Proshyan dynasty

The Proshyan dynasty, also Khaghbakians or Xaghbakian-Proshians (Armenian: Խաղբակյանք/Պռոշյանք), was a family of the Armenian nobility, named after its founder Prince Prosh Khaghbakian. The dynasty was a vassal of Zakarid Armenia during the 13th–14th century CE, established as nakharar feudal lords as a reward for their military successes.^[1] Zakarid Armenia was itself vassal of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1201, effectively falling under Mongol control after 1236, while Georgian rule only remained nominal. The Proshyans were princes of Bjni, Garni, Geghard and Noravank. The family prospered as an ally of the Mongols, following the Mongol invasions of Armenia and Georgia, as did the Zakarians and Orbelians.^[2] Despite heavy Mongol taxes, they benefited from trade routes to China under the control of the Mongols, and built many magnificent churches and monasteries.^[2]

Proshyans Armenian: Պռոշյանք
Armenian nobility
Coat of arms of the Proshyans (one of the Coat of arms of Armenia), 1283, in Geghard, and approximate Proshyan territory   within the Zakarid Principality   of the Mongol Il-Khanate, circa 1300, in the Caucasus
Country	Kingdom of Georgia
Founded	c. 1250
Founder	Prosh Khaghbakian

Context

In the mid-11th century, the region of Tsaghkadzor suffered from the Seljuk invasion led by Tughril and later by his successor Alp Arslan. Later, in the early 13th century, the Georgians captured the Syunik region from the Kipchak Eldiguzids, a successor state of the Seljuks (Georgian–Seljuk wars). With the establishment of the Zakarid Principality of Armenia in 1201 under the Georgian protectorate, Kecharuyk witnessed a significant rise in economic and cultural life under the rule of the Khaghbakyan and later the Proshyan noble families, during the 13th and the 14th centuries. After the Mongols captured Ani in 1236, Armenia turned into a Mongol protectorate as part of the Ilkhanate. After the fall of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century, the Zakarid princes ruled over Lori, Shirak, Kotayk, and Ararat plain until 1360 when they fell to the invading Turkic tribes of the Timurids and Qara Qoyunlu.

Main figures

Ancestors

Grigor Khaghbakian on his khatchkar cross (1233).^[3][4]

Prosh Khaghbakian, founder of the Proshyan dynasty, had a grandfather named Haghbak, who is only known from the genealogical inscriptions of his descendants. Prosh's father was named Vasak Khaghbakian ("Vasak the Great"), himself a vassal of Ivane I Zakarian of the Zakarian princes of Armenia who had helped in the reconquest of Vayots Dzor, Bjni, and Dvin over the Seljuk Eldiguzids.^[5][6]

Prosh's uncle Grigor Khaghbakian (died in 1220–1223) was a relatively well-known Prince who left some religious buildings and works of art, and sacrificed himself in the conflict with the Kipchaks in c. 1222.^[7][6] The Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi reports that some time after a 1220 Mongol incursion under Subutai, the Kipchaks came to the Armenian city of Gandzak between 1220 and 1223, where they encountered the troops of King Lasha of Georgia and his atabeg Ivane.^[6][8] Although the Georgians ultimately prevailed, Grigor Khaghbakian was captured and tortured to death by the Kipchak Turks.^[6]

Together with his wife Zaz, he built the Surp Stepanos church at Aghjots Vank in 1217.^[9] Grigor Khaghbakian is also known for a 1233 khatchkar with a sacred image, now in Etchmiadzin Cathedral, where it was brought from Imirzek.^[4][3]

The Khachqar cross dedicated by Grigor Khaghbakian in 1233, now located near Etchmiadzin Cathedral, is considered as one of the finest, with its detailed and refined openwork sculpture. A fine Deesis decorated the entablature, and the donator appears on horse at the bottom, a rare occurrence as such crosses are not often decorated with human depictions. ^[10][3][4]

