Harsian

The Kharsian fortress ( Greek Χαρσιανόν κάστρον ; Arabic Qal'e-i Ḥarsanōs ) was first mentioned in 638 during the first wave of the Muslim conquest and was allegedly named after the military leader Justinian I named Kharsiy. The Arabs first captured this fortress in the year 730 and it remained a subject of contention throughout the next century of the Arab-Byzantine wars ^[1] . At the beginning of the 9th century, the fortress became the center of the Klisura, a separately managed fortified border area. Somewhere between 863 and 873 years, the klisura was elevated to the status of a full-fledged theme, enlarged at the expense of the territories of the following neighboring themes: Buchelaria , Armeniakon, and Cappadocia ^{[1] [2]} . She stood at an average level among other themes under the control of the stratigue , who received an annual salary of 20 pounds of gold and commanded, according to Arab sources, 4 thousand soldiers and four fortresses ^[1] .

In the 10th century, the Khamsian became the main stronghold of the land military aristocracy, headed by the noble families Argyrov, Duk, Fock and Maleinov, who had their homes and estates there. After 1045, a large number of Armenians, including the former King Gagik II , moved to this theme, which led to friction with the local Greeks. This theme was captured by the Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 ^[1] . Gagik II was witnessed as the last duks of Kharsian in 1072-1073 years ^[2] .

• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium / Ed. by A. Kazhdan . - New York: Oxford University Press , 1991. - ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6 .
• Catalog of Byzantine Seals at the Fogg Museum of Art. Vol. 4: The East / Ed. by E. McGeer, J. W. Nesbitt, N. Oikonomides. - Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2001. - ISBN 0-88402-282-X .