thumb|300px|The lands of [[Syunik (historic province)|Syunik (left) and Artsakh (right) until the early 9th century]]

Artsakh (, ) was the tenth province (nahang) of the Kingdom of Armenia from until 387 AD and afterwards made part of the Caucasian Albania, a subject principality of the Sasanian Empire, following the Peace of Acilisene. From the 7th to 9th centuries, it fell under Arab control. In 821, it formed the Armenian principality of Khachen and around the year 1000 was proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh, one of the last medieval eastern Armenian kingdoms and principalities to maintain its autonomy following the Turkic invasions of the 11th to 14th centuries.

Name

Cuneiform inscriptions left by Urartian kings mention a land or lands called Ardakh/Adakh, Urdekhe/Urtekhini, and Atakhuni, which some scholars identify with Artsakh. When speaking about Armenia in his Geography, the classical historian Strabo refers to an Armenian region which he calls "Orchistene", which is also believed to be a rendering of the name Artsakh. Some early Armenian sources spell the name as Ardzakh ().

Many different proposed etymologies and interpretations of the name Artsakh exist. Another scholar proposed that Artsakh consists of the elements art ("field" in Armenian) and aght (a Classical Armenian word for "black").

Based on the putative attestations of Artsakh as Urtekhe and Orchistene, historian Babken Harutyunyan hypothesizes that the initial vowel in Artsakh was originally an "o" sound (the vowel sounds "o" and "u" are not distinguished in cuneiform) that later underwent a vowel shift to an "a" sound, which is typical of Indo-European languages. On the basis of this assumption, linguist Lusine Margaryan proposes a connection with the Armenian word ( in modern pronunciation, in the plural accusative case), meaning 'grapevine', and the Hurro-Urartian suffix / (indicating placenames). According to this hypothesis, the name Artsakh developed from the unattested form * and can be interpreted as meaning "place of grapevines, grape garden"․ Another hypothesis derives the first part of the name from the root /, meaning "rocky, mountainous".

In the Middle Ages, Artsakh was occasionally referred to as "Little Syunik" or "Second Syunik" after the neighboring province.

Geography

Artsakh was located on the easternmost edge of the Armenian Plateau (the eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus Its area is estimated to have been 11,528&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. It was bordered by the following Armenian provinces: Utik to the east, Gardman to the northeast, and Syunik to the southwest. The river Arax formed its southern boundary, while the Hakari/Aghavno River was its only clear boundary with Syunik. To its east and southeast laid the lowlands between the Kura and Arax rivers and the Mughan plain, which at one point formed the Paytakaran province of Armenia. The medieval Kingdom of Artsakh (1000–1261) encompassed the entire territory of the classical province and also included Gardman-Parisos to the north and the cantons of Sodk and Gegharkunik of Syunik, located on the shores of Lake Sevan.

Important places in Artsakh (mostly fortified towns) included Parisos, Tigranakert, Sodk, Tsar, Vaykunik, Asteghblur, Goroz and Berdaglukh. The city of Tigranakert, which was first excavated in 2005, is believed to have been founded by King Tigranes the Great of Armenia in the 1st century BC, although conceivably it could also have been founded by King Tigranes I (123–55 BC). Later, in the Caucasian Albanian period, the village of Gyutakan (Armenian: Գյուտական, known as the "Royal Village") became of great importance as the residence of Vachagan III the Pious (467–510 AD), the last King of Caucasian Albania. During early medieval times, the castle of Khachen served for a considerable time as the center of Artsakh.

Cantons

According to the anonymous 7th-century Armenian work Ashkharatsoyts ("Geography") Artsakh comprised 12 cantons (gavars, variations on spelling exist):

  • Myus Haband
  • Vaykunik
  • Berdadzor
  • Mets Arank
  • Mets Kvenk
  • Harchlank
  • Mukhank
  • Piank
  • Parzkank
  • Sisakan Vostan or Sisakan-i-Kotak
  • Kust-i-Parnes
  • Koght

The precise location of many of these cantons is not known for certain, and not all of these names are used by later Armenian authors. Following the modern consensus among western scholars concerning the origin of the Armenian people, they represent a fusion of the mostly Indo-European natives of the Armenian Plateau (including Artsakh), and the Hurrians of the southernmost Armenian Plateau. According to this theory, from earliest times the Armenian Plateau was inhabited by many ethnic groups. The ethnic character of Artsakh may thus have been originally more diverse than it is now.

