Ani (; ; ) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia.
Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the Bagratuni Armenian kingdom that covered much of present-day Armenia and eastern Turkey. The iconic city was often referred to as the "City of 1,001 Churches," though the number was significantly less. To date, 50 churches, 33 cave chapels and 20 chapels have been excavated by archaeologists and historians.Not to confuse with the Binbirkilise/'1001 churches' near Karaman in modern Turkey' Ani stood on various trade routes and its many religious buildings, palaces, and sophisticated fortifications distinguished it from other contemporary urban centers in the Armenian kingdom. Among its most notable buildings was the Cathedral of Ani, which is associated with early examples of Gothic architecture and that scholars argue influenced the great cathedrals of Europe in the early gothic and Romanesque styles; its ribbed vaulting would not be seen in European cathedrals for at least another two centuries. At its height, Ani was one of the world's largest cities,Joel Mokyr. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 157: "The struggle against Persian, Byzantine, and Arab political and economic domination, however, led to the restoration of the Armenian Kingdom (885–1045). Crafts and agricultural prospered. Its capital, Ani, famous for Armenian classical architecture, became one of the biggest cities in the world." with a population of perhaps 100,000, though given its limited area historians have cast doubt at this estimate.
Renowned for its splendor, Ani was sacked by the Mongols in 1236. Ani never recovered from a devastating 1319 earthquake and, more significantly, from the shifting of regional trade routes, and was abandoned by the 17th century.Mutafian, Claude. "Ani after Ani: Eleventh to Seventeenth Centuries", in Armenian Kars and Ani, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2011, pp. 163–64.Sinclair, Thomas. "Trade, Administration, and Cities on the Plateau of Kars and Ani, Thirteenth to Sixteenth Century," in Armenian Kars and Ani, pp. 171-206. Ani is a widely recognized cultural, religious, and national heritage symbol for Armenians. According to Razmik Panossian, Ani is one of the most visible and 'tangible' symbols of past Armenian greatness and hence a source of pride. In 2016, it was added onto the UNESCO World Heritage List. After two decades of continuous international efforts, Ani Archaeological Site has transformed from a seat of conflict and geopolitical instability to a center of cultural tourism that might foster cultural exchange and deepening historical understanding.
Toponym
The city took its name from the Armenian fortress-city and pre-Christian religious center of Ani-Kamakh located in the region of Daranaghi in Upper Armenia. Ani was also previously known as Khnamk, although historians are uncertain as to why it was called so; according to philologist and Armenologist Heinrich Hübschmann, this name has nothing to do with the ordinary Armenian verb khnamel ("to care for"). According to the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam: "A suggestion has been made that the town may owe its name to a temple of the Iranian goddess Anāhita (the Greek Anaďtis)". The Turkish government previously attempted to obscure the name of the town as in order to give it a "more Turkish character".
Location The city is located on a triangular site, visually dramatic and naturally defensive, protected on its eastern side by the ravine of the Akhurian River and on its western side by the Bostanlar, or Tsaghkotsadzor, valley. The Akhurian is a branch of the Araks River and forms part of the currently closed border between Turkey and Armenia. The site is at an elevation of around .
The site is located in the Turkish province of Kars. Kars is currently an important center for local livestock trades and cheese production. It is linked by railroad with many important Turkish cities and is also considered to be an important military site due to its position near Turkey's border with Armenia. Ani is about from the Turkey-Armenia border. Across the border is the Armenian village of Kharkov, part of Shirak Province.
History
Early history Armenian chroniclers such as Yeghishe and Ghazar Parpetsi first mentioned Ani in the 5th century. They described it as a strong fortress built on a hilltop and a possession of the Armenian Kamsarakan dynasty.
Bagratuni capital By the early 9th century, the former territories of the Kamsarakans in Arsharunik and Shirak (including Ani) had been incorporated into the territories of the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty. The Bagratuni dynasty was the second notable dynasty in the Armenian kingdom. They secured their independence from the Arabs near the end of the 9th century after being controlled by the Persians and Umayyad Caliphate for many years up to then. The king of Bagratuni Armenia that led to this independence was Ashot I. He had a short-lived position as the king of the Bagratuni dynasty, however, the impact of securing the freedom of the dynasty would last for many years. His son, Smbat I, ruled directly after he did. The Bagratuni territory consisted of many sub-kingdoms, the most notable of which were the Kingdom of Kars, Lori, Syunik, Artsakh, and Vaspurakan.
The Bagratuni dynasty patronised some of the most notable works of art and architecture in Armenia's history, one of which being the Cathedral of Ani. The leader of the Bagratuni dynasty, Ashot Msaker (Ashot the Meateater) (806–827) was given the title of ishkhan (prince) of Armenia by the Caliphate in 804.Garsoian, Nina. "The Arab Invasions and the Rise of the Bagratuni (649–684)" in The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I, The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian. New York: St Martin's Press, 1997, p. 146. The Bagratunis had their first capital at Bagaran, some south of Ani, before moving it to Shirakavan, some northeast of Ani, and then transferring it to Kars in the year 929. In 961, king Ashot III (953–77) transferred the capital from Kars to Ani. Ani expanded rapidly during the reign of King Smbat II (977–89). In 992 the Armenian Catholicosate moved its seat to Ani. In the 10th century the population was perhaps 50,000–100,000.Redgate, Anne Elizabeth. The Armenians. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, p. 210. Scholars conventionally put the population of Ani at around 100,000. Lucy Der Manuelian noted that the figure, first reported by Matthew of Edessa, has been questioned by modern scholars, but Nikolai Marr, who excavated the site, noted that "most of the people probably lived just outside the walls." Hakob Manandyan noted that Ani's population was "unquestionably more than that of contemporary cities in Western Europe."
