Mamikonian
Encyclopedia
Mamikonian, Mamikoneans, or Mamigonian was a noble family which dominated Armenia
n politics between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron
, Sasun, Bagrevand
and others. Their patron saint was Saint Yovhannes Karapet (John the Baptist
) whose monastery of the same name
(also known as Glak) they fiercely defended against the Sassanid invaders.
(5th century) claims that three centuries earlier two Chinese
noblemen, Mamik and Konak, rose against their half-brother, Chenbakur, the Emperor of Chenk, or China
. They were defeated and fled to the king of Parthia
who, braving the Emperor's demands to extradite the culprits, sent them to live in Armenia, where Mamik became the progenitor of the Mamikonians.
Another 5th-century Armenian historian, Faustus of Byzantium
, seconded the story. In his History of Armenia, he twice mentions that the Mamikonians descended from the Han Dynasty
of China and as such were not inferior to the Arshakid rulers of Armenia. This genealogical legend may have been part of the Mamikonians' political agenda, as it served to add prestige to their name. Although it echoes the Bagratids
' claim of David
ic descent and the Artsruni
's claim of the royal Assyria
n ancestry, some Armenian historians tended to interpret it as something more than a piece of genealogical mythology.http://rbedrosian.com/china.htm A theory from the 1920s postulated that the Chenk mentioned in the Armenian sources were not the Chinese but probably from a different ethnic group from Transoxania, such as the Tocharians
. Edward Gibbon
in his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
also believed that the founder of Mamikonian clan was not Chinese but merely from the territory of the Chinese Empire and ascribes a Scythian origin to Mamgon stating that at the time the borders of the Chinese Empire reached as far West as Sogdiana
.
Another reconstruction, similar to the previous ones but without references whatsoever to distant China, has that the family originally immigrated from Bactriana (present northern Afghanistan) under the reign of Tiridates II of Armenia, likely coinciding with the accession of the Sassanids in Iran.
Today, historians are generally of the opinion that the Mamikonians were probably descended from chieftains of the Tzans (Chanik - Ճանիք/Ճենիք - in medieval Armenian, Tzannoi in medieval Greek). The Tzans were a tribe that once inhabited a mountainous region to the south of Trebizond, also known as Chan (modern day Georgian
s and Laz
). They postulate that the tradition of the Chinese origin arose out of the similarity of the name Chanik to the Armenian word for China, Chen-k.
Recently, a Chinese historian introduce one theory about Chinese origin of the Mamikonians. According to his theory, the Mamikonians' ancestor is a relative of general Ma Chao
. This relative successfully escaped the purge of Cao Cao
on Ma family and fled to Persia, then to Armenia. In 2005, in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency journalists, Suri Mamikonian, vice-president of Friendship Association of Mamikonian family, said that his family name actually is the Ma surname of China, and his ancestors came from China. How ever Suri do not know exactly who his ancestor is.
The first known Mamikonid lord, or nakharar
, about whom anything certain is known was a certain Vatche Mamikonian (fl.
330-339). The family reappears in chronicles in 355
, when the bulk of their lands lay in Tayk
. At that point the family chief was Vassak Mamikonian
, a commander-in-chief (sparapet
) of Armenia. Later, the office of sparapet would become hereditary possession of the Mamikonians. Vassak Mamikonian was in charge of the Armenian defense against Persia but was eventually defeated through the treachery of Marujan Ardzruni (c. 367-368).
Following that defeat, Vassak's brother Vahan Mamikonian and multiple other feudal lords defected to the Persian side. The Emperor Valens
, however, interfered in Armenian affairs and had the office of sparapet bestowed on Vassak's son Mushegh Mamikonian in 370
. Four years later Varazdat
, a new king, confirmed Musel in office. The latter was subsequently assassinated on behest of Sembat Saharuni
who replaced him as sparapet of Armenia.
On this event, the family leadership passed to Mushegh's brother, Enmanuel Mamikonian, who had been formerly kept as a hostage in Persia. The Mamikonids at once broke into insurrection and routed Varazdat and Saharuni at Karin
. Enmanuel, together with his sons Hemaiak and Artches, took the king prisoner and put him in a fortress, whence Varazdat escaped abroad. Zarmandukht, the widow of Varazdat's predecessor, was then proclaimed queen. Enmanuel came to an agreement with the powerful Sassanids, pledging his loyalty in recompense for their respect of the Armenian autonomy and laws.
