Daroink – Arshakavan fortress at the southern foot of Ararat

Daroink – Arshakavan – Դարոյնք – Արշակավան – in the I—IV centuries AD e. The kings of the Arshakuni dynasty built a citadel at the southern foot of Ararat, at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level.

It was built on the site of the ancient Daroink fortress from the time of the Kingdom of Van, presumably, the 8th century BC., which served as a kind of post for the protection of the Silk Road (the intersection of trade routes from Asia Minor to Iran and from the Caucasus to Mesopotamia), as well as a place to store the treasury and shelter for the royal family.

In the middle of the 4th century, the Sassanids unsuccessfully tried to take the fortress by storm to seize the royal treasury.

At the same time, the Armenian king Arshak II, in his fight against the rebellious nakharars, decided to enlist the support of a certain part of the population, for which in the 50s of the 4th century he expanded the fortress and founded a settlement, which he gave his name – Arshakavan and made it the capital of his state.

In, according to Movses Khorenatsi, the asylum was provided to fugitives from their masters, enslaved peasants (shinakans), unpaid debtors, etc. In 359, during the invasion of the Persian troops of Shahinshah Shapur II into the southern provinces of Armenia, the city of Arshakavan was wiped off the face of the earth.

Later, the Daroink fortress was rebuilt by the Bagratids, and until the middle of the 5th century, it was their residence.

At the beginning of the 10th century, the city was occupied by Amir Yusuf ibn-Abu-s-Saj but was soon recaptured by Ishkhan, from the Artsrunid dynasty, Gagik Apumrvan Artsruni.

In 1020, the fortress and the city were taken by the Byzantines, and in the 1070s they were conquered by the Seljuks. In the 1380s, the city was occupied by the troops of Tamerlane for a short time.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the fortress was renamed Bayazet in honor of Sultan Bayazet the First. In 1555, according to the results of the Amasi peace treaty, which ended the Turkish-Persian war of 1514-1555 and divided Armenia and Georgia between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, the city went to the Ottoman Empire and began to be actively populated by Kurdish tribes, mainly from Persia (Iran). In the 18th century, new fortifications were erected instead of the old Daroink fortress.

In the Ottoman era, the city of Daroink-Arshakavan was renamed Bayazit, and since 1934 – Dogubayazid.

Material from: Alexander Bakulin