History of the Armenians
Ghazar P'arpec'i's History of
the Armenians was written at
the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century.
The first book of this three-book work begins with
information concerning the division of Armenia between
the Byzantine and Sasanian empires (in 387), and
describes the invention of the Armenian alphabet and
the abolition of the monarchy in the Iranian-controlled
eastern sector (428) to the death of
kat'oghikos
Sahak (439).
Book II describes the anti-Iranian Armenian uprising of
450/451 (the battle of Awarayr) led by Vardan
Mamikonean; while Book III describes another
anti-Iranian uprising led by Vardan's nephew, Vahan
Mamikonean, and known as the Vahaneanc' (481-84).
The History of
the Armenians is the product
of an author about whom certain biographical details
exist. This information is found in Ghazar's
History
and
in his Letter to the marzpan
of
Armenia, Vahan Mamikonean (marzpan
485-ca.506).
According to these documents, Ghazar was from P'arpi
village in the Aragacotn district and perhaps was a
Mamikonean relative. He was educated at the home
of bdeshx
Ashusha of
Iberia (Georgia) along with Hmayeak Mamikonean's
children Vahan, Artashes, and Vard. Subsequently, under
the tutelage of Aghan Arcruni, Ghazar became a cleric
who received part of his education in Byzantium.
According to the Armenist Manuk Abeghyan, from 484 to
486 Ghazar was a hermit in Siwnik', but left his cave
when his childhood friend, the now marzpan
Vahan
Mamikonean, invited him to Vagharshapat to become abbot
of the monastery there. For reasons not entirely clear,
Ghazar eventually was expelled from the monastery by
jealous monks. It was then that he wrote his
Letter
to
Vahan, refuting the charges levelled against him. At
Vahan's request, Ghazar returned to Armenia from his
place of refuge, Amida on Byzantine territory. Likewise
at Vahan's request, Ghazar wrote his
History
of the Armenians. This work is a
panegyric to the Mamikonean family generally, and
especially of the rebels Vardan and his nephew Vahan,
who was Ghazar's childhood friend and lifelong patron.
[ii] The text of Ghazar's History
contains one
serious lacuna: apparently one or more pages were
removed in III.74. which presumably contained a
description of the deaths of Vasak Mamikonean and Sahak
Bagratuni as well as the names of the
naxarars
(lords) who fell in the same battle. Also, several
lines are missing or out of place in the description of
Vahan's battle near Mt. Jrvez with the famous Iranian
commander Zarmihr Hazarawuxt, which confuses the
outcome of the battle. One long section, the "Vision of
St. Sahak", in which Sahak speaks of the fall of the
Arsacid kingdom and the discontinuation of the
priesthood in the line of Gregory the Illuminator, is
recognized today as a later interpolation, and is not
translated here. The discovery of a lost fragment of
P'arpec'i in 1967, which describes the creation of the
Armenian alphabet, has cleared away the confusion found
in the History
regarding when
this event occurred and also cleared Ghazar of the one
serious criticism raised by Abeghyan regarding
reliability.
Ghazar P'arpec'i cites three authors as sources:
Agat'angeghos, P'awstos Buzand, and Koriwn. He is
reluctant to rely on P'awstos' History
since he
discovered in it many passages of an anti-clerical and
vulgar nature that led him to suggest that bishop
P'awstos' work was corrupted by some uneducated person.
Ghazar also appears to have used a Life of
Alexander and
Eusebius' Ecclesiastical
History. Likewise the
author cites oral informants most notably Arshawir
Kamsarakan and his son Nerses, and a Syrian merchant
"Xuzhik", all of whom were participants in the events
described.
P'arpec'i is a reasonably trustworthy historian. True,
certain of his biases, especially his religious
worldview occasionally lead him to attribute incorrect
causes for some events. Nonetheless, he does know the
correct sequence of Iranian and Byzantine kings as well
as of Armenian kat'oghikoi.
His veracity on certain details and events may be
confirmed by other sources. In addition to being our
major source on military, political, and religious
developments in fifth century Armenia, Ghazar's
History
is
also a major untapped source on the [iii] history of
fifth-century Iran. For example, the author dates
important events to the regnal years of Iranian
monarchs, and uses Persian units of measurement for
distance throughout his work. He provides interesting
information on the judicial and other prerogatives of
such Iranian officials as the hazarapet,
ambarapet,
maypet,
master of the wardrobe, pustipansalar,
and marzpan;
on the lives and deaths of Yazdgard II, Hormizd III,
Valas, and the rebel Zareh. P'arpec'i is a major source
on shah
Peroz, and
perhaps the only contemporary historian whose
descriptions of this monarch's administrative policies,
court life, eastern wars, and "crimes" has survived.
