Vasak Siwni ( hy, Վասակ Սիւնի; d. 452) 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, who was the lord of the principality of Syunik from 413 to 452, and also served as ''

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension militar ...

'' (

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

) of

Sasanian Armenia Sasanian Armenia, also known as Persian Armenia and Persarmenia ( hy, Պարսկահայաստան – ''Parskahayastan''), may either refer to the periods in which Armenia ( pal, 𐭠𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩 – ''Armin'') was under the suzerainty of ...

from 442 from 452. He renounced

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and joined the Sasanian forces against the leaders of the Armenian rebellion in 450/1, which culminated in the defeat of the rebel forces at the

battle of Avarayr The Battle of Avarayr ( hy, Ավարայրի ճակատամարտ ''Avarayri čakatamart'') was fought on 2 June 451 on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan between a Christian Armenian army under Vardan Mamikonian and Sassanid Persia. It is considere ...

. The contemporary Armenian historians

Elishe Yeghishe (, , AD 410 – 475; also spelled Eghishe or Ełišē, latinized Eliseus) was an Armenian historian from the time of late antiquity, best known as the author of ''History of Vardan and the Armenian War'', a history of a fifth-centu ...

and

Lazar Parpetsi Ghazar Parpetsi ( hy, Ղազար Փարպեցի, translit=Łazar P῾arpec῾i) was a 5th to 6th century Armenian chronicler and historian. He had close ties with the powerful Mamikonian noble family and is most prominent for writing a history of ...

both give differing reports of the aftermath of the battle, albeit with the same outcome. According to Elishe, the Iranian general Mushkan Niusalavurt was greatly upset at the heavy casualties the Iranians had suffered in the battle, and thus gave Vasak Siwni free rein in Armenia. However, this resulted in even more bloodshed and turmoil, which led to the protest of many Armenian notables, and also by Mushkan himself. As a result, Vasak was imprisoned, while Adhur-Hormizd was installed the ''marzban'' of Armenia. According to Lazar, however, Mushkan was dismissed and sent back to Iran after he reported the Iranian losses to Yazdegerd II, who then appointed Adhur-Hormizd as the ''marzban'' of Armenia. Not long after, Vasak was imprisoned due to his deception towards the Armenians which had caused further turmoil.

References

Sources

* * Sasanian governors of Armenia 5th-century Iranian people 5th-century Armenian people 5th-century rulers in Asia 5th-century rulers in Europe Siunia dynasty 452 deaths Princes of Syunik Armenian people from the Sasanian Empire Generals of Yazdegerd II Converts to Zoroastrianism from Christianity {{Sasanian-bio-stub