[3] In 841, for instance, Bagrat had the Armenian bishops depose the Catholicos of Armenia, John IV, but he was promptly re-installed in his see by Smbat with the assistance of the other princes.
[4] Nevertheless, the Armenian princes were able to use the Caliphate's preoccupation with the Khurramite rebellion of Babak Khorramdin to achieve a significant degree of autonomy during this period.
[6] When Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani, who in his previous tenures had become enormously unpopular among both the Christian and the Arab princes of the country, was appointed as caliphal governor in 841, Smbat led the reaction against him.
The rebels achieved his recall by the Caliph and his replacement with the weaker and more pliant Ali ibn Husayn, to whom the Armenians not only refused to hand over the expected taxes, but whom they promptly blockaded in his capital, Bardaa.
[7][8] When Caliph al-Wathiq (r. 842–847) reappointed Khalid as governor, Smbat was again at the forefront of a revolt against him, alongside the Muslim rebel Sawada ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Jahhafi and Sahak, Prince of Syunik.