Amir Hasan II

Amir Hasan II (ruled 1317-1351)^[6] was a ruler of the Armenian Proshyan dynasty. He was the son of Eachi Proshian (1268/73-1318), himself a grandson of Prosh Khaghbakian, 13th century founder of the Proshyan dynasty. He was active in the region of Vayots Dzor and northern Siwnik.

Amir Hasan II (letters ԱՄՐ ՀՍ "AMR HS") hunting on horseback in Mongol attire, Church of the White Virgin (completed 1321). History Museum of Armenia, Yerevan.^[1][2]

Relief depicting Eachi and Amir Hassan II of the Proshian dynasty ("a portrait identified by scholars as the father and son together"),^[3] c. 1321. Astvatsatsin Spitakavor Monastery, Vayots Dzor, Hermitage Museum, inv. No. AR-619.^[4][5]

Amir Hasan II is especially known for completing in 1321 the Spitakavor Monastery, which had been started by his father in 1318.^[7][8][9] Amir Hasan II is depicted in two reliefs from Spitakavor, one showing him sitting with his father.^[10]

Another relief represents him on horseback in princely attire with a bow, with the letters ԱՄՐ ՀՍ (AMR HS), indicating Prince Amir Hasan. The relief is dated to 1320–1322, date the church was completed.^[4][11] In these depictions, the Proshyans wear close-fitting clothing with an ornate belt and tall hats, and have round cheeks and almond-shaped eyes in a style characteristic of Mongol-era Armenia.^[12] Riding a horse, Prince Amir Hasan wears a close-fitting tunic and a three-pointed hat with two ribbons, characteristic of 14th century Mongol nobility, and his facial features are similar to those of the Mongols.^[1] Prince Eacchi Proshian on his reliquary, dated circa 1300, is shown wearing a Mongol-style royal dress (cloud collar).^[13]

Nominally under the rule of the Kingdom of Georgia, the Proshians has effectively submitted to the Mongols since 1236 in exchange for keeping their lands and paying high taxes to the conqueror,^[14] and in 1256 were effectively incorporated into the Mongol Ilkhanate together with the rest of historical Armenia.^[15]

A colophon from a manuscript redacted in 1321 in the Monastery of Glajor mentions Amir Hasan II and harsh Mongol rule:^[16]

This was copied in the year 770 of our Haykazean Era [a.d. 1321], in bitter and evil times, when the nation of archers [azgn netolac‘] held under tyrannical sway all of Armenia and Georgia, during the reign of King Gorgen (Giorgi V) of the Georgians [Vrac‘], and of our heir-apparent King Lewon (Leon IV of Cilicia) of Armenia Major [Hayoc' Mecac']; and during the pontificate of the Lord Kostandin [Constantin III of Cesarea],^[17] and the overseership of the Lord Yovhanes and the Lord Step'anos in our province of Siwnik'; and during the generalship and principality of Burt'el and Amir Hasan in our cantons...

— Gospel by scribe Kiwrion, Monastery of Glajor^[16]

• 
  Spitakavor Monastery, completed by Amir Hasan II in 1321.
• 
  Tympanon of Spitakavor Monastery
• 
  Crooked cross of Spitakavor Monastery

References

1. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0892366392. The portrait of the founder as huntsman is an iconographic type common to Islamic art. Amir Hasan's costume, a long tunic drawn in at the waist by a belt decorated with stones, along with a three-pointed cap with two ribbons, is the same as that of the Mongol princes of the fourteenth century. The face itself, with heavy jowls and slightly slanting eves, also recalls that of the Mongols.
2. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 104–105.
3. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 104.
4. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 104–105.
5. "Hermitage hall 63".
6. Sirinian, Anna (2010). "I MONGOLI NEI COLOFONI Summary DEI MANOSCRITTI ARMENI" (PDF). Bazmavep Revue d'Études Arméniennes: 518, note 104.
7. Spitakavor Church. Find Armenia. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
8. "Spitakavor Church". Great Yerevan. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
9. Armenien: 3000 Jahre Kultur zwischen Ost und West. Trescher Verlag. 2008. p. 395. ISBN 978-3-89794-126-7.
10. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107. Following the custom of the time, a representation of the commissioner, Each'i Proshian, is engraved at the bottom center of the frame. His hands are upraised in the ancient Christian orant prayer pose, and his clothing recalls Mongolian royal dress.
11. "Bas-relief presenting a hunting scene – HMA".
12. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 104. Shown mounted and turning back to shoot his arrow at a deer, he wears a tall hat and a wrapped, close-fitting garment, cinched by an ornate belt. This costume, together with Amir's round cheeks and almond-shaped eyes, finds close parallels in other princely portraits from Mongol-era Armenia, and in particular that of his father on the reliquary of the "Holy Cross of Vegetarians" (Khotakerats').
13. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107. Following the custom of the time, a representation of the commissioner, Each'i Proshian, is engraved at the bottom center of the frame. His hands are upraised in the ancient Christian orant prayer pose, and his clothing recalls Mongolian royal dress.
14. Dashdondog, Bayarsaikhan (2010). The Mongols and the Armenians (1220–1335). Brill’s Inner Asian Library. p. 74. Awag's submission had a domino effect on the other lords. The Armenian princes, such as Shahnshah (d. 1261), the son of Zak'aré, Vahram Gagets'i (fl. 1240-1250) and his son Aghbugha, and Hasan Jalal, the prince of Khachen, all followed his example in 1236. On seeing that the other lords retained their lands, the Armenian princes of the Orbelian, Proshian, Dop'ian, Vach'utian and Jalalian houses aimed to cooperate with Mongol administrators in order to retain their principalities, which had been under the suzerainty of the Zak'arids during the previous century. It was understood that they could regain their own land from the Mongol commanders. (...) p.96: The strategy of the Greater Armenian lords towards the Mongol presence was cooperative rather than confrontational. In fact, the assistance given by Awag Zak'arian to Chormaghan and Guyuk Khan; Hasan Jalal to Sartakh and to Mongke Khan; Smbat Orbelian to Mongke Khan and Hulegu; and Prosh Zak'arian and Sadun Artsruni to Hulegu and Abaqa Khan illustrate effective Mongol-Armenian partnerships.
15. Stopka, Krzysztof; Bałuk-Ulewiczowa, Teresa (2017). Armenia Christiana: Armenian religious identity and the Churches of Constantinople and Rome (4th-15th century) (PDF) (First ed.). Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press. ISBN 978-83-233-4190-1. In 1256 a fifth Mongol ulus was created, with the ilkhan Hulagu, the Great Khan's brother, as its governor. His task was to develop the Mongol Empire in the Near East. The historical territories of Armenia became part of the Ilkhanate of Persia. In these circumstances political complications accrued to the already diffi cult relations with Rome. At this time Western attitudes to the Mongols were hostile. Meanwhile, on his return from Karakorum (1255), Hethum I persuaded Bohemond VI, Prince of Antioch, to side with the pro-Mongol party. (...) In 1258 Armenian troops from Greater Armenia took part in Hulagu's successful siege of Baghdad.
16. Sanjian, Avedis K. (1969). Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts,1301-1480 (in Xhosa). Oxford University Press. p. 64.
17. Dadoyan, Seta B. (1 November 2012). The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World: Armenian Realpolitik in the Islamic World and Diverging Paradigmscase of Cilicia Eleventh to Fourteenth C. Transaction Publishers. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4128-4782-7.