Misplaced Pages

#713286

74-524: Members of the upper class of medieval Armenian society were known as nakharars ( Armenian : նախարար ) and azats ( Armenian : ազատ ), (also aznvakans ( Armenian : ազնվական )). The roots of Armenian nobility trace back to ancient tribal society, when the proto-Armenian tribes separated from the primordial Indo-European community and selected chieftain leaders for governing the community, defending territory and leading military campaigns against their enemies. These chieftains and leaders were usually

148-614: A Frankish family who came to the Near East in the Crusades, once ruling over Cilicia and Cyprus, merged with the representatives of the west European royal dynasty of Savoy reigning in parts of Italy. The offspring of some nakharar houses founded new medieval Armenian aristocratic houses, such as the Cartozians , Proshians , Kyurikians , Orbelians , Hasan Jalalyans , Artsrunis and Tornikians among others. These dynasties played

222-519: A history of Armenia, especially the biographies of Armenian kings and the origins of the Armenian nakharar families. Armenian historian Artashes Matevosyan placed Movses' completion of History to the year 474  CE based on his research on the Chronicle by the sixth-century Armenian historian Atanas Taronatsi. One of his primary reasons for taking up Sahak Bagratuni's request is given in

296-636: A marvelous speech at the dinner table. One of the Catholicos' students was able to identify Movses as a person Gyut had been searching for; it was soon understood that Gyut was one of Movses' former classmates and friends. Gyut embraced Movses brought his friend back from seclusion and appointed him to be a bishop in Bagrevan . Serving as a bishop, Movses was approached by Prince Sahak Bagratuni (died in 482 during Charmana battle against Persian army), who, having heard of Movses' reputation, asked him to write

370-476: A part of a general trend in those years to reexamine critically classical sources, Khorenatsi's History was cast into doubt. The conclusions reached by Alfred von Gutschmid ushered in the " hypercritical phase" of the study of Khorenatsi's work. Many European and Armenian scholars writing at the turn of the twentieth century downplayed its importance as a historical source and dated the History to sometime in

444-515: A sheep was also the house symbol of Bagratuni nakharardom. The dynastic emblem of the Cilician Armenian royal house of Lusignan (Lusinian) reflected west European heraldic influence and consisted of red lions and crosses on the yellow and blue background of the shield. The nakharar families of ancient Armenia were listed in the so-called Gahnamak s and Zoranamak s, which were the official inventories or registrars that were positioning

518-516: A significant role in the struggle for the liberation of Armenia and the revival of Armenian statehood. In the 13th century particularly prominent were the Mkhargrdzeli princes – brothers Zakare and Ivane – whose military strength and political influence in the united Armenian-Georgian state was so significant that they were de facto the fully-fledged rulers of the Armenian territories. The last strongholds of Armenian statehood were preserved by

592-480: A very ancient period until the death of the historian. His History served as a textbook to study the history of Armenia until the eighteenth century. Movses's history also gives a rich description of the oral traditions that were popular among the Armenians of the time, such as the romance story of Artashes and Satenik and the birth of the god Vahagn . Movses lived for several more years, and he died sometime in

666-738: A wedding ... and instead, I found myself grieving at the foot of our teachers' graves ... I did not even arrive in time to see their eyes close nor hear them speak their final words. To further complicate their problems, the atmosphere in Armenia that Movses and the other students had returned to was one that was extremely hostile and they were viewed with contempt by the native population. While later Armenian historians blamed this on an ignorant populace, Sassanid Persian policy and ideology were also at fault, since its rulers "could not tolerate highly educated young scholars fresh from Greek centers of learning". Given this atmosphere and persecution by

740-575: A young man of about 22 or 23 upon journeying to Alexandria , where Movses writes that he was sent after the Council of Ephesus of 431. Malkhasyants postulates that Khorenatsi received his initial education at the school in Syunik founded by Mesrop Mashtots , the creator of the Armenian alphabet , before being sent to Vagharshapat to study directly under Mashtots and Catholicos Sahak Partev . After

