Sparapet
' () was a military title and office in ancient and medieval Armenia. Under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the ' was the supreme commander of the kingdom's armed forces. During the Arsacid period and for some time afterwards, the office was held hereditarily by the senior member of the House of Mamikonian. Later in history, the title was held by members of other noble houses, such as the Bagratuni Dynasty, Bagratuni and Pahlavuni dynasties. The title was used in the medieval Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, where the bearer of the title was also called ' (), from the Byzantine and Western title of constable. Etymology The word is of Iranian origin, ultimately deriving from Proto-Iranian language, Proto-Iranian ''*spādapati-'' (“commander of the army”), which is composed of ''*cwáHdaH'' (“army”) and ''*pati-'' (“lord”).Anahit Perikhanian, Perikhanyan, A. G. (1993). ''Материалы к этимологическому словарю древнеармянского ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mkhitar Sparapet
Mkhitar Sparapet (; ''sparapet'' meaning "general-in-chief"; died 1730), also known as Mkhitar Bek, was an 18th-century Armenian military commander and participant in the Armenian armed rebellion in the Syunik region of Transcaucasia. He was instrumental in David Bek's victories over the forces of Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire in Armenia's Syunik region. Their main headquarters were at the fortress of Halidzor which also served as the administrative center for Syunik. Mkhitar served as chief aide to David Bek and later his successor after his death in 1728. After the Ottomans captured and destroyed Halidzor fortress, Mkhitar managed to escape towards Kapan and continue a guerrilla campaign against the Ottoman invaders. However, the Armenian forces faced replenished Ottoman forces, lacked a single headquarters and were plagued by internal disagreements. In 1730, Mkhitar was murdered by Armenian villagers of Khndzoresk, who had implored him to have his own fortifications ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mushegh I Mamikonian
Mushegh I Mamikonian (also spelled Mushel; d. 377/8) was an Armenian military officer from the Mamikonian family who occupied the hereditary office of ''sparapet'' (generalissimo) of the Kingdom of Armenia under the Arsacid kings Pap () and Varazdat (). He took part in the Armenian resistance against the forces of the Sasanian monarch Shapur II (), notably taking part in the Battle of Bagavan, where the Iranian forces were defeated. He was the regent of Armenia under the young and inexperienced Varazdat, who eventually suspected him of posing a danger to his rule, and thus had him executed, in 377/8. Mushegh may be identical with the Artabanes mentioned in the works of the contemporary Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Background Mushegh was a son of the Armenian ''sparapet'' (generalissimo) Vasak I Mamikonian. The Mamikonian family controlled the northwestern Tayk province near the Iberian border. They also hereditarily held the office of ''sparapet'', which was th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Varazdat
Varazdat (; flourished 4th century) was the king of Arsacid Armenia from 374/375 until 378. He was installed on the throne by the Roman emperor Valens after the assassination of his kinsman King Pap. Name The name Varazdat derives from Middle Persian ''warāz-dat'', meaning "given by the wild boar," the boar being one of the symbols of the Zoroastrian god of victory Verethragna. Family and early life Varazdat's parentage is unclear. The classical Armenian historians Faustus of Byzantium and Movses Khorenatsi somewhat contemptuously refer to him as "a certain" member of the Arsacid house; Faustus also implies that Varazdat was not a true Arsacid but rather a bastard. Based on this information, Robert Bedrosian and Stepan Malkhasyants speculate that Varazdat was the illegitimate child of Pap. Faustus quotes Varazdat as declaring King Pap his paternal uncle, although a brother of Pap is never directly mentioned in the histories of Faustus and Khorenatsi. A later anonymous Ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Garegin Nzhdeh
Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan, better known by his ''nom de guerre'' Garegin Nzhdeh (, ; 1 January 1886 – 21 December 1955), was an Armenian statesman, military commander and nationalist revolutionary. As a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, he was involved in the national liberation struggle and revolutionary activities during the First Balkan War and World War I and became one of the key political and military leaders of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1921). He is widely admired as a charismatic national hero by Armenians. In 1921, he was a key figure in the establishment of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia, an anti-Bolshevik state that became a key factor that led to the inclusion of the province of Syunik into Soviet Armenia. During World War II, he cooperated with Nazi Germany, hoping to secure Soviet Armenia's existence in case of Germany's victory over the USSR and a potential Turkish invasion of the Caucasus. Following an abortive attempt to cooper ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mamikonian
Mamikonian or Mamikonean () was an Armenian aristocratic dynasty which dominated Armenia between the 4th and 8th centuries—through the late antique kingdom, Sasanian, Byzantine, and Arab dominations. They were the most notable noble house in early Christian Armenia after the ruling Arsacids and held the hereditary positions of (supreme commander of the army) and (royal tutor), allowing them to play the role of kingmaker for the later Armenian kings. They ruled over extensive territories, including the Armenian regions of Tayk, Taron, Sasun, and Bagrevand, among others. The Mamikonians had a reputation as supporters of the Roman (and later Byzantine) empire in Armenia against Sasanian Iran, although they also served as viceroys under Persian rule. Their influence over Armenian affairs began to decline at the end of the 6th century and suffered a final, decisive blow after a failed rebellion against Arab rule over Armenia in 774/75. Origin The origin of the Mamikonian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spaspet
