10

Chapter One

The Sources



There are several ways of categorizing and characterizing the 13-14th century sources bearing on the two aspects of this study, i.e. on (1) the Turco-Mongol invasions of Armenia, and (2) the history of the Armenian lords in the 13-14th centuries. Some of the sources, such as the Armenian and Georgian literary histories, treat both topics and consequently are of principal importance. These include the histories of 13-14th century clerical authors from the Caucasus: Kirakos of Ganjak and Vardan the Easterner (Arewelc'i), both of whom died ca. 1270/71, Step'annos Orbelean (d. 1304), the Georgian History of K'art'li (1330?), and T'ovma Mecop'ec'i (d. 1446) . The History of the Nation of the Archers by a Cilician cleric, Grigor Aknerc'i (d. 1335?) though geographically removed from Greater Armenia, nonetheless contains material about Greater Armenia not found in the local sources themselves regarding both the invasions and the lords. Armenian chronographies, colophons and hagiographical literature likewise supply information both regarding the invasions and the lords. Frequently their authors concentrated on their own immediate milieus thereby providing important information on local events. Sometimes written by clerics possessing limited educations, they are narrower in scope and more mundane than the literary histories, but precisely that narrow scope and those mundane interests are what make such sources valuable. The early 13th century was a period of vigorous building activity across the Armenian highlands, and it was customary for the lordly patrons of this activity to inscribe the walls of their edifices with sometimes lengthy inscriptions. Besides containing much of interest for economic history, the inscriptions often contain lordly titles and valuable geneological information. The 13-14th century Armenian sources are not well known to Western scholars, and consequently, are under-utilized in their studies. For this reason, and because the sources are scattered, a more detailed investigation of these sources and their authors appears justified (see below). Conversely, sources familiar to scholars--Juvaini, Rashid al-Din, etc.--are but briefly examined for their relevance to the two specific areas of interest to this study. These latter will be addressed first.

Persian literary histories of the 13-14th centuries tend to be of importance more for the study of the invasions and their economic impact on the Armenian highlands, than for the history of the lords. The histories of Juvaini (d.1283) (7) [12] and Rashid al-Din (d. 1317) (8), for example, are more directly concerned with the Mongols than with the Armenian [13] nobility. Nonetheless, their works show Armenia as part of the larger picture of the Mongol conquests and of the Il-Khanid empire as a whole, Both authors were officials of the Mongol government in Iran, both were Muslims, and had sensibilities other than those found reflected in the Christian Caucasian sources. For example, the Khwarazm Shah Jalal al-Din's activities in Armenia which included demolishing churches and executing Christians are described approvingly by Juvaini, A Muslim viewpoint also characterizes [14] Ibn Bibi's History of the Saliuqs, written in the latter part of the 13th century in Persian. This work, written at the request of the Persian historian Juvaini is a panegyric to the Saljuq sultan Kai-Qubad I (1220-37). Nonetheless, it does provide some information on military and political events in western historical Armenia which was under Saljuq control in the 13th century, mentions the presence of Armenians in the Saljuq army and court, conversions to Islarn, and the presence of Turkmen settlements (9).

Other sources--works of a chronographical nature--also provide information more important for military, political and economic history than for study of the Armenian lords. Among these sources are the works of Ibn al-Athir (d. 1234), Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286) and Abu'l Fida (d. 1333). while [15] Ibn al-Athir had little to say about Armenia's lords, his information on the resurgence of Georgia and the coming of the Mongols, Qipchaqs and Khwarazmians in the early 1220's confirms and occasasionally amplifies what is known from native sources (10). For the purposes of this study, the most important of the numerous works bequeathed to posterity by Bar Hebraeus is his encyclopedic Chronography, a history of the world from Creation until 1286, the year of his death (11). The history of his own time he wrote with the [16] authority of an eye-witness whose great clerical prestige gave him access to Mongol Khans and Armenian royalty. His knowledge of the Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Uighur, and (to some extent) Chinese languages placed him in a unique position to benefit from multi-lingual sources (12). The fact that he was a native of Melitene/Mlalatya is important, since he is always careful to note developments there, in the area around that city, and stretching eastward through the Armenian districts to the district surrounding Lake Van (13). Finally, as head of the Jacobite Church which was in communion with the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bar Hebraeus often conveys information about the Armenians and [17] their Church (14). Considerably less important than Bar Hebraeus' work is Abu'l Fida's Universal History, an annal which reaches the year 1328 (15). He based himself on former historians but also included original sections on the countries he had visited in person such as Syria, Egypt, parts of Arabia and Cappadocia as far as Caesarea (16). The Universal History contains historical information on the emirs of Rum and Syria, the rise of Georgia in the 12-13th centuries, Jalal al-Din, on the latter's death, and on the Mongol invasions of Rum, In addition, Abu'l Fida mentions the Armenian backgrounds of numerous Islamized officials in the various Middle Eastern countries in the 13-14th centuries.

