followed_by bagratid armenia
Artaxias ___MASK47___ ( Artashes ; reigned 190 / ___MASK92___ BC160 / ___MASK35___ BC ) was the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty whose members ruled the Kingdom of Armenia for nearly two centuries . The Armenian ___MASK99___ ( also known ___MASK95___ the Armenian Upland , Armenian plateau , Armenian tableland , ___MASK41___ simply Armenia ) is the central - most and highest of three land - locked plateaus . To its west is the Anatolian plateau which rises slowly from the lowland coast of the Aegean Sea and converges with the Armenian ___MASK99___ to the east of Cappadocia . To its southeast is the Iranian plateau , where the ___MASK94___ drops rapidly by about to ___MASK17___ sea level . The Caucasus extends to the northeast of the Armenian ___MASK99___ . To the southwest of the Armenian ___MASK99___ is Upper Mesopotamia . The Armenian nobility was ___MASK51___ class of persons which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other members of society under the laws and customs of various regimes of what ___MASK97___ ___MASK1___ Armenia , also Russia , Iran and Turkey until the beginning of the 20th century . Governments which recognized or conferred nobility were the Orontid Armenia ( 570 - 331 B . ___MASK12___ .), Great Armenia ( 331 B . ___MASK12___ .- 428 A . D .), Bagratid Armenia ( 885 - 1045 ) and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia ( ___MASK16___ - 1375 ). Armenian nobility was also recognized by the Sassanid Empire ( ___MASK56___ , 428 - 642 ), the Byzantine Empire ( Byzantine Armenia , 387 - 650 ), the Arab caliphate ( Arminiya 654 - 884 ), the Seljuk Empire ( Armenian Kingdoms of Vanand , 963 - 1065 , Syunik , 987 - 1170 , and Lori , 978 - 1113 ), the Mongol Empire ( Zakarid Armenia , 13th century ), the Kara Koyunly and Ak Koyunlu ( 14 - 15th centuries ), the Ottoman Empire , Safavid Iran , and the Russian Empire . Greater Armenia (" Mets Hayk < nowiki >'</ nowiki >") ___MASK97___ the name given to the state of Armenia that emerged ___MASK46___ the Armenian Highlands under the reign of ___MASK87___ Artaxias I at the ___MASK7___ of the second century BC . The term was used to refer to Armenian kingdoms throughout the classical , late antique , and medieval periods by contemporary Armenian and non - Armenian authors alike . Nakharar (" naxarar ", from Parthian " naxvadr " " holder of the primacy ") was ___MASK51___ hereditary title of the highest ___MASK18___ given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility . The Bagratid ___MASK44___ of Armenia ( Armenian :   , Bagratunineri t  agavorut  yun ) , also known ___MASK95___ Bagratid Armenia ( Armenian :   Bagratunyats Hayastan ) , was an independent state established by Ashot I Bagratuni in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule . With the two contemporary powers in the region , the Abbasids and Byzantines , too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the people of the region and the dissipation of several of the Armenian nakharar noble families , Ashot was able to assert himself ___MASK95___ the leading figure of a movement to dislodge the Arabs from Armenia . Ashot ' s prestige rose ___MASK95___ he was courted by both ___MASK67___ and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state near their frontiers . The Caliphate recognized Ashot ___MASK95___ `` prince of princes '' in 862 and , later ___MASK46___ , ___MASK87___ in 884 or 885 . The establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms : Taron , Vaspurakan , Kars , Khachen and Syunik . Unity among all these states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines and Arabs lost no time in exploiting the kingdom ' s situation to their own gains . Under the reign of Ashot III , Ani became the kingdom ' s capital and grew into a thriving economic and cultural center . The first half of the 11th century saw the decline and eventual collapse of the kingdom . With emperor Basil II ' s string of victories in annexing parts of southwestern Armenia , ___MASK87___ Hovhannes - Smbat felt forced to cede his lands and in 1022 promised to `` will '' his kingdom to the Byzantines following his death . However , after Hovhannes - Smbat ' s death in 1041 , his successor , Gagik II , refused to hand over Ani and continued resistance until 1045 , when his kingdom , plagued with internal and external threats , was finally taken by ___MASK67___ forces . The araB gene promoter ___MASK97___ a bacterial promoter , activated by ___MASK30___ L - arabinose binding .