Furthermore, the History of
the Armenians contains
detailed information on Iranian religious and
administrative policies toward Armenia and Syria,
including the treatment of prisoners and the peculiar
form of penal servitude called mshakut'iwn
in
Armenian. By no means lastly, P'arpec'i provides a
wealth of geographical information on Iran which has
yet to be examined by specialists.
Ghazar's attitude toward Iran and its policies is one
of unequivocal hatred. This is quite understandable,
since as panegyrist of the Mamikoneans who fought with
their lives against Iran, he cannot support Iranian
policies. Iranian administrative policy included a
definite religio-cultural policy. Thus, not only as a
Mamikonean sympathizer, but as a Christian cleric, he
cannot tolerate either the implications or the
actualities of Iranian domination. P'arpec'i's reaction
to Iranian religious policies is expressed in several
ways: by repudiation of all things Zoroastrian,
exultation over Zoroastrian reverses, refutations of
Zoroastrian beliefs, elevation of Christian martyrs
into epic heroes, and humiliation of the Syrians whose
influence in Armenia was encouraged by Iran.
P'arpec'i also has definite opinions about Armenia's
nobility, the naxarars.
He divides this aristocracy into two groups, the
oath-keepers and the oath-breakers, i.e.,
those naxarars
who fought loyally on the side of the Mamikoneans
against Iran and those apostates who sided with Iran
and so converted to Zoroastrianism. Those
naxarars
who were traditionally loyal to the Mamikoneans receive
great praise from Ghazar who, in his [iv] descriptions
of the numerous battles fought, heroically describes
their feats of individual bravery. These are the
naxarars
imprisoned in Iran after the Vardananc' whom Ghazar
portrays as angels on earth and living martyrs. In jail
these pious naxarars
recalled the moving words of the priest Ghewond; when
released from captivity, they secretly kept the relics
of the martyred priests; and, while serving in the
Iranian army, they conducted open and secret religious
meetings. Occasionally the author speaks of "all
the naxarars",
such as the group of nobles who urged
kat'oghikos
Sahak to
translate the Bible into Armenian, or the group urging
the deposed Sahak to resume his duties as
kat'oghikos.
However, in both instances, Ghazar apparently is
referring to Christian rather than Zoroastrian
naxarars.
Likewise the expression "all the naxarars",
who slay by lapidation the lord Zandaghan for telling
Vasak Siwnik' details of the planned revolt, refer to
the Christian pro-Mamikonean rather than the
Zoroastrian, pro-Iranian naxarars.
Throughout the fifth century the naxarars
were strong, independent, and therefore untrustworthy
allies. The natural enmity which existed among
rival naxarar
houses also
received great impetus from the divisive policies of
Iran.
For P'arpec'i, Vardan and Vahan Mamikonean epitomize
resistance both to Zoroastrian Iran and to the
apostate naxarars.
There are some general similarities between the
descriptions of Vardan and Vahan. However, it is in the
personality of Ghazar's friend and patron, Vahan, about
whom the information is more detailed and intimate,
that one sees most clearly the author's attitude toward
the Mamikoneans. Because P'arpec'i considered both the
Vardananc' and the Vahaneanc' religious wars, his
Mamikonean leaders are holy warriors. They are the
protectors of the faith par
excellence. In war they
are noble fighters; in war and peace they care for the
poor like good shepherds; uncle and nephew are both
portrayed as democratic leaders. The author's
pro-Mamikonean bias is apparent also in his defence of
that family against charges made by Armenia's
enemies--the apostate naxarars.
Beyond this, Ghazar wishes his reader to understand
that the Mamikoneans are the equals of the highest [v]
Iranian nobility (if not the monarchy) which deeply
admires their prowess. Ghazar's elevation of the
Mamikoneans concludes with a hint that the Mamikoneans
may in fact be supernatural beings.
For a more detailed discussion of P'arpec'i see R.
Bedrosian,
The Sparapetut'iwn in Armenia in the Fourth and Fifth
Centuries, Armenian
Review 36(1983) pp.
6-45, and
Dayeakut'iwn in Ancient Armenia,
Armenian
Review 37(1984) pp.
23-47. For additional bibliography and studies of
fifth-century Armenia see C. Toumanoff,
Studies in
Christian Caucasian History (Georgetown,
1963) and N. Adontz, Armenia in
the Period of Justianian (Lisbon, 1970).
The transliteration employed in this translation is a
modification of the Hubschmann-Meillet system.
Robert Bedrosian
New York, 1985