Мelik (also transliterated as ''Meliq'') ( ''melikʿ''; from ar, ملك ''

malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...

'' (king)) was a hereditary Armenian noble

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

, in various

Eastern Armenia Eastern Armenia ( hy, Արևելյան Հայաստան ''Arevelyan Hayastan'') comprises the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, the traditional homeland of the Armenian people. Between the 4th and the 20th centuries, Armenia was partitioned ...

n principalities known as ''melikdom''s encompassing modern

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

, Nakhichevan, Sevan, Lori, Artsakh, Northwestern Persia and Syunik starting from the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

until the end of the nineteenth century. After the invasions of the Seljuk Turks,

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

Timurlenk Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

and

Turkmen tribes The major modern Turkmen tribes are Teke, Yomut, Ersari, Chowdur, Gokleng and Saryk. The most numerous are the Teke. The origin of all of these tribes is traced to 24 ancient Oghuz tribes, among which the Salur tribe played a prominent role as ...

these families saw themselves as holding onto the last bastion of Armenian independence in the region. The realm of the meliks was almost always semi-independent and often fully independent, they had their own

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

, known as a ''darbas'', army, castles and military fortifications known as ''sghnakh'', carried out justice in the form of trials and collected tax. The relationship between meliks and their subordinates was that of a military commanding general and junior officers, and not of feudal lord and a serfs. Peasants were not allowed to own land, but otherwise were free and owned property. Meliks preserved their rights and privileges after Eastern Armenia became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, many of them, especially meliks from Karabakh became Russian generals.

Melikdoms of Karabakh

Armenia, Late 18th century till late 19th century

The five ArmenianArmenia
—

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

"''In mountainous Karabakh a group of five Armenian maliks (princes) succeeded in conserving their autonomy and maintained a short period of independence (1722-30) during the struggle between Persia and Turkey at the beginning of the 18th century; despite the heroic resistance of the Armenian leader David Beg, the Turks occupied the region but were driven out by the Persians under the general Nādr Qolī Beg (from 1736-47, Nādir Shah) in 1735.''" Melikdoms of Karabakh: Gulistan, Jraberd, Varanda, Khachen, and Dizak, originated in the Principality of Khachen, an ancient feudal state that existed between the 10th and 18th centuries. These five principalities were ruled by the Beglarian, Israelian, Shahnazarian, Hasan-Jalalian, Avanian,

Alaverdian Natalia Alaverdian is the creator of the ''A.W.A.K.E. Mode'' fashion line. She was raised in Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is b ...

, and Atabekian families respectively. Bournoutian, George (1997). "Eastern Armenia from the Seventeenth Century to the Russian Annexation" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century''.

Richard G. Hovannisian Richard Gable Hovannisian ( hy, Ռիչարդ Հովհաննիսյան, born November 9, 1932) is an Armenian American historian and professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is known mainly for his four-volume history o ...

(ed.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 86. . In 1603 Shah Abbas I recognized their special semi-independent status. Rivalries among the meliks prevented them from becoming a formidable and a unified power against the Muslims but unstable conditions in Persia eventually forced them to forget their squabbles and seek support from Europe and Russia. In 1678

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 ...

Hakob Jughayetsi (Jacob of Jugha, 1655–1680) called for a secret meeting in Echmiadzin and invited several leading meliks and clergymen. He proposed to head a delegation to Europe. The Catholicos died shortly after and the plan was abandoned. One of the delegates, a young man named Israel Ori, the son of Melik Haikazyan of Zangezur continued on and proceeded to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and from there to France. Israel Ori died in 1711 without seeing the liberation of the Armenian lands. In the second half of the eighteenth century Melik Shahnazar of Varanda allied himself with

Panah Khan Javanshir Panah Ali Khan Javanshir (, ; 1693 – 1759 or 1763) was the founder and first ruler of the Karabakh Khanate under Persian suzerainty. Ancestry Panah Ali Khan was from the Sarijali branch of the clan of Javanshir, who with their associate clan o ...

, the chieftain of a Turkic tribe, against other Armenian meliks which led to the downfall of the autonomous Armenian melikdoms of Karabakh.

Melikdoms (Principalities) of Eastern Armenia

Altogether, there were between 70 and 90 melikly houses in Eastern

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 ...

, mostly in the provinces of Artsakh, Gardman, Syuniq, Lori,

, Nakhichevan,

Kashatagh Kashatagh Province ( hy, Քաշաթաղի շրջան) was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. It was the largest province by area (3,376.60 km2). The population as of 2013 was 9,656. Its capital was Berdzor. Territorial entities Kashatag ...

, and Karadagh. Below is the incomplete list of some of the most prominent

n melik houses: Atabekian-CoatOfArms

(15th–19th centuries) * Melik Hasan-Jalalian (meliks of

Khachen The Principality of Khachen ( hy, Խաչենի իշխանություն, Khacheni ishkhanutyun) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Nagorno-Karabakh). The provinces of Artsakh and Utik were ...

before 1755) * Melik-Avanian (Meliks of Dizaq) * Melik-Mirzakhanian (meliks of Khachen-Khndzristan after 1755) * Melik-Shakhnazarian (meliks of Varanda) * Melik-Beglarian (meliks of Gulistan) * Melik-Haykayzan (meliks of

) * Melik-Israelian (meliks of Jraberd before 1783) * Melik-Alaverdian (meliks of Jraberd in 1783 - 1814) * Melik Atabekian (meliks of Jraberd since 1814 - mid-1850s) * Meliks of Barsum (Utik) * Meliks of Getashen (Utik) * Meliks of Khachakap (Utik) * Meliks of Voskanapat (Utik) * 11 melik houses (Syunik)

Prominent Meliks

* Israel Ori (1658–1711) * David Bek (d. 1728) *

Valerian Madatov Prince Valerian Grigoryevich Madatov (, , Rostom Madatyan) (1782 – September 4, 1829) was a Russian-Armenian prince and a lieutenant-general of the Russian Empire. Sarkisyan, G. ''«Մադաթով»'' (Madatov). ''Armenian Soviet Encyclopedi ...

(1782–1829) * Count Loris-Melikov (1825–1888)

Popular culture

The meliks of Karabakh inspired the historical novels ''The Five Melikdoms'' (1882) and ''David Bek'' (1882) by Raffi, the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

''David Bek'' (1950) by Armen Tigranian and the novel ''Mkhitar Sparapet'' (1961) by Sero Khanzadyan. In 1944, '' David Bek'' the movie was filmed and in 1978, Armenfilm in association with Mosfilm produced another movie about the efforts of David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet called ''Star of Hope''. Former rap artist from Laindon, SS15 (United Kingdom)

Notes

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External links