The Genesis of the Armenian Bagratids' Superpower under the Arab Domination
Vilayet of Arminiya constituted a part of the Arab Caliphate, which was decentralized in the second half of the 9th century. The state of Arminiya, which since 701 included all Armenian, Georgian and Albanian lands, occupied by the Muslims, started taking shape as a superpower with a total area of 236,748 sq. km. After 886 it included the kingdoms and principalities of the Bagratids of Greater Armenia, Albania and Iberia (Eastern Georgia), as well as the princedoms of all other Armenian dynasties and the mountainous princedom of Kakheti Tsanars. It included also the Arab-Muslim Emirates in Greater Armenia and Iberia. The core of this superpower was the Armenian Bagratids' kingdom. In fact, during the last years of Arminiya, the suzerainty of the Armenian Bagratids' princes spread over all the Armenian, Georgian and Albanian principalities, as well as the Arab-Muslim emirates in Greater Armenia and Iberia. The authority of the rulers of the Armenian Bagratids' superpower was de jure recognized by the two greatest empires of the time, the Arab Caliphate and the Byzantium. And its suzerainty was also recognized by the most powerful Abkhaz kingdom in the Western Caucasia.