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The proof of this flourishing of the Arab civilization was the highly developed culture in Baghdad, Cordoba and Salerna, a civilization which a captivating charm. The Ommiads were mostly the heirs of Byzantine and the old Syrian cultures, while the Abbasids were overwhelmingly influenced by the Persians. 30

The Arab Empire, which had grown exponentially, began slowly but surely to disintegrate. In time the Abbasids lost Spain and North Africa, where the local emirs took over, and even founded the new caliphates of Cordoba and Cairo.

The caliphate in Baghdad, however, still remained as great, although their attempts to re-conquer Constantinople and Asia Minor ended in failure.

The eventual disintegration of the caliphate in Baghdad was caused by the Turks. These people, who came from Turkistan, had since the 9th century, as minor groups who wandered via Persia into the Islamic world, begun to serve the caliphs of Baghdad, even becoming their guards. In time they achieved such a level of power that they threatened even the position of the caliphs, so that the history of the caliphate entered into an era full of plots and assassinations of the Turkic guards and their masters. The power of the caliphs from this point onwards was only nominal and the real power lay with the Turks. Mesopotamia and Syria were divided into smaller provinces where the Turk chiefs, the Atabegs, ruled. Events came to a head during the 13th century when the Mongols captured Baghdad and ruined Mesopotamia. The Mongol invasion brought catastrophic consequences, since it was not limited to the lootings of Baghdad and the mass-slaughter of its population, but also extended to the destruction of the thousand years old aggregation systems in Mesopotamia which had transformed the region into an oasis, a destruction which was never to be fully recovered.

By the time the Ottoman Turks, having defeated Byzantine and dissolved its empire, invaded the countries in the Balkans and Asia Minor, all the Arab countries were already under their rule (16th century).

The Armies of the Arabs March Towards Armenia (639-659)

We shall now return to the history of Armenia, continuing from the end of the Sasanid rule. We saw that Armenia, or more accurately the Armenian principalities, had manage to sustain a system in which the Armenians maintained their religious and political independence.

The Arabs, who had conquered Persia in a lightning attack, began to prepare for the assault on Armenia. But here they were met by an opponent who showed a different kind of defence, a resistance which was more intense than those of other countries, who had fallen like houses of cards under their advances.

Arab historians such as Beladhori, Tabari and Yakut, together with Armenian historians such as Sebeos and Ghevond, are agreed upon the fact that the Armenian forces displayed a hardy resistance against the Arabian armies. The great assault of the Arabs, which took place between the years 640 and 642, was repelled successfully by the Armenians and resulted in heavy and bloody losses for the Arabs. 33 The Armenian forces were led by Theodoros Rshtouni who earlier had showed his competence during his service in the Byzantine army.