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Paytakaran

Coordinates:39°14′00″N48°26′00″E/ 39.2333°N 48.4333°E/39.2333; 48.4333
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Paytakaran was the easternmost province ofthe ancient kingdom of Armenia

Paytakaran(Armenian:Փայտակարան,romanized:Pʻaytakaran) was the easternmostprovince(nahangorashkharh) of theKingdom of Armenia.[1][2]The province was located in the area of the lower courses of theKuraandAraxrivers, adjacent to theCaspian Sea.It corresponded to the territory known asCaspianeto Greco-Roman sources (KaspkʻorKazbkʻin Armenian sources).[1][3]Today, the area is located in the territory of modern-day southeasternAzerbaijanand northwesternIran.The centre of the province was the town ofPaytakaran,after which it was named.[3][4]

Etymology[edit]

SeePʿaytakaranfor etymology.

Paytakaran is interpreted as "the land of Pʻayt", applied by Medians to this territory to their north, fromMedian*karan- ( "border, region, land", compare withLankaran).Pʻaytis probably the name of aCaspiantribe.Pʻaytalso means "wood" in Armenian, althoughHeinrich Hübschmannand others reject any connection with this word and believe the etymology to be non-Armenian.[2][4]In the classical Armenian sources, Paytakaran is mentioned as the name of the province only in the 7th-century geographyAshkharatsʻoytsʻand the history ofGhevond,while the city of the same name is mentioned more frequently.[2][4]Paytarakan/Caspiane/Kaspkʻ is also identified with the region ofBalasagan(Baghasakanin Armenian).[5]

Geography[edit]

Greater Armenia divided into 16 large provinces.

Paytarakan was located on the right bank of the Arax River, which separated it from the Armenian provinces ofArtsakh,SiunikandUtikto the north, although some authors believe that it included territory on the left bank of the Arax as well.[2]It was separated fromAdurbadaganto the south by the Karadagh andTalyshmountains and bordered the Caspian Sea to the east.[1][2]It is believed to have encompassed the greater part of theMughan Plainand theLankaran Lowlands.[1]Paytakaran had a dry climate and is described inAshkharatsʻoytsʻas rich in cotton and wild barley.[2]Suren Yeremyanestimates its area as 21,000 square kilometres.[3]

Cantons[edit]

According to the 7th-century Armenian geographyAshkharatsʻoytsʻ,Paytakaran was the 11th of the 15 provinces of the Kingdom of Armenia.Ashkharatsʻoytsʻprovides the names of 12 cantons of Paytarakan, which at the time were in the possession ofAdurbadagan:[6]

  • Hrakʻot-Perozh (centre: Paytakaran)
  • Vardanakert (centre: Vardanakert)
  • Ewtʻnapʻorakean Baginkʻ
  • Kʻoekyan
  • Baghanṛot
  • Ṛot-i-Bagha (appears to be a duplication of Baghanṛot)
  • Aṛos Pichan (centre: Pichan)
  • Hani
  • Atshi-Bagawan(centre: Bagawan)
  • Spandaran-Perozh (centre: Spandaran)
  • Ormizd-Perozh
  • Alewan (centre: Alewan)

The precise location of Paytakaran's cantons and its namesake city are unknown. The city of Paytakaran is often identified with theBailaqanof Arabic sources and sometimes withBeylaganin modern-day Azerbaijan, on the left bank of the Arax.[2]A number of medieval Armenian authors, followingTovma Artsruni'sexample, misidentify the city of Paytakaran withTbilisi.[2]

The spellings of the names vary greatly in different copies ofAshkharatsʻoytsʻ.Yeremyan reduces the number of cantons to ten by combining the duplicatedṚot-i-Bagha/Baghanṛotand removingKʻoekyan,which appears in only two manuscripts.[6]Several of the canton names indicate that they were sites of some religious significance.Ewtʻnapʻorakean Baginkʻmeans "Altars of the Seven Niches",Spandaranmeans "place of sacrifices", andAtshi-Bagawanhas been interpreted as "Place of the Fire God".[7]

History[edit]

Map of Paytakaran

The region was known to Greco-Roman authors asCaspiane,which was once home to a people called theCaspians.[2]Caspiane was contested between the regional powers.Strabo,writing c. 20 AD, mentions Caspiane among the lands conquered by KingArtaxias I of Armeniafrom theMedesin the 2nd century BC, but adds that this land belonged to "the country of theAlbanians"in his time.[8][9]Armenia had lost the territory toCaucasian Albaniain about 59 BC, whenPompeyrearranged the political geography of the region after defeatingTigranes the Great.[10]The region was again conquered by the Armenians at some point, most likely during the reign ofVologases I of Armenia.[4][11]

