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47-860: Khamsa , also spelled Khamse or simply Khams means 'five' in Arabic. The principalities were ruled by meliks . The term melik ( Armenian : Մելիք ) meliq , from Arabic : ملك malik ('king'), designates an Armenian noble title in various Eastern Armenian lands. The principalities ruled by meliks became known in English academic literature as melikdom s or melikates. There were several Armenian melikates (dominions ruled by melik s) in various parts of historical Armenia: in Yerevan , Kars , Nakhichevan , Gegharkunik , Lori , Artsakh , Utik , Iranian Azerbaijan and Syunik . The Five Melikdoms were ruled by dynasties that represented branches of

94-527: A legacy defense system that remained from the times of the Kingdom of Artsakh . The relationship between meliks and their subordinates was that of a military commanding officer and junior officer, and not of feudal lord and a serf. Peasants were often allowed to own land, were free and owned property. The five Armenian principalities ( melikdoms ) in Karabakh were as follows: The Hasan-Jalalyans, who ruled

141-675: A lesser extent, Syunik were fully autonomous and held executive, legislative, judicial, military, and fiscal authority over their territories. They issued their own decrees, ruled on legal disputes and criminal cases and collected their own taxes, from which they paid tribute to the Iranian shah. They were often responsible for maintaining more than one fortress, called sghnakh s. They had their own military forces consisting of one to two thousand infantrymen, although more troops could be raised in emergencies. A melik had his own banner ( droshak ), commander ( zoravar ), and his subordinates,

188-510: A special edict. However, instability in Safavid Iran and Armenian frustration with Islamic dominance. in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, turned Karabakh into the epicenter of plans for an independent Armenian state. This state, centered on the semi-independent Armenian principalities of Artsakh and Syunik , would be allied with Georgia and both would be protected by fellow Christian Russia and European powers. Eventually

235-753: The Erivan Khanate , including those of the Aghamalians, Geghamians, Loris-Melikians, Arghutians, and so on. There were four semi-autonomous meliks in the Khanate of Ganja , who, according to Raffi, had good relations with the Khan. Further east, there was one melik each in Shaki , Shamakhi , and Baku. There were also meliks in Surmalu who claimed descent from the ancient noble house of Kamsarakan . From

282-898: The Holy See of Gandzasar of the Armenian Apostolic Church . The clerical branch of the family was especially important. In 1441, a top military commander from the Hasan-Jalalyans in the service of the Kara Koyunlu orchestrated the return of the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church from the Mediterranean town of Sis in Cilicia to its traditional location at Etchmadzin in Armenia. Shortly after

329-656: The Javanshir clan of the Afshar-Oghuz Turkic tribe , against the other Armenian meliks which led to the disintegration of the autonomous Armenian Melikdoms of Karabakh into the de facto independent Karabakh Khanate . Melik Shahnazar II was the first to accept Panah-Ali Khan's suzerainty as the first Khan of the Karabakh Khanate and provided the latter with the strategic fortress of Shushi. The region came under Russian control in 1806 during

376-912: The Late Middle Ages until the nineteenth century. The meliks represented some of the last remnants of the old Armenian nobility. The most prominent and powerful meliks were those of Karabagh ( Artsakh ) and Syunik , which ruled autonomous or semi-autonomous principalities known as melikdoms ( Armenian : մելիքություն , romanized :  melikut’yun ) under Iranian suzerainty. Meliks also existed in Yerevan , Nakhichevan , Sevan , Lori , Northwestern Persia , and other areas, although outside of Karabagh and Syunik most were merely hereditary leaders of local Armenian communities, not rulers of principalities. The meliks of Karabagh each had their troops and military fortifications known as sghnakh s. They ruled on legal disputes within their territory and collected tax. The meliks of Karabagh saw themselves as

423-700: The Principality of Khachen , were especially important and were considered the most senior of the Five Melikdoms. They symbolised the connection between patriarch Hayk , the eponymous progenitor of the Armenian people , considered as a great-grandson of Noah , and medieval monarchs that ruled Armenia in the Middle Ages. Hasan-Jalal traced his descent to the Aranshahik , a family that predated

470-676: The Russo-Persian War of 1804 to 1813 , and was formally annexed in 1813 following the signing of the Treaty of Gulistan . The Russian Empire recognized the sovereign status of the five Armenian princes in their domains by a charter of the Emperor Paul I dated 2 June 1799. In 1822, the Russian Empire abolished ethnic feudal formations, and the territory previously ruled by the Five Melikdoms subsequently became part of

517-797: The Soviet Union in the early 20th century, and the Karabakh movement in the late 20th century which led to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union , and the establishment of the Armenian Republic of Artsakh . The meliks of Karabakh inspired the historical novel David Bek (1882) by Raffi , the opera David Bek (1950) by Armen Tigranian and the novel Mkhitar Sparapet (1961) by Sero Khanzadyan . In 1944, David Bek

