Sasun or Sassoun (), also known as Sanasun or Sanasunkʻ (), was a region of historical Armenia. The region is now divided among the modern Turkish provinces of Muş, Bingöl, Bitlis, Siirt, Batman, and Diyarbakır, with the modern-day district of Sason in Batman Province encompassing only one part of historical Sasun.

In antiquity, Sasun was one of the ten districts () of the province of Aghdznikʻ (Arzanene) of the Kingdom of Armenia. Over time, Sasun came to denote a larger region than the original . In the 10th century, an independent Armenian principality based in Sasun and ruled by a branch of the Mamikonian dynasty emerged and existed until the 12th century. The region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and the district (kaza) of Sasun was made a part of different administrative divisions before finally being attached to the Mush sanjak of the Bitlis vilayet. Kurds settled in Sasun as early as the end of the 13th century, and an autonomous Kurdish emirate existed there until the 19th century.

The inhabitants of Sasun frequently enjoyed an autonomous or semi-independent status up to the modern era owing to the region's remoteness and inaccessibility, as well as to the armed resistance of its inhabitants. Sasun holds a significant place in Armenian culture, history and historical memory. The Sasun Armenians' reputation for courage and resistance to foreign rule is reflected in the Armenian national epic Daredevils of Sasun. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Sasun became a focal point of the Armenian fedayi movement and was the site of numerous clashes between Armenian militiamen, Kurdish irregulars and the Ottoman authorities. The Armenians of Sasun showed armed resistance during the Armenian genocide in 1915, during which most of them were killed. Some Armenians from Sasun managed to flee and settled in the territory of modern-day Armenia, while a small number remained in Sasun. Most of the Armenians that remained in Sasun after the genocide have since left the region, settling primarily in Istanbul, and the region is now populated primarily by Kurds.

Name The exact etymology of Sasun is unknown, although various folk etymologies exist. The name is first definitely attested in the 7th-century Armenian geography Ashkharhatsʻoytsʻ, attributed to Anania Shirakatsi. Sanasun is the older form of the name, and both versions are also attested in the plural forms Sanasunkʻ and Sasunkʻ. The Greeks referred to the region in the plural, as (), which is likely a direct translation of Sanasunkʻ and also refers to the inhabitants of Sanasun. In the Armenian tradition, the name of Sasun is traditionally associated with Sanasar (i.e., biblical Sharezer), the son of the Assyrian king Sennacherib who fled to Armenia after murdering his father․ Sanasar is said to have settled in the area around Mount Sim, which was called Sanasunkʻ (as if meaning "Sanasar's progeny") after him and his descendants that populated the region. The prominent Armenian noble house of Artsruni and the bdeashkhs of Tsopʻkʻ and Aghdznikʻ, the latter of which ruled over Sanasun until the fifth century, all claimed descent from Sanasar. It has been proposed that the placename is related to the town or fortress of Sassu mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (8th century BCE). Nicholas Adontz connects Sasun/Sanasun with Ususuani, one of the conquered lands mentioned in the inscriptions of the Urartian king Menua (9th-8th century BCE).

Geography

Located in the eastern Taurus Mountains, Sasun was one of the most mountainous and inaccessible regions of historical Armenia, characterized by precipitous gorges and canyons, grassy valleys, thick forests, and river rapids. Its two main mountain ranges were the Sim Mountains (also known as Kurtik or Simsar) to the north, which separated Sasun from the plain of Mush, and the Sasun Mountains to the east, the most prominent peaks of which are Andok (Antok), Tsovasar (Zowasor), Kepin and Maratʻuk (Marutʻasar). The source of the Batman River (Kʻaghirtʻ in the old Armenian sources), a tributary of the Tigris, was located in Sasun. The altitude in Sasun dropped drastically going from north to south, going from in the north to in the south along a distance of just . Summers were temperate in the north and very hot in the south, while winters were severe and long everywhere. The main roads leading out of Sasun, which went through mountain passes to the north, were made impassable by snowfall throughout the winter, cutting the region off from the outside world. The area was also frequently stricken by earthquakes. Sasun received very little rainfall and had poor soil for agriculture, so the population was largely dependent on their herds (mainly sheep) for survival․ Agriculture and some grape cultivation occurred on a limited scale. Although Sasun was replete with timber and deposits of iron and copper, these remained largely unexploited (except for limited local use) due to the lack of transportation infrastructure for export.

Within the Kingdom of Armenia, Sanasun or Sasun bordered the districts of Hashteankʻ of Tsopʻkʻ province to the northwest, Tarōn, Aspakuneatsʻ Dzor and Khoytʻ (Khutʻ) of Turuberan province to the northeast, and Salnoy Dzor, Gzekh, Aghdzn, and Npʻrkert of Aghdznik province to the east and southeast. Suren Yeremian estimates the area of historical Sanasun at . In later periods, Sasun referred to a broader geographical, economic and political region which included historical Sanasun and the adjacent territories, and was considered a part of the region of Taron-Turuberan. By one definition, Sasun encompassed the area between the Haçres and Sim/Kurtik Mountains in the north to Sasun village (modern Derince, Sason) in the south and between Kulp in the west and Kavakbaşı (historical Khoytʻ) in the east. After the creation of the Bitlis vilayet in 1875, most of Sasun was made part of the sanjak of Mush of the Bitlis vilayet and called the kaza of Sasun, with other parts of the greater region of Sasun falling under adjacent sanjaks. Little is known for certain about Sasun's internal sub-divisions during the late Ottoman period, and these seem to have changed frequently. One source gives the names of the sub-districts (or nahiye) of Sasun in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as Brnashēn, Bun Sasun ("Sasun proper"), Kharzan, Khutʻ-Brnashēn, Khulpʻ, Hazzo-Khabljoz, Motkan, Shatakh, Talvorik (Talori), and Pʻsankʻ․

