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50-577: An inscription found in Oltu's castle has been dated to the 7th century A.D.(see below), but the settlement is known to have been established much earlier. The city-fortress had once belonged to the Mamikonian nakharars and later passed into the hands of the Bagratunis . Administratively, it was found within the borders of the region of Vok'aghe in the province of Tayk . The first mention of Oltu as

100-414: A census in 1897 showing that the district of Oltu, including the town, had 31,519 inhabitants of whom 20,719 were Turks (65.7%), 3,505 Kurds (11.1%), 3,125 Armenians (9.9%), 2,704 Greeks (8.6%) and 1,038 Russians (3.3%). In 1897, the town of Oltu had a population of 2,373, which included an Armenian -speaking plurality, and significant Russian and Turkish -speaking minorities. In 1914, the town of Oltu had

150-820: A dynasty ruling one of the Anatolian beyliks of the Seljuk Empire , founded after the Battle of Manzikert (1071) and centered on Erzurum . The Saltukids ruled between 1071 and 1202. The beylik was founded by Emir Saltuk, one of the Turkmen commanders of the Great Seljuk Alp Arslan . The beylik fought frequently against the Georgian Kingdom for hegemony of the Kars region. The center of

200-638: A failed uprising against their brother, King Chenbakur. The Parthian king settled the two brothers and their household in Armenia, where they founded the Mamikonian clan. Another 5th-century Armenian historian, Pavstos Buzand , also mentions the reputed Chinese/ Chen origin of the Mamikonians. In his History of Armenia , he twice mentions that the Mamikonians descended from the royal house of Chenk’ /China and as such were not inferior to

250-689: A fortified settlement is in the 9th century when the Georgian Bagratids occupied this region. After the death of the Iberian Kuropalates David in 1000, the troops of Emperor Basil II occupied the castles and towns in the region of Tao-Tayk‛, which included Oltu. In the following centuries, Oltu successively passed into the control of the Seljuk Turks , the Mongols and Turkmen tribes. The Ottomans conquered Olti from

300-429: A great Armenian rebellion against their Sasanian overlords, provoked by Yazdegerd II 's attempts to impose Zoroastrianism on Armenia and other outrages. The rebellion was opposed by a party of pro-Persian Armenian nobles led by marzpan Vasak Siwni . Although Vardan and many other leading Armenian noblemen died at the Battle of Avarayr in 451, the continued insurrection led by Vardan's nephew Vahan Mamikonian and

350-525: A husband among the Mamluk nobility. Mama Hatun built an impressive caravanserai in the town of Tercan , where her mausoleum also stands. Tercan itself used to be called "Mamahatun", and is sometimes still called as such locally. At one point, the son of Muhammad b. Saltuq II offered to convert to Christianity in order to marry the Georgian Queen Tamar . The name of the ruling dynasty of

400-466: A non-Mamikonian noble, Smbat Saharuni . On this event, the family leadership passed to Mushegh's brother, Manuel Mamikonian , who had formerly been kept as a hostage in Persia. The Mamikonians at once broke into insurrection and routed Varazdat and Saharuni at Karin . Varazdat fled abroad and Manuel installed the two underage sons of Pap, Vagharshak (Vologases) and Arshak as kings of Armenia under

450-498: A population of 3,258, two thirds of whom were Armenians , with the remainder consisting of Turks , Russians , and Roma people among others. Oltu is situated in the Oltu Brook Valley, a tributary of the Çoruh River , in the northeastern part of Turkey . Outside the valley the topography is mountainous, with ample mountain forests. The highest hills are Akdağ of 3,030 m and Kırdağ of 2,000 m. Annual average temperature

500-519: Is 10.2 °C. Oltu is famous for its Oltu stone or Oltu gemstone, known as black amber with dull-bright black color and carved to produce jewelry, rosary beads, key-chains, pipes and boxes. There are 72 neighbourhoods in Oltu District: Mamikonian Mamikonian , or Mamikonean ( Old Armenian : Մամիկոնեան , reformed orthography : Մամիկոնյան , Western Armenian pronunciation: Mamigonian ),

