Shahnshah Zakarian

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Shahnshah Zakarian
Probable mural of Shahnshah Zakarian as a donator at Kobayr Monastery Chapel, painted in the 1270s.[1][2]
Amirspasalar
In office
1212–1250
Preceded byZakare II Zakarian
Succeeded byZakare III Zakarian
Mandaturtukhutsesi
In office
1223–1261
Preceded byShalva Akhaltsikheli
Succeeded byAvag-Sargis III Zakarian
Personal details
Born1197[3]
Died1261
Resting placeKobayr monastery
SpouseVaneni
ParentZakare II Zakarian

Shahnshah Zakarian (Georgian: შანშე მხარგრძელი; Armenian: Շահնշահ Ա) was a member of the Armenian Zakarid dynasty, and a Court official of the Kingdom of Georgia, holding the office of amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Georgian army. He was the son of Zakare II Zakarian, and the father of Zakare III Zakarian, who participated to the Siege of Baghdad in 1258.

Biography[edit]

He was born in 1197,[3] he was the son of Zakare II Zakarian. He was 5 years old when his father died and was raised by his uncle Atabeg Ivane, who converted him to the Chalcedonian faith.

His baptismal name was Sargis, then Ani's title Shahnshah (Shahanshah) became his name (both Ani and this title were inherited from his father).

Shahnshah Zakarian, while Governor of Ani, was active in the construction of monasteries and church. The Church of Saint Elia, Kizkale in Ani, was dedicated in his name 1212-1213.[4] The church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents was dedicated by an Armenian merchant under his rule, in 1215.

Rubroek, envoy extraordinary of King Louis IX of France to the Khan of Mongol Empire, stayed in 1255 with Shahnshah on one of his Armenian estates. Rubroek characterizes Shahnshah as a great feudal lord and owner of 15 cities.[5]

During Mongol invasion of Georgia in 1238-39 Queen Rusudan had to evacuate Tbilisi for Kutaisi, leaving eastern Georgia in the hands of atabeg Avag Zakarian, Shahnshah Zakarian, and Kakhetian lord, Egarslan Bakurtsikheli. The Mongol general Toghta was sent by Chaghatai to assault Avag's troops at the fortress of Kayan.[6] After some resistance, Avag surendered, and has to agree to pay tribute to the Mongols, and to provide let his troops join the Mongol army.[6] The combined troops went on to Ani, the Armenian capital defended by Shahnshah Zakarian, but the city was eventually captured and destroyed.[6] Following this disastrous campaign of 1238-1239, the Armenians and Georgians made peace with the Mongols and agreed to pay them tribute and supply their troops (Georgian–Mongolian treaty of 1239).[7]

Double walls of Ani.

In 1259-1260, Shahnshah Zakarian participated to the Mongold-led Siege of Mayyāfāriqīn, together with the Armenian Prince Prosh Khaghbakian and Avag.[8]

In 1261 Zakare, the son of Shahnshah, was executed by the Mongols, while Shahnshah was freed for a ransom.[9][10] He also died in 1261, from grief due to the execution of his son,[3] he was buried in the Kobayr Monastery.[11]

He built the belltower and the mausoleum in the center of the monastery at Kobayr Monastery.[12]

  • The belltower of Kobayr Monastery, where the tomb of Shahnshah Zakarian is located.
    The belltower of Kobayr Monastery, where the tomb of Shahnshah Zakarian is located.
  • Probable mural of Shahnshah Zakarian (middle) and his wife Vaneni (left) as donators, with a kindred in military uniform (right), Kobayr monastery Chapel, or "Aisle".[2]
    Probable mural of Shahnshah Zakarian (middle) and his wife Vaneni (left) as donators, with a kindred in military uniform (right), Kobayr monastery Chapel, or "Aisle".[2]

Family[edit]

His wife was called Vaneni.[12] Shahnshah's children's were:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Evans, Helen C.; Anderson, Benjamin; Aslanian, Sebouh David; Balakian, Peter; Eastmond, Antony; Jones, Lynn A.; Mathews, Thomas F.; Piñon, Erin; Qiu, Earnestine M.; Richardson, Kristina L. (10 January 2022). Art and Religion in Medieval Armenia. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-58839-737-9.
  2. ^ a b Дрампян, Ирина Рубеновна (1979). Фрески Кобайра (in Armenian). Советакан грох. p. 20. Shahnshah , of the Zakarian family. Though we don't have documental informations concerning the paintings of the Aisle , the portraits of the donators whom we consider to be Shahnshah and his wife allow us to look upon the painting as one close to the date of the Big Church ; the likeness in the artistic style confirms this suggestion
  3. ^ a b c "Kobayr Monastery".
  4. ^ Alishan (1881). Shirak. Teghagrut'iwn patkerats'oyts' [Illustrated Topographical Study of Shirak].
  5. ^ K. Salia. "History of the Georgian Nation", Paris, 1983
  6. ^ a b c McDaniel, Ryan James (2005). THE MONGOL INVASIONS OF THE NEAR EAST. San Jose State University. pp. 127–128. Chaghatai dispatched Toghta to assault Awag's fortress of Kayan. (...) Awag surrendered in the name all of Georgia agreeing to pay tribute and to have his troops join the Mongol army. (...) Chormaqan took his own force west to the ancient capital of Armenia, Ani, and Awag accompanied him. The city was under the authority of Shahnshah and the leaders hesitated to surrender. A mob killed the Mongol envoys, and as was their custom in such circumstances, the Mongols relentlessly assaulted the city. Some of the princes surrendered in exchange for a promise of clemency, but after they came out the Mongols divided them up and killed them all. The survivors in the city were enslaved. The destruction was so fierce that the city of Kars surrendered without a fight, hoping to avoid Ani's fate.
  7. ^ Dashdondog, Bayarsaikhan (2010). The Mongols and the Armenians (1220–1335). Brill’s Inner Asian Library. p. 72. Awag (d. 1250), the son of Iwané Zak'arian (d. 1234), was the first Caucasian noble to submit to the Mongols. Kirakos Gandzakets'i gives a detailed account of how this happened.' In 1236, Awag, seeing that the Mongols continued to besiege his stronghold, Kayen, even after taking his daughter and gifts, sent one of Khachen's nobles, Grigor called Tghay to meet the Mongol leader Chormaghan, who was camped at the time by the shores of Lake Geghark'unik* (Sevan). When the great Commander Chormaghan heard about Awag's intention to submit, he ordered his troops to stop besieging the fortress. Soon after, Awag was received by Chormaghan.
  8. ^ Eastmond, Antony (1 January 2017). Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia. Cambridge University Press. p. 373. doi:10.1017/9781316711774.014. Perhaps the most extreme case came when Armenians, including Avag, his cousin Shahnshah and his vassal Hasan Prosh, were required to besiege Mayyafariqin, the northernmost Ayyubid base in the Jazira before the capture of Akhlat. It took two years to reduce the city, leading to a situation far worse than that faced in Akhlat in 1229–30.
  9. ^ Kirakos Gandzakets‘i , 1961:391–393
  10. ^ Vardan Arevelts‘i , 1991:152
  11. ^ Kiesling, John Brady (2001). Rediscovering Armenia: An Archaeological/touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia. Tigran Mets. p. 47. ISBN 978-99930-52-28-9. Shahnshah Zakarian is buried here . Most of the beautifully carved inscriptions are in Georgian , as is the manner of the splendid ( albeit restored ) fresco decoration in the churches .
  12. ^ a b Holding, Nicholas; Holding, Deirdre (2011). Armenia: With Nagorno Karabagh. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 210–211. ISBN 978-1-84162-345-0.
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