Vaspurakan in the context of "Western Armenian"

The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijani: Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, pronounced [nɑxtʃɯˈvɑn muxˈtɑɾ ɾesˈpublikɑsɯ]) is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers 5,502.75 km (2,124.62 sq mi) with a population of 459,600. It is bordered by Armenia to the east and north, Iran to the southwest, and Turkey to the west. It is the sole autonomous republic of Azerbaijan, governed by its own elected legislature.

The republic, especially the capital city of Nakhchivan, has a long history dating back to about 1500 BC. Nakhijevan was one the cantons of the historical Armenian province of Vaspurakan in the Kingdom of Armenia. Historically, the Persians, Armenians, Mongols, and Turks all competed for the region. The area that is now Nakhchivan became part of Safavid Iran in the 16th century. The semi-autonomous Nakhchivan Khanate was established there in the mid-18th century. In 1828, after the last Russo-Persian War and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Nakhchivan Khanate passed from Iranian into Imperial Russian possession.

The Bagratuni or Bagratid dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունի, Armenian pronunciation: [bagɾatuni]) was an Armenian royal dynasty which ruled the medieval Kingdom of Armenia from c. 885 until 1045. Originating as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity, they rose to become the most prominent Armenian noble family during the period of Arab rule in Armenia, eventually establishing their own independent kingdom. Their domain included regions of Armenia such as Shirak, Bagrevand, Kogovit, Syunik, Lori, Vaspurakan, Vanand and Taron. Many historians, such as Cyril Toumanoff, Nicholas Adontz and Ronald Suny, consider them to be the progenitors of the Georgian royal Bagrationi dynasty.

The Kingdom of Vaspurakan (Armenian: Վասպուրականի թագավորություն; also transliterated as Vasbouragan from Western Armenian) was a medieval Armenian kingdom centered on Lake Van, located in what is now eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran. It was named after Vaspurakan, a province of historic Greater Armenia. Ruled by the Artsruni dynasty, it competed and cooperated with the Bagratuni-ruled Kingdom of Armenia for a little over a century until its last king ceded the kingdom to the Byzantine Empire in 1021.

Van Province (Turkish: Van ili, Kurdish: Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. Its area is 20,921 km, and its population is 1,128,749 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Bitlis to the west, Siirt to the southwest, Şırnak and Hakkâri to the south, and Ağrı to the north. The capital of the province is the city of Van, with a population of 525,016 as of 2022. The second-largest city is Erciş, with 92,945 inhabitants in 2022. The province was part of ancient province of Vaspurakan and is considered to be one of the cradles of Armenian civilization. Before the Armenian genocide, Van Province was one of the six Armenian vilayets. A majority of the population of the province is Kurdish and considered part of Turkish Kurdistan.

Armenian illuminated manuscripts (Armenian: Հայկական մանրանկարչություն, romanized: Haykakan manrankarch'owt'yown), form an Armenian tradition of formally prepared documents where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. They are related to other forms of Medieval Armenian art, Persian miniatures, and to Byzantine illuminated manuscripts. The earliest surviving examples date after the Golden Age of Armenian art and literature in the 6th century. Armenian illuminated manuscripts embody Armenian culture; they illustrate its spiritual and cultural values.

The most famous Armenian miniaturist, Toros Roslin, lived in the 13th century. The art form flourished in Greater Armenia, Lesser Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. Its appearance dates back to the creation of the Armenian alphabet in Armenia, in the year 405 AD. Very few fragments of illuminated manuscripts from the 6th and 7th centuries have survived. The oldest fully preserved manuscript dates from the 9th century. Art experienced a golden age in the 13th and 14th centuries when the main schools and centers started to pop up (fifteen hundred centers of writing and illumination). The most striking are those of Syunik, Vaspurakan and Cilicia. Many Armenian illuminated manuscripts outside the country of Armenia have also survived the centuries. Despite the creation of the Armenian printing press in the 16th century, the production of miniatures continued until the 19th century and survives through modern Armenian painting and cinema.

Goght’n (Armenian: Գողթն; also mentioned in sources as Goght’an, Գողթան, and alternatively transliterated as Gołt῾n) was a canton (gavar’) located in the province of Vaspurakan in historical Armenia. Its borders roughly corresponded to the modern Ordubad Rayon of Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan.

Goght’n was well known for winemaking, the quality of its grape and fruit orchards. The region also was the birthplace of a number of prominent Armenian gusans (minstrels). The ancestors of the renowned twentieth-century Armenian composer and music ethnologist Komitas Vardapet were originally from Goght’n. Some of the region's oldest towns and villages have survived to this day, including Jugha (now Julfa) and Ordvat’ (modern-day Ordubad).

The Battle of Hayots Dzor is a legendary event rooted in Armenian national mythology, traditionally dated to 2492 BC. According to the 5th-century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, the battle was fought between Hayk, the revered patriarch and symbolic founder of the Armenian nation, and Bel, a foreign tyrant often identified with the Babylonian ruler Bel.

Said to have taken place in the mountainous region of Vaspurakan, near the eastern shores of Lake Van, this mytho-historical confrontation represents a foundational moment in Armenian cultural memory. Hayk’s victory is not only portrayed as a triumph over oppression but also as the origin point of Armenian identity and autonomy—marking the beginning of a lineage and homeland named in his honor: Hayastan.