Upon the queen's demise in 384
, Enmanuel Mamikonian was proclaimed Regent of Armenia
pending the minority of her son Arsaces III and had the infant king married to his daughter Vardandukh. It was Enmanuel's death in 385
that precipitated the country's conquest by the Persians in 386-387.
. His wife is known to have been Sahakanoush, daughter of Saint Sahak the Great and descendant of the Arsacid kings. They had a son, Saint Vartan Mamikonian, who is revered as one of the greatest military and spiritual leaders of ancient Armenia.
After Vartan became Sparapet
in 432
, the Persians summoned him to Ctesiphon
. Upon his return home in 450
, Vartan repudiated the Persian religion and instigated a great Armenian rebellion against their Sassanian overlords. Although he died in the doomed Battle of Avarayr also known as Battle of Vartanantz (451), the continued insurrection led by Vahan Mamikonian, the son of Vartan's brother, resulted in the restoration of Armenian autonomy with the Nvarsak Treaty
(484), thus guaranteeing the survival of Armenian statehood in later centuries. Saint Vartan is commemorated by many churches in Armenia and an equestrian statue in Yerevan
.
After the country's subjugation by the Persians, Mamikonians sided with the Roman Empire
, with many family members entering Byzantine service. Not only did they rise to the highest offices of Constantinople
, but even some of the emperors - conceivably Leo the Armenian and Basil I
- could have been their descendants. Theodora the Byzantine regent and her brothers Bardas
and Petronas the Patrician
were also of Mamikonian heritage. Unsurprisingly, Mamikonians form a crucial link in the postulated descent
of modern European nobility from antiquity.
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.
, Mamikonians lost Taron
, Khelat, and Mouch to the Bagratuni family. In the 770s the family was led by Artavizd Mamikonian, then by Musel IV (+772) and by Samuel II. The latter married his daughter to Smbat VII Bagratuni, Constable of Armenia. His grandson Smbat Msaker ("the Carnivore") became forefather of Bagratid rulers of Armenia and Taron.
Mamikonians are known to have led a national rebellion against the Arab Caliphate
in 774
-775
. After the rebels were rooted out, Mamikonians' supremacy in Armenia came to an end. Even in their homeland of Tayk
, they were succeeded by the Bagratids. One Kurdik Mamikonian was recorded as ruling Sasun ca. 800. Half a century later, Grigor Mamikonian lost Bagrevand
to the Muslims, reconquered it in the early 860s and then lost it to the Bagratids for good. After that, Mamikonians pass out of history.
After their disastrous uprising of 774, some of the Mamikonian princes moved to 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.
(also known as the monastery of Glak) in the mountains directly northwest of the plain of Mush in Taron.
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n politics between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron
Taron (historic Armenia)
Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts: Mamikonian, Palauni, , Artokh Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts:...
, Sasun, Bagrevand
Bagrevand
Bagrevand was a region of the old Armenia ruled first by Mamikonians and then by the Bagratuni family....
and others. Their patron saint was Saint Yovhannes Karapet (John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
) whose monastery of the same name
Saint Karapet Monastery
The Saint Karapet Monastery was an Armenian monastic complex in the Taron Province of Greater Armenia, about 35 kilometers northwest of Mush, now in the Kurdish village of Chengeli in eastern Turkey. Founded in the fourth century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, it was one of the oldest...
(also known as Glak) they fiercely defended against the Sassanid invaders.
Legendary origin
The origin of the Mamikonians is shrouded in the mists of antiquity. Moses of Chorene in his History of ArmeniaHistory of Armenia (Moses of Chorene)
The History of Armenia attributed to Moses Khorenatsi is an early account of Armenia, covering the mythological origins of the Armenian people as well as Armenia's interaction with Sassanid, Byzantine and Arsacid empires down to the 5th century....
(5th century) claims that three centuries earlier two Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
noblemen, Mamik and Konak, rose against their half-brother, Chenbakur, the Emperor of Chenk, or China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. They were defeated and fled to the king of Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
who, braving the Emperor's demands to extradite the culprits, sent them to live in Armenia, where Mamik became the progenitor of the Mamikonians.
Another 5th-century Armenian historian, Faustus of Byzantium
Faustus of Byzantium
Faustus of Byzantium was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. He wrote a six volume history, of which the first two volumes are lost. He described in details the reign of Arshak II and his son Pap of Armenia...
