Vardan Mamikonian was born in approximately 387 in the settlement of
Ashtishat in the
Taron region to Hamazasp Mamikonian and Sahakanoysh, daughter of Patriarch
Sahak of Armenia. He had two younger brothers, Hamazasp and Hmayeak. He was educated in
Vagharshapat at the school founded by Patriarch Sahak and
Mesrop Mashtots. After the death of his father, he became the head of the Mamikonian noble family. In 420, he went to
Constantinople with Mesrop Mashtots and was appointed
stratelates (general) of
Byzantine Armenia by
Theodosius II. In 422, he returned to Vagharshapat, then went to
Ctesiphon, where Sasanian king
Bahram V recognized him as of the Kingdom of Armenia; the office of , the supreme commander of the Armenian armed forces, was held hereditarily by the Mamikonian family. Vardan retained this title after the abolition of the Kingdom of Armenia in 428. Conditions worsened in
Sasanian Armenia with the accession of
Yazdegerd II in 439. At first, Yazdegerd and his officials imposed heavier taxes and obligations on Armenia and its nobility, but did not yet openly move against the Armenian Church. In 442, Yazdegerd sent the Armenian cavalry commanded by Vardan east to fight the
Huns. In 449, the Sasanian king issued an edict officially imposing
Zoroastrianism on Armenia. That same year, the Armenian elite gathered at
Artaxata under the presidency of
marzpan Vasak Siwni, Vardan, the
bidaxsh of the
Iberian March, and the acting Catholicos of Armenia to declare their loyalty to the Sasanian state and their Christian faith. Yazdegerd did not accept this decision and summoned the Armenian magnates () to Ctesiphon and forced them to convert to Zoroastrianism. Yazdegerd released most of the nobles after an unexpected attack from the east and sent
magi to convert Armenia. Upon their return to Armenia, Vardan and most of the Armenian nobles repudiated their conversion, although Yeghishe and Ghazar Parpetsi give conflicting accounts of Vardan's initial apostasy and the origins of the Armenian rebellion that broke out in 450. Vardan may have initially intended to retire into exile, but soon emerged as the leader the popular rebellion against the imposition of Zoroastrianism. Vardan and his allies made a solemn oath and captured a number of fortresses and settlements. Vardan's forces won a major victory over the Persians in the summer of 450 and secured an alliance with the northern Huns; however, an embassy to Byzantium asking for aid was unsuccessful. Vardan was opposed by a significant pro-Persian party of Armenian nobles, and
marzpan Vasak Siwni refused to follow him out of Armenia to meet the Persians in battle. appeals to Vardan Mamikonyan to return to the Armenian lands, Julian Zasso (1833-1889) In the summer of 451, a large Sasanian army including the elite cavalry corps of the
Immortals and war elephants marched against the Armenian rebels. Vardan's army battled with the Persians at
Avarayr near
Maku on June 2. The supporters of Vasak Siwni deserted during the battle and Vardan's forces were defeated, with Vardan and most of the Armenian nobility dying in the fighting. The aftermath of the
Battle of Avarayr is not completely clear, but it appears that Yazdegerd, alarmed by the Persian losses, withdrew his troops and imprisoned Vasak Siwni. Vardan's surviving supporters were imprisoned in Iran, although many of them were eventually released in the following years. In 481, a new rebellion manifested under the leadership of Vardan's nephew,
Vahan Mamikonian, which succeeded in securing recognition of Armenian religious rights and autonomy with the
Treaty of Nvarsak in 484. == Family ==