814-425: Is called the "father of Armenian history" ( patmahayr ) in Armenian, and is sometimes referred to as the "Armenian Herodotus ". Movses's history is also valued for its unique material on the old oral traditions in Armenia before its conversion to Christianity. Movses identified himself as a young disciple of Mesrop Mashtots , inventor of the Armenian alphabet . Moreover, he claimed to have written his history at

SECTION 10

#1732780397714

888-460: Is deeply rooted in the ancient kinship and tribal beliefs and totems of the Armenian clans. Although the information on Armenian heraldry is quite limited, nevertheless it is well known that the most common symbols were those of the eagle, lion, and mountain ram. For example, the coat-of-arms of the Artashesian dynasty consisted of two eagles with the symbol of sun in the middle. An eagle holding

962-599: Is mentioned to be ninety, yet at other times it reaches up to three hundred. Certainly, the number of the Armenian noble houses did change in the course of time as the aristocratic class was itself subject to flux. The first attested Armenian royal dynasty was the Orontids (Yervandunis) which was ruling Armenia as a satrapy of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC. They are preceded by legendary or semi-legendary patriarchs of Armenian tradition, first recorded in

1036-510: Is open to descendants of old and new Armenian noble families, as well as to the foreign titled nobility that reside in Armenia and abroad, regardless their political or religious views, and age and sex. They conduct their activities in accordance with their Charters, the Constitution and legislation of Armenia, and international law. The main goals of these nobility unions are: Nakharar Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1110-617: Is quite common in all parts of the world for members of the nobility to purport to trace their ancestry back to gods, or legendary heroes. Besides that, according to legend the Bagratuni dynasty has origins in Judea , according to Movses Khorenatsi , as they transferred to Armenia in 6th century B.C. The Mamikonyan dynasty also had legends of coming from China. The early Armenian historians mention various Armenian noble houses during different periods of Armenian history. Sometimes their number

1184-449: Is the Book of Letters (sixth century), which contains a short theological treatise by "Movses Khorenatsi". The third possible early reference is in a tenth-eleventh centuries manuscript containing a list of dates attributed to Athanasius (Atanas) of Taron (sixth century): under the year 474, the list has "Moses of Chorene, philosopher and writer". Beginning in the nineteenth century, as

1258-615: The History attributed to Moses of Chorene (Movses Khorenatsi), written circa the 5th century. The noble houses of Rshtuni , Mokats, Artzruni and others originated from tribal rulers or clans already in antiquity. Some others, such as the Mamikonians or Aravelians, were granted noble titles and/or offices, such as aspet ( Armenian : ասպետ ), 'coronator' and sparapet ( Armenian : սպարապետ ), ' generalissimo ' by special decrees of medieval Armenian kings for their services to

1332-540: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia underwent certain changes: Great Armenia Cilician Armenia Cilician Armenia adopted many peculiarities of west European classification of the nobility, such as paron (deriving from "baron"), ter or sinyor (senior), berdater (castle lord) etc. Besides this, in Cilicia Armenian knighthood emerged which was also considered to be part of the nobility despite

1406-583: The Parthav or Parthian clan. Sahak Parthev made the registrar available to the Sasanian Persian court, mentioning a total of 70 Armenian nakharar s. In another source of the 4th century 86 nakharars were listed. According to the Arab chronologist Yacoubi (9th century) there were 113 lords in the administrative province of Arminiya, whereas another Arab historian, Yacout al-Hamavi (12–13th centuries)

1480-526: The Zoranamak , literally: "strength registrar"), as well as according to the ancient tradition. Gahnamak was composed and sealed by the King of Armenia, because the nakharars (lords) were considered to be his vassals . Nakharar thrones ( gahs , i.e. the positions at the royal court) were changing rarely and were inherited from father to son. Only in special circumstances – such as high treason , cessation of

1554-454: The 13th century Stepanos Orbelian also mentions 400 nakharar thrones, who had "throne and respect" at the royal court of king Trdat III (287–332). Pavstos Buzand mentions 900 princely lords, who carried honorary services at the royal court and who sat on a special throne (gah) or cushion (bardz). The Gahnamak is believed to have been written by Armenian Catholic Sahak Parthev (387–439), whose surname indicates distant Persian origin from

