Prince Prosh Khaghbakian

Prosh Khaghbakian (; ), also known as Hasan Prosh, was an Armenian prince who was a vassal of the Zakarid princes of Armenia. He was a member of the Khaghbakian dynasty, which is also known as the Proshian dynasty after him. He was the supreme commander (''sparapet'') of the Zakarid army from 1223 to 1284, succeeding his father Vasak. He was one of the main Greater Armenian lords to execute the alliance between his suzerain the Georgian king David Ulu and the Mongol Prince Hulagu, during the Mongol conquest of Middle East (1258–1260).

Background

Prosh was the junior son of Prince Vasak Khaghbakian and his wife Mama. He had two brothers named Papak and Mkdem. The Khaghbakians were originally a noble house in the region of Khachen. Vasak and his sons came to prominence in the Georgian-Armenian wars against the Seljuks. In 1201–1203, they received new hereditary holdings around Garni and in Vayots Dzor from the Zakarid princes of Armenia and were appointed governors of the lands "from Garni to Syunik">Syunik_(historical_province).html" ;"title="he fortress in Syunik (historical province)">SyunikBargushat" in return for their services. Prosh succeeded his father after his death . His elder brother Papak had died in battle against the Kipchaks in 1222, and Mkdem seems to have predeceased his father as well, so the succession passed to Prosh.

Warfare

The Mongols had received the assistance of Armenian lords since the 1230s. Numerous Georgian-Armenian military units participated in the Mongol conquest of Alamut in 1256, where they were personally led by David VII of Georgia.

In 1258, Prosh Khaghbakian led Armenian troops to accompany the Mongol siege of Baghdad, while Zakare III Zakarian was leading the Georgian troops. He is said to have led the negotiations with the Caliph of Baghdad, al-Musta'sim, but in vain. Prosh Khaghbakian was the main source for the account of the fall of Baghdad by the Armenian historian Kirakos.

In 1258–1260, Prosh, with his Armenian Zakarid suzerain Shahnshah, led a large force of Georgians and Armenians to support a much smaller force of Mongol troops of Hulagu in the Siege of Mayyafariqin, which was defended by its last Ayyubid ruler Al-Kamil Muhammad. The Armenian Prince Sevada of Khachen was killed in the conflict. When the city was captured at last after a siege of two years, the Muslims were massacred, but the Christians were spared. Christian relics were collected and brought back to Armenia, particularly to Haghpat Monastery.

Meanwhile, Hulagu continued his conquest of the rest of Syria, accompanied by the forces of Hethum I of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and the Crusaders of Bohemond VI of Antioch. The Georgian ruler David VII declined to commit more Georgian-Armenian troops for these Mongol campaigns in Syria, on account that he had suffered huge losses in the 1258 Siege of Baghdad.

Monastic patronage

Prosh Khaghbakian was involved in the development of the monastery of Geghard in the Kotayk province of Armenia, partially carved out of the adjacent mountain and surrounded by cliffs. He purchased the monastery in the mid-13th century from the Zakarids and built a series of additional chapels hewn into the rock. Over a short period, the Proshians built the cave structures which brought Geghard fame—the second cave church, the family sepulcher of Papak and Ruzukan in the ''zhamatun'', a hall for gatherings and studies (collapsed in the middle of the 20th century) and numerous cells. The chamber reached from the North East of the gavit and became Prince Prosh Khaghbakian's tomb in 1283.

A reliquary with a holy spear bears a dedicatory inscription made by Prince Prosh in 1269:

He mentions his wife in the inscription, Khutlu Khatun, as well as his children Papak Proshian (died 1298), Vasak (died ), Amir Hasan I (died 1292), and Mkdem.

He was an in-law of the court official and ''Amirspasalar'' (commander-in-chief) of the Georgian army Khutlubuga.

References

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*{{cite web , title=WHC Nomination Documentation: The Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley, publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Convention, url=https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/960.pdf, access-date=13 June 2024, ref={{harvid, UNESCO, 2000, date=2 December 2000