550-721: Is known was a certain Vache Mamikonian ( fl. 330–339). According to Pavstos Buzand, Vache Mamikonian, son of Artavazd and sparapet of Armenia, was ordered by King Khosrov III to exterminate two feuding noble families, the Manavazians and the Ordunis. Vache also successfully defended Armenia against Sanesan , the invading king of the Maskuts , slaying the latter in a battle near Oshakan Fortress and receiving new holdings as reward. He later fell in battle against

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600-487: Is supposed to complete in 2021, and the church will be converted into a library. In the village of Gaziler there is a 12th-century Saltukid castle with a small Ottoman mosque built in 1784. In the late 19th century the district of Oltu was mainly Turkish (65% in 1897) while the small town of Oltu was mixed (predominantly Armenian). The district became part of the Russian Empire in 1878. The Russian authorities held

650-570: The Arab conquest of Armenia in the late 7th century, especially relative to their great rivals, the Bagratunis (Bagratids), who were generally favored by the Arabs. Several Mamikonian nobles served as presiding princes of Armenia under Arab rule, but the house lost its traditional office of sparapet to the Bagratunis in the 8th century. Grigor Mamikonian led a rebellion against Arab rule but

700-581: The Arsacid rulers of Armenia. Although it seems that the legend of Mamikonian origins, even if untrue, does indeed concern China, more recent scholarship suggests that Chenk’ is to be identified either with the Tzans , a Kartvelian tribe in the southern Caucasus , or with a Central Asian group living near the Syr Darya river. Nicholas Adontz believed the legend to be "a confusion, prompted by

750-684: The Bagratunis claimed Davidic descent and the Artsrunis claimed royal Assyrian ancestry. The later medieval Armenian author Vardan Areveltsi mentions that the Chenk’ live in the Caucasus near Derbend . One scholar argued in the 1920s that the Chenk’ were a Turkic group that lived by the Syr Darya. The Mamikonians feature prominently in the works of most of the classical Armenian historians. Pavstos Buzand speaks highly favorably of

800-605: The Early Middle Ages is quite obscure. In the period between 655 and 750 they are not documented at all. What follows below is their reconstructed genealogy between the 5th and 7th centuries. The necropolis of the Mamikonian family was at the 4th-century Saint Karapet Monastery (also known as the monastery of Glak) in the mountains directly northwest of the plain of Mush in Taron. Saltukid The Saltukids or Saltuqids ( Modern Turkish : Saltuklu Beyliği ) were

850-545: The Georgian lands. The latter-day Georgian feudal houses of the Liparitids-Orbeliani and Tumanishvili are sometimes surmised to have been descended from those princes. Several scholars—most notably Cyril Toumanoff and Nicholas Adontz —have suggested a Mamikonian origin for a number of leading Byzantine families and individuals, beginning with the emperor Philippikos Bardanes in the early-8th century,

900-680: The partition of Armenia between the Sasanians and the Romans. Pavstos writes that Manuel was succeeded by his son Artashir as sparapet . Hamazasp Mamikonian is recorded as the family patriarch in 393. He married Sahakanoysh, daughter of Patriarch Isaac the Great . She was a descendant of the Arsacid kings and Saint Gregory the Illuminator . Through this marriage, the Mamikonians gained

950-582: The Armenian regions of Tayk , Taron , Sasun , and Bagrevand , among others. The Mamikonians had a reputation as supporters of the Roman (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. The origin of

1000-551: The Bagratunis. One Kurdik Mamikonian was recorded as ruling Sasun c. 800, where the Surb Karapet Monastery and family seat was. Half a century later, Grigor Mamikonian lost Bagrevand to the Muslims, reconquered it in the early 860s and then lost it to the Bagratunis, permanently. After that, the Mamikonians pass out of history. After their disastrous uprising of 774–775, some of the Mamikonian princes moved to

1050-705: The Georgians at Ani, but was defeated. He sent a daughter to marry Kilij Arslan II, but she was captured by the Danishmendid Yağıbasan and married off to his nephew. The Saltukid dynasty is also notable for having a woman, Melike Mama Hatun , sister of Nasiruddin Muhammed , directly administering its realm for an estimated nine years, between 1191 and 1200. She was later dethroned by the Beys and replaced by her son Malik-Shah once she had started searching for