Prosh Khaghbakian

Prince Prosh Khaghbakian (sometimes spelled Brosh Xalbakean), also referred to as "Hasan Khaghbakian called "Prosh"" (1223–1283), was also an Armenian Prince in the service of Zakarid Armenia, itself nominally vassal to the Kingdom of Georgia, at a time when Georgia was itself under the control of the Mongols (officially since the 1239 treaty). As a reward for his military successes, the Zakarids granted him the title nakharar, which allowed him to found his own dynasty with his own feudal fief in the service of the Zakarids.^[1] The dynasty came to be known as "Proshyan" in his honour.^[6] He was a lord of the Khaghabakian or Pŕoshian House in Urkghunk‘, Boloraberd, Eghegiats‘ Dzor and Hrashk‘aberd.^[11]

Donor figure and family mausoleum in the "Mausoleum of the Proshians" of Geghard Monastery, dedicated by Prince Prosh in 1283.^[12][13][14]

Following the successful submission of Avag Zakarian to the Mongols in 1236, the Proshyans were among many other Caucasian princes who followed suit the same year, in the understanding that they would be able to retain their lands under Mongol suzerainty.^[15] Greater Armenian lords entered into a collaborative relationship with the Mongols: Awag Zak‘arian assisted Chormaghan and Guyuk Khan, Hasan Jalal supported Sartakh and Mongke Khan; Smbat Orbelian supported Mongke Khan and Hulegu, while Prosh and Sadun Artsruni helped Hulegu and Abaqa Khan.^[15]

In 1256, the historical territories of Armenia were directly incorporated into the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia.^[16] Prosh was one of the main Greater Armenian lords to execute the alliance between his nominal suzerain the Georgian King David Ulu (ruled 1247-1270) and the Mongol Prince Hulagu, during the Mongol conquest of Middle-East (1258–1260).^[17] In 1258, he led Armenian troops to participate to the Mongol Siege of Baghdad, while Zakare III Zakarian was leading the Georgian troops.^[11] He was the main source for the account of the fall of Baghdad by the Armenian historian Kirakos.^[18] He had a son named Ami Hasan I (died in 1292).^[19]

Prosh Khaghbakian was involved in the development of the Geghard medieval monastery in the Kotayk province of Armenia, partially carved out of the adjacent mountain and surrounded by cliffs.^[20] He purchased the monastery in the 1240s,^[7] and built a series of additional chapels hewn into the rock. The chamber reached from the North East of the gavit and became Prince Prosh Khaghbakian's tomb in 1283. Over a short period the Proshyans built the cave structures which brought Geghard well-merited fame — the second cave church, the family sepulcher of Prosh's son Papak and Ruzukan, a hall for gatherings and studies (collapsed in the middle of the 20th century) and numerous cells.

Eachi and Amir Hassan II

Relief depicting Eachi and Amir Hassan II of the Proshian dynasty ("a portrait identified by scholars as the father and son together"),^[21] c. 1321. Astvatsatsin Spitakavor Monastery, Vayots Dzor, Hermitage Museum, inv. No. AR-619.^[22][23]

Spitakavor Monastery was built by two princes from the Proshian dynasty^[24][25] during the Zakarid Armenia period.^[26] The construction of the church began by Prince Eachi Proshian (died in 1318), a grandson of Prosh Khaghbakian, and completed in 1321 by his son Prince Amir Hasan II.^[24][25] Eachi Proshian (-1318) is depicted in one reliefs from Spitakavor, and on a golden reliquary, he which he shown holding his hands up in prayer, and wearing a Mongol-style dress (cloud collar).^[27] On his reliquary, Eachi Proshyan engraved a colophon recounting the story of his family:

With the will of almighty God, I, Each‘i, son of Hasan, son of Prosh, son of Vasak the Great, from the family of Khaghbak, ruled over my fatherland of Shabunik and many other countries with the help and support of Christ and of the Holy Cross of the Vegetarians in which my ancestors too found strength [and] built a tabernacle for it as unerasable memory. You who stand in front of this remember in prayers me and my parents, the Prince Hasan and Tajer, and my father’s brother Papak‘, and all our ancestors and family.