SECTION 20

#1732780397714

1628-538: The Armenian aristocracy were repressed, sentenced to prisons and work camps, or simply executed. Those who survived against all odds were forced to hide their aristocratic origins by changing family names and obliterating their family histories. Only a very few managed to preserve their family traditions by leaving the Communist regime and moving to other countries. With the end of the Communist regime and independence of Armenia in 1991, important steps were made to revive

1702-430: The Armenian epos Sasna Tzrer. According to the Armenian aristocratic tradition, the princely houses of [Poladian] Khorkhoruni , Bznuni , Mandakuni , Rshtuni , Manavazian , Angelea (Angegh tun), Varajnuni , Vostanikyan, Ohanian, Cartozian, Apahuni, Arran tun and some others, are all believed to be direct descendants of Nahapet (Patriarch) Hayk , whose epithet was Dyutsazn , meaning demigod, or of Hayk's descendants. It

1776-665: The Armenian nobility was headed by the king, in Armenian arka . The term arka originates from the common Aryan root that has equivalents in the name for monarchs in other Indo-European languages : arxatos in Greek , raja in Indo-Aryan , rex or regnum in Latin , roi in French , and reis in Persian . The sons of the king, i.e. princes, were called sepuh . The elder son, who

1850-528: The Armenian nobility. For example, in 705 the Ostikan (governor under the Arab caliphate) of Armenia deceitfully invited around 800 Armenian noblemen together with their guards to Nakhichevan as if for negotiations and massacred them all. Nevertheless, some Armenian noble houses lived through this tragedy and continued their efforts to liberate the country. Some descendants of the Armenian nobility achieved high-ranking positions at foreign royal courts. For example,

1924-712: The Armenians . Later Armenian authors provide additional details about Khorenatsi's life, although according to scholar Stepan Malkhasyants , these are not reliable. Movses's epithet, Khorenatsi, suggests that he was born in a place called Khoren or Khorean. According to one older view, Movses was born in the village of Khorni (also called Khoron or Khoronk) in the Armenian province of Taron or Turuberan . Some sources call Movses Taronatsi ('of Taron'). However, Malkhasyants contends that if Movses had been born in Khorni, he would have been known as Movses Khornetsi or Khoronatsi. Malkhasyants instead proposed as Khorenatsi's birthplace

1998-625: The Bagratuni family" then these events should have been central theme of his history; the skilful handling of which brought the Bagratid pre-eminence. ... The ecclesiastical interests do not point to the eighth century. There is no echo of the Chalcedonian controversy which engaged the Armenians from 451 to 641 when the ecclesiastical unity formulated by the council of Theodosiopolis was renounced. Gagik Sargsyan , an Armenian scholar of

2072-459: The Classics and a leading biographer of Khorenatsi, also criticized Thomson for his "anachronistic hypercriticism" and for stubbornly rehashing and "even exaggerating the statements once put forward" by the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century scholars, particularly Grigor Khalatiants (1858–1912). Sargsyan noted that Thomson, in condemning Khorenatsi's failure to mention his sources, ignored

2146-748: The Council of Ephesus, when Mashtots and Sahak were correcting the Classical Armenian translation of the Bible according to the Koine Greek original, or translating it into Armenian a second time, they decided to send Movses and several of their other students to Alexandria , Egypt —one of the great centers of learning in the world at the time—to master Hellenic learning and the literary arts. The students left Armenia sometime between 432 and 435. First they went to Edessa where they studied at

2220-455: The Gahnamak of the 4th century preserved in "The Deeds of Nerses", during the reign of king Arsaces II (Arshak II) (c.350–368) the number of the Armenian aristocratic houses reached 400. However the author of "The Deeds" mentions the family names of only 167 lords, 13 of whom did not have a throne. The author himself explains that he is incapable of listing all of them. Armenian historian of

2294-489: The Meliks of Syunik/Karabagh. Later beys under Fuad Ist and Faruk IInd of Egypt, also bey & consul of Nader Shah of Iran. Incomplete list: (15th–19th centuries) Incomplete list: Many Armenian aristocratic families perished during wars with foreign invaders, notably Arabs and Turks . The latter quickly realized that the Armenian state was based on the national aristocracy and thus adopted policies of annihilation of

