History of Armenia

The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions of Eurasia historically and geographically considered Armenian.^[1]

Armenia is located between Eastern Anatolia and the Armenian highlands,^[1] surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat. The endonym of the Armenians is hay, and the old Armenian name for the country is Hayk' (Armenian: Հայք, which also means "Armenians" in Classical Armenian), later Hayastan (Armenian: Հայաստան).^[1] Armenians traditionally associate this name with the legendary progenitor of the Armenian people, Hayk. The names Armenia and Armenian are exonyms, first attested in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. The early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi derived the name Armenia from Aramaneak, the eldest son of the legendary Hayk.^[2] Various theories exist about the origin of the endonym and exonyms of Armenia and Armenians (see Name of Armenia).

In the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the Armenian highlands, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power), Mitanni (southwestern historical Armenia), and Hayasa-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Soon after the Hayasa-Azzi were the Nairi tribal confederation (1400–1000 BC) and the Kingdom of Urartu (1000–600 BC). Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.^[3]^[4] Yerevan, the modern capital of Armenia, dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by King Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain.^[5] Erebuni has been described as "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital."^[6]

The Iron Age kingdom of Urartu was replaced by the Orontid dynasty, which ruled Armenia first as satraps under Achaemenid Persian rule and later as independent kings.^[7]^[8] Following Persian and subsequent Macedonian rule, the Kingdom of Greater Armenia was established in 190 BC by Artaxias I, founder of the Artaxiad dynasty. The Kingdom of Armenia rose to the peak of its influence in the 1st century BC under Tigranes the Great before falling under Roman suzerainty.^[9] In the 1st century AD, a branch of the ruling Arsacid dynasty of the Parthian Empire established itself on the throne of Armenia.

In the early 4th century, Arsacid Armenia became the first state to accept Christianity as its state religion. The Armenians later fell under Byzantine, Sassanid Persian, and Islamic hegemony, but reinstated their independence with the Bagratid kingdom of Armenia in the 9th century. After the fall of the kingdom in 1045, and the subsequent Seljuk conquest of Armenia in 1064, the Armenians established a kingdom in Cilicia, which existed until its destruction in 1375.^[10]

In the early 16th century, much of Armenia came under Safavid Persian rule; however, over the centuries Western Armenia fell under Ottoman rule, while Eastern Armenia remained under Persian rule.^[11] By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia was conquered by Russia and Greater Armenia was divided between the Ottoman and Russian empires.^[12]

In the early 20th century, the Ottoman government subjected the Armenians to a genocide in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed and many more were dispersed throughout the world via Syria and Lebanon. In 1918, an independent Republic of Armenia was established in Eastern Armenia in the wake of the collapse of the Russian Empire. This republic fell under Soviet rule in 1920, and Armenia became a republic within the Soviet Union after its founding. In 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the modern-day independent Republic of Armenia was established.^[13]^[14]^[15]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Armenian Rarities Collection". www.loc.gov. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 2020. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023. The lands of the Armenians were for millennia located in Eastern Anatolia, on the Armenian Highlands, and into the Caucasus Mountain range. First mentioned almost contemporaneously by a Greek and Persian source in the 6th century BC, modern DNA studies have shown that the people themselves had already been in place for many millennia. Those people the world know as Armenians call themselves Hay and their country Hayots' ashkharh–the land of the Armenians, today known as Hayastan. Their language, Hayeren (Armenian) constitutes a separate and unique branch of the Indo-European linguistic family tree. A spoken language until Christianity became the state religion in 314 AD, a unique alphabet was created for it in 407, both for the propagation of the new faith and to avoid assimilation into the Persian literary world.
^ Moses of Chorene,The History of Armenia, Book 1, Ch. 12 (in Russian)
^ Kurkjian, Vahan (196). History of Armenia. Michigan.
^ Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, v. 12, Yerevan 1987; Artak Movsisyan "Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East", Yerevan, 2000.
^ Katsenelinboĭgen, Aron (1990). The Soviet Union: Empire, Nation and Systems. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 0-88738-332-7.
^ R.D. Barnett (1982). "Urartu". In John Boardman; I.E.S. Edwards; N.G.L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0521224963.
^ Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). Studies in Christian Caucasian history. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press. pp. 278ff.
^ Tiratsyan, Gevorg. «Երվանդունիներ» (Yerevanduniner). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. iii. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1977, p. 640. (in Armenian)
^ Hovannisian, Richard G. (2004). The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49. ISBN 1-4039-6421-1.
^ "Landmarks in Armenian history". Internet Archive. Retrieved 22 June 2010. "1080 A.D. Rhupen, cousin of the Bagratonian kings, sets up on Mount Taurus (overlooking the Mediterranean Sea) the kingdom of New Armenia which lasts 300 years."
^ Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2000. ISBN 9781857431377. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
^ Peimani, Hooman (2009). Conflict and Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781598840544. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
^ "Armenia: President Sworn in Amid Protests". The New York Times. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
^ "Constitutional court stirs Armenian political controversy". Eurasianet.org. 23 April 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
^ Croissant, Michael P. (1998). The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications. London: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96241-8.

[loc.gov-1] "Armenian Rarities Collection". www.loc.gov. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 2020. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023. The lands of the Armenians were for millennia located in Eastern Anatolia, on the Armenian Highlands, and into the Caucasus Mountain range. First mentioned almost contemporaneously by a Greek and Persian source in the 6th century BC, modern DNA studies have shown that the people themselves had already been in place for many millennia. Those people the world know as Armenians call themselves Hay and their country Hayots' ashkharh–the land of the Armenians, today known as Hayastan. Their language, Hayeren (Armenian) constitutes a separate and unique branch of the Indo-European linguistic family tree. A spoken language until Christianity became the state religion in 314 AD, a unique alphabet was created for it in 407, both for the propagation of the new faith and to avoid assimilation into the Persian literary world.

[2] Moses of Chorene,The History of Armenia, Book 1, Ch. 12 (in Russian)

[3] Kurkjian, Vahan (196). History of Armenia. Michigan.

[4] Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, v. 12, Yerevan 1987; Artak Movsisyan "Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East", Yerevan, 2000.

[5] Katsenelinboĭgen, Aron (1990). The Soviet Union: Empire, Nation and Systems. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 0-88738-332-7.

[Barnett-6] R.D. Barnett (1982). "Urartu". In John Boardman; I.E.S. Edwards; N.G.L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0521224963.

[Toumanoff1963-7] Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). Studies in Christian Caucasian history. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press. pp. 278ff.

[8] Tiratsyan, Gevorg. «Երվանդունիներ» (Yerevanduniner). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. iii. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1977, p. 640. (in Armenian)

[Richard%20Hovannisian-9] Hovannisian, Richard G. (2004). The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 49. ISBN 1-4039-6421-1.

[10] "Landmarks in Armenian history". Internet Archive. Retrieved 22 June 2010. "1080 A.D. Rhupen, cousin of the Bagratonian kings, sets up on Mount Taurus (overlooking the Mediterranean Sea) the kingdom of New Armenia which lasts 300 years."

[eastern-11] Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2000. ISBN 9781857431377. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

[12] Peimani, Hooman (2009). Conflict and Security in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781598840544. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

[sworn-13] "Armenia: President Sworn in Amid Protests". The New York Times. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2009.

[constitutional-14] "Constitutional court stirs Armenian political controversy". Eurasianet.org. 23 April 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2009.

[Croissant-15] Croissant, Michael P. (1998). The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications. London: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96241-8.

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