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First of all, the Armenian princes supplied the caliph with the 15,000-strong famous cavalry, a unit which had on several occasions displayed its courage and its importance in the Arab. Secondly, the Arabs, as the Romans, understood the important role which Armenia played as a strong shield against the rebellious people of Transcaucasia (the Iberians and the Albanians). Aside from these two peoples, the north Caucasus had been inhabited by a Turkic tribe since the 6th century, a wild people who were called the Khazares, who spread horror among the Arabs and the population of the north Caucasus. These people occasionally crossed the Caucasus, plundering its plains, and sometimes continuing all the way down to the northern borders of Armenia. The attacks were sometimes provoked by the Byzantine Empire, which hoped to weaken the Arabs by dragging in the Khazares, a strategy they had previously employed when, with intervention from the Turks of Turkistan, they had hoped to weaken and destroy Persia. In the defence of the northern borders of the empire, the Arabs reliaed completely on the Armenian forces.

Even against Byzantine, an party which was able to defend itself and simultaneously was a factor of power for the Arabs, was Armenia regarded as a great advantage which could not be ignored.

With the onset of the fall of the Arab Empire, the caliph's reliance on the Armenian forces increased in their battles against rebellions. Day by day the Muslim emirs in the neighbouring countries, in Iranian Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, became more rebellious against the central government and the caliphs of Baghdad did not hesitate to call for aid from the Armenian princes. 40

Finally, it was much easier for the caliphs in Baghdad to appoint the Armenian princes in a Christian country, just as they used the local leaders in the Muslim countries.

Of course the relations between the Armenian princes and the Arabs were dependant on policy of the ruling caliph and the local supreme commander.

On several occasions the Armenian principalities took up arms when the Arabs began their religious persecutions or increased taxes. The Armenian princes managed, for a while, to drive out the Arabs from their holding position in the great valleys. But the Arabs sent even larger armies and by relying on the policy of "divide and conquer", succeeded in regaining these great valleys.

The most significant of these revolts was: the revolt between 697 and 705, led by Smbat Bagratouni, who in the battle of Varnakert defeated the 8,000 strong Arab army from the garrison in Nakhichevan. 41 Smbat, with the aid of Byzantine, managed to retake the majority of Armenia and drive the Arabs out of the country. But the Arabs gathered a large army, led by Mohammed, and this army conquered, if not the entire Armenia, almost all its great cities. This victory was followed by a bloody revenge on the part of the Arabs, characterized by the bloodbath in Nakhichevan. The Arabs gathered several members of the Armenian noble families (around 800 people), charged them with uprising, and slaughtered them all in the big church of the town (705).

During the period when the Arab governor Merwan ruled in Armenia (723-744), the country experienced relatively great freedom, but his successors introduced a reign of terror, fore-fronted by persons such as Suleiman, Bekir and Hassan (766-778). In 774 the Armenians revolted again, this time led by Moushegh Mamikonian, who managed with his 5,000 men to push back the 4,000 Arab riders which had been sent against him from the garrison in Dvin. 42 After this victory Moushegh Mamikonian retook the central part of Armenia, but the Arabs sent an army of 40,000 men against him. After a courageous struggle, Moushegh Mamikonian was defeated and died on the battlefield. His loss was followed by a horrible mass-slaughter which resulted in the disintegration of the Mamikonian principality into many smaller parts.