Armenian Crown: The Gandzasar Code

While the Hasan-Jalalians’ royal origin is of tremendous historical and political value, an even more interesting fact is that their bloodline stretches back all the way to the world of Biblical patriarchs and epic heroes of the ancient world.

Hasan Jalal Vahtangian’s direct ancestors from the male line derived from an ancient noble clan called Arranshahiks (Armenians: Առանշահիկներ) who ruled eastern provinces of Armenia since very early times.

Arranshahiks, whose name means “shahs” (monarchs) of Arran’s lineage,” are one of the world’s oldest princely houses. They claimed a direct connection to early Armenian ancestral patriarchs, Hayk Nahapet and his grandson Sisak, and through them—to the legendary characters of the Old Testament, including Japheth, and, ultimately, Noah.

The most famous early Arranshahik monarch was Vachagan II the Pious, who lived in the 5th century and is credited for entrenching Christianity in Armenia’s eastern provinces, building numerous churches in Artsakh and Utik, and producing Armenia’s first known constitutional edict called “The Canons of Aghven.” King Vachagan’s grave, in the St. Yeghishe Monastery (located 30 miles north of Gandzasar) has for centuries been a key venue for pilgrimage of Artsakh’s Armenians.

Movses Kaghankatvatsi, the seventh century’s Armenian historian of Artsakh and Utik, tells the story of how the house of Arranshahiks came into being. In his seminal work “History of the Land of Aghvank,” Kaghankatvatsi repeats a legend originally reported by Movses Khorenatsi—the fifth century author of the “History of Armenia,” who is celebrated as the “father of Armenian history.”

According to Khorenatsi, the eponymous founder of this dynasty was Arran, a descendant of Patriarch Sisak (the direct ancestor of the Syuni (Syunid) princely clan). The traditional domain of the Siunids was the province of Syunik, the larger part of which now constitutes the province (marz) of Syunik in the Republic of Armenia.

Legends state that Sisak was a great-grandson of Hayk Nahapet (Armenian: Հայկ Նահապետ; also called Hayk the Titan: Հայկ Դյուցազուն). It is in Hayk’s memory that Armenians call themselves “Hye” (Armenian: Հայ, pronounced: “high”), and their country—“Hayq” or “Hayastan.”

The story of how Vagharshak I, King of Armenia, entrusted to Arran the control over the northeast extremity of his kingdom, is found in Chapter Four of Book One of the “History of the Land of Aghvank” and in Chapter Five of Khorenatsi’s “History of Armenia:”

“During the establishment of order for the northern inhabitants, [King Vagharshak] summoned the representatives of the wild tribes living on the northern plain as well as at the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains … and commanded them to stop brigandry and treachery, and to pay royal dues. Then the King appointed chieftains and rulers for them, and chose certain Arran to head them all, a man from the family of Sisak, one of the descendents of Japheth, who inherited the plains and mountains of the land of Aghvank.”

Later in the text, Kaghankatvatsi again highlights Arranshahiks’ connection to Patriarch Hayk Nahapet. When writing about the bloody conflict between the native Arranshahiks and the clan of Mihranians (Mihranids)—Armenian-assimilated feudal lords from Persia who invaded Utik’s county of Gardman in the Middle Ages and for some time suppressed its original rulers—Kaghankatvatsi calls Arranshahiks “a Haykazian dynasty,” i.e. deriving from Hayk. Kirakos Gandzaketsi, the 13th century author of the “History of Armenia,” similarly affirms that kings of Aghvank— Arran, Vachagan, Vache, Urnair and others—all descended from Hayk. [2]

The legend about Hayk is central to ethnic mythology and historical identity of the Armenian people. Movses Khorenatsi’s fifth century narrative describes Hayk as a titan, a leader of his tribe and a person of extraordinary physical features and martial skills. Hayk is postulated to be a grandson of Japheth, and, therefore, a grand-grandson of Noah.

Khorenatsi-told legend catches Hayk away from his homeland, in Babylon, the realm of the great king Bel (Nimrod), and the first city to be built after the Great Flood. When Hayk leaves Babylon and reestablishes in Armenia, Bel attempts to conquer Hayk’s domain, but proud Hayk refuses to submit. In an epic battle that occurred southeast of the Lake Van, Hayk slays Bel with a three-pronged arrow, sending the enormous Babylonian army into disarray. This victory confirms Hayk as the founding father of the Armenian people.