[18] Two sources have been utilized in this study almost exclusively for economic and demographic details: the Geography of Yaqut al-Hamavi (completed in 1224 in Arabic) (17) and a treatise on taxation in the Il-Khanid state (completed in 1340 in Persian), written by the Accountant-General (Mustawfi) of Iran, Hamd-Allah Qazvini (18). In addition to providing information of an economic nature, both help to clarify the changing territorial conceptions "Armenia" in the 13-l4th centuries.

[19] Accounts made by four 13-14th century travellers have importance both for military, political and economic history, and for the history of Armenia's lords. The first of the travellers considered is William of Rubruck. This French Franciscan friar visited and described various parts of the Caucasus in the period from November 17, 1254 to the beginning of April, 1255. Returning from a frustrating, wearying journey on behalf of king Louis IX of France to Sartakh-Khan who sent him to Batu, who sent him all the way to Mongke-Khan in Qara-Qorum, Rubruck descended into the Caucasus to attend to some final business. He visited Darband, Tiflis, Shamakhi, Mughan, Naxijewan, Ani, Kamax and Sebastia/Sivas. Rubruck met and dined with the lord of Ani, Shahnshah Zak'arean. His remarks on Shahnshah, his observations of Armenian clerics in the Far East, and his accounts of Turco-Mongol nobles make the journal an invaluable source (19).

[20] Ibn Battuta (d. 1377), a Spanish Muslim traveller, visited Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor during 1333, For the most part travelling along the southern, western, and northern coasts of Asia Minor, Ibn Battuta also made a short excursion inland, visiting and describing the western Armenian cities of Sebastia/Sivas, Erzinjan and Erzerum. The account is extremely valuable for 14th century Armenian social history, speaking about the presence of Turkmen bands on the highlands, the condition of cities, religious segregation and discrimination and the slave trade in Asia Minor (20). Battuta as a Muslim travelling in an officially Muslim country, presents a viewpoint not found among the Christian travellers.

The third traveller, a Bavarian Catholic soldier named Johann Schiltberger, was captured by the Ottoman sultan Bayazid in 1396 at the battle of Nicopolis when he was barely 16 years old. Following Bayazid's own capture by Timur in 1402, Schiltberger became the property of Timur whom he served until the year 1405 when he escaped and returned to Europe. The remarkable account of his adventures was dictated from memory by the author in German after his return home. Schiltberger visited the Armenian highlands [21] at the beginning and toward the end of his captivity. He described the sites, events, and prominent personalities of Sebastia/Sivas, Samson, Erzinjan, Xlat', Maku and Naxijewan during the times of Bayazid, Timur and Timr's son, Shahrukh. In addition he discoursed on the Apostolic religion of the Armenians, on St. Gregory (the of Illuminator Armenia), and on Graeco-Armenian tensions. He described his co -religionists, the Armenian Catholics of Naxijewan, in whom he apparently took much comfort and with whom he seems to have remained a sufficient amount of time to have picked up the unusual amount of lore found in his account. The book ends with the Lord's Prayer given in translitterated Armenian and Mongolian (n21).

The fourth and final traveller considered is Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, whose Embassy to Tamerlane is a first-rate account of his three year journey as ambassador to king Henry III of Spain in 1403-1406 from Cadiz in Spain to Timur-Khan in Samarqand, and back. Enroute to the East, Clavijo passed from Trebizond to Erzinjan to Erzerum, Surmari, Ararat, Maku and Khoy, frequently lodging in villages. On his return from Samarqand he visited [22] Alashkert, Ani, and Sper. He commented on the condition of cities and of the countryside undar Timur's rule, on the tribulations of the Armenian governor of Erzinjan, on taxes, crypto-Christianity, on the massacres and deportations of Armenians in the late 14th and early 15th centuries and on Turkmen, Timurid, and Ottoman warfare, frequently providing detailed historical excursuses (n22).

The non-Caucasian sources tend to have different foci than he Caucasian. They were written by individuals lacking the patriotic feelings that motivated the Armenian historians. The history of the Turco-Mongol invasions could not be written without them, but for the history of Armenia's nobles in the 13-14th centuries, the Caucasian sources remain the most important. A discussion of these sources follows.

Footnotes 7-22


Armenian Sources




Note: Since the publication of this dissertation in 1979, quite a number of the Armenian sources described below as "in manuscript" have been published in English by the author. On the availability of the Armenian sources, you are cordially invited to visit our Bookstore: Sources of the Armenian Tradition Bookstore.
Free online versions of some of these texts are available on another page of this site: Online Sources.



