Tovma Artsruni was a ninth century to tenth century Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 and author of the History of the House of Artsrunik (Պատմություն Արծրունյաց Տան). Contrary to the given title, the four-volume work not only relates the history of 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...

 royal family, of which he was a member of, and its origins near Lake Van

Lake Van

Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes . The original outlet from...

 but also comprehensively covers the history of Armenia.

History of the House of Artsrunik

Tovma began writing History sometime in the 870s. Much like other histories composed by Armenian historians, the first volume starts at the beginning of the Armenian nation and ends in the middle of the fifth century. However, Tovma's most valuable contributions are found in the second and third volumes which accurately detail Armenian life under the rule of the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 Caliphates and in particular the 851 Arab military expedition led by the Turkic

Turkic peoples

The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...

 general Bugha al-Kabir

Bugha al-Kabir

Bugha al-Kabir al-Sharabi or Bugha the Elder, also known as Bugha al-Turki , was a 9th-century Turkic general who served the Abbasids....

, its subsequent consequences, and the establishment of the independent Bagratid state

Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia

The medieval Kingdom of Armenia, also known as Bagratid Armenia , was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in 885 following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule...

 north of Lake Van. Tovma was a relative of the king of Vaspurakan

Vaspurakan

Vaspurakan was the first and biggest province of Greater Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered around Lake Van...

 Gagik I, and wrote a detailed account in History about the famous palace and church Gagik constructed on Akhtamar Island.

The precise date that Tovma completed his work is unknown although some historians have determined that it was composed sometime after 905. Tovma's work ends with an incomplete 29th chapter yet several unknown authors (referred to as "Anonymous"; ) took it upon themselves to continue History down to the 1370s and added an appendix and colophon

Colophon (publishing)

In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...

. Tovma's History was first published in 1852 in 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:...

 in Armenian and was subsequently translated into French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 by Marie-Félicité Brosset

Marie-Félicité Brosset

Marie-Félicité Brosset was a French orientalist who specialized in Georgian and Armenian studies.He was born in Paris into the family of a poor merchant who died the same year that Brosset was born...

in 1862.

Further reading

• Thomas Artsruni. History of the House of Artsrunik. Trans. and edited by Robert W. Thomson. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985.