Armenian nobility

However, this term is likely derived from the older Indo-European word "yazata", meaning "the divine one", "offspring of gods", "the one who deserves to be worshipped".

For example, the noble houses of Vahevuni and Mehnuni were believed to be offspring of Vahagn and Mihr, ancient Armenian deities of fire and war, and heavenly light and justice respectively.

According to the Armenian aristocratic tradition, the princely houses of [Poladian] Khorkhoruni, Bznuni, Mandakuni, Rshtuni, Manavazian, Angelea (Angegh tun), Varajnuni, Vostanikyan, Ohanian, Cartozian, Apahuni, Arran tun and some others, are all believed to be direct descendants of Nahapet (Patriarch) Hayk, whose epithet was Dyutsazn, meaning demigod, or of Hayk's descendants.

It is quite common in all parts of the world for members of the nobility to purport to trace their ancestry back to gods, or legendary heroes.

The first attested Armenian royal dynasty was the Orontids (Yervandunis) which was ruling Armenia as a satrapy of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC.

They are preceded by legendary or semi-legendary patriarchs of Armenian tradition, first recorded in the History attributed to Moses of Chorene (Movses Khorenatsi), written circa the 5th century.

For example, in his History of Armenia, Movses Khorenatsi traces the family origins of his sponsor prince Sahak Bagratuni to non-Armenian roots.

However, in the course of hereditary consolidation of gavars (provinces) or royal court services by noble houses, the term nakharar has changed its original meaning and gradually transformed into a generic equivalent of "aristocrat", "nobleman".

The meaning of term nakharar was evolving in parallel with consolidation of the noble houses' hereditary rights over counties of Great Armenia.

The dynastic emblem of the Cilician Armenian royal house of Lusignan (Lusinian) reflected west European heraldic influence and consisted of red lions and crosses on the yellow and blue background of the shield.

Zoranamak was based on the military strength of the houses, i.e. the number of possessed cavalry and infantry, responsibility in defending the northern, eastern, southern and western borders of Armenia, as well as the size of the troops that the noble houses were placing under the command of the king of Armenia in times of military campaigns.

According to Khorenatsi, the first actual listing of lords in the shape of Gahnamak was Armenian King Vologases I (Vagharsh I).

According to the recorded sources, the classification of Armenian lords' thrones in the form of Gahnamak existed throughout the reign of Arshakuni (Arsacid) dynasty (1st–5th centuries).

The same system was continued during the Marzpanian period in the history of Armenia (5th–7th centuries), i.e. during the supremacy of the Sasanian kings of Persia.

There are significant discrepancies and inaccuracies in the data of Gahnamaks of different centuries regarding the number of princely houses and degrees of their thrones.

Pavstos Buzand mentions 900 princely lords, who carried honorary services at the royal court and who sat on a special throne (gah) or cushion (bardz).

The Gahnamak is believed to have been written by Armenian Catholic Sahak Parthev (387–439), whose surname indicates distant Persian origin from the Parthav or Parthian clan.

Sahak Parthev made the registrar available to the Sasanian Persian court, mentioning a total of 70 Armenian nakharars.

The term arka originates from the common Aryan root that has equivalents in the name for monarchs in other Indo-European languages: arxatos in Greek, raja in Indo-Aryan, rex or regnum in Latin, roi in French, and reis in Persian.

Besides this, in Cilicia Armenian knighthood emerged which was also considered to be part of the nobility despite the fact that knights themselves – called dziavor i hetzelvor – did not always originate from parons.

In late mediaeval Armenia and in the new age a variety of nobility titles existed in different nahangs (provinces) of the country.

For example, in 705 the Ostikan (governor under the Arab caliphate) of Armenia deceitfully invited around 800 Armenian noblemen together with their guards to Nakhichevan as if for negotiations and massacred them all.

In the 13th century particularly prominent were the Mkhargrdzeli princes – brothers Zakare and Ivane – whose military strength and political influence in the united Armenian-Georgian state was so significant that they were de facto the fully-fledged rulers of the Armenian territories.

The last strongholds of Armenian statehood were preserved by the semi-dependent princes (meliks) of Karabakh-Artsakh, also known as melikdoms of Khamsa (from Arabic word meaning "five principalities).

During this period the noble houses of Madatian (Madatov), Lazarian (Lazarev), Beybutian (Beybutov), Pirumyan (Pirumov), Loris-Melikian (Loris-Melikov) emerged.

[9][10] The aristocratic tradition in Armenia suffered another blow during the Bolshevik regime, when the nobility was dissolved as a social class and the noblemen underwent systematic oppression.

With the end of the Communist regime and independence of Armenia in 1991, important steps were made to revive the traditions of the Armenian nobility.

Membership in these unions is open to descendants of old and new Armenian noble families, as well as to the foreign titled nobility that reside in Armenia and abroad, regardless their political or religious views, and age and sex.