Armenian nobility - Misplaced Pages Continue

2368-459: The Persians, Movses went into hiding in a village near Vagharshapat and lived in relative seclusion for several decades. Gyut, Catholicos of All Armenians (461–471), one day met Movses while traveling through the area and, unaware of his true identity, invited him to supper with several of his students. Movses was initially silent, but after Gyut's students encouraged him to speak, Movses made

2442-544: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 210743695 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:53:17 GMT Movses Khorenatsi Movses Khorenatsi ( c. 410–490s AD; Armenian : Մովսէս Խորենացի , pronounced [mɔvˈsɛs χɔɾɛnɑˈtsʰi] ) was a prominent Armenian historian from late antiquity and

2516-457: The author of the History of the Armenians . Movses's History of the Armenians was the first attempt at a universal history of Armenia and remains the only known general account of early Armenian history. It traces Armenian history from its origins to the fifth century, during which Movses claimed to have lived. His history had an enormous impact on Armenian historiography and was used and quoted extensively by later medieval Armenian authors. He

2590-587: The behest of Prince Sahak of the Bagratuni dynasty . He is recognized by the Armenian Apostolic Church as one of the Holy Translators . The exact time period during which Movses lived and wrote has been the subject of some debate among scholars since the nineteenth century, with some scholars dating him to the seventh to ninth centuries rather than the fifth. Movses gives autobiographical details about himself in his History of

2664-481: The conclusions of the scholars of the hypercritical school and placed Khorenatsi back in the fifth century. Additionally, several of Khorenatsi's claims and references have been proven by contemporary ethnographic and archaeological research. During the second half of the twentieth century, the arguments made by the hypercritical school were revived by a number of scholars in Western academia. Robert W. Thomson ,

2738-581: The dispute over Khorenatsi's dating continued and that "no final agreement on this subject has yet been reached" at the time. Almost immediately, Thomson's arguments were criticized and challenged by a host of scholars both in and outside Armenia. Vrej Nersessian , the curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library , took issue with many of Thomson's characterizations, including his later dating of

2812-552: The equivalent of "mister" in modern Armenian. In late mediaeval Armenia and in the new age a variety of nobility titles existed in different nahang s (provinces) of the country. For example, in Artsakh of the Khamsa period (i.e. period of "five principalities") the title of ishkhan (prince) was used in its local equivalent – that of melik (a 'devaluated' Arabic word for king). Below melik – or sometimes in parallel with it –

2886-408: The evolution of the term nakharar . Initially this term referred to the hereditary governors of the Armenian provinces and was used with the meaning of "ruler" and "governor". The same title could mean a particularly honorable service ( nakhararutyun , nakharardom) at the Armenian royal court. Examples of such heritable services or nakharardoms are aspetutyun (coronation, which traditionally belonged to

2960-471: The fact that "an antique or medieval author may have had his own rules of mentioning the sources distinct from the rules of modern scientific ethics". Thomson's allegation of Khorenatsi's plagiarism and supposed distortion of sources was also countered by scholars who contended that Thomson was "treating a medieval author with the standards" of twentieth-century historiography and pointed out that numerous classical historians, Greek and Roman alike, engaged in

3034-544: The fact that knights themselves – called dziavor i hetzelvor – did not always originate from paron s. Some other features also underwent changes. For example, whereas the salutation for the noblemen in Great Armenia was tiar or ter , in Cilician Armenia a new form of salutation was added to these, namely paron . The latter became the most popular form of greeting and gradually changed its meaning to

Armenian nobility - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-412: The families based on the criteria of honor, virtue and esteem. The difference between Gahnamak and Zoranamak were in the listing criteria that were determining the esteem of the noble family. Zoranamak was based on the military strength of the houses, i.e. the number of possessed cavalry and infantry, responsibility in defending the northern, eastern, southern and western borders of Armenia, as well as