Kirakos Ganjakec'i and His History of Armenia


Kirakos Ganjakec'i was one of the most important Armenian historians of the 13th century. Biographical information about him is not plentiful. In chapter 33 of his work, after a description of the activities of the influential Syrian Raban, the author wrote: "'This [episode] was written down [23] in the year 1241/42 (690 A. E.)...when I was more or less forty years old" (n23). Consequently the historian was born in the early part of the 13th century, probably between 1200 and 1210 (24).

Kirakos received his early education at the monastery of Getik, at that time under the direction of a student of the great teacher and writer Mxit'ar Gosh (d. 1213) named Martiros (25). However, it was with another of Mxit'ar's students, the historian Yovhannes Vanakan (d. 1251) that Kirakos studied for a prolonged period. This education commenced at Xoranasat monastery near Tawush fortress, northwest of Ganjak (26). When the Khwarazmian sultan Jalal al-Din ravaged Xoranasat in 1225, Vanakan fled with his students to a nearby cave, near the village of Lorut, south of Tawush (27). He continued teaching there until 1236 when a Mongol army under Molar occupied Tawush. Both Vanakan and Kirakos were taken captive by the Mongols and kept as secretaries for several months (28). Vanakan eventually was ransomed by [24] the Christians of Gag for 80 dahekans, and Kirakos escaped secretly the same night, fleeing to Getik (29).

Almost nothing is known about the remaining years of the historian's life. That he participated in the movement to crush a rebellion in the Church in 1251, is clear from chapter 48 of his work (30). Around 1255 he interviewed the Cilician Armenian king Het'um (1224-68) at the village of Yardenis near mt. Aragac upon the latter's return from a visit to Batu-Khan (31). Kirakos' name is mentioned in 1265 by his classmate and fellow-historian Vardan Arewelc'i from whom the author requested and received a commentary on the Song of Songs (32). According to another late 13th century historian,Grigor Aknerc'i, Kirakos died in 1271/725 (33).

[25] Ganjakec 'i's History of Armenia is a lengthy work in 65 chapters, written in a clear, simple style. It commences with the Christianization of Armenia and narrates events from Armenia's political and Church history, based on sources cited by the author (35). Since most of these sources have survived, the early portion of the History---albeit by no means devoid of interest--is less important than the section (beginning with chapter 11) wherein Kirakos describes events of his own day. The writer himself clearly was conscious of this fact (35). Kirakos was eminently qualified to write about 13th century Armenia. An intelligent man trained by an intellectual of Vanakan's caliber, the author was familiar with Church organization and problems, with prominent contemporary churchmen and their historical writings (36). He was acquainted with important Armenian naxarars such as prince Prhosh Xaghbakean, who participated in the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258/59 and narrated to Kirakos what he had seen and heard, and prince Grigor Mamikonean, who informed Kirakos what he had heard from a Mongol noble about Chingiz-Khan (37). His detailed [26] information about members of the Zak'arid family derives in part from Prosh, himself a Zak'arid relation. As mentioned above, king Het'um I served as one informant. Furthermore, during his months of captivity by the Mongols Kirakos served as a secretary writing and reading letters (38), and he learned Mongolian (39). In chapter 32 of his History. Kirakos Ganjakec'i has left us a priceless treasure, a lexicon of some 55 Mongolian terms with their Armenian equivalents, one of the earliest monuments of the Mongolian language (40). Consequently, such an individual knew well not only the workings of his own society, but clearly understood aspects of the society of Armenia's conquerors and new masters.

We do not know when Kirakos began his work. Father Oskean, citing the aforementioned statement in chapter 33, "This was written down in the year 690 A.E. (=1241/142)..." thinks the year 1240 a likely time (41). The History ends abruptly with an unfinished description of the war between [27] the Khans Abaqa and Berke (1266/67). The cause of this sudden termination remains unknown (42).



Vardan Arewelc'i and His Compilation of History


Like Kirakos, Vardan is believed to have been born in 1200-1210. Nothing is known about his parents or family. One of his early teachers was Yovhannes Vanakan (d. 1251), whom Vardan refers to in his History as "our glorious father" and whose now-lost historical work Vardan, like Kirakos, employed (43).

