Ashot IV Bagratuni ( hy, Աշոտ Դ Բագրատունի), better known as Ashot Msaker ( hy, Աշոտ Մսակեր, "Ashot the Meat Eater / the Carnivorous"), reputedly for his refusal to refrain from eating meat during
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
, was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
prince from the
Bagratid family. A fugitive from the
failed uprising in 775 against
Arab rule in Armenia, where his father was killed, over the next decades he gradually expanded his domains and established a predominant role for himself in the country's affairs, becoming recognized by the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
as presiding prince of Armenia from 806 until his death in 826.
Life
Ashot IV was the son of
Smbat VII, presiding prince of
Arab-ruled Armenia. Smbat had participated in the rebellion against the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, and had been killed in the disastrous
Battle of Bagrevand in 775. Following the battle, Ashot fled from the family's traditional lands in eastern Armenia north to his relatives near the sources of the
Araxes river, where he was further from Arab power and closer to 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 ...
. There he also possessed silver mines, which allowed him to buy some of the lands of the
Kamsarakan
Kamsarakan ( hy, Կամսարական) was an Armenian noble family that was an offshoot of the House of Karen, also known as the Karen-Pahlav. The Karens were one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran and were of Parthian origin.
In the Byzantine- ...
family and establish a new lordship around the fortress of
Bagaran, in the province of
Ayrarat
Ayrarat () was the central province of the kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), ancient kingdom Armenia, located in the plain of the upper Aras (river), Aras River. Most of the historical capitals of Armenia were located in this province, including Arm ...
.
The demise or exile of so many princely families (''
nakharar
''Nakharar'' ( hy, նախարար ''naxarar'', from Parthian ''naxvadār'' "holder of the primacy""նախարար" in H. Ačaṙean (1926–35), ''Hayerēn Armatakan Baṙaran'' (Yerevan: Yerevan State University), 2nd ed., 1971–79) was a here ...
'') after Bagrevand left a power vacuum in the southern Caucasus: in part this was filled by Arab settlers, who by the early 9th century had established a series of larger or smaller emirates in the region, but among the greatest beneficiaries were the
Artsruni
The Artsruni ( hy, Արծրունի; also transliterated as Ardzruni) were an ancient noble (princely) family of Armenia.
Background and history
The Artsruni's claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria (705 BC–681 BC). Although ...
, a formerly middle-ranking ''nakharar'' family that now came to control most of south-eastern Armenia (
Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...
). At the same time, through skilful diplomacy and marriage alliances, Ashot managed to re-establish the Bagratids as the main ''nakharar'' family alongside the Artsrunis. As a result, in , Caliph
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
chose Ashot as the new presiding prince of Armenia, restoring the office that had lapsed with his father's death thirty years previously. The appointment was designed both as a counterweight to the increasingly powerful Artsruni, as well as a focus for Armenian loyalties away from Byzantium, where many families had fled after 775. At about the same time, the Caliph recognized
another Bagratid branch, under
Ashot I Curopalates, as
princes
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
of
Caucasian Iberia
In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: ''Iberia''; la, Hiberia) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli ( ka, ქართლი), known after its core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ...
.
Taking advantage of the turmoil in the Caliphate after the death of Harun al-Rashid in 809 and during the ensuing
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 ...
, Ashot was able to greatly expand his lands and authority. Ashot's rise was challenged by another ambitious family, the Muslim Jahhafids. The family's founder, Jahhaf, was a newcomer in Armenia who had established a considerable power base for himself by claiming
Mamikonian lands through his marriage with a daughter of
Mushegh VI Mamikonian, one of the Armenian leaders killed at Bagrevand. Ashot twice defeated the Jahhafids in
Taron and
Arsharunik. In the process he gained not only Taron (which Jahhaf had seized from another Bagratid, Vasak) and Arsharunik with
Shirak (which he had earlier bought from the Kamsarakans), but also
Ashotz, and eastern
Tayk
Tayk ( hy, Տայք, Taykʿ) was a historical province of the Kingdom of Armenia, one of its 15 (worlds). Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:
* Kogh
* Berdats por
* Partizats por
* Tchakatk
* Bokha
* Vokaghe
* Azordats por
* Arsiats por
There ...
. Frustrated, Jahhaf and his son Abd al-Malik openly rebelled against the Caliphate by seizing the Armenian capital,
Dvin, in 813, and unsuccessfully besieging the caliphal governor at
Bardaa. Ashot defeated an army of 5,000 sent against him by Abd al-Malik, killing 3,000 of them, while Ashot's brother Shapuh raided the environs of Dvin. As Abd al-Malik prepared to march and confront Shapuh, the local populace rebelled and killed him.
The death of Abd al-Malik "marked the victory of the Bagratids over their most dangerous enemies" (Ter-Ghewondyan), and left Ashot as the greatest landholder among the ''nakharar''. He further secured his position by concluding strategic marriage alliances, giving one of his daughters to the Artsruni prince of Vaspurakan, and another to the emir of
Arzen
Arzen (in Syriac ''Arzŏn'' or ''Arzŭn'', Armenian ''Arzn'', ''Ałzn'', Arabic ''Arzan'') was an ancient and medieval city, located on the border zone between Upper Mesopotamia and the Armenian Highlands. The site of the ancient Armenian capital ...
.
By the time of his death in 826, Ashot had effected a remarkable transformation in his fortunes: as Joseph Laurent comments, the "proscribed and dispossessed" fugitive of Bagrevand died as the "most powerful and most popular prince of Armenia". His possessions were divided among his sons. The eldest,
Bagrat II Bagratuni Bagrat II Bagratuni ( hy, Բագրատ Բ Բագրատունի, Arabic: ''Buqrāṭ ibn Ashūṭ''; died after 851) was an Armenian noble of the Bagratid (Bagratuni) family and the presiding prince ("prince of princes") of Arab-ruled Armenia betwe ...
, received Taron and
Sasun and later the title of ''
ishkhan ishkhanats'' ("prince of princes"), whereas his brother,
Smbat VIII the Confessor, became the ''
sparapet'' (commander-in-chief) of Armenia and received the lands around Bagaran and the Araxes.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Msaker, Ashot
8th-century births
826 deaths
8th-century Armenian people
9th-century Armenian people
9th-century kings of Armenia
9th-century monarchs in Asia
Ashot
Year of birth unknown
Vassal rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate
Ashot
Harun al-Rashid