3182-472: The family etc. – did the king had the right to make some changes in the Gahnamak . The sequence and classification of Armenian lords' thrones had been defined and observed from the ancient times. According to Khorenatsi, the first actual listing of lords in the shape of Gahnamak was Armenian King Vologases I (Vagharsh I) . According to the recorded sources, the classification of Armenian lords' thrones in

3256-420: The first part of Patmutyun Hayots , or History of the Armenians : "For even though we are small and very limited in numbers and have been conquered many times by foreign kingdoms, yet too, many acts of bravery have been performed in our land, worthy of being written and remembered, but of which no one has bothered to write down." His work is a first historical record that covered the whole history of Armenia from

3330-571: The form of Gahnamak existed throughout the reign of Arshakuni (Arsacid) dynasty (1st–5th centuries). The same system was continued during the Marzpanian period in the history of Armenia (5th–7th centuries), i.e. during the supremacy of the Sasanian kings of Persia . There are significant discrepancies and inaccuracies in the data of Gahnamak s of different centuries regarding the number of princely houses and degrees of their thrones. According to

3404-557: The former holder of the chair in Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the translator of several classical Armenian works, became the most vocal critic of Khorenatsi with the 1978 publication of his English translation of History of the Armenians . Thomson labeled Khorenatsi an "audacious, and mendacious, faker" and "a mystifier of the first order". He wrote that Khorenatsi's account contained various anachronisms and inventions. In 2000, historian Nina Garsoïan wrote that

3478-436: The honor and esteem of the noble houses. The latter, most probably was fixed in Gahnamak s and Zoranamak s. Gahnamak ( Armenian : Գահնամակ , literally: "throne registrar") – was an official state document, list of places and thrones ( bardz ) that the Armenian princes and nakharars were occupying at the royal court of Armenia. The throne of the prince or nakharar was defined by his economic or military strength (according to

3552-477: The house of Bagratuni ), sparapetutyun (commander-in-chief of the Armenian army, which traditionally belonged to the house of Mamikonean ), hazarapetutyun (chancellery and taxation, which were inheritably managed by the houses of Gnuni and Amatuni ), and malhazutyun (royal guard that was traditionally organized and headed to the house of Khorkhoruni ). However, in the course of hereditary consolidation of gavar s (provinces) or royal court services by noble houses,

3626-416: The king's death and if there was no inheriting sepuh (crown prince), it was the metz ishkhan who would temporarily take the responsibilities and perform the duties of the king until the issues of succession to the throne are resolved. In reality, however, the successions to the throne would be arranged in advance or would be resolved in the course of feuds and internal struggle. Thus, the social pyramid of

3700-495: The king. Bdeshkh s had their own armies, taxation and duties system, and could even produce their own coins. The third layer of the Armenian aristocracy after the king and the bdeshkhs was composed by ishkhan s, i.e. princes. The term ishkhan derives from ancient Aryan root xshatriya (warrior-ruler). An ishkhan normally would have a hereditary estate known as hayreniq and residence caste – dastakert . Armenian princely houses (or clans) were headed by tanuter . By its meaning

3774-464: The late 490s  CE . Three possible early references to Movses in other sources are usually identified. The first one is in Ghazar Parpetsi 's History of the Armenians (about 495 or 500 A.D.), where the author details the persecution of several notable Armenian individuals, including the "blessed Movses the philosopher", identified by some scholars as Movses Khorenatsi. The second one

SECTION 50

#1732780397714

3848-543: The local libraries. Then they moved towards Jerusalem and Alexandria. After studying in Alexandria for seven years, Movses and his classmates returned to Armenia, only to find that Mesrop and Sahak had died. Movses expressed his grief in a lament at the end of History of the Armenians : While they [Mesrop and Sahak] awaited our return to celebrate their student's accomplishments [i.e., Movses'], we hastened from Byzantium , expecting that we would be dancing and singing at

3922-524: The modern criticism of Khorenatsi to the misinterpretation of interpolations into the work from later times. Today, Movses Khorenatsi's work is recognized as an important source for the research of Urartian and early Armenian history. It was Movses Khorenatsi's account of the ancient city of Van with its cuneiform inscriptions which lead the Société Asiatique of Paris to finance the expedition of Friedrich Eduard Schulz , who there discovered