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1100-657: The Georgians in the sixteenth century. In the summer of 1829, the Russian Empire took control of the region, but ultimately relinquished it to the Ottomans upon the conclusion of peace. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, Oltu ( Russian : Олты ) was incorporated into the Russian Empire and made the center of the Olti Okrug of the militarily administered Kars Oblast . The Olti Okrug along with

1150-510: The Mamikonians is shrouded in the mists of antiquity. Movses Khorenatsi in his History of Armenia (traditionally dated to the 5th century) claims that in the year of the death of Ardashir I (i.e., 242) a nobleman of Chen ( Old Armenian : Ճեն , plural Ճենք , Chenk’ , thought to refer to China ) origin named Mamgon fled to the Persian court after being sentenced to death by Arbok Chen-bakur, his foster brother (or half-brother) and

1200-459: The Persian side, including Vasak's renegade brother Vahan Mamikonian. Vasak was later flayed alive after being lured to Persia for peace negotiations together with Arshak II. Shapur laid waste to Armenia and installed Meruzhan Artsruni and Vahan Mamikonian as governors (according to Pavstos, Vahan was later killed by his own son, Samuel). Vasak was succeeded as sparapet by his son Mushegh I Mamikonian , who restored Arshak's heir, Pap , to

1250-535: The Persians and was succeeded as sparapet by his son Artavazd, who was a child at the time, since "no other adult could be found in that clan." This episode and others in Pavstos' History illustrate the nature of the office of sparapet as the exclusive and hereditary possession of the Mamikonian clan. The family reappears in chronicles in 355, during the reign of Arshak (Arsaces) II . At that point

1300-574: The Saltukid beylik was subsequently annexed by the Sultanate of Rum. During 30 years after this conquest, the region of Erzurum was then ruled by the two Seljuq princes Tughril ibn Kılıç Arslan II and his son Jahan Shah bin Tughril as an appanage, before being incorporated into the Sultanate of Rum under Kay Qubadh I in 627/1230. The beys of Saltuk left important works of architecture such as

1350-586: The beylik should not be confused with that of Sarı Saltuk , a Turkish mystic and saint ; who is of later date, more associated with western Anatolia and the Balkans (especially Dobruja ), and to whom the epic Saltuknâme is dedicated. The last ruler of the Saltukids, Alaeddin Muhammed, was dethroned and imprisoned by the Sultan of Rum Süleymanshah II during Süleymanshah's Georgian rout in 1202, and

1400-570: The beylik, Erzurum, was briefly re-occupied by the Byzantine Empire between 1077 and 1079, and was besieged by the Georgian King Giorgi III in 1184. It comprised the entirety of present-day Erzurum and Bayburt provinces, lands east of Erzincan , most of Kars , and lands north of Ağrı and Muş provinces during its height. The first known Saltukid is Ali, who was ruler of Erzurum in 1103. His son and successor

1450-472: The country's subjugation by the Persians, the Mamikonians often sided with the Eastern Roman Empire , with many family members entering Byzantine service, most notably Vardan II Mamikonian in the late 6th century after his failed revolt against Persia. Vardan's failed revolt marked the beginning of the decline of the Mamikonian dynasty in Armenia. The power of the Mamikonians waned further with

1500-732: The daughter of Mushegh VI, the last living Mamikonian prince. This marriage created the Kaysite dynasty of Arminiya centered in Manzikert, the most powerful Muslim Arab emirate in the Armenian Highlands region, and thus ending the existence of the Mamikonian line in Armenia. Only secondary lines of the family survived thereafter, both in Transcaucasia and in Byzantium. Even in their homeland of Tayk, they were succeeded by

1550-627: The death of Peroz I resulted in the restoration of Armenian autonomy and religious rights with the Treaty of Nvarsak (484). Vahan was confirmed as sparapet by the Persians and appointed marzpan of Armenia in 485. Vardan Mamikonian, immortalized by the histories of Ghazar Parpetsi and Elishe , is venerated as a saint by the Armenian Church and commemorated by many churches in Armenia and an equestrian statue in Yerevan . After

