Mardastan ( Arm. Մարդաստան [1] ), Mardutsayk, Mardotsek [2] - one of the gavar of the historical region of Armenia Vaspurakan . It is localized west of the modern city of Maku , on the eastern slopes of the Kotur mountain range [2] , in the area of the modern Iranian-Turkish border [3] .
Currently in the border zone of Turkey and Iran.
The name "Mardastan" means "land of the Mardis" [4]
The region extended from Lake Archak to Artaza [5] .
At the beginning of the VI century BC. e. the former territories of Urartu were absorbed by Media . Perhaps it was then that the Medes colonists settled in the districts of Mardalia and Mardastan, whose names come from their name. The district is mentioned in " Ashkharatsuytsa " - a geographical monument of the 7th century in ancient Armenia [6] .
The entire mountain range between the principalities of Andzevatsik and Syunik , including Mardastan, was largely, if not completely, inhabited by the Medes . Before World War I, these territories were equally populated by Kurds . If the Medes, even partially, were the ancestors of modern Kurds, then the ancient population of these territories can be considered proto-Kurdish [4]
In different periods the region had different names: in 450 Mardastan, in 505 Mardpetakan, in 555 Mardpetakan and Sepakan.
The head of the Mard , the people who inhabited the area, was called the Mardpet . The prince’s house originates from the Mard. Mardpet later became a generic title. The domain of the princely family was called Mardpetakan. After the suppression of the Mars princely clan, the title passed to the neighboring clan of Artsruni .
According to Xenophon , the Mardis served the Orontids , like mercenaries, on the borders of Armenia [7] .
In this area, the Roman commander Corbulon , heading from Artashat to Tigranakert , was attacked by the Mards [8] .
In 114, during the military campaign of Trajan in Armenia, Roman troops were attacked by the Mards, who inhabited the mountainous regions in the northeast and east of Lake Van [7] .
Notes
- ↑ Յակոբեան Ալեքսան, "Աշխարհացոյց" Է դարի Անանունի. Գիտա-քննական բնագիր, - "Հանդէս ամսօրեայ", 2012, էջ 137
- ↑ 1 2 Mardastan . - Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. - Er. , 1981. - T. 7. - S. 307.
- ↑ Vaspurakan . - Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. - Er. , 1985.- T. 11.- S. 295.
- ↑ 1 2 Robert H. Hewsen. Armenian Van / Vaspurakan / Richard G. Hovannisian. - Mazda Publishers, 2000 .-- S. 22.
The entire concatenation of mountains between the principalities of Andzevatsik and Sunik appears to have been heavily, if not entirely, Median in ethnic complexion, as indeed it was Kurdish before World War I. As noted, one of its districts was called Mardastan (land of the Medes), while another was called Bun Mardastan or Mardutsayk (habitat of the Medes). Here, too, lay the towns of Marakan (Median place) and, to the north, Maravan (Mede-town). If the Medes (the Mars or Mards as the Armenian called them) were indeed ancestors, even in part, of the modern Kurds, then a case can be made for describing the ancient population of this area as proto-Kurdish.
- ↑ N. Adonts . Armenia in the era of Justinian. - Yerevan University, 1971.- S. 316.
- ↑ James R. Russell. Zoroastrianism in Armenia. - Harvard University, 1987 .-- P. 39.Original textBy 585 BC, the power of the Medes extended as far as the Halys River; they were thus in possession of the entire Arm. plateau and the former territories of Urartu. Median colonists probably settled in Armenia at that time, for the districts of Mardali and Mardastan attested in the Asxarhacoyc 'Geography' of the seventh century AD bear their name.
- ↑ 1 2 Mohsen Zakeri. Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of Ayyārān and Futuwwa . - 1995 .-- P. 152-155.
- ↑ Y. Manandyan. Proceedings. - Yerevan: Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, 1985. - T. VI. - S. 108.