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564-483: The Armenian nobles of Karabagh and Syunik, many of whom had earlier been dispossessed by Timur . They were granted the title of melik and allowed broad autonomy. The meliks of Karabagh and Syunik retained their autonomous status under Safavid rule, although they were weakened as a result of the devastating Ottoman–Safavid wars in the sixteenth century. During the reign of Shah Abbas I ( r.  1588–1629 ),

611-654: The Beglarian, Israelian, Shahnazarian, Hasan-Jalalian , and Avanian families, respectively. The Khamsa melikdoms formed a league against their foreign enemies, but they also competed with each other. The melidom of Tsar was geographically in Karabagh but not a part of the Khamsa melikdoms' league. There were four important melikdoms in Syunik: Sisian (or Angeghakot), Ghapan (or Bekh), Tatev and Kashatagh . Sisian

658-580: The Caucasus, in return for the meliks' victories over the invading Ottoman Turks in the 1720s. However, the Armenian meliks were only able to maintain autonomous control over the region until the mid-18th century. The beginning of the end of the Khamsa Melikdoms of Karabakh came in the second half of the 18th century, when Melik Shahnazar II allied himself with the Khan , Panah Ali Khan of

705-584: The Great , to conquer Iranian Armenia with the help of the meliks. He did not succeed, but his activities contributed to Armenian elites seeing Russia as an ally and liberator of the Armenians. The collapse of Safavid power and the Russian invasion of Iran in 1722 raised Armenian hopes of liberation from Muslim rule. The meliks of Syunik and Karabagh raised a rebellion against the local Turkic tribal lords under

752-616: The Major Sghnakh and the Lesser Sghnakh. The Major Sghnakh was located in the melikdoms of Gulistan (Vardut), Jraberd and Khachen and was supported by the fortresses of Gulistan, Jraberd , Havkakhaghats, Ishkhanaberd, Kachaghakaberd and Levonaberd. The Lesser Sghnakh was located in the melikdoms of Varanda and Dizak, and was supported by the fortresses Shushi , Togh, and Goroz. Both the Lesser and Major Sghnakhs were parts of

799-576: The Safavids confirmed and increased the rights of the meliks and apparently raised new people to the status of melik. Succession of a new melik was confirmed by a decree of the shah, but was actually hereditary, with the eldest son or sometimes a younger brother of the melik succeeding him. The five Armenian melikdoms of Karabagh, known as the Khamsa melikdoms , were Gulistan, Jraberd, Varanda , Khachen, and Dizak . These five principalities were ruled by

846-552: The armies of Louis XIV of France , he tried to convince Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (1658–1716), Pope Innocent XII and the Emperor of Austria, Leopold I to liberate Armenia from a foreign yoke and to send large amounts of money to the armed forces of Karabakh Armenians . Unfortunately Ori died in 1711 before securing unified support for Armenian lands. Another prominent figure from Nagorno-Karabakh who worked to establish an independent Armenian entity in his homeland

893-463: The chiliarchs ( hazarapet s) and centurions ( haryurapet s or yuzbashi s). These officers were often members of the melik's family. Despite the name, the centurions or yuzbashi s were not literally the commanders of a hundred men, but rather vassals of the meliks, either hereditarily or by appointment, who controlled two or more villages and furnished a certain number of troops under his own banner. The meliks of Karabagh saw themselves as

940-540: The clergy, where he proposed accepting Catholicism in exchange for European protection. A delegation of meliks headed by the Catholicos set out for Rome, but the mission was abandoned after the Catholicos died on the journey. Only the young Israel Ori of the Haikazian family went on to Europe. Ori spent much of his life trying to convince a European ruler, first Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine and later Peter

987-487: The death penalty, which remained the sole right of the sardar. The melik also appointed the commander of the Armenian infantry units that served in the sardar's army. The Aghamalians' exact origin cannot be determined, but their high degree of authority and their high-level marriage alliances (for example, with the royal house of Georgia) strongly suggests a princely origin. After the Russian conquest of Karabagh in 1813,

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1034-680: The downfall of the autonomous Armenian melikdoms of Karabagh. There were also melikdoms in southern Georgia : in Lori , Aghstev and Pambaki. The Armenians of Tbilisi had their own melik from the Bebutian family. There were twelve melikdoms in Nakhichevan. South of the Aras River , there were meliks in Maku , Marand , Khoy , and Karadagh and Salmast . There were at least eleven meliks in

1081-462: The earlier Hasan-Jalalyan dynasty and were descendants of the medieval kings of Artsakh . After the erosion of united Armenian statehood under pressure from the Seljuk Empire and Mongols , the Five Melikdoms were the most independent of all analogous Armenian principalities and saw themselves as holding onto the last bastion of Armenian independence. The realm of the meliks in Karabakh

