Armenian Monarchs
A history of Armenian monarchs.
Contents
Kingdom of Urartu
The Nairi tribal states were frequently raided by the Neo-Assyrian Empire to the south. In the 9th century BCE, Arame of Urartu united these tribes and petty kingdoms into the kingdom of Urartu.
Sarduri I moved the capital to Tushpa, later known as Van. As a result, the state is sometimes referred to as the kingdom of Van.
The kingdom suffered a sustained decline due to Cimmerian and Scythian raids. It was conquered by Cyaxares in 590 BCE, who in turn was conquered by Cyrus II.
Satrapy of Armenia
Under Persian influence, Orontes I (Arvanta) was made satrap of Armenia, establishing the Orontid dynasty.
Kingdom of Armenia
Alexander the Great's conquest of the empire enabled Orontes III to declare the satrapy an independent kingdom of Armenia.
The final Orontid king, Orontes IV, was overthrown by the Seleucid Empire. Artaxias I, who may have been a distant Orontid himself, was propped up as the vassal king of Armenia. Nonetheless this is considered the establishment of the Artaxiad dynasty.
Artaxias quickly capitalized on the Roman-Seleucid War however; Antiochus III was forced to withdraw from Anatolia, leaving a power vacuum in the region. He declared Armenia to be independent again, while Zariadres (who similarly may have been a distant Orontid) declared an independent kingdom of Sophene. Antiochus' son Seleucus IV declined to contest this revolt.
Together, Armenia and Sophene established a regional hegemony that stretched north to the Kura River.
Under Artavasdes I, the kingdom was conquered by Mithridates II and incorporated into the Parthian Empire. His heir Tigranes II first consolidated control over Armenia within the empire. He overthrew Artanes and absorbed Sophene permanently. He conquered Syria and destroyed the Seleucid Empire. He allied with Mithridates VI (not related to Mithridates II!) of the kingdom of Pontus for the Mithridatic Wars against Rome. The Parthians entered a succession crisis following the death of Mithridates II in 91 BCE, enabling him to declare independence. He built an imperial Greater Armenia that stretched to the Mediterranean. In the Third Mithridatic War however, he and Mithridates VI were finally defeated by Pompey. Pontus was annexed while Armenia was left as a client state.
Pushed back to the Euphrates River now, Parthia remained an agitator in Roman politics. They participated in the civil war as allies of Brutus and Cassius. Armenia served as a frequent battleground for the Roman-Parthian Wars. A long series of puppet kings were installed by one side or the other. This continued even after the Sassanid Empire conquered and absorbed Parthia in 226. The Peace of Acilisene was agreed between Theodosius I and Shapur III, partitioning Armenia in 387. The west became the province of Armenia Minor. The east remained a kingdom under Sassanid influence until 428, when Bahram V abolished it and appointed a marzbān over the province of Arminiya.
As a historic region
From this point on, Armenia is more akin to a historic region than a state.
The Umayyad Caliphate conquered Armenia around 640, and an Armenian principality (their title being ishkhan) was left in place to govern the region. The Bagratid dynasty was one such princely house. Abd al-Malik however assumed direct control at the start of the 8th century, appointing an ostikan to rule.
This form of governance continued into the succeeding Abbasid Caliphate, although the Armenian princes found a route to regain autonomy. The Arab-Byzantine Wars represented a continuing threat to the caliphate, and a non-Muslim buffer state would serve to dissuade further conquests. Local emirs were growing too powerful for the caliphs to manage, but Armenian interests could be set against them as a counterbalance. Starting in 862, Ashot I began to conquer the Armenian emirates. He was recognized as a 'prince of princes' by al-Mustaʿīn. In 885 he declared the re-establishment of a kingdom of Armenia, which al-Mu'tamid similarly granted recognition to. This state is commonly referred to as Bagratid Armenia.
Under Ashot III, minor kingdoms within Armenia began to emerge. These states were unable to resist Byzantine pressure, and Basil II annexed most of these and reorganized them as the theme of Iberia. His successor, Constantine IX, completed the absorption of Armenia through conquest.
But with the buffer state now dissolved, the Byzantines came into direct conflict with the rising Seljuk Empire. Alp Arslan quickly conquered Armenia and divided the region. Sökmen el-Kutbî commanded a beylik centered on Ahlat, establishing the Shah-Armens dynasty (sometimes referred to as the Ahlatshahs). The Shaddadids held Ani.
The Zakarid dynasty sought refuge in Georgia and became prominent claimants to a Christian kingdom in Armenia. Tamar conquered Armenia at the start of the 13th century, and appointed the Zakarids Zakare and Ivane as vassal kings.
In the 1230s however, the Mongol invasion arrived and subjugated both Georgia and Armenia. They remained under the influence of the Ilkhanate, and were conquered by Timur in 1386.
Safavid Iran emerged from the decline of the Timurids at the start fop the 16th century. The Iranians quickly came into conflict with the Ottomans, with Armenia again partitioned between the two. The Ottoman-Persian Wars continued under the Afsharid and Qajar dynasties.
Peter I also began to press land claims in the 18th century, sparking the Russo-Persian Wars. The Treaty of Turkmenchay finally granted all of Transcaucasia, including Eastern Armenia, to Russia in 1828. Attention then turned west, leading to the Russo-Turkish War. As the Ottoman Empire headed toward, an Armenian genocide became an imperial policy. And so enters World War 1.