500–1290 BC
Arme-Shupria

c. 1300s–1190 BC

Mushki

Ararat/Urartu

Nairi Tribes

1114–860 BC

Kingdom of Van

860–590 BC

Scythian and Mede invasions

6th cen. BC

Antiquity[hide]

Achaemenid period

Satrapy of Armina

549–331 BC

Orontid Dynasty

Kingdom of Armenia

Armenia Minor

331–72 BC

Kingdom of Armenia

321 BC–428 AD

Artaxiad dynasty

189 BC–12 AD

Empire

84–34 BC

Arsacid dynasty

52–428 AD

Roman–Parthian War

58–63 AD

Roman Province of Armenia

114–118 AD

Christianization
301 AD

Kingdom of Sophene

c.200–94 BC

Kingdom of Commagene

163 BC–72 AD

Marzpanate period

Byzantine Armenia

387–536

Persian Armenia

428–646

Mamikonian dynasty

Battle of Avarayr

451

Muslim conquest of Armenia

645

Middle Ages[hide]

Arabic period

Emirate of Armenia

653–884

Hamamshen

700s–1300s

Amatuni Dynasty

Kingdom of Armenia

Bagratid Armenia

884–1045

Bagratid dynasty

861–1118

Sajid dynasty

889–929

Kingdom of Vaspurakan

908–1021
Artsruni dynasty

Sallarid dynasty

919–1062

Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget

979–1118

Kingdom of Syunik

987–1170

Kingdom of Artsakh

1000–1261

House of Hasan-Jalalyan

Battle of Manzikert

1071

Cilician and
Turko-
Mongol
Period

Seljuk Empire

1071–1201

Kingdom of Georgia

Zakarid Armenia

1201–1236

Principality of Khachen

1261–15th cen.

Mongol Empire & Ilkhanate

Mongol Armenia

1236–1335

Turkomania

14th—15th cen.

Timurid Empire

15th cen.

Kingdom of Cilicia
1198–1375
Rubenid dynasty

1000–1261

Hethumid dynasty

1226–1373

Lusignan dynasty

1341–1375

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Safavid and Qajar rule

1502–1828

Five Melikdoms

15th cen.—1822

Shah Abbas I's deportation

1606

Russo-Persian War

1804–13

Treaty of Gulistan

1813

Russo-Persian War

1826–1828

Treaty of Turkmenchay

1828

Ottoman Empire

1548–1915

Armenian Millet

Russo-Turkish War

1877–1878

Armenian Question

Six Vilayets

1878

Hamidian massacres

1895–1896
Adana massacre

1909

Armenian Genocide

1909–1918

Confiscation of
Armenian properties

Russian rule

1828–1918

Armenian Oblast

1828–1840

Western Armenia

1915–1918

Caucasus Campaign

1914–1918

National Liberation Movement

Armenakan

1885

S.D. Hunchakian Party

1887

ARF (Dashnaktsutyun)

1890
First Republic of Armenia

1918–1920

War with Azerbaijan

1918–1920

War with Georgia

1918
Treaty of Sèvres

1920

Wilsonian Armenia

1920

War with Turkey

1920

Treaty of Alexandropol

1920

Armenian S.S.R.

1920–1991

February Uprising

1921

Republic of Mountainous Armenia

1921

Treaty of Moscow

1921

Treaty of Kars

1921

Soviet Claims in Turkey

1945–1953

Nagorno-Karabakh A.O.