3996-419: The name Bagarat probably is of Indo-European origin. It is remarkable that Prince Bagratuni himself rejected Khorenatsi's version of the origins of his family. Exotic descents were in vogue among the early medieval Armenian aristocratic families. However, there is no evidence supporting any of these claims of descent. The nobility always played an important role in Armenian society. This is evidenced through

4070-399: The nobility of Great Armenia includes the following layers: This division, however, reflects the specific tradition of Great Armenia in its early period in history. Naturally, in time the social structure of nobility underwent changes based on the specifics of Armenian territories, historical era, and social relations. For example, in medieval times the names and composition of the nobility of

4144-447: The number of Armenian principalities was 118. Armenian historians Agathangelos , Pavstos Buzand, Yeghishe , Lazar Parbetsi, Movses Khorenatsi, Sebeos and others also provided numerous data and information about Armenian princely houses and lords. However, the Gahnamak s and lists of nakharar s (princely houses), based on these data and information, remain incomplete. The Armenian nobility were internally divided. The social pyramid of

4218-578: The offspring of the Armenian noble house of Artzruni became influential grandees at the Georgian court. The Georgian branch of the Armenian noble family of Bagratuni was enthroned as Bagrationi and became the reigning house in Georgia. An entire line of noblemen of Armenian descent reigned in Byzantium . As a result of dynastic marriages, the descendants of the Armenian royal house of Lusignan (Lusinian),

4292-588: The older Indo-European word "yazata", meaning "the divine one", "offspring of gods", "the one who deserves to be worshipped". Armenian noble clans traced their origins either back to the gods of the old Armenian religion or to the heroes and patriarchs of the Armenian people or the origins of non-Armenian families. For example, the noble houses of Vahevuni and Mehnuni were believed to be offspring of Vahagn and Mihr , ancient Armenian deities of fire and war, and heavenly light and justice respectively. The House of Artzruni traced its origins to Sanasar, son of Mher from

4366-473: The potential of the Armenian nobility. During this period the noble houses of Madatian (Madatov), Lazarian (Lazarev), Beybutian (Beybutov), Pirumyan (Pirumov), Loris-Melikian (Loris-Melikov) emerged. The aristocratic tradition in Armenia suffered another blow during the Bolshevik regime, when the nobility was dissolved as a social class and the noblemen underwent systematic oppression. Many representatives of

4440-509: The royal court or the nation. Some Armenian Christian historians tend to derive certain Armenian noble houses from Mesopotamian or other roots. For example, in his History of Armenia , Movses Khorenatsi traces the family origins of his sponsor prince Sahak Bagratuni to non-Armenian roots. However, the historical sources prove the existence of the Bagratuni family in the oldest period of Armenian history and speak of them as aboriginal Armenians. The linguistic analysis also maintains that

4514-534: The same practice. Aram Topchyan, then a research fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem of Armenian Studies, agreed and noted that it was odd that Thomson would fault Khorenatsi for failing to mention his sources because this was an accepted practice among all classical historians. Historian Albert Stepanyan notes that "some skepticism remains regarding the person and work of Khorenatsi", but he affirms Khorenatsi's fifth-century dating and attributes

SECTION 60

#1732780397714

4588-482: The semi-dependent princes (meliks) of Karabakh-Artsakh, also known as melikdoms of Khamsa (from Arabic word meaning "five principalities). These principalities preserved their status until the annexation of eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire. The Russian emperors either accepted the noble titles of the Armenian aristocracy or themselves elevated prominent representatives of Armenian origin in an effort to use

4662-451: The seventh to ninth centuries. Stepan Malkhasyants, an Armenian philologist and expert of Classical Armenian literature, likened this early critical period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries to a "competition", whereby one scholar attempted to outperform the other in their criticism of Khorenatsi. In the early decades of the twentieth century, scholars such as F. C. Conybeare , Manuk Abeghian , and Malkhasyants rejected

