Ashot I of Armenia

Ashot I (c. 820–890) was a king of Armenia and a member of the Bagratuni dynasty, remembered for launching Armenia’s second golden age, which lasted from the mid-9th century until around 1045. In medieval Armenian histories, he is often called Ashot the Great for his part in restoring Armenian self-rule.

Born around 820 to Smbat VIII Bagratuni and Hripsime, Ashot came from a powerful noble family. His father was sparapet (supreme commander) and the son of Ashot Msaker, the Prince of Armenia. Ashot had a brother named Abas. The Bagratunis and the Artsruni family were the leading houses in the kingdom, and both fought Arab invaders. After the Abbasid general Bugha al-Kabir devastated the region between 850 and 855, many Armenian nobles were captured and exiled. The Armenian nobility later overthrew the Arab administration. Smbat VIII was taken to Samarra, where he died. Ashot rebuilt the shattered economy, strengthened Bagratuni authority, and remained based near Bagaran. He married Katranide. In 856, the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil appointed Ashot sparapet, as his father had been.

Ashot’s lands lay near the front lines of the Arab-Byzantine wars. In 862, after the Battle of Karasounk, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta’in recognized him as prince of princes of Armenia, Georgia, and the Caucasus. This title made Ashot a de facto king, with power equal to local emirs, but without full administrative rule. He kept this status under caliphs al-Mu’tazz, al-Muhtadi, and al-Mu’tamid. In 884/885, Ashot was finally crowned king of Armenia, marking the official restoration of the Armenian monarchy.

Ashot later intervened in a conflict between two Artsruni cousins, Grigor-Derenik and Gurgen Apupelch Artsruni, who controlled Vaspurakan. Ashot captured Grigor-Derenik and reduced the size of the cantons around Van, but released him to avoid wider conflict. To reconcile, Ashot married his daughter Sophie to Grigor-Derenik. He also strengthened ties with the Siunia dynasty by marrying another daughter, Mariam, to Prince Vasak Gabur IV. These marriages linked his sons to neighboring dynasties.

In 862, Gurgen Apupelch Artsruni led about 500 men and defeated Grigor-Derenik’s force of about 800 in Mardastan. Later that autumn, Grigor-Derenik’s regiment of about 500 surprised Gurgen’s force of about 300 in the same region and captured him, though he escaped. As