History

Early history Sasun or Sanasun formed a part of the territory of the Kingdom of Urartu, as well as the Kingdom of Armenia under the successive rule of the Orontid, Artaxiad and Arsacid dynasties. Sanasun was a territory of the bdeashkh (vitaxa, viceroy) of Aghdznikʻ, an office that was likely constituted during the reign of Tigranes the Great (1st century BCE) and continued to exist until the mid-5th century. It has been suggested that Sanasun formed "a tribal territory under its own chieftains" rather than a holding of the bdeashkh, but there is little evidence to support this. Although the early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi does not mention Sanasun by name, he refers to "the Taurus Mountain, that is Sim and all the and all the Kłesurkʻ [Kleisourai, mountain passes]," which is clearly describing the territory of Sanasun, as part of the territories granted to Sharashan, bdeashkh of Aghdznikʻ. Sanasun was strategically important because of its geographical position; the river valleys that it encompassed, though difficult to pass, were a logical invasion route from the south toward the plain of Mush. The chief fortress of Sanasun bore the same name and was located near the later village of Sasun (modern Derince). Sanasun presumably came under direct Roman suzerainty together with the entire bdeashkhutʻiwn (viceroyalty) of Aghdznikʻ as a result of the Peace of Nisibis in 298 CE, although the viceroyalty may have remained under the de facto authority of the King of Armenia. The Romans gave up rights to Aghdznikʻ to Sasanian Iran in 363 and the viceroyalty was possibly reconquered by Armenia in the 370s. Aghdznikʻ was divided between the Roman and Sasanian empires in the partition of Armenia in 387, with most of it going it to the Sasanians. After the partition of Armenia, a line of mountain fortifications were built in Sasun, which had become the southern frontier of central Armenia.

Sasun maintained its independence or semi-independence after the dethroning of the last Arsacid king of Armenia in 428. In the 510s, the future marzban of Armenia Mzhezh Gnuni led the Armenians of Sasun to defeat a group of raiding Huns. At some point after the Arab conquest of Armenia, Sasun came under the control of Mamikonian dynasty and a became a key stronghold for resistance against Arab rule. Starting from the end of the 8th century, Sasun was ruled by the Tornikians, a branch of the Mamikonian family. In 851, the population of Sasun, under the leadership of a certain Hovhan Khutetsi, defeated an Arab army on the plain of Mush and killed its commander Yusuf. In 852 the Abbasid commander Bugha al-Kabir attacked Sasun and massacred thousands of its inhabitants. Despite this, the Tornikians maintained their control over Sasun and continued to resist Arab rule. The frequent revolts of the Armenians of Sasun against Arab rule served as the historical basis for the medieval Armenian epic Daredevils of Sasun.

Principality of Sasun

Continuing the long-standing rivalry between the Mamikonian and Bagratuni dynasties and encouraged by the Byzantine Empire, the Tornikians of Sasun conquered a part of the Bagratunis' holdings in Tarōn in the early 10th century. Soon after, however, the Tornikians accepted the suzerainty of the Bagratuni kingdom of Armenia based in Ani. At some point during the rule of the Tornikians, an episcopal see was established at Sasun with its seat at the monastery of Surb Aghberik or Vandir. Tarōn was conquered in its entirety by the Byzantines in the last decade of the 10th century, but the Tornikian principality of Sasun managed to maintain its independence from Byzantium and the Seljuks. In the 11th century Sasun was ruled first by Mushegh Tornikian, then by his son Tornik, who again expanded the principality of Sasun into Tarōn and conquered the city Arsamosata and parts of Andzit. Arab sources refer to the ruler of Sasun as malik al-Sanasina. In 1059, Tornik beat back a Seljuk incursion into Tarōn. In 1073, he defeated the Byzantine-Armenian general-turned-ruler Philaretos Brachamios, who attempted to subject Sasun to his rule. That same year, Tornik was assassinated through the conspiring of Philaretos and the emir of Mayyafariqin.

He was succeeded by his son Chordvanel (1073–1120s), who is said to have captured thirty villages from the emirate of Arzen. Under Chordvanel's son Vigen (1120s–1175), the principality expanded further westward and established alliances by marriage with the Artsrunis of Moks, the Katakalons, and the Pahlavunis. Vigen was succeeded by his grandson, Shahnshah (1175–1188), who unsuccessfully attempted to make his brother Catholicos at Rumkale. Catholicos Gregory IV called on Shah-Armen Beytemür, ruler of Ahlat, for aid against Shahnshah's aggression, but Beytemür was taken prisoner and ransomed in exchange for a certain fortress called Tʻardzean. However, Beytemür then renewed his attack on Sasun, defeated Shahnshah and imposed a heavy tribute. In 1188, Shahnshah and his brothers Vasil and Tornik fled to the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia after being dispossessed by the Shah-Armens. King Leo II of Cilicia granted them the fortress of Seleucia. Some branches of the Tornikians remained in Sasun, taking refuge in the more inaccessible parts of the region.

13th century to Ottoman rule