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Armenia Gains Once More Its Independence

By about 850, the time was ripe for the Bagratouni to liberate themselves from the last remnants of Arab rule. Thus it was that Prince Smbat Bagratouni revolted against the Arabs. The revolt reached an extent comparable to the great uprisings from 774 to 775. Several Arab armies were defeated and one of them was wiped out entirely by the mountainous population of Sasoun. But the caliphate in Baghdad sent an enormous army to repel Smbat, assisted by the Muslim princes in the neighbouring regions (Azerbaijan and northern Mesopotamia and Persia), and together they managed to defeat Smbat's army. Smbat was captured and sent to Baghdad.

This defeat could not, however, stop the revolution which was inevitable in the given situation. Against the Muslim princes in the neighbouring regions, which were proving increasingly rebellious against Baghdad and whom only the assistance of the Armenian princes could hold back, the caliphate felt that it needed an emergency shield.

Byzantine, on Armenia's western flank, had regained its old power during its Armenian emperors of Macedonian origin, and was becoming a grave threat for the caliphate in Baghdad. They were unwilling, therefore, to drive the Armenians toward Byzantine. Instead the caliphate decided to accept the Armenian's strive for independence and allow the creation a powerful government in order to shield the northern borders of the Arab world, which had been weakened due to internal conflicts.

The balance between east and west which had over the preceding centuries been tilted in favour of the East(due to the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the strengthening of Persia and successive emergence of Islam), threatened not only to be restored but to actually tilt in the West's favour. Byzantine was on its way to regaining its former power, while the Arab Empire showed signs of weakness, first as a result of recurring revolts of the local Muslim emirs claiming their independence, and secondly due to the very nature of the caliph in Baghdad who, with his Turkish guards, was sinking deeper and deeper in plots and corruption.

The caliphs of Baghdad decided to avoid taking action against the Bagratouni, who could muster gather large battalions of soldiers for war. Therefore, in the year 862, Ashot Bagratouni, son of Smbat Bagratouni, was given the title of Prince of princes of Armenia and the independence of Armenia, under Arab superiority, was recognized. The agreement that this title would be inherited within the Bagratouni family cemented the first step towards the creation of an independent Armenia.

The Muslim emirs, who ruled in the neighbouring regions of Armenia, among others the emirs in Manazkert and Arzen, were infuriated with this turn of events, well understanding the threat which a united Armenia meant for them, since it would most probably take Baghdad's side in a possible conflict. Therefore, in 863 they attacked Armenia without hesitation but found a worthy opponent in the Armenian prince and his army.

Prince Ashot Bagratouni went to battle with 40,000 men against the enemy army which consisted of 80,000 men, and still defeated them heavily on the shores of the Araxes. 19 The Armenians appropriately called it "The Battle of 40".