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1600-435: The death of the last hereditary Patriarch of Armenia , Isaac in ca. 428, when they inherited many Church lands through the marriage of his only daughter to Hamazasp Mamikonian. The family first appears in the early 4th century, although Toumanoff asserts that Mancaeus, who defended Tigranocerta against the Romans in 69 BC, was a member of the dynasty. The first Mamikonian lord, or nakharar , about whom anything certain

1650-446: The dynasty, while Movses Khorenatsi is noticeably hostile to them and minimizes their role. Under the late Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia , the family occupied a preeminent position among the Armenian noble houses: they were hereditary commanders-in-chief of the army ( sparapet ) and royal tutors ( dayeak ) and controlled large domains, including most of Taron and Tayk . The Mamikonians later increased their property further with

1700-646: The entire Kars Oblast were ceded by the Russian SFSR to the Ottoman Empire by virtue of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. After a brief reincorporation, Olti was again relinquished by the Ottomans in their 1919 withdrawal from the Kars Oblast as per the terms of the Armistice of Mudros . The First Republic of Armenia with British support expanded to include the self-governing Kars Oblast in

1750-582: The entire Olti Okrug, setting the stage for the Turkish–Armenian War —as a result of which, the Kars Oblast including Oltu was brought back under Turkish control in the midst of the Turkish War of National Liberation . The annexation was confirmed by the Treaty of Kars . The primary historical sight in Oltu is the castle, which covers the top of a rocky outcrop. Its walls are fortified by large round towers and salients, including an imposing talus at

1800-686: The family chief was sparapet Vasak Mamikonian . When Arshak II sided with the Sasanian Empire against the Eastern Roman Empire, Vasak raided Roman lands for six years. After Arshak switched to the Roman side against Persia, Vasak Mamikonian commanded the Armenian defense, winning a series of victories against Shapur II's forces, although he was unable to capture the rebellious Armenian nobleman Meruzhan Artsruni . After years of warfare, multiple other Armenian lords defected to

1850-534: The family's power came in the mid-770s with the defeat and death of Mushegh VI Mamikonian at the Battle of Bagrevand against the Abbasids . After the battle, Mushegh's two sons took refuge in Vaspurakan and were murdered by Meruzhan II Artsruni. Mushegh's daughter was married off to Djahap al-Qais, a tribal chief who settled in Armenia and seized part of the former Mamikonian lands and legalized it by marrying

1900-461: The formal regency of their mother, Zarmandukht . Manuel also married his daughter Vardandukht to Arshak III and accepted the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire, as Roman power had effectively ended in the East following the defeat at Adrianople in 378. Armenia was to retain its autonomy but be overseen by a marzpan (governor) appointed by the Persian king. Manuel's death c. 385 precipitated

1950-455: The general and usurper Artabasdos in the mid-8th century, the families of men like Alexios Mosele or Empress Theodora and her brothers Bardas and Petronas in the 9th century, and the Phokas family in the 10th century. However, as the Armenian historian Nina Garsoïan comments, "[a]ttractive though it is, this thesis cannot be proven for want of sources". The history of Mamikonians in

2000-638: The king of Chenk’ , due to the scheming of a third brother and prince, Bghdokh. Chen-bakur demanded Mamgon's extradition from Ardashir's successor, Shapur I , who instead exiled the prince to Armenia, where he entered the service of the Armenian king Trdat and received land for him and his entourage to settle, founding the Mamikonian dynasty. A slightly different story is recorded in the Primary History traditionally attributed to Sebeos , according to which two noble brothers from Chenastan named Mamik and Konak, sons of Karnam, fled to Parthia after

2050-520: The love of exotic origins, between the ethnicon čen and that of the Georgian Čan-ians ( Tzanni ) or Lazi [...] who were settled in the neighbourhood of Tayk῾." He derives the dynasty's name from Georgian mama , meaning father, combined with the Armenian diminutive suffix -ik . This view is shared by Cyril Toumanoff , who describes the Mamikonians as the "immemorial dynasts of Tayk῾." Other Armenian dynasties also claimed foreign royal ancestry:

