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TheHouse of Amatuni (Armenian:Ամատունի) is an ancientArmenian noble family, known from the 4th century in the canton ofArtaz, between lakesVan andUrmia, with its center at Shavarshan (latter-dayMaku), and subsequently also atAragatsotn, west ofLake Sevan, with the residence atOshakan.[1]
The Amatuni who was ofCaspio-Median orMatianian-Mannaean[2] origin, is given a speciousJewish ancestry from descendants ofSamson by the early Armenian tradition (Moses of Chorene 2.57). Their forefather's nameManue suggests a possible connection with the royal Assyrian house ofAdiabene.[3] They were variously attributed a descent fromAstyages ofMedia and aHebrew descent.[4] Also, Armenian princely family of Amatuni believed to be descendants of the kings (chieftains) of the Matienian tribes[5][6]
In addition, in Antiquity besides its original land of Artaz, the Principality of Amatuniq also included in addition the district of the Djur-shrod (Chuash-rot) with the center in the town of Myarakan, located along the river Araxes, southeast of Artaz.Apparently, starting from 336 A.D. the Amatuni princes were in charge of the tax service of theArmenian kingdom, when theArshakids bestowed on them the fortress and possession ofOshakan in the heart of theirAyrarat royal domain, not far from the capital of the kingdomDvin(Moses of Chorene 2.57). Historians described the battle that took place in 336 near Oshakan, between Armenians and Persians, in which Armenians won. For his valor in the liberation wars, in 336, the Armenian king Khosrov III presented Oshakan to Vahan Amatuni. During the wars, the Amatuni sent their Suzerain (overlord), the king of Armenia, 500 horses and cavalry soldiers, which shows the political weight and military potential of this grand princely family.[1]. At the initiative of the princes Amatuni,Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of theArmenian alphabet, was buried here. AsNakharars the Amatuni owned Oshakan until 773, after which these lands came under the control of theBagratids[2].[7]
After theSassanids ofIran abolished theArsacid monarchy inArmenia in 428, Vahan (II) Amatuni was appointed by the Great King as assistant governor to the Iranianmarzpan. However, Sassanid propagation ofZoroastrianism among the Christian Armenians caused the reversal of the Amatuni's loyalty and, in 451, Vahan revolted, only to be banished toGorgan. In 451, the famousBattle of Avarayr between Armenians and Persians took place in Artaz, south of Maku.
The transfer of regional power from the Sassanids to Muslim Arab rule provoked a large-scale aristocratic insurrection of 774-75.
In the 9th century, when kingdom of Great Armenia was restored, Amatuni still remained in the possession of Artaz, but under theArtsruni ofVaspurakan, until 909, when the Vaspurakan kingdom of the Artsrunis separated from the kingdom of Great Armenia, but Artaz remained loyal to the united Armenian kingdom of the Bagratids and remained part of it. Also, the principality of Amatuni (Artaz) has always had its own separate church diocese, the diocese of Amatuniq.[1] The Vachutean genealogy was reconstructed byMarie Brosset and can be found in hisRapports sur un voyage archéologique dans la Géorgie et dans l'Arménie (St. Petersburg 1849-1851) III:99-100.
The Artazian branch of Amatuni family was ruling castle ofMaku (Shavarshan) stil in XVth century and successfully defend it duringTimurleng invasion, when he besieged castle of Maku, as was stated in his book by Castilian diplomat donRuy González de Clavijo, when he was traveling to the imperial court of emirTimurleng in Samarkand.[8][9]
A branch of the family still controlled a fiefdom of Artaz inMaku down to the 1500s when Ottomans and Kurdish tribes toppled Armenian rule in the region.[10][circular reference] while the branch which ruledHamamshen was overthrown in the 15th century after the Ottomans invaded the empire of Trebizond and exiled its last prince Baron David II toIspir.
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After the Middle Ages the Amatuni family disappeared.[1] In the 17th century, one of the representatives of the Amatuni clan, a certain Azarbek I Amatuni, son of Prince George Amatuni, was a melik of the city of Nakhichevan-on-Arax. Melik Azarbek I had sons George, Petros (Peter) and Vahan, who faithfully served with their father the Iranian shah. The children and grandchildren of one of the sons, Peter Azarbekyan Amatuni, moved to the city of Tiflis, where on January 1, 1784, King Irakli II confirmed Sarkis (Sergey) Petrovich Azaryan-Amatuni with his sons Stepan, Karapet, Gregory and his nephew Yakov Ivanovich Amatuni, they were in charge of the dignity of their ancestors, "who were at the time of the Armenian kings, the resplendent princes." At the same time, the coat of arms was approved by the charter of the Georgian king Heraclius II of January 1, 1784.Another branch of the Amatuni clan, descendants of Allahverdi khan Amatuni, were meliks in Karadagh (Arasbaran) until 1918; and also, they were on the board of directors of oil companies of Baku until 1917.[11] After theRussian annexation of Georgia, the family was confirmed in the dignity ofKnyaz on March 25, 1826.[12]
The Princes Amatuni were a Caspio-Median, or Mannaean, dynastic house from Artaz, with the city of Shawarshan (later Maku, in northeastern Vaspurakan), situated between lakes Van and Urmia (Mantiane), which subsequently ruled a State in Aragatsotn, in Ayrarat, centered in the castle of Oshakan. They were variously attributed a descent from Astyages of Media and a Hebrew descent.
clavijo.
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