[28] Around 1239-40, Vardan visited Jerusalem on a pilgrimage and then went to Cilicia, ca. 1240-41 where he was received very favorably by king Het'um I and the reigning kat'oghikos Constantine Barjraberdc'i (1220-68) (44). Kirakos Ganjakec'i states that the kat'olikos entrusted Vardan with an encyclical which the latter brought back to eastern Armenia for the signatures of the somewhat reluctant bishops, monks, and princes. Presumably Vardan visited most of these dignitaries in person, a journey which would have taken him from Karin/ Erzerum to Ani, Kars, Bjni, Amberd, Haghbat, Sanahin, Getik, Hagharcin, Kech'aru, Hawuc' T'arh, Ayrivank' (Geghard), Yovhanhavank', Saghmosavank', Horomos, to Aghbania, to his teacher [29] Vanakan. and to the prince of princes Awak Zak'arean (45). Vardan then sent the signed document back to the kat'oghikos (46).

In 1264/65 a merchant named Shnorhawor took Vardan to see Hulegu-Khan who deeply honored the great scholar (47). Sometime in 1266 Vardan's History was stolen, the work still unfinished. However one and a half years later he was able to retrieve it (48). Vardan spent his last years [30] at Haghbat and Xorhvirap (49). According to Grigor Aknerc'i, he died in 1271/72, the same year as his friend Kirakos (50).

Vardan made use of Kirakos Ganjakec'i's History of Armenia (51). He derived another source of his information [31] from personal acquaintance with the principals of the day.As was mentioned above, the erudite Vardan, praised as "the learned and brilliant vardapet" (52) by his classmate Kirakos was a valued friend both of king Het'um I of Cilicia, and of the kat'oghikos. Kirakos wrote: "He went to the kat'oghikos [Constantine] who rejoiced exceedingly at his sight. The kat'oghikos kept [Vardan] with him for a long time, binding the latter to himself with affection, for he never wanted him to depart" (53). When Vardan took the kat'oghikos' encyclical East for ratification, he visited all the important Church and lay personalities of the period. In addition to his intimacy with prominent Armenians, Vardan was personally acquainted with the Mongol Il-Khan Hulegu (1255-65) and his Christian wife Doquz-Khatun (54).The account [32] of a man enjoying such authority among his own people and their foreign overlords is of exceptional importance (55).



Step'annos Orbelean's History of the State of Sisakan


Step'annos Orbelean, metropolitan of the district of Siwnik' in eastern Armenia (1285/86-1303/4) was the House historian of the illustrious Orbelean family (56). The [33] year of Step'annos' birth is not known. Some scholars believe that he was born in 1250-60, basing themselves on his statement that he was ordained a priest in 1280/81, and probably would have been between 25 and 30 years of age at that time (57). Step'annos received a clerical educ ation and became successively a scribe (dpir), deacon, and priest (58). In 1285/86 his father sent him to Cilicia, where "on Easter day they ordained Step'annos the metropolitan [34] of the great see of Siwnik', above all the other bishops here and there, some in Vayoc' Jor and some in Tat'ew" (59). He returned home in 1287/88 (60). After a protracted struggle with rebellious bishops (61), he managed to assert his control over the prelacies of Tat'ew and Noravank, and then commenced industriously rennovating the ruined and dilapidated churches and monasteries under his jurisdiction (62).

[35] In chapter 73 of the History, the author states that he completed his work in the year 1299 during the reign of Ghazan-Khan, son of Arghun (63). For the early portion of the History, Step'annos used many of the sources used by Kirakos and Vardan; however, he also employed histories and sources unused by other writers such as the sermons of the fifth century Petros Siwnik', and the history of Mashtoc' of Sewan (64). He frequently quotes directly from now-lost kat'oghikosal encyclicals, letters from kat'oghikoi to the bishops of Siwnik' and responses to them, edicts, Church property documents, inscriptions, colophons and old letters of Armenian and Siwnik' monarchs and the princes of Siwnik' . Step'annos knew Georgian, and used the History of K'art'li . He may have known Persian as [36] well (65). In chapter 3 he provides a unique but regrettably corrupt geographical description of the 12 districts of Siwnik', and in chapter 74 he furnishes a long list of the taxes paid to the Church by these districts (66).

The already extremely great importance of this History is increased yet more when Step'annos speaks of his own times. As the educated son of the former lord of Siwnik', Tarsayich, and as the brother of the ruling lord Elikum, Step'annos was in a position to know intimately all the important noble personalities and events of that state and in Armenia generally. Similarly, his knowledge of Georgian and the existence of a powerful Georgian branch of his own family doubtlessly made him privy to information unavailable to many Armenian historians regarding events in Georgia. As metropolitan of Siwnik' he had jurisdiction over all churches and monasteries located there. Furthermore, he had numerous highly placed acquaintances and enjoyed their respect. In chapter 66 where the author described his trip [37] to Cilicia, he wrote:

"...But when Step'annos arrived there, the kat'oghikos [Yakob] had died. Lewon, king of Armenia, received him with great honor and glory and greatly entreated him to remain there and to occupy the kat'oghikosal throne. Step'annos did not consent to this"...(67)

He was personally acquainted with three Mongol Khans, Arghun, Geikhatu, and Ghazan, aIl of whom esteemed this important dignitary and quickly granted his requests (68). Consequently, Step'annos was uniquely qualified to write an authoritative history of his country and his times (69).



