[1] After this setback, the Arabs only undertook a raid from Caucasian Albania in 645, led by Salman ibn Rabiah, but this only touched the Anatolian borderlands.

He then turned towards Lake Van, where the local Armenian princes of Akhlat and Moks submitted, allowing Habib to march onto Dvin, the capital of the former Persian portion of Armenia.

[3] The Armenian historians report that the Arabs first arrived in 642, penetrating up to the central region of Ayrarat, and sacked Dvin, returning with over 35,000 captives.

[3] In 643, the Arabs invaded again, from the direction of Azerbaijan, ravaged Ayrarat and reached the Anatolian peninsula, but were defeated in battle by the Armenian leader Theodore Rshtuni and forced back.

[3] However, with the outbreak of the First Muslim Civil War in 657, effective Arab authority in the country ceased, and Mamikonian returned to Byzantine overlordship almost immediately.

[3] In 661, however, Mu'awiya, now the victor of the Muslim civil war, ordered the Armenian princes to re-submit to his authority and pay tribute.

The commander of the city of Dvin, Smbat, confronted by the fact that he could no longer hold out against the Islamic army, submitted to Caliph Omar, consenting to pay him tribute.

[6] He did not succeed in his doctrinal objective, but the new Armenian prefect, Hamazasp, who regarded the taxes imposed by the Muslims as too heavy, yielded to the Emperor.

Through many years of Umayyad and Abbasid rule, the Armenian Christians benefited from political autonomy and relative religious freedom, but were considered second-class citizens (dhimmi status).

The invaders first tried to force the Armenians to accept Islam, prompting many citizens to flee to Byzantine-held Armenia,[7] which the Muslims had largely left alone due to its rugged and mountainous terrain.

[8] The policy also caused several uprisings until the Armenian Church finally enjoyed greater recognition even more than it experienced under Byzantine or Sassanid jurisdiction.

This era is referred to as the second Armenian Golden Age and is manifested in the magnificent churches built and the illustrated manuscripts created during the period.