Ashot II Bagratuni ( hy, Աշոտ Բ Բագրատունի) was the presiding prince of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

in 685–690, when the country was contested between the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

. Ashot Bagratuni's father was named Biurat or Smbat. Ashot became presiding prince of Armenia in 685, when his predecessor,

Grigor I Mamikonian Grigor is a masculine given name and a surname. Variants include Gregory, Gregor, Grigori, Grigory, and in Western Armenian as Krikor. People with the given name * Grigor III Pahlavuni (1093-1166), Armenian catholicos * Grigor Artsruni (1845-1892) ...

, was killed fighting against a Khazar invasion. Ashot managed to repel the invaders. At about the same time, however, as the

was preoccupied by

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

emperor Justinian II launched an invasion of Armenia; as the Byzantines considered Ashot as too independent and too powerful, they set up a rival presiding prince of their own,

Nerses Kamsarakan Nerses ( xcl, Ներսէս) is an Armenian variant of Narses. With the addition of -ian and -yan, it becomes an Armenian family name like Nersesian and Nersisyan. Nerses may refer to: Catholicoi of the Armenian Apostolic Church * Saint Nerses I o ...

. When the Arabs invaded Armenia in turn in 690 to re-establish their control over the country, Ashot confronted them in battle and defeated them, but in the subsequent pursuit he outpaced the main force of his army, and was heavily wounded. The rest of the army caught up and carried him away, only for him to die of his wounds at his residence at

Dariunq Dariunq was a region of the old Armenia c. 300-800 ruled by the Bagratuni family. See also *List of regions of old Armenia This is a list of regions and or districts of ancient Armenia. A * Aghdznik *Aliovit * Amatunik * Angl * Andzevaciq * And ...

. Kamsarakan remained as the sole presiding prince until his death in 691; he was succeeded by Smbat VI Bagratuni (of a different branch of the family than Ashot) who betrayed the Byzantines and defected to the Arabs in 683, when the Umayyads, victorious in their civil war, invaded Armenia once more.

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* * {{S-end 690 deaths 7th-century Christians 7th-century Armenian people 7th-century monarchs in Asia 7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate Armenian Christians Ashot 02 Princes of Armenia Vassal rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate Monarchs killed in action People of the Arab–Byzantine wars