Sasanian Armenia in the context of "Moxoene"

The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century of rapid early Muslim conquests.

By 642 AD, under Caliph Umar, Arab Muslim forces had taken control of Mesopotamia (638 AD), Syria (641 AD), Egypt (642 AD), and had invaded Armenia (642 AD), all territories previously split between the warring Byzantine and Sasanian empires, and were concluding their conquest of Sasanian Persia with their defeat of the Persian army at the Battle of Nahāvand. It was at this point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years and furthering the spread of Islam.

The Muslim conquest of Armenia occurred in the mid-7th century, with the first Arab raids into the country occurring in 639/640. At that time, the Byzantine and Sasanian parts of Armenia had just been united under the Byzantine-aligned Armenian prince Theodore Rshtuni. Several Arab attacks and Byzantine-Armenian counterattacks occurred in the 640s. In 652, facing a renewed Arab assault, Rshtuni broke with the Byzantines and made an agreement with Mu'awiya, who was then governor of Syria, and accepted Muslim rule. Rshtuni's death in 654 and Arab internal conflicts after 656 temporarily weakened Arab control over Armenia, but Arab rule was decisively reasserted after Mu'awiya's accession as caliph in 661.

Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; Middle Persian: 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩) was the seventh King of Kings of Sasanian Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (r. 240–270), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and Turan under his father. Shapur I was eventually succeeded by his son Hormizd I (r. 270–271), who died after a reign of one year. Shapur I's eldest son Bahram I, who had never been considered as a candidate for succession to the throne by his father, ascended the throne with the aid of the powerful Zoroastrian priest Kartir. He then made a settlement with Narseh to give up his entitlement to the throne in return for the governorship of the important frontier province of Armenia, which was a persistent cause for war between the Roman and Sasanian Empires. Narseh held the title of Vazurg Šāh Arminān ("Great King of Armenia"), which was used by the heir to the throne in the early Sasanian times. Nevertheless, Narseh most likely still viewed Bahram I as a usurper.

The succession of Bahram I's son, Bahram II (r. 274–293) seemingly occurred without any issues. After Bahram II's death in 293, his son Bahram III was unwillingly crowned by a nobleman named Wahnam. The rest of the nobility did not support Bahram III's kingship, and asked Narseh to rule instead. Ultimately, Bahram III abdicated as shah, while Wahnam was executed. Narseh was the first Sasanian ruler to not ascend the throne as a crown prince. The circumstances of his rise to power are detailed in the Paikuli inscription, which he made as his own Res Gestae Divi Augusti and to legitimize his rule.

Peroz I (Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭥𐭰, romanized: Pērōz) was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II (r. 438–457), he rejected the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III (r. 457–459), eventually seizing the throne after a two-year struggle. His reign was marked by war and famine. Early in his reign, he successfully quelled a rebellion in Caucasian Albania in the west, and put an end to the Kidarites in the east, briefly expanding Sasanian rule into Tokharistan, where he issued gold coins with his likeness in Balkh. At the same time Iran was suffering from a seven-year famine. He soon clashed with the former subjects of the Kidarites: the Hephthalites, who possibly would have helped him gain the throne initially. He was defeated and captured twice by the Hephthalites and as a result lost his recently acquired gains.

In 482, revolts broke out in the western provinces of Armenia and Iberia, led by Vahan Mamikonian and Vakhtang I respectively. Before Peroz could quell the unrest there, he was defeated and killed in his third war with the Hephthalites in 484, who seized the main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan−Nishapur, Herat and Marw. Taking advantage of the weakened Sasanian position in the east, the Nezak Huns subsequently seized the region of Zabulistan. Peroz was the last shahanshah to mint unique gold coins in the Indian region of Sindh, which indicates that the region was lost around the same period. Albeit a devout Zoroastrian, Peroz supported the newly established Christian sect of Nestorianism, and just before his death, it was declared the official doctrine of the Iranian church.

Byzantine Armenia, sometimes known as Western Armenia, is the name given to the parts of Kingdom of Armenia that became part of the Byzantine Empire. The size of the territory varied over time, depending on the degree of control the Byzantines had over Armenia.

The Byzantine and Sassanid Empires divided Armenia in 387 and in 428. Western Armenia fell under Byzantine rule, and Eastern Armenia fell under Sassanid control. Even after the establishment of the Bagratid Armenian Kingdom, parts of historic Armenia and Armenian-inhabited areas were still under Byzantine rule.

Mamikonian or Mamikonean (Old Armenian: Մամիկոնեան) was an Armenian aristocratic dynasty which dominated Armenia between the 4th and 8th centuries—through the late antique kingdom, Sasanian, Byzantine, and Arab dominations. They were the most notable noble house in early Christian Armenia after the ruling Arsacids and held the hereditary positions of sparapet (supreme commander of the army) and dayeak (royal tutor), allowing them to play the role of kingmaker for the later Armenian kings. They ruled over extensive territories, including the Armenian regions of Tayk, Taron, Sasun, and Bagrevand, among others. The Mamikonians had a reputation as supporters of the Roman (and later Byzantine) empire in Armenia against Sasanian Iran, although they also served as viceroys under Persian rule. Their influence over Armenian affairs began to decline at the end of the 6th century and suffered a final, decisive blow after a failed rebellion against Arab rule over Armenia in 774/75.