Perhaps no Armenian kingdom has impacted in the shaping of the Armenian nation more than the Arshakunis, the Arsacid Dynasty (Արշակունիներ). After all the members of the Arshakuni dynastic family transitioned the Armenian nation from worshipping the old gods to embracing Christianity, shaped the newly established church and state relations. It has a legendary king, Arshak II, after whom a legend has come down and an opera is named. If those were not enough, a young monk by the name of Mesrob Mashdots invented the Armenian alphabet during their dynastic kingdom. It is no wonder that this dynastic family stirs the nation's imagination to this day. A Facebook account has been named after them. The name of one of their kings, young King Bab, is mentioned to this very day by no other than the sitting PM. There is also a novel named after the young king. Who were the Arshakunis? This first segment is my translation of the Armenian Wikipedia that is also available only in Russian language. N.B. Henceforth I will use Arshak as the root word when addressing the family and its members. Vahe H. Apelian
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| "The Arsacid Dynasty or (sometimes called the Arshakuni Dynasty) ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428. They started as a branch of the Parthian Arsacids but became a distinctly Armenian dynasty later on" |
« The Kingdom of Arshakuni was an Armenian kingdom that existed in the years 66-428, whose capitals were Artashat (Ardashad), Vagharshapat (Vagharshabad) and Dvin. The Arshakunis ruling in this kingdom were related to the Arshakunis ruling in Persia, Aghvank (Caucasin Albania), Atrpatakan, and Virk (Kingdome of Iberia). In order to establish the kingdom, the Armenian-Parthian forces fought against the Romans for years. That war came to be known as the Ten Years' War. In the end, as a result of the Battle of Rhandeia, Rome accepted its defeat and called Drtad to Rome so that the latter would receive a crown from Emperor Nero.
Thus, the founder of the kingdom is Drtad I (Tiridates I of Armenia), who was crowned by the Roman emperor Nero in 66 and reigned until 88. During his reign, the pagan temple of Garni was built, and a war against the Alans (an ancient and medieval Iranic nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus) took place.
Drtad I was followed by Sanatruk (88-110), who built the city of Mtsurk (Մծուրք). Arrianus (Արիանոս), when talking about him, mentioned that he was a middle-aged king who performed great deeds. After him, there was a struggle for the throne, which was finally resolved in 117, when Vagharsh I ascended the throne (117-140). During his reign, the Vartkesavan settlement on the Shresh (Շրեշ) hill developed so much that Vagharsh walled that city and named it Vagharshapat after himself. Vagharsh's death became an occasion for the Romans to place their own candidate on the Armenian throne, Sohaemus of Armenia (Սոհեմոս), who was distantly related to the Arshakunis and was a member of the Roman senate. Sohaemus reigned for 2 periods: 140-161. and 164-185 years. In 161, the Persians succeeded in elevating Pacorus of Armenia (Բակուր Ա) to the Armenian throne, but a few years later, in 163, he was dethroned and captured in Rome. In 185, the Arshakunyats throne was handed over to Vagharsh II, who was a powerful diplomat and politician. He was able to maintain neutrality between the two candidates fighting for the Roman throne so as not to endanger the independence of his country. During the reign of this king, the throne of the Arshakunyat kingdom began to pass from the father to the eldest son by inheritance.
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| Emperor Nero crowing Drtad I, king of Armenia (Courtesy Arshagouni Facebook account) |
After the death of Vagharsh II in 198, the throne was passed to his son, Khosrov I of Armenia (Խոսրով Ա) (198-215), who took revenge for his father's Vagharsh II’s death who was killed fighting the mountaineers.
Vagharsh was assassinated by the Emperor Caracalla of Rome. The throne passed to Tiridates II of Armenia (Drtad II – Տրդատ Բ), who reigned from 216-252. During his reign, the Arshakunyats kingdom became powerful again. During the coup in Persia in 226, the ruling Arshakunis, who were friendly to the Armenian Arshakunis, were deprived of their power, and the power passed to the Sasanian Persians. In order to help them, in the same year, Drtad II – Տրդատ Բ -, invaded Ctesiphon (Տիզբոն) and won a victory over the Persians, but this did not save the Parthian Arshakunis. Finally, in 252, under the pressure of the Persians, Drtad II left for the Roman Empire. After the death of Trdat II, Artavazd ruled Armenia, followed by Khosrov II, after whose murder the "time of anarchy" began in Armenia, which lasted for about 26 years. During this period, the Persians enthroned the crown princes of the Persian throne in Armenia.
Finally, in 287, the son of Khosrov II, Tiridates III of Armenia, Drdat the Great, returned from Rome in 298, and established himself on the Armenian throne by the treaty of Mtsbin (Մծբին). During his reign, in 301, Armenia adopted Christianity as the state religion. He reigned until 330.
After the death of Drtad the Great, the throne passed to Khosrov III the Small, Խոսրով Կոտակ Khosrow Kotak, who is famous for the first artificial forests he had planted. That forest currently bears his name, Khosrov forest. Khosrov built Dvin and resisted a series of Persian attacks. Khosrov reigned from 330-338.
After the death of Khosrov III, Tiran of Armenia (Տիրան Բ) ascended the throne (338-350). He was still a king living with pagan customs. The relations between the king and Catholicos St. Husik I (Հուսիկ Ա) were strained. The Catholicos Husik I (who was the grandsone of Catholicos Gregory the Illuminator) was killed by the order of the king. In the end, Tiran was blinded by the Persian king and left the throne to his son, Arshak II (Արշակ Բ), who became one of the most prominent kings of the Arshakuni kingdom. He resisted Persian invasions for years, but in the end, after being tricked by the Persian king Shapur II (Շապուհ II Երկարակյաց), he went to Ctesiphon (Տիզբոն) and was thrown into Anhush (Forgotten) Fortress.
At this time, the young king Bab (Պապ Թագաւոր) returned to Armenia from Rome, restored Armenia's independence and ruled from 370-374. He won the battle of Battle of Bagavan (Ձիրավի ճակատամարտ) in 371, then started a series of reforms, among which was the reduction of church lands, also during his reign, Armenian Catholicos began to be ordained in Great Armenia. In 374, he was killed by the order of Roman Emperor Vaghes. After him, the kingdom of Arshakuni began to weaken.
Weak kings followed each other: Varazdat, Arshak III (Արշակ Գ), Khosrov IV of Armenia (Խոսրով Դ), during whose reign, in 387, Armenia for the first time was divided between Rome and Persia took place.
In the year 405, during the reign of King Vramshapuh, an invention of nationalistic significance took place, the invention of the Armenian Alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots.
Finally, the kingdom of Arshakuni finally fell during the reign of Artaxias IV (Artashes IV), in 428.
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