[38] Grigor Aknerc'i's History of the Nation of the Archers [HNA]


Very little is known about the author of this work which treats the 44 year period from 1229/30 to 1273. He is presumed to have been born in Cilicia around 1250(70). Nothing is known about his parents, although by his own testimony Grigor did have a brother Mxit'ar who had died by the time Grigor completed his work (71). A colophon dated 1312/13 speaks of Grigor as the abbot of Akner monastery in Cilicia (72). Father Nerses Akinean places his death around 1335 (73).

[39] The HNA differs from the works of other Armenian historians thus far described. First, as the product of a Cilician author in his early 20's when the work was completed in 1273, this history lacks the immediacy found in the compilations of eastern Armenian eye-witnesses to the Mongol conquest and domination, such as Kirakos, Vardan, and Step'annos. This circumstance probably accounts for some of the chronological inaccuracies committed by Grigor in the early portion of his work. On the other hand, as Blake observed, "The writer had one advantage over his more gifted contemporary [Kirakos]: he was not immediately exposed to the impact of the invaders..."(74). A second difference between Grigor's work and the histories of Kirakos, Vardan, and Step'annos concerns the scope of his undertaking. Aknerc'i wrote a relatively short history of a 44 year period. Far from being a universal history [40] of Armenia, the author focussed on but two principal arenas, Greater Armenia and Cilicia, and he devoted considerable space to 13th century Cilicia. A third important difference is that clearly Grigor was not a well-educated or deep individual. His frequent lapses into fantasy jeopardize the credibility of other information for which he is our only source.

What were Aknerc'i's sources of information? Fr. Akinean observed a number of them. Apparently among the most important were oral accounts of events provided by Armenian visitors to Akner monastery such as Dawit' Bjnec'i, Kirakos Getikc'i, and king Het'um I, people who either were from the East, or had travelled there (75). One informant in Akinean's opinion, had been a student of Vanakan vardapet (76). It was from such informed individuals [41] that Grigor learned the meanings of the large number of Mongolian military and juridical terms which he incorporated into the History (77). Akinean also detected a few written sources, including the Bible, a commentary on the Names of the Hebrews, the Chronography of Michael the Syrian, and the lengthy colophon of Vardan Arewelc'i (1246) providing a legendary geneology of the Mongols, which Grigor incorporated into his own work with few alterations (78). It is also possible, as Akinean and Blake suggested, that Grigor may have had access to Vanakan's now-lost history (79). [42]



T'ovma Mecop'ec'i's History of Tamerlane and His Successors


Information about this author is found in T'ovma's own History (80) , in the Life of T'ovma Mecopec'i (81) written [43] by his student Kirakos Banaser (the Philologist) (82), and in a number of 15th century colophons. According to these sources, T'ovma was born in 1378 (83) in the district of Aghiovit, north of Lake Van. He received his early education at the monastery of Mecop' north of Archesh, but the invasions of Tamerlane and the attacks of Turkmen bands obliged him to move from place to place, frequently fleeing for his life. In 1395 he went to Suxara (Xarhabasta) monastery in the K'ajberunik' district of southern Armenia where he studied for 12 years with the noted vardapets Sargis and Vardan (84). In 1406 together with 12 classmates, he went to one of the most important seats of learning in Armenia, the monastery of Tat'ew in the Cghuk region of Siwnik' (85). After a residence of only two years there, T'ovma, his classmates and their teacher, the great intellectual Grigor Tat'ewac'i were forced to flee to Mecop' monastery to escape the Qara Qoyunlu Turkmens (86). [44] Soon thereafter T'ovma's beloved teacher was taken to the Ayrarat district by other students and T'ovma who set out after him with his classmates was unable to convince him to return (87). According to Kirakos Banaser, Grigor Tat'ewac'i conferred the vardapetal dignity on T'ovma in Erewan (88). T'ovma then returned to Mecop' where he engaged in teaching and literary activity. However between 1421 and 1437 southern Armenia once again became a theater of warfare between Turkmens, Mongols, and Kurds. In 1430 T 'ovma fled for his life to the island of Lim in Lake Van. In 1436 he and his students fled to Xlat', Archesh and Arcke (89). T 'ovma Mecop'ec'i was one of the major protagonists involved in transferring the Armenian kat'oghikosate from Sis back to Ejmiacin in 1441 (90). After the realization of his dream, T'ovma returned to his beloved Mecop' where he died three years late, in 1446 (91).

