Smbat IV Bagratuni (; ) was an

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 around the ...

prince from the

Bagratuni dynasty The Bagratuni or Bagratid dynasty (, ) was an Armenian royal dynasty which ruled the medieval Kingdom of Armenia from until 1045. Originating as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity, they rose to become the most prominent Armenian n ...

who served first in the

Byzantine army The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct continuation of the East Roman army, Eastern Roman army, shaping and developing itself on the legac ...

before switching, ca. 595, to the

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, th ...

, where he had a distinguished military career and earned high honours until his death in 616/7. He was succeeded by his son, Varaztirots.

Life

Smbat was the son of Manuel Bagratuni. He is first mentioned some time in the 580s, when the Byzantine emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) requested the Armenian nobles to raise cavalry for service in his

wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

against the Avars. Smbat and Sahak Mamikonian led a thousand-strong unit each to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, where they were richly rewarded and sent home. Sebeos also adds that Maurice supposedly adopted Smbat at this occasion. In 589, however, Smbat led a rebellion against the Byzantines, was captured and sent to Constantinople, where he was condemned to death and was thrown to be devoured by the beasts in the

Hippodrome of Constantinople The Hippodrome of Constantinople (; ; ) was a Roman circus, circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square (). The word ...

. He was pardoned at the last minute by Maurice, who then banished him to some "distant islands" and later to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Smbat returned from exile some time after, and entered the service of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an 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 ...

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

, who in 595 appointed him ''

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱𐭰𐭠𐭭𐭯 transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱 ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the Middle Persian suffix: 𐭡𐭭𐭯 ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ...

'' (military governor) of

Hyrcania Hyrcania (; ''Hyrkanía'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea ...

(the southern coastlands of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

). Smbat served in this post until 602, but was initially employed in suppressing the rebellion of

Vistahm Vistahm or Bistam (also transliterated Wistaxm, wsthm), was a Parthian dynast of the Ispahbudhan house, and maternal uncle of the Sasanian king of kings of Iran, Khosrow II (). Vistahm helped Khosrow regain his throne after the rebellion of a ...

in Khorasan, before being recalled to reside at the royal court in

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

. There he received further honours, and was also appointed Lesser Minister of Finance. In ca. 607 ("the eighteenth year of Khosrow's reign") he was sent back to Armenia with extensive powers as "Commander of the army of the lords of houses". His tenure in Armenia was short but productive: as N. Garsoian writes, "Smbat’s extraordinary powers allowed him to reaffirm the authority of the Persian crown in Persarmenia, to restore the prestige of the weakened Armenian Church by summoning a council that elected a new '' katholikos'', Abraham I, after a vacancy of three years, and to rebuild the cathedral of the Armenian administrative capital of Duin, overriding the objections of the local Persian authorities". In the next year, Smbat received the honorific title ''Khosrow Shun'' ("the Joy or Satisfaction of Khosrow"), and about this time led a campaign on behalf of Khosrow against the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

, whom he defeated, possibly killing their king in single combat. After that, he retired to the royal court, where he lived amidst the honours accorded to him by Khosrow until his death in 616/7. He was succeeded by his son, Varaztirots.

Life

References

Further reading