— Colophon of the Holy Cross of the Vegetarians, circa 1300.^[28]

Also from the Monastery, a relief represents a young rider in princely attire with a bow, with the letters ԱՄՐ ՀՍ (AMR HS), indicating Prince Amir Hasan II of the Proshians, son of Eachi Proshian, who completed the church his father had started. The relief is dated to 1320–1322, date the church was completed.^[22][29] 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.^[30] 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.^[31] Prince Eacchi Proshian on his reliquary, dated circa 1300, is shown wearing a Mongol-style royal dress (cloud collar).^[32]

The Proshyan dynasty continued to rule in Vayots Dzor and Shahapunik under the Timurids, while the Orbelians were allowed to rule in Siunik, the Dopians in Tsar. But their circumstances were difficult, and they receive huge pressure to convert to Islam.^[33]

The Melikdom of Kashatagh (1475-1730) was founded at the end of the 15th century by Melik Haykaz I, also the founder of the Melik-Haykazyan dynasty (the youngest branch of the Armenian princely Proshyan dynasty). Previously, the Kashatagh region was first ruled by the Orbelian family, and then by the Shahurnetsi clan.^[34]

Sponsorship of monastical institutions and art

Spitakavor Monastery, built in 1321 by the Proshyan family.^[35]

The region held by the Proshyans enjoyed relative political stability and prosperity from the end of the 13th century to the early 14th century.^[7] In particular, the Syunik Province became a center of intellectual, literary and artistic creativity.^[7] Monastic institutions grew under the patronage of the Proshians and the Orbelians, who built numerous monasteries and provided them with various financial resources.^[7] Smbat Orbelian (1249/50-73) had obtained from Möngke Khan that monastic properties which had been seized should be returned, and that they would be free from taxation.^[7] This tax-exempt status, contrasting with the generally heavy taxation of private property under the Mongols, encouraged nobility to transfer part of their wealth for safeguarding to monastic institutions, either temporarily or permanently, all of this secured by Mongol edicts.^[7] In some cases, members of the nobility could become abbots, so as to secure the ownership and management of these ecclesiastical resources.^[7] The main holdings of the Proshyans were in the monasteries of Kecharuyk and Geghard, but they also contributed to the Aghjots Vank and the Tanahat Monastery (1273-1279).^[7]

The Proshians were also in strong competition with the Orbelians, which contributed to stimulating an impressive number of architectural commissions.^[36]

Members of the dynasty

• Haghbak, father of Grigor and Vasak

• Prince Grigor Khaghbakian and his wife Zaz, builders of the Surp Stepanos church at Aghjots Vank in 1217.^[7]
• Vasak, brother of Grigor, father of Papak' (died in 1220-23), Mkde'm, and Hasan (called "Prosh").^[37]

• Prosh Khaghbakian (Hasan "Prosh" Khaghbakian, -1283, founder of the dynasty), husband of Khut'lu Khat'un, brother of Papak' and Mkde'm.^[6][38]
  • His son Vasak (died 1268–1273).^[38]
  • His son Amir Hasan I (ruled 1284-1292), wife T‘acher.^[38][39]
  • His son Papak Proshian (died 1288), wife Ruzukan.^[38]
  • His son Mkde'm.^[6]

• Eachi Proshian (1268/73-1318), son of Ami Hasan I, grandson of Prosh Khaghbakian.^[40]
  • His son, Amir Hasan II.