4736-517: The size of the troops that the noble houses were placing under the command of the king of Armenia in times of military campaigns. Unlike Zoranamak , Gahnamak listed the noble houses based on the criteria of political and economic importance of the houses, size of their estates, their wealth, as well as their connections and influence over the royal courts. Two other notions of the Armenian nobility related to Gahnamak and Zoranamak are those of bardz and pativ . Bardz literally means "cushion". It

4810-407: The strongest members of the clans and tribes, who had become renowned for their strength, intelligence, and deeds. Thus, gradually the upper class of the Armenian society came into existence, namely that of the azat s, also known as aznvakan s or aznavur s. Translated from contemporary Armenian the word azat literally means "one who is free", a "freeman." However, this term is likely derived from

4884-425: The term nakharar has changed its original meaning and gradually transformed into a generic equivalent of "aristocrat", "nobleman". Accordingly, the aristocratic families started to be called nakharar houses or nakharardoms. Along with this analysis, there is another interpretation of term nakharar, which is based on Armenian nakh and arar , i.e. "the first created" or "the first borne". The meaning of term nakharar

4958-762: The traditions of the Armenian nobility. In October 1992 the Union of the Armenian Noblemen (UAN) was created and registered in Armenia . On 27 July 2012, another nobility association – the Meliq Union – was registered by the Ministry of Justice of Armenia . Both associations are registered as a public non-governmental organization. Together, these nobility association have around 450 members representing aristocratic houses of Armenia. Membership in these unions

5032-473: The village of Khoreay ( Խորեայ ) in the Haband district of the province of Syunik , which is mentioned by the thirteenth-century historian Stepanos Orbelian . According to this view, the name Khoreay developed from the earlier unattested form Khorean . Accepting Khorenatsi's claimed fifth-century dating, Malkhasyants proposes 410 as the approximate year of his birth, arguing that he probably would have been

5106-441: The word tun (house) is very close to tohm (clan). Accordingly, tanuter meant "houselord" or "lord of the clan". Organizationally, the Armenian nobility was headed by the metz ishkhan ("great ishkhan ") or ishkhanats ishkhan (" ishkhan of ishkhan s") in Armenian, who in some historical chronicles is also called metzametz . He was the marshal of Armenian nobility and had special privileges and duties. For example, in case of

5180-410: The writing and his contention that Khorenatsi was merely an apologist work for the princely Bagratuni dynasty: If so, how does one explain then Moses's complete preoccupation with the events preceding A.D. 440 and his silence regarding the events leading up the Arab incursions and occupation of Armenia between 640–642? Moreover, if the definite purpose of the History was for "boosting the reputation of

5254-466: Was also the crown prince and was called avag sepuh , had a particular role. In the case of king's death the avag sepuh automatically would inherit the crown, unless there were other prior arrangements. The second layer in the social division of the Armenian nobility was occupied by bdeshkh s . The four bdeshkh s were rulers of large borderland provinces of historical Greater Armenia. They were de facto viceroys and by their privileges were very close to

5328-425: Was evolving in parallel with consolidation of the noble houses' hereditary rights over counties of Great Armenia. For example, the county of Great Albak was traditionally inherited by the noble house of Artzruni , county of Taron by the house of Slkuni, and the county of Rshtuniq by the house of Rshtuni . Even prior to this consolidation the traditional aristocratic emblems and coat-of-arms emerge. The latter often

5402-401: Was the seat that was occupied by the head of the noble house at the royal table, be it during council or during festivities. The word bardz derives from these cushions on which the lords of houses were seated on special occasions. Bardz – literally cushioned seats at the royal table but more broadly the actual status at the royal court – were distributed on the basis of pativ , i.e. literally

5476-734: Was the title of yuzbashi (from the Turkish officer rank, literally "lord of the hundred" warriors). With the annexation of eastern Armenia – i.e. Karabakh, Yerevan, Nakhichevan and Kars provinces – into the Russian Empire, the titles, traditions and social institutions of the Russian nobility become dominant among the Armenian aristocrats as they were integrated into the imperial nobility Russian style. Family name ( gavar -county, ashxarh -province) Incomplete list: Incomplete list: Incomplete list: Including Melik-Vardavantsi (Tutundjian de Vartavan, Tutundjian) from Vardavan[K], Baghk. A branch of

#713286