Bagratuni Dynasty

The Bagratides (Armenian Բագրատունյաց Արքայական Տոհմ, Bagratownyac ' Ark'ayakan Tohm transliterated ) was an Armenian dynasty. It belongs to the ruling longest royal families in the Caucasus, began as a princely house and gained in the 9th century in Armenia royal status. A possible common origin with the Georgian Bagratides is controversial.

Origin

The origin of the Bagratides is controversial. The prevailing opinion is that both dynasties had common roots that lead to Armenia and later branched out to Georgia. The Armenian king died out in the 12th century.

Armenian Bagratides

It is believed that the Armenian Bagratides are descendants of Orontids Dynasty, the satraps of the Achaemenid Empire were and ruled as kings over Armenia 4 to 8 century. The Armenian Bagratides prevailed initially in the region Bagrewand in the historic north central Armenia. They claimed initially by the sun god Angl - Thork, the pre-Christian god of protection Orontids descent. Later it was said that they were from the mythical ancestors of the Armenians, Hayk, from. Under biblical influence they finally claimed to come from the Hebrews. The medieval historian Moses of choirs has further developed the myth. After his presentation, the Bagratides descended from the biblical King David. This legend was then taken somewhat modified by the Georgian Bagratides. However, the modern science of history does not confirm any of these myths.

Today's historians applies Bagatades, a military commander under Tigranes II as the first known Bagratide. According to the Armenian- Georgian historian and genealogist Cyril Toumanoff considers the first recorded Bagratide 314 BC emerged as a feudal lord in Sper, in northwestern Armenia (now İspir in the province of Erzurum ) that a region near the Iberian marshland. His descendants extended their dominion on Kongvit and Tumoriq. Like other Armenian nobles they had no contiguous territory, but several strips of land.

In the 6th century the Sassanid Marzban Bagratides in Armenia were. They first obtained the ( mittelrangigen ) Byzantine title of patrikios, then the high of a Kuropalates. In the 8th century, the Bagratides were the leading force of the Armenian confrontation with the Arab domination. 885 they gained the crown. The rule lasted in Armenia until 1045.