The Hasan-Jalalians: Mysterious Symbols

Gandzasar’s Cathedral of St. John serves as burial ground for Hasan Jalal Vahtangian and other princes and bishops of his lineage. The tomb of Hasan Jalal is located in front of the entrance to the main chamber of the cathedral, in the vestibule of the gavit (narthex).

The tombstone is carved from a solid piece of white marble. It is decorated with three large circular carvings: the Hexagram (“Star”) of King David which contains in its center an image of a swirl-styled Wheel of Eternity—an ancient Indo-Aryan symbol used widely by Armenians; the Wheel is supported by six pieces of vegetable decor, two of which represent fleur-de-lis (French lilies). This curious compound ornament is found in some other parts of historical Armenia where princely families related to Hasan Jalal’s Arranshahik clan held power.

The second circle is organized as a 16-beam star. It is not entirely clear what it represents but it looks like a combination of the East Asian version of the Wheel of Eternity (such as India ’s Ashoka Chakra) and Macedonia ’s 16-ray Star of Vergina.

The third circle is what is known in Armenian art history as the “Sun” (Armenian: արև) an ornamented and, sometimes, protuberant sphere commonly found in the lower parts of khachkars (unique-to-Armenia stone monuments with large carving of a Christian cross). The Sun is thought to be one of many rudiments of the sun-worshipping creed of ancient Armenians, which were preserved in Armenia’s Christian art with a tacit consent of the Church.

Tomb of Elikum III Orbelian, dated 1300, inside the Chapel of St. Gregory of the Noravank Monastery, Province of Vayots Dzor, Republic of Armenia. Elikum was the son of Prince Tarsaich Orbelian of Syunik who married one of Hasan Jalal’s daughters — Princess Mina.

The tombstone contains the following inscription in Old Church Armenian (Grabar): "ԱՅՍ է ՀԱՆԳԻՍՏ ՄԵԾԻՆ ՋԱԼԱԼԻՆ: ԱՂԱԻԹՍ ՅԻՇԵՑԵՔ։ ԹՎ ՊՁ. It reads: “Here Rests Great Jalal; Remember Him In Your Prayers; Year 1431.”

The Star of David and other elements of the curious ornament from Hasan Jalal’s tombstone are found in the province of Syunik as well, such as at the Tsaghatz-Kar Monastery in Vayots Dzor—the domain of the Orbelian and Hahbakian-Proshian princely clans which related to Hasan Jalal’s Vahtangian line of nobles.

Undoubtedly, the most mysterious of all of Vayots Dzor’s memorials is the tomb of Elikum III Orbelian. Elikum was the son of Tarsaich Orbelian who married one of Hasan Jalal’s daughters, Princess Mina. Elikum’s tomb, dated 1300, is inside the Chapel of St. Gregory, at the Noravank Monastery (in the present-day province of Vayots Dzor, Republic of Armenia). The mysterious image of a large anthropomorphic Lioness is masterfully engraved on Elikum’s tombstone. The human-looking hands and feet of the Lioness have long claws, a nimbus shines above her head, and a long tail hangs gently between her legs. No one could so far come with a definitive conclusion what the Lioness was meant to symbolize.

The Hasan-Jalalian Dynasty Today

After Hasan Jalal’s martyrdom in Persia, in 1261, his descendants, who began calling themselves Hasan-Jalalians in memory of their famous forefather, split into two separate but intermingling branches. The clerical branch treated the Holy See of Gandzasar as their ancestral domain, through the 20th century. The princely branch continued as landed nobles of Khachen: as princes and, later, as meliks (dukes) and beks (lower-class gentry).

In the 21st century, many of Hasan Jalal’s descendents still reside in the town of Vank, located at the foothills of Mount Gandzasar, and in Stepanakert—capital of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Some of them, living in Armenia, Russia and the United States, achieved tremendous success in business, science and arts.

Emblem of the Hasan-Jalalian Charitable Foundation established in Yerevan to consolidate Hasan-Jalalian descendents and promote awareness of Gandzasar’s cultural and political significance.