[45] The History of Tamerlane and His Sucessors, although the major source for Armenia in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, is, nonetheless a rather defective production. Written for the most part from memory, the work especially when dealing with events occurring outside of Armenia, contains historical inaccuracies and frequent repetitions, jumps episodically back and forth from one decade to another, and does not, generally seem to be a well-structured history (92). T'ovma himself was well aware of its shortcomings. He wrote: "This [referring to the martyrdom of four vardapets] occurred in 1425/26 more or less. You must excuse me, for I was old and commenced after 50 years [of age], Therefore I wrote going backward and forward (yet ew yaraj grec'i )"(93).

The History commences with the devastations wreaked on Siwnik' by the northern Tatars in 1386. Tamerlane's invasions of 1387, 1388, 1395, 1401, and 1402 on numerous districts of eastern and western Armenia and Georgia are described with the blood-curdling immediacy of a terrified eye-witness. The account is more detailed yet for the [46] first three decades of the 15th century. It describes the impact on Armenian economic, intellectual and religious life of this dismal and nightmarish period of mass exterminations, mass deportations, and the forced and voluntary apostasy of the population (94).



Chronographies and Hagiographical Literature


In addition to the longer literary histories reviewed above, a number of chronographical works and medieval martyrdoms also are important for an examination of the invasions and the lords of the 13-14th centuries. Of the chronographies, some are rather extensive, lengthy works, others are quite short. The more lengthy works include Samuel of Ani's Chronography, Mxit'ar Ayrivanec'i's Chronology and Smbat Sparapet's Chronicle. Samuel, the first of the three was a 12th century cleric from Ani whose chronicle ends in 1179/80 (95). However, for the purposes of this study, [47] more important even than Samuel's own work are the anonymous continuations made by a number of subsequent writers, covering the periods 1179/80-1304/5 and 1257-- 1424/25 (96). Mxit 'ar Ayrivanec'i's Chronology extends from Biblical times to the year 1289 and, as Samuel's work, provides details on political, military, and socio-economic matters, confirming or amplifying what is known from other sources (97). Smbat Sparapet's Chronicle (the Royal Chronicle) was compiled by the influential brother of Cilician king [48] Het'um I. Believed to have been born in 1208, Smbat became commander-in-chief of the Cilician army (Constable or sparapet) in 1226 when barely 18 years old, and he occupied that office for some 50 years (98). In 1246-47 Smbat was sent to Guyuk-Khan in Qara-Qorum to negotiate a peace agreement between Cilicia and the Mongols. This journey lasted two years (99). Smbat died in 1275/76 at the age of 67, several days after being thrown from his horse in a triumphant battle against Egyptian invaders (100). The Chronicle Smbat compiled covers the period 951-1272. Information on the 13th century derives from official documents which the author had access to and from his acquaintance with the principals. The Chronicle is important for confirming details of political and military history, though it contains little detail on the lords of Greater Armenia (101).

[49] In addition to the more lengthy chronographical works just mentioned, a number of shorter chronicles dating from the 13-15th centuries are important for the details they provide about events merely alluded to elsewhere, particularly for western Armenia for which at times they are the only sources. They are: the Anonymous Chronicle of the XIIIth Century, the Annals of Bishop Step'annos (13th century) the Annals of Het'um II (13th century), the Chronology attributed to Sargis Picak (14th century), the Chronicle of Kirakos Rhshtuni (15th century) and the Anonymous Chronicle of Sebastia (102).

[50] Finally, accounts of a number of neo-martyrdoms which had occurred during the 13-14th centuries are relevant for their descriptions of the religio-juridical position of the Christian Armenian lords in a time of an ascendant Islam, again, especially for western and southern Armenia about which the more lengthy literary histories are often silent. In 1903 H. Manandyan and Hrh. Acharean published the critical edition of a collection of records of martyrdoms occurring between 1155 and 1843. These episodes are drawn primarily from various menologies and collections of sermons and from the works of medieval historians. Accounts of the following 13-14th century neo-martyrs were used in this study: T'eodoros of Caesarea (d. 1204), Grigor Xaghbakean of Xach'en (d. 1223), Hasan Jalal of Xach'en (d. 1261), Grigor of Balu (d. 1290/91), bishop Grigor of Karin/Erzerum (d. 1321/22), Amenawag of Derjan (d. 1335/36), bishop Vanak of Bjni (d. 1387/88), archbishop Step'annos of Sebastia (d. 1387/88), Awag of Salmast (d. 1390/91), Eghisabet' of Xarhabast (d. 1391/92) kat'oghikos Zak'aria of Aght'amar (d. 1393/94) and T'amar of Mokk' (d. 1398/99) (103). [51]



Colophons of the 13-14th Centuries


The colophons of Armenian manuscripts represent an important source for the history of Armenians and neighboring peoples from the 10th century on. For the 13th century, the colophons are valuable for the information they provide supplementing what is known from other historical sources. For the 14th century--a period which failed to produce historians such as Kirakos, Vardan, and Step'annos--the colophons become the major source of our information.

