Tiran ( hy, Տիրան, c. 300/305 – 358 AD) known also as Tigranes VII, TigranesChahin, ''The Kingdom of Armenia: A History'', p.221 or Diran was an Armenian prince who served as a Roman client king of

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conqueri ...

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 ...

from 339 until 350. He was a contemporary of and is associated with the life of Sarkis the Warrior and his son, Martiros.

Ancestry

Tiran was among the children born to

Khosrov III Kotak Khosrov III the Small ( hy, Խոսրով Գ Կոտակ, ''Khosrov III Kotak''; ''Kotak'' means "little, short, small") was the king of Arsacid Armenia . Khosrov was the son and successor of King Tiridates III. Khosrov received the epithet ''K ...

Kurkjian, ''A History of Armenia'', p.102 by an unnamed mother, and was thus a grandson of

Tiridates III of Armenia Tiridates III (Armenian: Գ ''Trdat III''; – c. 330), also known as Tiridates the Great ( hy, Տրդատ Մեծ ''Trdat Mets''), or Tiridates IV, was the Armenian Arsacid king from c.298 to c. 330. In 301, Tiridates proclaimed Christianit ...

and his wife,

Ashkhen Ashkhen ( hy, Աշխէն, flourished second half of the 3rd century & first half of the 4th century) was the Queen of Armenia and a member of the Arsacid dynasty by marriage to King Tiridates III of Armenia.Dodgeon, ''The Roman Eastern Frontier a ...

. He was the maternal uncle of

Nerses I ::''There was also a Caucasian Albanian Catholicos Nerses I, who ruled in 689–706, and a Patriarch Nerses I of Constantinople, who ruled in 1704.'' Nerses I the Great ( hy, Ներսէս Ա Մեծ ) was an Armenian Catholicos (or Patriarch) w ...

who would become the future

Catholicos-Patriarch Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient G ...

of Armenia. Tiran was named in honour of the monarchs named Tigranes of the Artaxiad dynasty. The name Tigranes was the most common royal name in the Artaxiad dynasty and was among the most ancient names of the kings of Armenia.

Reign

Internal policy

When his father died in 339, Tiran succeeded his father as King of Armenia. Little is known of his life prior to this. Tiran was a lukewarm

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and was the first Arsacid ruling monarch to aggressively pursue a policy on

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

. Although Tiran was endorsed by the Christian aristocrats of Armenia, the King was a disappointment, intellectually and morally. The reign of Tiran was blemished by conflicts both internally and externally. Tiran antagonised the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and the great

Mamikonian Mamikonian or Mamikonean ( Classical hy, Մամիկոնեան; reformed orthography: Մամիկոնյան; Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Mamigonian'') was an aristocratic dynasty which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th c ...

family, who had been the mainstay of the throne. He had many disagreements with the reigning

Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...

and his relation Husik I, who had criticised Tiran on his public and private conduct. This led Tiran to order the death of Husik, who was beaten to death on Tiran's orders, because the Catholicos denied him entry to a church in

Sophene Sophene ( hy, Ծոփք, translit=Tsopkʻ, grc, Σωφηνή, translit=Sōphēnē or hy, Չորրորդ Հայք, lit=Fourth Armenia) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in the south-west of the kingdom, and of the Ro ...

on a feast day in 347. Tiran massacred two leading Armenian families, the Ardzruni and Reshtuni, whom he accused of having secret relations with the

Sassanids The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

, and tried unsuccessfully on various occasions to crush the power of the Armenian feudal lords.Kurkjian, ''A History of Armenia'', p.103

Foreign policy

Tiran's foreign policy was mainly concerned with the Sassanid King

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigned fo ...

. Shapur launched a war on Rome and her allies, firstly by persecuting the Christians in Persia and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

. By capturing these territories, Shapur's war dealt a severe blow to Roman prestige in the East. Shapur invaded Armenia with his army and eventually took Tiran, his Queen and their family as hostages. Tiran and his family were betrayed by his chamberlain to Shapur. Tiran and his family became Sassanid political prisoners. Tiran was blinded and thrown into prison, after he was accused by Shapur of collusion with Rome. The Armenian nobles, infuriated by the brutality of Shapur II and his treatment of Tiran and his family, took up arms and fought against Shapur and his army with assistance from the Romans. They successfully drove Shapur and his army out from Armenia. After Shapur was defeated, he signed a treaty and agreed to release Tiran and his family from prison. As Tiran was depressed and blinded, he abdicated his throne and his second son

Arsaces II Arsaces or Arsakes (, , Graecized form of Old Persian ) is the eponymous Greek form of the dynastic name of the Parthian Empire of Iran adopted by all epigraphically attested rulers of the Arsacid dynasties. The indigenous Parthian and Armenian f ...

, succeeded him father as king of Armenia in 350.

Family

Tiran married an unnamed woman by whom he had three sons and a daughter, who were: Artaxias, Movses Khorenatsi’ History of Armenia, 5th Century, Book III, Chapter 13

, Tiridates and

Eranyak Eranyak was a princess from the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia who lived in the 4th century. Eranyak was the daughter of the Roman Client King of Armenia, TiranKurkjian, V.M., ''A History of Armenia'', Indo-European Publishing, 2008, p.262 (Tigranes ...

. Tiran's first-born son, Artaxias ( hy, Արտաշես, died before 350), had a son called

Tirit Tirit, also known as trit, is a Turkish dish prepared by soaking broken-up stale bread in a broth prepared from offal, and then seasoned with ground pepper and onion. Some variants add cheese or yogurt. Tirit is based on cooking techniques f ...

. Movses Khorenatsi’ History of Armenia, 5th Century, Book III, Chapter 13

References

Sources

The Armenian Church - The Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America - The Saints: St. Sarkis the Warrior and His Son, St. Mardiros

Encyclopaedia Iranica: Armenia and Iran II. The pre-Islamic period
* Translations from the Armenian: Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, A. hador rmenian History, volume I Athens, Greece, 1994, pg. 108 * M. Chahin, The Kingdom of Armenia: A History, Routledge, 2001 * R.G. Hovannisian, The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Volume 1: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 * A. Terian, Patriotism And Piety In Armenian Christianity: The Early Panegyrics On Saint Gregory, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2005 * V.M. Kurkjian, A History of Armenia, Indo-European Publishing, 2008