• 
  The "Chapel of the Proshyans" in Geghard was dedicated by Prince Prosh in 1283.^[41]
• 
  Reliquary of the "Holy Cross of the Vegetarians" (Khotakerats) (1300, donor- Prince Eacch'i Proshian).^[42][43]
• 
  Prince Eacchi Proshian on his reliquary, circa 1300. He is wearing a Mongol-style dress (cloud collar and Mongol hat).^[44]
• 
  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.^[31][45]

Genealogy

family tree of Proshyans
Haghbak Avag Grigor Prosh Papak‘ Mkde‘m Vasak Amir Hasan I Papak‘ Mkde‘m Eachi Amir Hasan II

References

1. Mathews, Thomas F .; Taylor, Alice (2001). THE ARMENIAN GOSPEL S OF GLADZOR THE LIFE OF CHRIST ILLUMINATED (PDF). The J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles. p. 22. ISBN 0892366265. The Armenian brothers Ivane and Zak'are served the Georgian Queen Tamar (reigned 1184-1213). Rising to the heights of the Georgian army and court, they achieved for themselves the status of a nakharar family, called the Zak'arians, in honor of Zak'are. Queen T'amar gave the Zak'arians control of almost all her Armenian territories, including the former Armenian capital Ani. The Zak'arians established their own vassals, comprising both surviving nakharars and new men — from among their own Armenian generals — raised to nakharar status, each with smaller territories as their own fiefs. Among the new nakharars was the Proshian clan, who were particularly important for the history of the Gladzor Gospels.
2. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 32. The devastation caused by the Mongols is recorded in the colophons of many manuscripts of the period. Some Armenians, however, prospered as allies of, and soldiers and merchants for, the Mongols, including the Zakarian, Orbelian, and Proshian families. They continued or extended their existing trade routes into China, now controlled by the Mongols. Examples of Proshian success are seen at the church of the White Virgin (Spitakavor Astuatsatsin) with its relief carving of Amir Hasan (cat. 35) and in the exquisite, richly gilded reliquary presented by his father (cat. 36).
3. Donabédian, Patrick. "Le khatchkar, un art emblématique de la spécificité arménienne". L'Église arménienne entre Grecs et Latins fin XIe – milieu XVe siècle. pp. 8–9, 15 Figure 10. Outre ces figurations, à partir du début du XIIIe siècle, une autre représentation humaine apparaît, soit sous la croix, soit sur le piédestal du khatchkar : l'image du donateur, ou plus exactement du défunt à la mémoire duquel le khatchkar a été érigé. Ce personnage est représenté en tenue d'apparat, armé et à cheval, rappelant le schéma iconographique sassanide de la chasse royale ou princière que l'architecture arménienne pratiquait depuis la période paléochrétienne.
4. Manuelian, Lucy Der; Zarian, Armen; Nersessian, Vrej; Stepanyan, Nonna S.; Eiland, Murray L.; Kouymjian, Dickran (2003). "Armenia, Republic of" (PDF). Oxford Art Online: 25. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T004089. Some khatchk'ars have sacred images on the top frame or beside the cross, and a donor image, such as that at the base of Grigor Khaghbakian's khatchk'ar (1233) on the grounds of Ēdjmiadzin Cathedral, where it was brought from Imirzek'.
5. Baillie MRes, James (2023). "The Prosopography of High Medieval Georgia: A Digital Approach. Wien University. pp. 103–104.
6. Bedrosian, Robert (2004). "Armenia during the Seljuk and Mongol Periods". The Armenian people from ancient to modern times (PDF) (1st pbk. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1403964212. Another of Ivane's subordinates was Vasak Khaghbakian, originally from the Khachen area, who had helped in the reconquest of Vayots Dzor, Bjni, and Dvin. This family came to be known as Proshian after Vasak's energetic son Prosh (1223-1284).
7. Mathews, Thomas F.; Sanjian, Avedis Krikor (1991). Armenian Gospel Iconography: The Tradition of the Glajor Gospel. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-88402-183-4.