Armenian control over Paytakaran most likely vacillated during the rule of theArtaxiadandArsaciddynasties.[2]It occupied a strategic position due to its proximity to theCaspian Gates,and nomadic peoples frequently crossed through the region to raid central Armenia and Adurbadagan.[2]Although the documents known as theZoranamak(Military Register) andGahnamak(Throne-List) mention a prince ofKaspkʻwho provided a force of 3000 men to the Armenian army and occupied the tenth seat at the royal table, this is considered spurious byCyril ToumanoffandRobert Hewsen.[1][12]None of the classical historians mention any princely house of Caspiane, and the region appears to have been a royal domain under Armenian rule.[13]The provincial centre Paytakaran was likely a royal city and served as a royal dungeon under the Arsacids; 438 pre-Christian priests are said to have been imprisoned there by the lord ofAngeghtunfollowing the Christianization of Armenia.[1]

Paytarakan is said to have been conquered in the early 330s by the Arsacid nobleSanatruk/Sanesan, who made its chief city his temporary capital and attempted to usurp the Armenian throne.[3]The classical Armenian historianFaustus of Byzantiumnames Paytakaran among the provinces that rebelled against KingArsaces IIin the 360s. This rebellion was suppressed bysparapetMushegh Mamikonianin the late 360s during the reign ofPap.[1][4]Faustus writes that Mushegh sacked the city of Paytakaran, killing many of its inhabitants and taking tribute and hostages.[14]After the partition of Armenia in 387, the province remained a part of eastern Armenia until the dissolution of the Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia in 428, when it was ceded to Adurbadagan.[1]

Population[edit]

The region was non-Armenian by ethnic composition. Hewsen describes it as "probably the least Armenian" of the traditional Armenian provinces.[15][16]Strabo writes that the Caspians who once inhabited the region had disappeared by his time, so the Caspians (Kaspkʻ) of Armenian sources 400 years later were likely not the same people but rather a "hodgepodge of Albanians,Cadusians,Amardians,Atropatenian Medes, and other nomadic or semi-nomadic Iranian tribes ".[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghHarutyunyan, B. (1986)."Pʻaytakaran".In Hambardzumyan, Viktor (ed.).Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia(in Armenian). Vol. 12. Yerevan. pp. 301–302.{{cite encyclopedia}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^abcdefghijkHakobyan, T. Kh.; Melik-Bakhshyan, St. T.; Barseghyan, H. Kh. (2001)."Pʻaytakaran".Hayastani ev harakitsʻ shrjanneri teghanunneri baṛaran[Dictionary of toponymy of Armenia and adjacent territories] (in Armenian). Vol. 5.Yerevan State University.pp. 229–230.
  3. ^abcdYeremyan, Suren T.(1963).Hayastaně ěst "Ashkharhatsʻoytsʻ" -i[Armenia according to "Ashkharhatsoyts"] (in Armenian). Yerevan:Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Publishing.p. 88.
  4. ^abcdeHiwbshman, H.(1907).Hin Hayotsʻ Teghwoy Anunnerě[Ancient Armenian Place Names] (in Armenian). Translated by Pilējikchean, H. B. Vienna: Mkhitʻarean Tparan. pp. 101–106.
  5. ^Hewsen, Robert H. (1973)."Caspiane: An Historical-Geographical Study"(PDF).Handes Amsorya(1–3): 92.
  6. ^abHewsen 1973,p. 99.
  7. ^Hewsen 1973,pp. 102–105.
  8. ^Strabo,Geography,11.4.Persus Digital Library.
  9. ^Strabo,Geography,11.14.Persus Digital Library.
  10. ^Redgate, Anna Elizabeth.The Armenians(Peoples of Europe). Cornwall: Blackwell Publishers, 1998,ISBN0-631-22037-2.
  11. ^Hewsen 1973,p. 94.
  12. ^Hewsen 1973,p. 97.
  13. ^Hewsen 1973,pp. 97–98.
  14. ^Hewsen 1973,p. 96.
  15. ^Hewsen, Robert H.Armenia: A Historical Atlas.Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2000.ISBN0-226-33228-4,p. 102
  16. ^Hewsen 1973,p. 87.
  17. ^Hewsen 1973,p. 91.

39°14′00″N48°26′00″E/ 39.2333°N 48.4333°E/39.2333; 48.4333

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