Ashot III ( el, Ἀσώτιος, ''Asotios'';

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: ''Ashūṭ ibn Ghirghūr'' and ''Ibn Ṭurnīq''; ) was the last independent ruler of the southern

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 ...

region of Taron from until his death in 967. Ashot was a natural son of Grigor I of Taron and half-brother of Bagrat II of Taron. The family were a branch of the Bagratid dynasty. Little is known about his early life. According to the '' De administrando imperio'' of the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as l ...

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe K ...

(), in his youth he visited

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

and received the title of ''

protospatharios ''Prōtospatharios'' ( el, πρωτοσπαθάριος) was one of the highest court dignities of the middle Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to foreign princes. History Th ...

'', an event dated by the historian and genealogist

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

to . A second visit, dated by Toumanoff to , resulted in the award of the title of ''

patrikios The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

''. After Grigor I's death (sometime between 923 and 936), Ashot and his half-brother Bagrat assumed the rulership, but their power was limited to only part of Taron: about a half was controlled by their cousin Tornikes, the son of their uncle

Abu Ghanim Abu Ghanim (Armenian: ''Abułanam''; el, Ἀπογάνεμ, ''Apoganem'') was an Armenian noble of the Bagratid family and ruler of part of the southern Armenian region of Taron at the turn of the 9th/10th century. Abu Ghanim was the brother of ...

, who also held the title of ''patrikios''. A struggle erupted between the cousins, forcing Tornikes to will his lands over to the Byzantine emperor,

Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII. Origin Romanos ...

(). When Tornikes died, Romanos sent envoys to take over the territories promised, but Ashot and Bagrat managed to persuade the emperor to leave Tornikes' lands to them in exchange for the fortress of Olnutin. By 940, Bagrat II had died and Ashot reigned as sole prince of Taron. In that year, the

Hamdanid The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern ...

prince

Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...

invaded Armenia. The Arab historian Ibn Zafir records that Sayf al-Dawla devastated Taron and besieged its capital,

Mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social medium to which mu ...

. Eventually Ashot—whom Ibn Zafir calls the "King of Armenia and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

"—was compelled to do him homage, surrender the towns of Sasun and Qulb, and acknowledge his suzerainty at Tadvan near

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake, ...

. Ashot continued to rule over Taron until his death in late summer or early fall of 967 (dated by some earlier historians to 966). After his death, his sons

Grigor Grigor is a masculine given name and a surname. Variants include Gregory, Gregor, Grigori, Grigory, and in Western Armenian as Krikor. People with the given name * Grigor III Pahlavuni (1093-1166), Armenian catholicos * Grigor Artsruni (1845 ...

and Bagrat surrendered the principality to the Byzantines and entered Byzantine service themselves, founding the noble family of the

Taronitai Taronites ( el, Ταρωνίτης), feminine form Taronitissa (Ταρωνίτισσα), was the name of a noble Byzantine family, descended from the ruling family of the Armenian principality of Taron. In Georgian it is rendered 'Tornikes' or � ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashot 03 of Taron 967 deaths 10th-century Armenian people Princes of Taron Bagratuni dynasty Patricii 10th-century rulers in Asia Year of birth uncertain Protospatharioi