Prior to the 8th century, the entire region was populated by Laz and was part of the Abkhazia until the later part of the century when Prince Hamam, his father Prince Shapuh Amatuni and 12,000 of their subjects migrated North to the Black Sea region in order to escape incoming Arab invasions of Vaspurakan, the land of their origin.

The Amatuni dynasty became the Nakharar of the principality and originated in the Artaz region in Vaspurakan and specialized in agriculture and architectural engineering.

[3] The last prince of Hamamshen, Baron David II was exiled to Ispir by the Ottomans following the conquest of Trebizond.

[4] After the fall of the principality, the Hamshentsi Armenians were scattered throughout the Black Sea region in the Trabzon Eyalet establishing communities in towns and villages from Samsun in the west to Hopa in the east.

During Ottoman rule taxation and Islamization of the Laz people pressured some Hamshen communities to convert to Islam to have equality and avoid harassment from their Muslim neighbors, many others fled to remote regions in mountains and forests to avoid taxation and oppression, notably a man named Husep who led a group into Sera Dere to found the hidden village of Cevizlik where they remained hidden for 30 years.