, seconded the story. In his History of Armenia, he twice mentions that the Mamikonians descended from the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
of China and as such were not inferior to the Arshakid rulers of Armenia. This genealogical legend may have been part of the Mamikonians' political agenda, as it served to add prestige to their name. Although it echoes the Bagratids
Origin of the Bagratid dynasties
The Origin of the Bagratid dynasties – Bagratuni in Armenia and Bagrationi in Georgia – were the longest-reigning royal families in the Caucasus , starting as princely houses and attaining to the royal status in both countries in the 9th century...
' claim of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
ic descent and the Artsruni
Artsruni
Artsruni was an ancient Armenian noble family that claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria . Although it mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han Dynasty, it is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology...
's claim of the royal Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n ancestry, some Armenian historians tended to interpret it as something more than a piece of genealogical mythology.http://rbedrosian.com/china.htm A theory from the 1920s postulated that the Chenk mentioned in the Armenian sources were not the Chinese but probably from a different ethnic group from Transoxania, such as the Tocharians
Tocharians
The Tocharians were the Tocharian-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of Indo-European languages in antiquity. They were known as, or at least closely related to, the Yuezhi of Chinese sources...
. Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
in his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a non-fiction history book written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes. Volume I was published in 1776, and went through six printings. Volumes II and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, VI in 1788–89...
also believed that the founder of Mamikonian clan was not Chinese but merely from the territory of the Chinese Empire and ascribes a Scythian origin to Mamgon stating that at the time the borders of the Chinese Empire reached as far West as Sogdiana
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
.
Another reconstruction, similar to the previous ones but without references whatsoever to distant China, has that the family originally immigrated from Bactriana (present northern Afghanistan) under the reign of Tiridates II of Armenia, likely coinciding with the accession of the Sassanids in Iran.
Today, historians are generally of the opinion that the Mamikonians were probably descended from chieftains of the Tzans (Chanik - Ճանիք/Ճենիք - in medieval Armenian, Tzannoi in medieval Greek). The Tzans were a tribe that once inhabited a mountainous region to the south of Trebizond, also known as Chan (modern day Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
s and Laz
Laz people
The Laz are an ethnic group native to the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia...
). They postulate that the tradition of the Chinese origin arose out of the similarity of the name Chanik to the Armenian word for China, Chen-k.
Recently, a Chinese historian introduce one theory about Chinese origin of the Mamikonians. According to his theory, the Mamikonians' ancestor is a relative of general Ma Chao
Ma Chao
Ma Chao was the oldest son of Ma Teng and a military general during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he received the nickname "Ma Chao the Splendid" due to his elaborate armour and grand skill...
. This relative successfully escaped the purge of Cao Cao
Cao Cao
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...
on Ma family and fled to Persia, then to Armenia. In 2005, in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency journalists, Suri Mamikonian, vice-president of Friendship Association of Mamikonian family, said that his family name actually is the Ma surname of China, and his ancestors came from China. How ever Suri do not know exactly who his ancestor is.
Early history
Nakharar
Nakharar was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility.-Nakharar system:Medieval Armenia was divided into large estates, which were the property of an enlarged noble family and were ruled by a member of it, to whom the title of Nahapet...
, about whom anything certain is known was a certain Vatche Mamikonian (fl.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
330-339). The family reappears in chronicles in 355
355
Year 355 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arbitio and Maesius...
, when the bulk of their lands lay in Tayk
Tayk
Tayk was a historical province of the Greater Armenia, one of its 15 ashkars . Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:* Kogh* Berdats por* Partizats por* Tchakatk* Bokha* Vokaghe* Azordats por* Arsiats por....
. At that point the family chief was Vassak Mamikonian
Vassak Mamikonian
Vassak Mamikonian was the Armenian sparapet for King Arshak II . He was known to be a great general who had many victories against the Persian king Shapur II, but was finally captured along with Arshak and flayed, his body displayed at the gates of the castle where Arshak was kept captive....
, a commander-in-chief (sparapet
Sparapet
Sparapet was a hereditary military rank that originated in the 2nd century BC, under the reign of King Artashes I, and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , was supreme commander of the armed forces. It was the equivalent of the Parthian Spahbod Sparapet was a...
) of Armenia. Later, the office of sparapet would become hereditary possession of the Mamikonians. Vassak Mamikonian was in charge of the Armenian defense against Persia but was eventually defeated through the treachery of Marujan Ardzruni (c. 367-368).