Colophons are those writings usually found at the end of a manuscript and most often made by the manuscript's copyist or recipient. Frequently providing the copyist's name, the year the manuscript was copied, and the year the colophon was made, these often lengthy addenda sometimes provide considerably detailed information not found in other sources concerning political and military developments, taxation, agriculture, the condition of villages, towns, cities, and monasteries and churches, and the place where and circumstances under which the manuscript was copied. Written as they usually were by professional scribes from humble backgrounds, possessing limited educations, the colophons are also important from a linguistic standpoint, since they contain numerous [52] dialectal forms and much foreign terminology (104). The humble origins of the copyists also led them to relate mundane details--so valuable for the historian--often ignored by churchmen such as Kirakos, Vardan and Step'annos.

The great importance of colophons was appreciated already in the 13th century by Step'annos Orbelean who made use of them in his History. The 17th century author Arak 'el Davrizhec'i, the 18th century Mxit'arist M. Ch'amch'ean, and the 19th century Ghewond Alishan made prodigious use of colophons in their works. In the 20th century a number of studies on feudal families by Garegin Yovsep'ean were based almost exclusively on colophons. In no case, however, did any of the above authors have the full corpus of colophons at his disposal. During the 19th and 20th centuries numerous additional collections of colophons have been published (105). [53]



Inscriptions


The late 13th century archbishop of Siwnik', Step'annos Orbelean, perhaps the first to utilize [54] colphons in his study, was also it seems the first Armenian historian to understand the great importance of epigraphical material and to make lavish use of it. However, the modern scholarly collection and publication of Armenian inscriptions began only in the19th century. Prior to the publication of K.Kostaneanc's Vimakan Taregir [Annal of Inscriptions] (106), no large corpus embracing inscriptions from both eastern and western Armenia existed. Rather, numerous smaller collections devoted to the inscriptions of one district, one city, to a single monastery or to monastic complexes had been the rule. Frequently collected by travellers, ethnographers and historians, the impressive volume of this work carried out in the 19th century has acquired an added significance in the 20th century when large areas of western and southern historical Armenia are no longer under Armenian political control and regrettably are closed to Armenists. The natural and deliberate destruction of Armenian historical sites in [55] eastern Asia Minor further enchances the value of many of the inscriptions collected from those areas. Kostaneanc's work conviently incorporated many of the inscriptions previously published in books now rare, or in journals difficult of access (107).

Since 1960, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia has issued 5 volumes in an ambitious projected series of 10 volumes of Armenian inscriptions, the Corpus Inscriptionum Armenicarum, a compilation which fully meets the demands of modern scholarship. Volume I (Erevan, 1966) contains inscriptions from Ani, while the succeeding volumes II, III, IV, and VI (Erevan, 1960, 1966, 1973, 1977) embrace those inscriptions located on the territory of present-day Armenia (108). For western and southern historical Armenia, however, we still must depend on Kostaneanc's collection (109).

[57] Of the various sources considered thus far, while the Armenian sources remain foremost for the study both of the invasions and of the lords, the Anonymous Chronicle in the Georgian History of K'art'li holds a uniquely important place for the study of the lords. During the 13-14th centuries (and to some extent before it) large parts of Armenian territory were under the political control of the Georgian Crown. These areas included the districts of Tashir, Gugark', Lorhi, Ani and its environs, Kars and Karin/Erzerum and their environs, and parts of central historical Armenia. Numerous other areas such as Gag, Somxet 'i ( "Armenia" ), Javaxet 'i, Tayk''/Tao, Klarjet'i, etc. for centuries were inhabited by mixed Armeno-Georgian populations (110). Consequently the Chronicle speaks about developments in these parts of the kingdom. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of the most important officials at the Georgian court and in the realm in this period were Armenian: the royal family of the Bagratids were of Armenian origin as were the Zak'arids, Arcrunids and Orbeleans, to mention only a few (111). Just as the Armenian historians present these families in their Armenian milieu, so the Anonymous Chronicle provides a rare opportunity to observe the Georgian side of the personalities of these [58]many individuals who were bilingual as well as bicultural.

