[2] It emerged as a major fortified military centre on the eastern Byzantine frontier under Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912),[3] through the actions of the Armenian leader Mleh (Melias in Greek sources), who settled there in 903, establishing a quasi-autonomous lordship.

[2] In 905, however, Melias was expelled from the Byzantine Empire (along with other Armenian nobles) in the aftermath of the failed rebellion of Andronikos Doukas against Leo VI.

[2][4] Melias was swiftly successful in his efforts: the region, able to provide for men and horses and "abundant in grazing lands" according to Constantine Porphyrogennetos, was settled with Armenians, and soon, Melias managed to expand his control over the neighbouring mountain districts of Tzamandos, whose castle he built, and of Symposion (modern Kaleköy), whose original commander, the Armenian Ismael, had been killed by the Arabs.

[11] This dual arrangement is also in evidence over the following years, while in the mid-11th century the governorship of Lykandos appears to have been held in tandem with the post of katepano (regional military commander) of Melitene.

[12] The area was lost by the Byzantines after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, when it was overrun by the Seljuk Turks, but it nevertheless appears in the formal grant of territory by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) to Bohemond I of Antioch in 1108.