1128-446: The end of Mongol rule in Armenia, the old social structure of Armenia had been virtually destroyed and the great princely houses had mostly disappeared. Remnants of these princely houses survived in a few places, most notably in the mountainous and strategically important regions of Karabagh (part of historical Artsakh province) and Syunik , where they retained their autonomy. Old Armenian titles fell out of use and were replaced with

1175-518: The establishment of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia in the region. Hasan-Jalal's ancestry was "almost exclusively" Armenian according to historian Robert H. Hewsen . Much of Hasan-Jalal Dawla's family roots were entrenched in an intricate array of royal marriages with new and old Armenian nakharar families. Hasan-Jalal's grandfather was Hasan I (also known as Hasan the Great), a prince who ruled over

1222-586: The event, Grigor X Jalalbegiants (1443–1465), representing the clerical branch of the Hasan-Jalalyans, was enthroned as the Catholicos of All Armenians at Etchmadzin . The people of the principalities of Karabakh considered themselves direct descendants of the Kingdom of Armenia , and were recognized as such by foreign powers. The autonomous status of Armenian meliks in Karabakh was confirmed and re-confirmed by successive rulers of Persia. In 1603 Shah Abbas I recognized their special semi-independent status by

1269-557: The flexible term melik, which was used to refer to any of the remnants of the Armenian nobility, whether successors of the great princely houses or of the lower gentry ( azat s). Later, the term was used to refer to even lower layers of elites, such as municipal and village chiefs in charge of duties such as tax collection. Outside of Karabagh and Syunik, most people bearing the title of melik were merely hereditary leaders of local Armenian communities, rather than (semi-)autonomous rulers. According to historian Robert H. Hewsen , all of

1316-458: The gentry or local headmen and larger landowners who were raised to the status of melik. The meliks of Karabagh (Artsakh) and Syunik were the successors of the earlier Armenian lords of those regions, mainly of Syuni origin, who had maintained their autonomy following the Seljuk conquest of Armenia in the tenth century. The Armenian lords of Artsakh and part of Syunik were more or less united from

1363-418: The last bastion of Armenian independence in the region. After the conquest of Eastern Armenia by the Russian Empire, the meliks were generally not recognized as princes, but only as untitled nobles. Many of them, especially meliks from Karabagh, became Russian generals. The conquest of Armenia by successive foreign dynasties during the medieval period dealt severe blows to the traditional Armenian nobility . By

1410-584: The leadership of Avan Yuzbashi and Davit Bek , an Armenian from Georgia of possible melik extraction. The rebels were soon faced with an Ottoman invasion, which they resisted successfully in Syunik and Karabagh at least until the deaths of Davit and his successor Mkhitar Sparapet in 1728 and 1730. In 1735, Nader Khan Afshar drove the Ottomans out of the South Caucasus and was crowned Nader Shah

1457-483: The melik houses of Karabagh and probably most of those of Syunik were descended from branches of the Syuni dynasty . Besides the meliks of Karabagh, Syunik, Lori and Somkhiti , the other meliks of Eastern Armenia cannot be proven to have been of princely origin, although the highly influential Aghamalian meliks of Yerevan were almost certainly of princely extraction. The other, minor meliks may have been descendants of

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1504-605: The meliks agreed to pursue such an alliance. In 1678, Catholicos Hakob Jughayetsi (Jacob of Jugha, 1655–1680) called for a secret meeting in Echmiadzin to which he invited both meliks and clergy. He offered to lead a delegation to Europe, but died shortly after, largely causing the plan to be abandoned, but for the determination of one of the delegates, a young man, the son of Melik Haikazyan of Kashatag / Khnatsakh in Zankezur / Syunik. named Israel Ori , who had served in

1551-627: The meliks of Karabagh were reduced to untitled nobles with the word "melik" incorporated into their surnames. Save for a few exceptions, the meliks were generally not officially recognized as princes in the Russian Empire. Some meliks remained on their ancestral properties after the Russian conquest. The descendants of the meliks of Karabagh formed a large part of Russian Armenian "high society" in major cities such as Baku, Tbilisi, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Altogether, there were between 70 and 90 melikal houses in Eastern Armenia , mostly in

1598-492: The mid-seventeenth century until 1828, the Armenians of the province (or khanate) of Erivan were under the authority of the Aghamalian meliks of Yerevan (Erivan). Each mahal (district) of the province with a significant Armenian population had its own melik as a hereditary leader, who, along with the Armenian village headmen, answered to the melik of Yerevan. The melik of Yerevan was the most powerful non-religious leader in

1645-695: The most prominent name for the region controlled by the Five Armenian Melikdoms ("Mountainous" as opposed to the lowland steppes of the Karabakh region). It maintained a strong Armenian presence and identity up into the modern age. It became the scene of several ethnic conflicts with neighboring Azerbaijanis , including the establishment of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within Azerbaijan SSR under