The Anonymous Chronicle, one part of the larger History of K'art'li is devoted to the 13-14th centuries, i.e., to the period 1207-1318. Unfortunately little is known about the author. He is believed to have been a senior contemporary of king Giorgi the Brilliant (1318-46) (112). The Anonymous Chronicle itself is a remarkable work written by a surprisingly unbiased individual who recorded the positive and negative aspects of Georgia's native and foreign rulers in a clear, concise fashion, avoiding repetitions and keeping to a minimum those tales of the fantastic and miraculous which characterize medieval histories generally. However like other sections of the History of K'art'li, the Anonymous Chronicle unfortunately lacks absolute chronology, a circumstance which requires the use of other sources for verification. Apparently the author knew several languages and had at his disposal a number of sources now lost (113).

[59] It was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter that there is more than one way to categorize the 13-14th century sources. The method followed here has been to classify the material on the basis of its application to studies of the Turco-Mongol invasions and/or the lords of Armenia in the 13-14th centuries. The Persan literary histories are more relevant for study of the invasions. They are important for their Muslim viewpoint and the picture they provide of Armenia as part of the larger Il-Khanid government. The non-Armenian chronographies and geographies are important for information on the invasions and conditions in western and southern historical Armenia. Travellers' accounts contain information on conditions of life during the Mongol domination, and on certain Armenian lords. The History of K'art'li holds a uniquely important [60] place in juxtaposition with the Armenian sources, since it reflects the Georgian side of political-military events and of the "Armenian" lords of the 13-l4th centuries.

Armenian chronographies, hagiographical literature, colophons, and inscriptions provide new information, but also supplement and amplify what is found in the most important sources-- the 13-14th century literary historians. A few general observations on these sources are in order. First, if the literary histories are categorized by geographical provenance, it is clear that they reveal a definite bias in favor of northeastern Armenia. This tendency becomes comprehensible when it is recalled that the three most important 13th century Armenian historians, Kirakos Ganjakec'i (d. 1270/71), Vardan Arewelc'i (d.1270/71) and Step'annos Orbelean (d. 1303/4) were all born in this region and passed most of their lives there. Step'annos may be excluded from criticism on this point, since he set out to write the history of an eastern Armenian district, Siwnik'. As for Kirakos and Vardan, although they by no means confine their works to the eastern regions solely, naturally it is about their own milieu that the accounts are most detailed and intimate. As regards the early 14th century Cilician sources, their main interest is Cilicia.

[61] The major Georgian sources, the History of K'art'li (when speaking of specifically Armenian events) and the few published Georgian inscriptions from Armenia tend to focus on northern Armenia. Some information on western and southern Armenia is found in the minor chronicles, colophons, the neo-martyrdoms, inscriptions and in T'ovma Mecop'ec'i's History, however for the political and military history of the Armenian highlands in the 13-14th centuries the non-Armenian sources are crucial. Thus geographical bias in favor of northeastern Armenia, resulting from the nature of the Armenian literary histories is a problem facing the investigator.

Second, it will be noticed that the13th century Armenian literary historians Kirakos, Vardan, and Step'annos were all educated, polished churchmen. Their interests were in the important events and lords of the day, and rarely extended down to the lower ranks of society. Such groups as the peasants, the artisans, and other non-clerical non-noble city population, although occasionally glimpsed in the colophons, chronicles and neo-martyrdoms, [62] are essentially left out in the narration. Nor, in this case, do the non-Armenian sources come to the rescue. Possibly extensive archaeological excavation will one day partially right this imbalance, although it is doubtful if the details of everyday life of the lower classes will ever be known. The literary sources therefore contain a class bias.

Finally, the quantity and type of the sources is likewise not constant. The quality of the sources also deteriorates over time. Kirakos, Vardan, and Step'annos lived through the Mongol conquest and domination of Armenia. Kirakos, though taken captive by the invaders, and forced to serve as their secretary, had grudging praise for his new overlords. Vardan and Step'annos both were befriended by the Il-Khans and died blessing their wisdom and religious tolerance. But as the Khane Islamized in the early 14th century, the situation changed dramatically. The unsettled, intolerant 14th century produced no major Armenian historian. Only the humble authors of chronicles and colophons, many of them anonymous, detail the persecutions, plunderings of churches and famines. Finally, with T'ovma Mecop'ec'i's life and History the results of the breakdown of a corrupt and fanatically intolerant Mongol state are observable, for T'ovma was a poorly educated, superstitious cleric who wrote his sorry and disorganized account while literally fleeing from his Muslim persecutors.


Footnotes 23-113

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