Marzbanate (428–646) In 428, Armenian nobles,
nakharar, dissatisfied with the rule of
Artaxias IV petitioned emperor
Bahram V to depose him. In 475, the
Mamikonian princess
Shushanik, was murdered by her husband Prince
Varsken, a recent convert to
Zoroastrianism, because she refused to convert and wanted to stay
Christian. Varsken was then executed by
Vakhtang I, king of
Iberia. Peroz I, eager to avenge Varsken, sent his general
Shapur Mihran to Iberia. Vakhtang then appealed to the
Huns and the Armenian nobles, citing solidarity between Christians. After carefully weighing the decision, the Mamikonian prince
Vahan Mamikonian agreed to revolt against the Sasanians. He defeated and killed Adhur Gushnasp, and thereafter declared
Sahak II Bagratuni as the new
marzban. He also kept repelling several Sasanian counter-attacks. In 482, Shapur Mihran began to become a big threat to the security of Iberia, which made Vakhtang request Armenian aid. Vahan and Sahak shortly arrived to Iberia at the head of a big army, but were defeated in Akesga, where Sahak was killed. Vahan fled with the remnants of the Armenian army into the mountains, where he led guerrilla actions against the Sasanians, while Shapur Mihran managed to regain control of Armenia. However, Shapur Mihran was shortly ordered to return to the Sasanian capital of
Ctesiphon. Vahan quickly used the opportunity to regain control of Armenia. In the spring of 484, however, Shapur Mihran returned as the head of a new army and forced Vahan to flee to refuge near the Byzantine frontier, at
Tao and
Taron. During the same period, the Sasanian noble
Zarmihr Karen from the
Karenid family, was successful in another campaign against the Armenians, and managed to capture several of them, including noblemen from the
Kamsarakan family. Zarmihr shortly delivered the Armenian captives to Shapur Mihran, who delivered them to
Izad Gushnasp, promising the Armenian captives to make Peroz spare them. However, an unexpected event changed the course of events: the death of the Sasanian king Peroz I in 484 in war against the
Hephthalites, causing the withdrawal of the Sasanians in Armenia and recovery of Dvin and
Vagharshapat. Struggling to suppress the revolt of his brother
Zarir, Peroz's successor,
Balash (r. 484–488), needed the help of the Armenians: in exchange for military support, he agreed to sign the
Nvarsak Treaty, which granted religious freedom to the Christians and the prohibition of Zoroastrianism in Armenia, including much greater autonomy for the
nakharar. Vahan was also recognized as
sparapet and the property of the Mamikonian family and its allies were returned. Between 515–516, several Hunnic tribes kept making incursions into Armenia—the Armenian nobleman
Mjej I Gnuni then decided to organize a counter-attack, where he successfully managed to repel them. As a reward, Kavadh I appointed him as the
marzban of Armenia in 518. During this governorship, Mjej maintained religious peace. In 527, he repelled several other Hunnic invasions. In 548, he was succeeded by
Gushnasp Bahram.
Chihor-Vishnasp, a member of the Suren family and a relative of Khosrow I himself, was in 564 appointed as
marzban. During this period, the Armenian aristocracy was split between two parties, the national one which was headed by a member of the
Mamikonian family, and a pro-Sasanian one, which was headed by a member of the Siunia family. Chihor Vishnasp harshly treated the Christian Armenians who were suspected of secretly siding with the Byzantines, and he also did the same with the rest of the Christian Armenian population. Claiming to exploit on the command of the king, he persecuted the Christian Armenians and even built a fire-temple in Dvin. These actions soon resulted in a massive uprising in late 571 or early 572, which was led by
Vardan III Mamikonian. On 23 February 572, the Armenian rebels seized Dvin, and had Chihor-Vishnasp killed.
Vardan Mamikonian Sasanian king
Yazdegerd II began to view Christianity in the Northern lands as a political threat to the cohesiveness of the Iranian empire. The dispute appears to be based on Iranian military considerations of the time given that according to Acts 2:9 in the Acts of the Apostles there were Persians, Parthians and Medes (all Iranian tribes) among the first new Christian converts at Pentecost and Christianity has had a long history in Iran as a minority religion, dating back to the very early years of the faith. Nevertheless, the conversion to Christianity by Armenians in the North was of particular concern to Yazdegerd II. After a successful invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire, Yazdegerd began summoning Armenian nobles to
Ctesiphon and reconverted them to
Zoroastrianism (a faith many Armenians shared with Iranians prior to Christianity). This upset the Armenian population, and under the leadership of
Vardan Mamikonian an army of 66,000 Armenians rebelled against the Sasanian empire. Yazdegerd quickly subdued the rebellion at the
Battle of Avarayr.
Nvarsak Treaty The military success of the Iranians ensured that Armenia would remain part of the Sasanian empire for centuries to come. However, Armenian objections did not end until the
Nvarsak Treaty, which guaranteed Armenia more freedom and freedom of religion (
Christianity) under Sasanian rule.
Sasanian coins produced in Armenia Sasanian government had produced gold, silver and bronze coins in Armenia. 813 of these coins were found in 34 regions in Armenia; being most of them found in
Dvin (ancient city) and
Gyumri. Most of these coins were silver coins. ==Viceroys==