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2100-494: The southwest. A circuit wall once extended from the outcrop to protect a small adjoining settlement. The medieval fortress is the result of two major periods of construction between the 7th and the 11th centuries; major repairs were undertaken by the Turkish Corps of Engineers in 1977. Atop the north tower are the remains of a Georgian hexaconch church in which a fragment of a 7th-century “bilingual” Greek-Armenian inscription

2150-482: The throne c. 367/370 with the support of an imperial army sent by the emperor Valens . Mushegh drove the Persians out of Armenia and brutally punished the provinces that had revolted against the Arsacid monarchy, restoring the kingdom's former borders. Following Pap's murder in 374, Mushegh acted as regent for the new king Varazdat (Varasdates) . Varazdat attempted to free himself of Mamikonian tutelage by ordering Mushegh's murder and replacing him as sparapet with

2200-654: The wake of the power vacuum caused by the Russian Revolution , however, was prevented from occupying the western half of the Olti Okrug by the commander of the Black Sea, G.F. Milne , as he believed Armenia had already acquired more territory than they could handle. In September 1920, 3 months after Armenia had seized the strategic coal fields of Penek in the Olti Okrug from the self-governing Kurdish militias, Turkish forces led by Kazım Karabekir recaptured

2250-508: The western part of Taron centered on Ashtishat , as well as Bagrevand and Ekegheats (Acilisene). Hamazasp and Sahakanush's eldest child Vardan Mamikonian is revered for his leadership of the Armenian rebellion against Persia in 450/451 (called Vardanants’ paterazm in Armenian, meaning "the war of Vardan and his companions"). After Vardan became sparapet in 432, the Persians summoned him to Ctesiphon . Upon his return home in 450, Vardan repudiated Zoroastrianism and instigated

2300-551: Was Saltuk, who succeeded him sometime after 1123. Saltuk had a female relative, a daughter or sister, who married Shah-i- Armind of Akhlat , Sukman II . In 1132, Ali's son Izz al-Din Saltuk became malik . Izz al-Din was defeated captured in 1154 by Georgians, led by Dimitri I. He would be ransomed by Sökmen of the Artuqids, who later married a daughter of Izz al-Din. In 1161, Izz al-Din along with other Turkish allies besieged

2350-529: Was an Armenian aristocratic dynasty which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th centuries. They were the most notable noble house in Early Christian Armenia after the ruling Arsacid dynasty and held the hereditary positions of sparapet (supreme commander of the army) and dayeak (royal tutor), allowing them to play the role of kingmaker for the later Armenian kings. They ruled over extensive territories, including

2400-432: Was built in 1665 by Arslan Pasha together with his grave. It is a domed structure with a pencil minaret. Nearby is the 14th century Muslim tomb/ kümbet , of Misri Zunnun located. During the Russian rule (1878-1914) a new church was built. Some of its stones could have come from the medieval Bana Cathedral . It was partly ruined until in January 2019, District Governor Senol Turan announced to restore its structure. The project

2450-463: Was defeated and forced to flee to Byzantium in ca. 748. By 750, the Mamikonians had lost Taron, Khlat, and Mush to the Bagratunis. In the 770s, the family was led by Artavazd Mamikonian, then by Mushegh IV Mamikonian (+772) and by Samuel II. The latter married his daughter to Smbat VII Bagratuni , constable of Armenia. His grandson Ashot Msaker ("the Carnivorous") became forefather of the Bagratuni rulers of Armenia and Taron. The final death-blow to

2500-405: Was reused in the foundation. This Georgian church was built sometime between the 9th and 10th centuries. Inside the north tower is the tomb of a Muslim saint, Mişrî Zenūn. Late-antique and medieval churches as well as fortresses are located in the hills surrounding the Oltu-Penek valley at Cücürüs, Körolu, Olur, Kamhis, Sağoman, Olan, and nearby Kız. During the Ottoman period the Arslan Pasa Mosque

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