Ani did not lie along any previously important trade routes, but because of its size, power, and wealth it became an important trading hub. Its primary trading partners were the Byzantine Empire, the Persian Empire, the Arabs, as well as smaller nations in southern Russia and Central Asia. Its renown was such that it was known as the "city of forty gates" and the "city of a thousand and one churches." Ani also became the site of the royal mausoleum of Bagratuni kings.Manuk-Khaloyan, Armen, "In the Cemetery of their Ancestors: The Royal Burial Tombs of the Bagratuni Kings of Greater Armenia (890-1073/79)", Revue des Études Arméniennes 35 (2013): 147–155.
Ani attained the apogee of its power during the long reign of King Gagik I (989–1020). After his death his two sons quarreled over the succession. The eldest son, Hovhannes-Smbat (1020–41), gained control of Ani while his younger brother, Ashot IV (1020–40), controlled other parts of the Bagratuni kingdom. Hovhannes-Smbat, fearing that the Byzantines would attack his now-weakened kingdom, made the Byzantine Emperor Basil II his heir.Whittow. Making of Byzantium, p. 383. When Hovhannes-Smbat died in 1041, Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian, claimed sovereignty over Ani. The new king of Ani, Gagik II (1042–45), opposed this and several Byzantine armies sent to capture Ani were repulsed. However, in 1046 Ani surrendered to the Byzantines, after Gagik was invited to Constantinople and detained there, and at the instigation of pro-Byzantine elements among its population. A Byzantine governor was installed in the city.
Seljuks and Shaddadids
In 1064, a large Seljuk army under Alp Arslan attacked Ani; after a siege of 25 days, they captured the city and slaughtered its population. An account of the sack and massacres in Ani is given by the Turkish historian Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, who quotes an eyewitness saying:
In 1072, the Seljuks sold Ani to the Shaddadids, a Muslim Kurdish dynasty. The Shaddadids generally pursued a conciliatory policy towards the city's overwhelmingly Armenian and Christian population and married several members of the Bagratuni nobility. Whenever the Shaddadid governance became too intolerant, however, the population would appeal to the Christian Kingdom of Georgia for help. The Georgians captured Ani five times between 1124 and 1209: in 1124, 1161, 1174, and 1199.Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Kartlis Tskhovreba (History of Georgia), Artanuji pub. Tbilisi 2014 The first three times, it was recaptured by the Shaddadids.
Revival under the Zakarians In 1199, Queen Tamar of the Georgian Bagrationis captured Ani and in 1201 granted the governorship of the city to the generals Zakare and Ivane. Supported by Tamar, Zakare's new dynasty — the Zakarians — considered themselves to be the successors to the Armenian Bagratunis. Prosperity quickly returned to Ani during the Georgian Golden Age. The city's defences were strengthened and many new churches were constructed.
Zakare was succeeded by his son Shahnshah. In 1217 and 1220, the city came under attack from the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum whose forces destroyed and pillaged the city however they did not occupy it.
Mongol capture and decline
The Mongols unsuccessfully besieged Ani in 1226, but in 1236 they captured and sacked the city, massacring large numbers of its population. During Mongol invasion of Georgia in 1238-39 Queen Rusudan had to evacuate Tbilisi for Kutaisi, leaving eastern Georgia in the hands of atabeg Avag Zakarian, Shahnshah Zakarian, and Kakhetian lord, Egarslan Bakurtsikheli. The Mongol general Toghta was sent by Chaghatai to assault Avag's troops at the fortress of Kayan. After some resistance, Avag surrendered, and had to agree to pay tribute to the Mongols, and to provide troops to join the Mongol army. The combined troops went on to Ani, the Armenian capital being defended by Shahnshah Zakarian, but the city was eventually captured and destroyed. Following this disastrous campaign of 1238–1239, the Armenians and Georgians made peace with the Mongols and agreed to pay them tribute and supply them with troops.
Ilkhanid rule continued uninterrupted until the death of the last Ilkhanid emperor Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan in 1335. Following the decline of the Il-Khanate, during the later part of the reign of George V (between 1319 and 1335) and the reign of the later king Bagrat V, the city of Ani again became part of the Kingdom of Georgia. From 1335, various Mongol factions vied for power, successively occupying Zakarid Armenia and minting their coinage in Ani, while maintaining effective control on the Kingdom of Georgia. First were the Jalayirid Muhammad Khan, followed by the Chobanids with their puppet rulers Suleiman Khan and Anushirwan, again followed by the Turco-Mongol Jalayirids. The Jalayirids ruled Armenia until the conquests of Timur from 1386.