''Spaspet'' ( ka, სპასპეტი) was a feudal office in Georgia that originated in ancient Iberia. It is usually translated in English as High Constable. The institution of ''spaspet'', like its rough equivalent ''sparapet'' in neighboring Armenia, was designed under the influence of the Sassanian Persian ''spahbed'', but differed in that it was a non-hereditary rank and included not only military, but also civil functions.Robert Bedrosian, "Sparapet", in: Joseph Reese Strayer (1983), ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'', p. 460. Scribner, . According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the rank of ''spaspet'' was introduced by the first king P’arnavaz in the 3rd century BC. At the same time, it served as ''ex officio'' duke of Inner Iberia (Shida Kartli), around Mtskheta and Uplis-Tsikhe. It seems that this office was in fact occupied by the member of the Iberian royal family or an especially high dignitary next in seniority to the king. The Roman geographer Strab ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syunik (historic Province)
Syunik () was a region of historical Armenia and the ninth province (') of the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until 428 AD. From the 7th to 9th centuries, it fell under Arab control. In 821, it formed two Armenian principalities: Kingdom of Syunik and principality of Khachen, which around the year 1000 was proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh, becoming one of the last medieval eastern Armenian kingdoms and principalities to maintain its autonomy following the Turkic invasions of the 11th to 14th centuries.Hewsen. ''Armenia'', pp. 118-121. Name The name Syunik is ancient and appears in the earliest Armenian written sources. ', a later name for the province of Iranian origin, first appears in the 6th-century Syriac chronicle of Pseudo-Zacharias; it is first mentioned in Armenian sources in the history of Movses Khorenatsi, who explains this name as deriving from Sisak, the name of one of the descendants of the legendary Armenian progenitor Hayk. Strabo mentions a region of Arm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spahbed
''Spāhbad'' (also spelled ''spahbod'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbad'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Military of the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian army. From the time of Khosrow I ( 531–579) on, the office was split in four, with a ''spāhbad'' for each of the cardinal directions.Gyselen (2004) After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the ''spāhbed'' of the East managed to retain his authority over the inaccessible mountainous region of Tabaristan on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, where the title, often in its Islamic form (; in ), survived as a regnal title until the Mongol conquests of the 13th century.Bosworth (1978), pp. 207–208 An equivalent title of Persian origin, ''ispahsalar, ispahsālār or sipahsālār'', gained great currency across the Muslim world in the 10th–15th centuries. The title was also adopted by the Armenians (, ) and the Georgi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manuel Mamikonian
Manuel Mamikonian (; d. 385/386) was a 4th-century Armenian military commander and nobleman of the Mamikonian dynasty. He became the de facto leader of Armenia after driving the Arsacid king Varazdat () out of the country and placing two young Arsacid princes, Arshak and Vagharshak, on the throne. He held the title of ''sparapet'' (commander-in-chief), which was the hereditary right of the Mamikonian family. Manuel was the son of Artashes Mamikonian. Manuel and his brother Koms (or Kon) were taken captive by the Sasanians and sent to fight against the Kushans. In 377/8, King Varazdat ordered the assassination of Manuel's kinsman ''sparapet'' Mushegh I Mamikonian and granted the office of ''sparapet'' to his tutor Bat Saharuni. After this, Manuel went to Armenia with Persian permission to take the office of ''sparapet''. Manuel and Varazdat's armies met in the field of Karin Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vamp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign over ancient Iran was second only to the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Founded by Ardashir I, whose rise coincided with the decline of Arsacid influence in the face of both internal and external strife, the House of Sasan was highly determined to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding and consolidating the Iranian nation's dominions. Most notably, after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighbouring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the Roman–Iranian Wars. This effort by Ardashir's dynasty ultimately re-established Iran as a major power of late an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vardan Mamikonyan Medal
Vardan (; Vartan in Western Armenian transliteration, pronounced in both Eastern and Western Armenian), Varden ( ka, ვარდენ) in Georgian, is an Armenian name of Middle Persian origin (from Mid. Pers. Wardā), popular in Armenia and Georgia. Saint Vardan *Saint Vardan (Saint Vartan in Western Armenian), an Armenian saint Given name * Vardan Adjemyan, Armenian composer of orchestral, operatic and chamber works *Vardan Aigektsi (died 1250), Armenian author *Vardan Ajemian (1905–1977), Soviet Armenian theatral director and actor, People's Artist of USSR (1965) *Vardan Areveltsi (1198–1271), Armenian historian, geographer, philosopher and translator * Vardan Ayvazyan, the former Ecology Minister of Armenia *Vardan Bostanjyan (born 1949), Armenian politician *Vardan Ghazaryan (born 1969), Lebanese-Armenian footballer *Vardan Khachatryan (born 1968), former Armenian football defender *Vardan Kushnir (1969–2005), spammer of Armenian descent *Vardan Mamikonian (musici ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arminiya
Arminiya, also known as the Ostikanate of Arminiya (, ''Hayastani ostikanut'yun'') or the Emirate of Armenia (, ''imārat armīniya''), was a political and geographic designation given by the Muslim Arabs to the lands of Greater Armenia, Caucasian Iberia, and Caucasian Albania, following their conquest of these regions in the 7th century. Though the caliphs initially permitted an Armenian prince to represent the province of ''Arminiya'' in exchange for tribute and the Armenians' loyalty during times of war, Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan introduced direct Arab rule of the region, headed by an '' ostikan'' with his capital in Dvin. According to the historian Stephen H. Rapp in the third edition of the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'': History Early period: the Arab conquest of Armenia The details of the early conquest of Armenia by the Arabs are uncertain, as the various Arabic sources conflict with the Greek and Armenian sources, both in chronology and in the details of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |