Battle of Vardanakert was fought between an Arab garrison and Armenians. The Armenian prince

Smbat VI Bagratuni Smbat VI Bagratuni (ca. 670 – 726) was a member of the Bagratuni family who was presiding prince of Armenia from 691 to 711. During his reign, he frequently shifted alliances between the Byzantines, who gave him the title of ''kouropalates'', ...

defeated the 5,000-strong

Umayyad 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 the ...

army from the garrison in Nakhichevan. Struck by a surprise attack, the remaining Arabs fled to the river Araxes and either drowned or froze to death. Smbat, chosen to rule by Byzantine commission, managed to re-conquer the majority of Armenia and drive the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

out of the country.

Aftermath

Despite this success, the Umayyad generals

Muhammad ibn Marwan Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam () (died 719/720) was an Umayyad prince and one of the most important generals of the Umayyad Caliphate in the period 690–710, and the one who completed the Arab conquest of Armenia. ...

and

Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ( ar, مسلمة بن عبد الملك, in Greek sources , ''Masalmas''; – 24 December 738) was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading sever ...

soon restored

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 ' ...

to subject status. Muslim control was secured by organizing a large-scale massacre of the 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 ...

'') within the cathedral of Nakhchivan, which was burned, in 704.

Notes

References

Sources

* * 702 Varnakert Varnakert Varnakert 700s in the Umayyad Caliphate {{battle-stub