In 1973 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the subject "History of the language of new Armenian literature".
He was a deputy in the Supreme Council (predecessor to the National Assembly) of the Republic of Armenia from 1991 until his death 1995.
Ishkhanyan's works are generally dedicated to the earliest history of the Armenian people, to the comparative linguistic analysis of ancient languages, and to printing.
With the emergence of the Karabakh movement and the independence movement in Armenia, Ishkhanyan also wrote about Armenian-Turkish relations, developing the concept of "the law of excluding the third force" (which was the title of his book published in 1991), which posits that Armenians should not look to a "third force" (i.e., Russia or the West) in order to achieve their national goals and should independently establish relations with their neighbors.
[2] Ishkhanyan was married to Byurakn Cheraz-Andreasyan, daughter of prominent Armenian athlete Vahan Cheraz.