1692-501: The movie was filmed and in 1978, Armenfilm in association with Mosfilm produced another movie about the efforts of Davit Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet called Huso Astgh (Star of Hope). Melik Мelik ( Armenian : մելիք , romanized :  melik’ , from Arabic : ملك , romanized :  malik , lit.   'king') was a hereditary Armenian noble title used in Eastern Armenia from

1739-593: The newly formed Elisabethpol Governorate , as part of the Elizavetpol , Jevanshir , Jebrail , and Shushi uezds ("counties"). Meliks preserved their rights and privileges after the rest of Eastern Armenia became part of the Russian Empire. Many of them became high-ranking military officers in the Imperial Russian Army . The name "Mountainous Karabakh" ( Russian : Наго́рный Караба́х , romanized :  Nagorny Karabakh ) came to become

1786-496: The next year. Nader reconfirmed the autonomy of the meliks of Karabagh and recognized Karabagh and Zangezur as semi-autonomous regions. After Nader's death in 1747, chaos beset Iran again, allowing the Muslim khanates to reassert their power in the Caucasus. During this time, Melik Shahnazar of Varanda allied himself with Panah Khan Javanshir , the chieftain of a Turkic tribe, against other Armenian meliks, which ultimately led to

1833-459: The northern half of Artsakh. In 1182, he stepped down as ruler of the region and entered monastery life at Dadivank , and divided his land into two: the southern half (comprising much of Khachen) went to his oldest son Vahtang II (also known as Tangik) and the northern half went to the youngest, Gregory "the Black." Vahtang II married Khorishah Zakarian, who was herself the daughter of Sargis Zakarian,

1880-640: The originator of the Zakarid line of Armenian princes in Georgia. When he married the daughter of the Arranshahik king of Dizak-Balk, Mamkan, Hasan-Jalal also inherited his father-in-law's lands. In medieval times, the Hasan-Jalalyans branched into two functionally separate but connected lines: landed princes who ruled the Melikdom of Khachen and clergymen who manned the throne of Catholicos of Aghvank at

1927-405: The province after the sardar (governor). He was appointed directly by the shah and on some occasions dealt with him directly. The meliks of Yerevan accumulated great wealth from their properties and the tribute they received from all the Armenian villages of the province. The Aghamalian meliks had full administrative, legislative and judicial powers over the Armenians under their authority save for

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1974-444: The provinces of Artsakh , Gardman , Syunik , Lori , Yerevan , Nakhichevan , Kashatagh , and Karadagh . Below is the incomplete list of some of the most prominent Armenian melik houses: (15th–19th centuries) The meliks of Karabagh and Syunik inspired the historical novel David Bek (1882) by Raffi , the opera David Bek (1950) by Armen Tigranian and the novel Mkhitar Sparapet (1961) by Sero Khanzadyan . In 1944,

2021-449: The saw themselves as the last bastion of Armenian independence in the region and sometimes claimed to speak on behalf of the entire Armenian people in their communications with foreign rulers. The meliks played an especially prominent role in Armenian political life from 1678 until the Russian annexation of Eastern Armenia in 1828. In 1678, Catholicos Hakob Jughayetsi called a secret meeting at Etchmiadzin with leading meliks and members of

2068-532: The tenth century under the Principality of Khachen . Khachen reached its peak in the thirteenth century under the Hasan-Jalalian family, although the principality was later broken up and weakened because of the attacks of foreign conquerors. In the mid-fifteenth century, the Qara Qoyunlu ruler Jahan Shah placed a number of territories along the northern frontier of his realm under the control of

2115-575: Was Movses Baghramian . Baghramian together with the Armenian patriot Joseph Emin (1726–1809), lobbied Karabakh's Armenian meliks to this same effect. In the early 18th century, Persia's Nader Shah took Karabakh out of control of the Ganja khans as punishment for their support of the Safavids , and placed it under his own control in which he granted the Armenian meliks supreme command over neighboring Armenian principalities as well as Muslim khans in

2162-430: Was almost always semi-independent and often fully independent. The meliks had their recruit armies headed by centurions, their own castles and fortresses. The military complexes that contained recruiting organizations, fortification systems, signal beacons, and logistical support were known as sghnakh s ( Armenian : սղնախ , romanized :  sġnax ). There were two large sghnakhs shared by all meliks of Karabakh -

2209-720: Was ruled by the Tangians, Tatev and Ghapan by branches of the Parsadanians, and Kashatagh by the Haykazians (from which branched off the Israelians of Jraberd). To the north, near Lake Sevan (Gökche), there were the minor melikdoms of Gegham and Gardman. These two were ruled by branches of the Shahnazarian (originally Shahanshah or Ulubekian) family which later took over Varanda. The meliks of Karabagh and, to

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