Following that defeat, Vassak's brother Vahan Mamikonian and multiple other feudal lords defected to the Persian side. The Emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
, however, interfered in Armenian affairs and had the office of sparapet bestowed on Vassak's son Mushegh Mamikonian in 370
370
Year 370 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens...
. Four years later Varazdat
Varazdat
Varazdat |Latinized]] as Varasdates) was an Armenian prince who succeeded his uncle King Pap as King of Armenia in 374.-Appointment:...
, a new king, confirmed Musel in office. The latter was subsequently assassinated on behest of Sembat Saharuni
Saharuni
Saharuni was a region and family of the old Kingdom of Armenia c. 400–800.The first know ruler is Bat Saharuni c. 380.The ruler about 451 was Karen Saharuni; in 482 was Qadchadch Saharuni; c. 630 the ruler was David Saharuni....
who replaced him as sparapet of Armenia.
On this event, the family leadership passed to Mushegh's brother, Enmanuel Mamikonian, who had been formerly kept as a hostage in Persia. The Mamikonids at once broke into insurrection and routed Varazdat and Saharuni at Karin
Karin (Greater Armenia)
-History:Karin was Greater Armenia's Upper Armenia province's main city. The territory of Karin was inhabited from 3rd millennium BC. By 387's division the city passed to the Roman Empire. As Karin was near to the border with Persia, many fortresses were built around Karin. In 421 AD in the honor...
. Enmanuel, together with his sons Hemaiak and Artches, took the king prisoner and put him in a fortress, whence Varazdat escaped abroad. Zarmandukht, the widow of Varazdat's predecessor, was then proclaimed queen. Enmanuel came to an agreement with the powerful Sassanids, pledging his loyalty in recompense for their respect of the Armenian autonomy and laws.
Upon the queen's demise in 384
384
Year 384 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ricomer and Clearchus...
, Enmanuel Mamikonian was proclaimed Regent of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
pending the minority of her son Arsaces III and had the infant king married to his daughter Vardandukh. It was Enmanuel's death in 385
385
Year 385 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Bauto...
that precipitated the country's conquest by the Persians in 386-387.
Vartan Mamikonian
Hamazasp Mamikonian was recorded as the family leader in 393393
Year 393 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Augustus...
. His wife is known to have been Sahakanoush, daughter of Saint Sahak the Great and descendant of the Arsacid kings. They had a son, Saint Vartan Mamikonian, who is revered as one of the greatest military and spiritual leaders of ancient Armenia.
After Vartan became Sparapet
Sparapet
Sparapet was a hereditary military rank that originated in the 2nd century BC, under the reign of King Artashes I, and was used in the Kingdom of Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , was supreme commander of the armed forces. It was the equivalent of the Parthian Spahbod Sparapet was a...
in 432
432
Year 432 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aetius and Valerius...
, the Persians summoned him to Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...
. Upon his return home in 450
450
Year 450 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Avienus...
, Vartan repudiated the Persian religion and instigated a great Armenian rebellion against their Sassanian overlords. Although he died in the doomed Battle of Avarayr also known as Battle of Vartanantz (451), the continued insurrection led by Vahan Mamikonian, the son of Vartan's brother, resulted in the restoration of Armenian autonomy with the Nvarsak Treaty
Nvarsak Treaty
The Nvarsak Treaty was signed between the Armenian general Vahan Mamikonian and the representatives of the Persian shah Peroz I at Nvarsak in 484....
(484), thus guaranteeing the survival of Armenian statehood in later centuries. Saint Vartan is commemorated by many churches in Armenia and an equestrian statue in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
.
After the country's subjugation by the Persians, Mamikonians sided with the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, with many family members entering Byzantine service. Not only did they rise to the highest offices of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, but even some of the emperors - conceivably Leo the Armenian and Basil I
Basil I
Basil I, called the Macedonian was a Byzantine emperor of probable Armenian descent who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia, he rose in the imperial court, and usurped the imperial throne from Emperor Michael III...
- could have been their descendants. Theodora the Byzantine regent and her brothers Bardas
Bardas
Bardas was a Byzantine noble and high-ranking minister. As the brother of Empress Theodora, he rose to high office under Theophilos . Although sidelined after Theophilos' death by Theodora and Theoktistos, in 856 he engineered Theoktistos' fall and became the regent for his nephew, Michael III...
and Petronas the Patrician
Petronas (The Patrician)
Petronas the Patrician was a notable Byzantine general and leading aristocrat during the mid-9th century. The uncle of Emperor Michael III, by the time of his death, he held the titles of magistros and patrikios, and had commanded the elite Scholai and Vigla regiments.- Life :He was born to the...
were also of Mamikonian heritage. Unsurprisingly, Mamikonians form a crucial link in the postulated descent
Descent from antiquity
Descent from Antiquity is the project of establishing a well-researched, generation-by-generation descent of living persons from people living in antiquity. It is an ultimate challenge in prosopography and genealogy....
of modern European nobility from antiquity.