1923–1991
Armenian diaspora

Hidden Armenians

Repatriation

Republic of Armenia

since 1991

Post-Soviet transition

1991–1995

Modern era

since 1995
 Republic of Artsakh

since 1994

Nagorno-Karabakh War

1989–1994

Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat. The
original Armenian name for the country was Hayk, later Hayastan (Armenian: Հայաստան),
translated as the land of Haik, and consisting of the name of the ancient Mesopotamian
god Haya[1] (ha-ià) and the Persian suffix '-stan' ("land"). The historical enemy of Hayk (the legendary
ruler of Armenia), Hayastan, was Bel, or in other words Baal (Akkadian cognate Bēlu).[2]
The name Armenia was given to the country by the surrounding states, and it is traditionally derived
from Armenak or Aram (the great-grandson of Haik's great-grandson, and another leader who is,
according to Armenian tradition, the ancestor of all Armenians).[3] In the Bronze Age, several states
flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its
power), Mitanni(South-Western historical Armenia), and Hayasa-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Soon after
the Hayasa-Azzi were the Nairi (1400–1000 BC) and the Kingdom of Urartu (1000–600 BC), who
successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland. Each of the aforementioned
nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.[4][5] Yerevan, the modern
capital of Armenia, dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in
782 BC by King Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain.[6] Erebuni has been described
as "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital."[7]
The Iron Age kingdom of Urartu (Assyrian for Ararat) was replaced by the Orontid
dynasty.[8][9] Following Persian and subsequent Macedonian rule, the Artaxiad dynasty from 190 BC
 gave rise to the Kingdom of Armenia which rose to the peak of its influence under Tigranes II before
falling under Roman rule.[10]
In 301, Arsacid Armenia was the first sovereign nation to accept Christianity as a state religion.
The Armenians later fell under Byzantine, Sassanid Persian, and Islamic hegemony, but reinstated
their independence with the Bagratid Dynasty kingdom of Armenia. After the fall of the kingdom in
1045, and the subsequent Seljuk conquest of Armenia in 1064, the Armenians established a
kingdom in Cilicia, where they prolonged their sovereignty to 1375.[11]
Starting in the early 16th century, Greater Armenia came under Safavid Persianrule, however over
the centuries Eastern Armenia remained under Persian rule while Western Armenia fell
under Ottoman rule.[12] By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia was conquered by Russia and Greater
Armenia was divided between the Ottoman and Russian Empires.[13]
In the early 20th century Armenians suffered in the genocide inflicted on them by the Ottoman
government of Turkey, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed and many
more dispersed throughout the world via Syria and Lebanon. Armenia, from then on corresponding
to much of Eastern Armenia, regained independence in 1918, with the establishment of the First
Republic of Armenia, and in 1991, the Republic of Armenia.[14][15][16]

Contents

 1Prehistory
o 1.1Bronze Age
o 1.2Iron Age
 2Antiquity
o 2.1Orontid dynasty
o 2.2Artaxiad dynasty
o 2.3Roman Armenia
o 2.4Arsacid dynasty
 2.4.1Christianization
o 2.5Persian Armenia
 3Middle Ages
o 3.1Arab Caliphates, Byzantium and Bagratid Armenia
o 3.2Sallarid dynasty
o 3.3Seljuq Armenia
o 3.4Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
 4Early Modern period
o 4.1Persian Armenia
o 4.2Russian Armenia
o 4.3Ottoman Armenia
 520th century
o 5.1The Armenian Genocide (1915–1921) and First World War
o 5.2First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920)
 5.2.1Transcaucasian Federation (1917–1918)
 5.2.2Georgian-Armenian War (1918)
 5.2.3Armenian-Azerbaijan War
 5.2.4Treaty of Sèvres
 5.2.5Turkish and Soviet Invasion
o 5.3Armenia in the Soviet Union (1922–1991)
 6Independent Armenia (1991-today)
 o 6.1Ter-Petrosyan Presidency (1991–1998)
o 6.2Kocharyan Presidency (1998–2008)
o 6.3Sargsyan Presidency (2008)
 7See also
 8References
o 8.1Citations
o 8.2Books
o 8.3Publications
o 8.4Films
o 8.5Primary sources
 9Further reading
 10External links

Prehistory[edit]
Main article: Prehistoric Armenia
Stone tools from 325,000 years ago have been found in Armenia which indicate the presence of
early humans at this time.[17] In the 1960s excavations in the Yerevan 1 Cave uncovered evidence of
ancient human habitation, including the remains of a 48,000-year-old heart, and a human cranial
fragment and tooth of a similar age.[citation needed]
The Armenian Highland shows traces of settlement from the Neolithic era. Archaeological surveys in
2010 and 2011 have resulted in the discovery of the world's earliest known leather shoe (3,500 BC),
straw skirt (3,900 BC), and wine-making facility (4,000 BC) at the Areni-1 cave complex.[18][19][20]
A 5500-year-old leather shoe—the oldest shoe in the world—was discovered in the Areni cave in Armenia.
See Areni-1 shoe.