8. Bedrosian, Robert (1997). "Armenia during the Seljuk and Mongol Periods". The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.1 (PDF). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 241–271. The second invasion of the Caucasus took place immediately after the Mongol departure in 1222, and was caused by it. This time the participants were nomadic Kipchak Turks from the plains to the north. In their turn defeated by the Mongols, one sizable body of Kipchaks fled from them in a southward direction. These nomads pillaged and looted from Darband south to Gandzak in Azerbaijan. Atabeg Ivane mustered troops and went against them, but he was defeated, having underestimated their strength. What was worse, many nakharars were captured, then killed or ransomed for huge sums of money. The Kipchaks continued looting and raiding different parts of the Caucasus until 1223, when Ivane, in alliance with other Caucasian peoples, finally defeated them, killing or selling them into slavery. The Kipchak raids, though less serious than the invasions that preceded and succeeded them, nonetheless contributed to the continued unsettled state of affairs initiated by the Mongols, depleted the Armeno-Georgian military of some capable leaders, and undoubtedly weakened the army's morale.
9. Mathews, Thomas F.; Sanjian, Avedis Krikor (1991). Armenian Gospel Iconography: The Tradition of the Glajor Gospel. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-88402-183-4.
10. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 110. The absolute peak of formal perfection and technique in the art of the khatchk'ar seems to have been reached from the twelfth to the fourteenth century. The khatchk'ar of Grigor Proshian, dated 1233, is an excellent example of 'openwork' sculpture, and of the varied ornamentation typical of the period. A different motif is carved inside each one of the polygons of the frame and, in three places, there is a bird. Even the ornaments of the two 'leaves' which frame the lower arms of the cross are not the same. But this variety does not spoil the unity of the whole. The Deesis decorates the entablature, and this iconographic theme is more highly developed in the khatchk'ar of Prince Prosh.
11. Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan, D. (2011). The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335). Leiden ; Boston: Brill. p. 129. ISBN 978-90-04-18635-4. In November 1257, Hűlegű set off from Hamadān in the direction of Baghdad. (...) With him were the forces of the Armenian Prince Zak'arē, the son of Shahnshah Zak'arian and Prince Pŕosh Khaghbakian. The Mongols placed considerable trust in these Armenian lords, whose assistance they had received since the 1230s.
12. Özkan, Altnöz, Meltem (25 February 2022). Cultural Encounters and Tolerance Through Analyses of Social and Artistic Evidences: From History to the Present: From History to the Present. IGI Global. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-7998-9440-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Geghard. p. 8. The inscription carved on the north wall of the church, shows the date of foundation in 1283, and the name of the donator, Prince Prosh.
14. "Unesco. Geghard Monastery" (PDF). The prosperity of the monastery in the thirteenth century was due to the patronage of the Proshyan prince, who carved out the second cave church in 1283, reached through a rock-cut antechamber which served as their mausoleum. The burials are in a recess behind twin arches, over which two felines on leashes and an eagle with a lamb in its talons, the family's armoured bearings have been sculpted in bold relief.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan, D. (2011). The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335). Leiden ; Boston: Brill. p. 121-129. ISBN 978-90-04-18635-4. MONGOL-ARMENIAN MILITARY COOPERATION: STAGE I: THE CONQUEST OF THE MIDDLE EAST 1258–1260 (...) The main allies of this campaign were King Het'um from Cilicia, the Greater Armenian lords under the Georgian King David Ulu and the Mongol Prince Hűlegű, who promoted himself as a founder of the Mongol dynasty in this region.(...) In November 1257, Hűlegű set off from Hamadān in the direction of Baghdad. (...) With him were the forces of the Armenian Prince Zak'arē, the son of Shahnshah Zak'arian and Prince Pŕosh Khaghbakian. The Mongols placed considerable trust in these Armenian lords, whose assistance they had received since the 1230s.
18. Neggaz, Nassima (October 2020). "The Many Deaths of the Last 'Abbāsid Caliph al-Musta'ṣim bi-llāh (d. 1258)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 30 (4): 600. doi:10.1017/S1356186320000267. Kirakos provides a detailed description of the fall of Baghdad in his History of the Armenians, started in 1241 and completed in 1265. Chapter eleven along with the subsequent ones are devoted to describing the events of his own day; they are considered the most important part of his work due to the details that they contain. His source was the Armenian Prince Prosh Khaghbakian, a participant and eyewitness of the conquest. Kirakos notes in his History that this Armenian lord told him directly about the events surrounding the invasion of Baghdad.
19. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 106.
20. "UNESCO grants Monastery of Geghard status of Enhanced protection". armenpress.am. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
21. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 104.
22. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 104–105.
23. "Hermitage hall 63".
24. Spitakavor Church Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. Find Armenia. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
25. "Spitakavor Church". Great Yerevan. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
26. Armenien: 3000 Jahre Kultur zwischen Ost und West. Trescher Verlag. 2008. p. 395. ISBN 978-3-89794-126-7.
27. 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.
28. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. p. 106.
29. "Bas-relief presenting a hunting scene – HMA".
30. 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').
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. Bedrosian, Robert (2004). "Armenia during the Seljuk and Mongol Periods". The Armenian people from ancient to modern times (PDF) (1st pbk. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1403964212. The Timurids preserved the Orbelians in Siunik, the Dopians in Tsar, the Proshians in Vayots Dzor and Shahapunik. However, the circumstances of the Armenian lords were far from easy. Most were under constant pressure to convert to Islam. Tovma Metzopetsi as well as foreign travelers described the plight of the remaining lords: "During the first year of his reign [Umar, Timur's grandson], he forcibly made to apostatize three princes of our people who had remained like a tiny cluster of grapes among us...."
34. Gharagyozian, Armen (1987). "К локализации гавара Кашатаг" [On the localization of the Kashatagh County]. Lraber hasarakakan gitutyunneri (in Russian) (1): 40–45.
35. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 106.
36. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 110. The Proshians and the Orbelians were in fierce political as well as cultural competition, a situation which stimulated an impressive number of architectural commissions.
37. Bedrosian, Robert. Kirakos Gandzakets'i's History of the Armenians. p. 107, paragraph 320. All this was narrated to us by prince Hasan called Prosh, son of the pious Vasak, son of Haghbak, brother of Papak' and Mkdem, father of Mkdem, Papak', Hasan and Vasak who was an eyewitness to the events and also heard about events with his own ears, [a man] enjoying great honor in the Khan's eyes.
38. Nersessian, Vrej Nerses (2017). "Two Armenian manuscripts in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Second Manuscript". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 27 (3): 375. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 26187361. This is Prosh-Hasan (wife Khut'lu Khat'un) who had died in 1284. The sons of Prosh Hasan were Vasak the junior, Ami Hasan I and Papak', for whom Georg Khubov gives the date 1492. This Vasak Junior had died between the years 1268–1273 and Amir Hasan I had died in 1292,46 while Papak' had passed away in 1298-9
39. Sirinian, Anna (2010). "I MONGOLI NEI COLOFONI Summary DEI MANOSCRITTI ARMENI" (PDF). Bazmavep Revue d'Études Arméniennes: 520.
40. Nersessian, Vrej (2001). Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. The British Library Board - Getty Museum. p. 116. The historians Kirakos Gandzaketsi and Step'anos Orbelian testify that Prince Eatchi was a member of the Proshian princely family, whose name is first found in the inscription on the church of T'anahat, built during the catholicate of Hakob Klayetsi (1268-87). The date of his birth is put at around 1268 73. The last occurrence of his name is found in another inscription on the church of T'anahat, dated 1339.
41. Geghard. p. 8. The inscription carved on the north wall of the church, shows the date of foundation In 1283, and the name of the donator, Prince Prosh
42. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 106–107.
43. Maranci, Christina (2018). The art of Armenia: an introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 153. ISBN 9780190269005.
44. 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.
45. Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages - MetPublications - The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018. pp. 104–105.