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Other historians and chroniclers have drawn the same conclusion. Wigram, for example, writes that: "These brave Armenian mountaineers withstood the Turanians for a whole century and it was definitely to the advantage of Byzantine to keep the country as a shield. The Armenians were heathens in the eyes of Byzantine, since they followed their own national church. Hence Armenia was destroyed and consequently, when Byzantine in the catastrophic battle of Manazkert lost the entire Asia Minor to the Turanians, they paid the ultimate price for the destruction of Armenia." 86

Ranke also acknowledges that Byzantine's removal of Armenia's independence was a grave mistake. 87

In fact, the weakening and disintegration of the Arab Empire was one of the chief reasons leading to the Byzantine occupation of Armenia. As Rambaud claims: "The horror which the caliphate had created in everyone's heart was a shield for the Armenians against the Greeks, but when Baghdad sunk to such a point that it no longer elicited fear from any party, Byzantine disregarded all previous precautions; this weakness in Armenia's armour led to Byzantine's fallback to the old ethnical and religious archenemy." 88

The End of Ani and Its Consequences

As soon as Byzantine took power in Armenia, the empire proved unable to continue Armenia's role as a natural shield against attacks from the east and a guard of the path which connected the west to the east.

In 1048 the Seljuk Turks attacked Armenia again, this time under the leadership of Toghroul and plundered the province of Vaspourakan. Coming all the way to the province of Karin (present Yerevan), they occupied the city of Arzen, murdered its entire population and plundered their properties.

The Armenians, whose government had been annihilated by Byzantine, no longer regarded themselves as capable of summoning enough forces to repel the attackers. The Byzantine army never dared to confront the enemy and retreated. The only places which put up a resistance and did not allow the Seljuk Turks to settle down in their homeland were the cities of Ani and Manazkert, where the Armenians who had been left to their fate stood up and fought for their fatherland.

Torghoul left Armenia to conquer other countries, which proved easier to defeat, but returned in 1054 to Armenia. This time Byzantine was without hope and the Armenians, who once more were left on their own, had to stand up and defend their homeland. Once more Torghoul led his forces towards Arzen and then Kars. The Armenian leader Tatul, who in a great haste had gathered an army, tried to stop the Turks but was defeated and captured. During the battle, one of Torgoul's popular commanders, Asuran, was wounded and fell to the ground. Torghoul turned to Tatul and said: "If Asuran survives his wound I will let you live, otherwise I will kill you to revenge his death." The daring Armenian leader responded: "If he has been wounded by my sword, he will not survive." 92



Yet again the fortresses of Armenia, in Ani and Manazkert, withstood the Seljuk Turks. Even in the provinces under Byzantine rule, in Armenia Minor, for instance Ourfa and Malatya, the Armenians displayed a miraculously fierce resistance and proved the only forces which could compensate for the total incompetence of Byzantine. They withstood the Turanians, and even managed to victor over them on some occasions. 93