The Shulaveri-Shomu culture of the central Transcaucasus region is one of the earliest known
prehistoric cultures in the area, carbon-dated to roughly 6000–4000 BC.[citation needed]
Bronze Age[edit]

Bronze Age burial site Zorats Karer(also known as Karahunj).

An early Bronze-Age culture in the area is the Kura-Araxes culture, assigned to the period between
c. 4000 and 2200 BC. The earliest evidence for this culture is found on the Ararat plain; thence it
spread to Georgia by 3000 BC (but never reaching Colchis), proceeding westward and to the south-
east into an area below the Urmia basin and Lake Van. Early 20th-century scholars suggested that
the name Armenian may have possibly been recorded for the first time on an inscription which
mentions Armanî (or Armânum) together with Ibla, from territories conquered by Naram-Sin(2300
BC) identified with an Akkadiancolony in the current region of Diyarbekir; however, the precise
locations of both Armani and Ibla are unclear. Today, the Modern Assyrians (who traditionally
speak Neo-Aramaic, however, not Akkadian) refer to the Armenians by the name Armani.[21] The
word is also speculated to be related to the Mannaeans, which may be identical to the biblical Minni.
The earliest forms of the word Hayastan, an ethonym the Armenians (Hayer) use to designate their
country, might possibly come from Hittite sources of the Late Bronze Age, such as the kingdom
of Hayasa-Azzi. Another record mentioned by pharaoh Thutmose III of Egypt in the 33rd year of his
reign (1446 BC) as the people of Ermenen, and says in their land "heaven rests upon its four
pillars".[22] However, what all these attestations refer to cannot be determined with certainty, and the
earliest certain attestation of the name Armenia comes from the Behistun Inscription(c. 500 BC).
Between 1500 and 1200 BC, the Hayasa-Azzi existed in the western half of the Armenian Highland,
often clashing with the Hittite Empire. Between 1200 and 800 BC, much of Armenia was united
under a confederation of kingdoms, which Assyrian sources called Nairi ("Land of Rivers" in
Assyrian").[citation needed]
Iron Age[edit]
Main article: Urartu
Kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) in the time of Sarduris II, 743 BC

The Kingdom of Urartu flourished between the 9th century BC[23] and 585 BC[24] in the Armenian
Highland. The founder of the Urartian Kingdom, Aramé, united all the principalities of the Armenian
Highland and gave himself the title "King of Kings", the traditional title of Urartian Kings.[25] The
Urartians established their sovereignty over all of Taronand Vaspurakan. The main rival of Urartu
was the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[26]
During the reign of Sarduri I (834–828 BC), Urartu had become a strong and organized state, and
imposed taxes to neighbouring tribes. Sarduri made Tushpa (modern Van) the capital of Urartu. His
son, Ishpuinis, extended the borders of the state by conquering what would later be known as
the Tigranocerta area and by reaching Urmia. Menuas (810–785 BC) extended the Urartian territory
up north, by spreading towards the Araratian fields. He left more than 90 inscriptions by using the
Mesopotamian cuneiform scriptures in the Urartian language. Argishtis I of
Urartu conquered Latakia from the Hittites,[citation needed] and reached Byblos,[citation
needed]
and Phoenicia.[citation needed] He built the Erebuni Fortress, located in modern-day Yerevan, in 782
BC by using 6600 prisoners of war.[citation needed]
In 714 BC, the Assyrians under Sargon II defeated the Urartian King Rusa I at Lake Urmia and
destroyed the holy Urartian temple at Musasir. At the same time, an Indo-European tribe called
the Cimmerians attacked Urartu from the north-west region and destroyed the rest of his armies.
Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BC) the boundaries of the Assyrian Empirereached as far as Armenia
and the Caucasus Mountains. The Medes under Cyaxares invaded Assyria later on in 612 BC, and
then took over the Urartian capital of Van towards 585 BC, effectively ending the sovereignty of
Urartu.[27] According to the Armenian tradition, the Medes helped the Armenians establish
the Orontid dynasty.[citation needed]

Antiquity[edit]
Orontid dynasty[edit]
Main article: Orontid Dynasty
After the fall of Urartu around 585 BC, the Satrapy of Armenia was ruled by the Armenian Orontid
Dynasty, which governed the state in 585–190 BC. Under the Orontids, Armenia during this era was
a satrapy of the Persian Empire, and after its disintegration (in 330 BC), it became an independent
kingdom. During the rule of the Orontid dynasty, most Armenians adopted the Zoroastrian religion.[28]
Persis, Parthia, Armenia. Rest Fenner, published in 1835.

