Armenian Revolt (850–855)

Armenian Revolt (850–855)
Bust of Caliph al-Mutawakkil on a silver dirham
Date 850 CE–855 CE Location Ostikanate of Arminiya and surroundings. Result Abbasid victory
Belligerents
Abbasid Caliphate	Bagratuni dynasty Emirate of Tbilisi
Commanders and leaders
Abu Sa'id Muhammad al-Marwazi # Yusuf ibn Abi Sa'id al-Marwazi † Bugha al-Kabir	Bagrat II Bagratuni (POW) Grigor-Derenik Artsruni (POW) Gurgen Artsruni (POW) Ashot I Artsruni (POW) Ishaq ibn Isma'il †

Armenian Revolt (850–855) (Arabic: ثَوْرَةُ الأَرْمَن) was an armed rebellion by the Armenian nobles against Abbasid administrative control over Arminiya. The revolt was ultimately crushed by the Abbasid general Bugha al-Kabir, resulting in the reimposition of Abbasid authority over the region.

Background

Throughout the reign of Caliph al-Wathiq (842–847), Armenia remained outside effective Abbasid control, but the accession of the energetic al-Mutawakkil in 847 brought to the throne a ruler determined to reimpose Abbasid authority. In 849, the Caliph appointed a new governor of Arminiya, Abu Sa'id Muhammad al-Marwazi. As he moved to enter Armenia with his army, however, he was met on the border by envoys from Bagrat with gifts and with the promised tribute, in a move calculated to prevent the Arab tax collectors from entering the country. This was an act of open revolt by Bagrat, but Abu Sa'id preferred for the moment to withdraw rather than enter the province. In the next year, Abu Sa'id sent two local Arab lords, al-Ala ibn Ahmad al-Azdi and Musa ibn Zurara (the emir of Arzen, who was married to a sister of Bagrat), to subdue the two southern provinces of Taron and Vaspurakan on the pretext of raising taxes. This resulted in open conflict between the Arabs and Bagrat and the Artsruni ruler of Vaspurakan, Ashot I. Ashot defeated al-Ala and evicted him from his territory, and then went to the assistance of Bagrat. The Armenian armies faced and defeated Musa near the capital of Taron, Mush, and pursued him until Baghesh, stopping only after the entreaties of Musa's wife, the sister of Bagrat. The Armenians then proceeded to massacre the Arab settlers in Aghdznik, prompting the Caliph to intervene in force. Meanwhile, The Emirate of Tbilisi grew in relative strength under Ishaq ibn Isma'il (833–853), who was powerful enough to suppress the ambitions of the Georgian princes and to contend with the Abbasid authority in the region. He withheld his annual payment of tribute to Baghdad, and declared his independence from the Caliph.

Rebellion

Abu Sa'id launched a new expedition in 851 but died on the way, and his son, Yusuf, assumed leadership of the caliphal expedition. The arrival of the Abbasid army in his lands led Ashot Artsruni to prefer to submit a peace with the Arabs, forcing Bagrat too to enter into negotiations with Yusuf. During the talks, however, with the connivance of his brother, he was captured and brought to the caliphal capital of Samarra. In retaliation of this treachery, residents of the Xoyt district launched a retaliatory strike that resulted in killing Yūsuf al-Marwazi. Caliph Al-Mutawakkil responded by dispatching the Turkic general Bugha al-Kabir into the country. Setting out from his base at Diyar Bakr, he first focused on the southern half of Armenia, i.e. the regions of Vaspurakan and Lake Van, before moving north to Dvin, Iberia and Albania. During these campaigns, he also defeated the renegade Emir of Tiflis, Ishaq ibn Isma'il, and sacked and burned Tiflis (Tblisi) to the ground and had Ishaq decapitated, ending the city's chances of becoming the center of an independent Islamic state in the Caucasus. The Abbasids chose not to rebuild the city extensively, and as a result the Muslim prestige and authority in the region began to wane. By the end of 853, he had subdued the country and made many Caucasian magnates and princes (the eristavi and nakharar) captive, including Grigor-Derenik Artsruni, his uncle Gurgen and his father Ashot I, all sent to caliphal capital of Samarra. Over the course of three years, Bugha methodically re-occupied and subdued the whole province of Arminiya, from the southern regions of Taron and Vaspurakan up to the principalities of Caucasian Albania and most of Iberia in the north. The princes of Armenia remained divided and focused on their own personal rivalries, facilitating the Abbasid re-conquest by fighting alongside the Caliph's troops and handing over their rivals into captivity. The re-imposition of Abbasid authority was also marked by tens of thousands of executions among the male fighting population, and did not spare the princely families, whether Christian or Muslim, either: by the time of Bugha's return to Samarra in 855, most of the princes of Armenia were captives in the Caliph's court along with their sons.

Aftermath

Bugha's campaign also facilitated the territorial expansion of several Arab tribal groups throughout Armenia. The Uthmanid tribe, which had previously settled near Lake Van during earlier migration periods under Harun al-Rashid, used the instability to seize additional territory from the Gnuni family around Berkri and extend their influence toward the Amiwk fortress and Varag region. Similarly, the Shaybani and Sulami tribes expanded their domains, with the Shaybani reaching the shores of Lake Van at Datwan. The Sulami established control over Apahunik during this period. These Arab settlements were reinforced by new migrants who had accompanied Bugha's forces, fundamentally altering the demographic and political landscape of the region. After the suppression of the revolt, the Armenian princes were released. Bagrat was succeeded by his sons Ashot and David as rulers of Taron, although a portion of the region seems to have passed to a member of the Artsruni family, Gurgen I Artsruni the son of Abu Belj. The title of sparapet was given to Ashot V Bagratuni, who in 862 also granted the title "prince of princes" by the Abbasid Caliph, al-Musta'in, This title essentially granted Ashot the status of de facto king and placed him at a similar level of power as the emirs, but did not allow Ashot to have administrative rule over the kingdom. as later leading to the establishment of the virtually independent Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia in 884.

Sources

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