Early Middle Ages
The history of Mamikonians in the Early Middle AgesEarly Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
is quite obscure. In the period between 655
655
Year 655 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 655 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* November 15 – Northumbrian king...
and 750
750
Year 750 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 750 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Gopala is proclaimed as the first ruler of...
they are not documented at all. What follows below is their reconstructed genealogy between the 5th and 7th centuries.
- Hamazasp I Mamikonian, married to Sahankanoysh of Armenia
- 1. Vardan I (+451)
- 1.1. Saint ShushanikShushanikSaint Shushanik was a Christian woman who was murdered by her husband Varsken in the town of Tsurtavi, Georgia. Since she died defending her right to profess Christianity, she is regarded as a martyr...
(+472) - 2. Hmayeak I (+452)
- 2.1. Vahan
- 2.1.1. Vard
- 2.2. Vasak
- 2.2.1. Enmanuel
- 2.2.1.1. Gaghik
- 2.2.2. Vardan II
- 2.2.2.3. Mamak (fl. 590)
- 2.2.3 daughter
- 2.2.3.1. Musel II (+ca. 592)
- 2.2.3.1.1. Kahan Gail (fl. 592-604)
- 2.2.3.1.1.1. Smbat the Valiant (fl. 604)
- 2.2.3.1.1.1.1. Musel III (+640)
- 2.2.3.1.1.1.1.1. Grigor I (fl. 650)
- 2.2.3.1.1.1.1.2. Hamazasp II (fl. 655)
- 2.3. Artaches
- 2.4. Vard
- 3. Hamazaspian
Last Mamikonians
By 750750
Year 750 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 750 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Gopala is proclaimed as the first ruler of...
, Mamikonians lost Taron
Taron (historic Armenia)
Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts: Mamikonian, Palauni, , Artokh Taron was a canton of the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in the Muş Province, Turkey. It was divided into four districts:...
, Khelat, and Mouch to the Bagratuni family. In the 770s the family was led by Artavizd Mamikonian, then by Musel IV (+772) and by Samuel II. The latter married his daughter to Smbat VII Bagratuni, Constable of Armenia. His grandson Smbat Msaker ("the Carnivore") became forefather of Bagratid rulers of Armenia and Taron.
Mamikonians are known to have led a national rebellion against the Arab Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
in 774
774
Year 774 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 774 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Charlemagne conquers the kingdom of the...
-775
775
Year 775 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.-Africa:* Andalusian merchants set up an emporium on the...
. After the rebels were rooted out, Mamikonians' supremacy in Armenia came to an end. Even in their homeland of Tayk
Tayk
Tayk was a historical province of the Greater Armenia, one of its 15 ashkars . Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:* Kogh* Berdats por* Partizats por* Tchakatk* Bokha* Vokaghe* Azordats por* Arsiats por....
, they were succeeded by the Bagratids. One Kurdik Mamikonian was recorded as ruling Sasun ca. 800. Half a century later, Grigor Mamikonian lost Bagrevand
Bagrevand
Bagrevand was a region of the old Armenia ruled first by Mamikonians and then by the Bagratuni family....
to the Muslims, reconquered it in the early 860s and then lost it to the Bagratids for good. After that, Mamikonians pass out of history.
After their disastrous uprising of 774, some of the Mamikonian princes moved to the Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
lands. The latter-day Georgian feudal houses of the Liparitids-Orbeliani and Tumanishvili
Tumanishvili
Toumanishvili, armenianized Tumanyan or russianized Toumanov or Toumanoff – is an ancient Georgian princely family...
are sometimes surmised to have been descended from those princes.
Necropolis
The necropolis of the Mamikonian family was at the 4th century Saint Karapet MonasterySaint Karapet Monastery
The Saint Karapet Monastery was an Armenian monastic complex in the Taron Province of Greater Armenia, about 35 kilometers northwest of Mush, now in the Kurdish village of Chengeli in eastern Turkey. Founded in the fourth century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, it was one of the oldest...
(also known as the monastery of Glak) in the mountains directly northwest of the plain of Mush in Taron.