Armenia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Assyria with Adjacent Regions, Karl von Spruner, published in 1865.

Artaxiad dynasty[edit]
Main article: Artaxiad Dynasty

The Kingdom of Armenia at its greatest extent under Tigranes the Great.

After the destruction of the Seleucid Empire, a Hellenistic Armenian state was founded in 190 BC. It
was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's short-lived empire, with Artaxias
becoming its first king and the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty (190 BC–AD 1). At the same time, a
western portion of the kingdom split as a separate state under Zariadris, which became known
as Lesser Armeniawhile the main kingdom acquired the name of Greater Armenia.[24]
The new kings began a program of expansion which was to reach its zenith a century later. Their
acquisitions are summarized by Strabo. Zariadris acquired Acilisene and the "country around the
Antitaurus", possibly the district of Muzur or west of the Euphrates. Artaxias took lands from the
Medes, Iberians, and Syrians. He then had confrontations with Pontus, Seleucid Syria and
Cappadocia, and was included in the treaty which followed the victory of a group of Anatolian kings
over Pharnaces of Pontus in 181 BC. Pharnaces thus abandoned all of his gains in the west.[29]
At its zenith, from 95 to 66 BC, Greater Armenia extended its rule over parts of the Caucasus and
the area that is now eastern and central Turkey, north-western Iran, Israel, Syria and Lebanon,
forming the second Armenian empire. For a time, Armenia was one of the most powerful states east
of Rome. It eventually confronted the Roman Republic in wars, which it lost in 66 BC, but
nonetheless preserved its sovereignty. Tigranes continued to rule Armenia as an ally of Rome until
his death in 55 BC.[30]
The Third Mithridatic War and defeat of the King of Pontus by Roman Pompeiusresulted in the
Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome. Later on, in 1 AD, Armenia came
under full Roman control until the establishment of the Armenian Arsacid dynasty. The Armenian
people then adopted a Western political, philosophical, and religious orientation. According to
Strabo, around this time everyone in Armenia spoke "the same language."[31]
Roman Armenia[edit]
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For more details on this topic, see Roman relations with the Armenians.
Main articles: Roman Armenia and Persian Armenia

The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, with the "Roman Province of Armenia".

From Pompeius' campaign Armenia was, for the next few centuries, contested between Rome and
Parthia/Sassanid Persia on the other hand. Roman emperor Trajan even created a short-lived
Province of Armenia between 114–118 AD.[32]
Indeed, Roman supremacy was fully established by the campaigns of Gnaeus Domitius
Corbulo,[33] that ended with a formal compromise: a Parthian prince of the Arsacid line would
henceforth sit on the Armenian throne, but his nomination had to be approved by the Roman
emperor.
Because this agreement was not respected by the Parthian Empire, in 114 Trajanfrom Antiochia in
Syria marched on Armenia and conquered the capital Artaxata. Trajan then deposed the Armenian
king Parthamasiris (imposed by the Parthians) and ordered the annexation of Armenia to the Roman
Empire as a new province. The new province reached the shores of the Caspian Sea and bordered
to the north with Caucasian Iberia and Caucasian Albania, two vassal states of Rome. As a Roman
province Armenia was administered by Catilius Severus of the Gens Claudia. After Trajan's death,
however, his successor Hadrian decided not to maintain the province of Armenia. In 118 AD,
Hadrian gave Armenia up, and installed Parthamaspates as its "vassal" king.
Arsacid dynasty[edit]
Main articles: Arsacid dynasty of Armenia and Roman–Parthian Wars

Armenia in the 4th Century, 299–387 AD.

Armenia, under its Arshakuni dynasty, which was a branch of the eponymous Arsacid dynasty of
Parthia, was often a focus of contention between Rome and Parthia.[34]The Parthians forced Armenia
into submission from 37 to 47, when the Romans retook control of the kingdom.
Under Nero, the Romans fought a campaign (55–63) against the Parthian Empire, which had
invaded the kingdom of Armenia, allied to the Romans. After gaining (60) and losing (62) Armenia,
the Romans u