According to the Encyclopædia Iranica, the proto-Armenians had settled as far north as the Kura River by the 7th century BC. In Robert Hewsen's view, until the 6th–5th centuries BC the proto-Armenians lived only in the western half of the Armenian Plateau (in areas between Cappadocia, the Tigris, the Euphrates, and Lake Van) and came to Artsakh and adjacent regions such as Syunik and Utik somewhat later than the central parts of the Armenian Plateau (as late as the 2nd century BC, as a result of Artaxias I's conquests). Khorenatsi writes that Aran's descendants formed the ruling families of the lands of Utik, Gardman, Tsawdēkʻ and Gargar, and that Aghuankʻ (the Armenian name for Caucasian Albania/Arran) was named so after Aran, since he was called aghu (meaning "soft, tender, amiable" in Armenian) on account of his good manners. The latter author identifies Aran as the founder of the original ruling dynasty of Caucasian Albania, the Aranshahiks. Other sites of archaeological interest are located in the vicinity of Stepanakert, Khojaly, and Astghashen, where ancient burial mounds containing human and animal remains, tools, pottery and other objects have been discovered. In general, archaeological remains in Artsakh reflect the competing influences from around 800 BC of the neighboring rival states of Urartu, Assyria, and Mannai. If Artsakh is to be identified with the Adakh/Urtekhini/Atakhuni of Urartian cuneiform inscriptions, then it was the target of military campaigns by two Urartian kings: Sarduri II and Rusa I.

Classical Era

After the fall of Urartu (6th century BC), most of the region south of the Kura River came under the domination of the Medes, followed by the Achaemenian Persians until 331 BC when Alexander the Great invaded the region during his wars with the Achaemenids, upsetting its balance of power. In Robert H. Hewsen's view, Artsakh and neighboring Utik became a part of the Kingdom of Armenia only after 189 BC, when the Artaxiad dynasty came to power in Armenia. In the words of the historian Leo, judging from the Classical Armenian sources, Artsakh, along with Syunik, Utik, Sasun and other remote regions of Greater Armenia, was regarded as a "wild" or "barbarous" province when compared with the center of the kingdom, Ayrarat.

300px|thumb|right|Map of [[Orontid Armenia, 4th–2nd centuries BC ]]In 301, Armenia was converted to Christianity under the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The Armenian historian Agathangelos mentioned the princes of Utik and Sodk (which probably comprised Artsakh) among the sixteen Armenian princes who escorted Gregory the Illuminator to Caesarea, where he would be enthroned the Patriach of Armenia.

Artsakh became a major stronghold for Armenian missionaries to proclaim the Christian Gospel to neighboring countries. In 310 St Grigoris, the grandson of Grigor the Illuminator, was ordained bishop of Iberia and Caucasian Albania in the monastery of Amaras, being just 15 years old at the time. After his martyrdom by the Mazkutian king on the field of Vatnean (near Derbent), his disciples conveyed his body back to Artsakh and buried him in Amaras, which had been built by Gregory the Illuminator and Grigoris himself. Hence St Grigoris became a patron saint of Artsakh. The historian Pavstos Buzand wrote that "... every year the people of that places and cantons gathers there [in Amaras] for the festive commemoration of his valor".

In the 5th century, Christian culture flourished in Artsakh. Around 410 Mesrop Mashtots opened the first Armenian school at Amaras. Later, more schools were opened in Artsakh.

Armeno-Persian wars

The second half of the 4th century saw a series of wars between the Kingdom of Armenia and Sassanid Persia. After enduring 34 years of warfare, the Armenian nobility of Artsakh and most other provinces of Armenia revolted, refusing to support the Armenian king Arshak II anymore out of war-weariness.

Following the Battle of Avarayr (451), in which a united Christian army consisting of Armenians, Georgians, and Caucasian Albanians clashed with the Sassanid army, many of the Armenian nobles retreated to impassable mountains and forests in several provinces, including Artsakh, which became a center for resistance against Sassanid Iran. From the 5th to the 7th centuries Artsakh was ruled by the Armenian noble family of Arranshahiks. Furthermore, the Armenian rulers of Artsakh began to play a considerable role in the affairs of Caucasian Albania. In 498 in the settlement named Aghuen (in present-day Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh), an Albanian church assembly was held, in the presence of the nobility and princes (azgapetk) of Artsakh and the king Vachagan the Pious, to adopt the Constitution of Aghven, which would arrange relations between the nobility (landlords), clergy and village people.

Medieval Period

thumb|right|250px|Political map of the Caucasus c. 900.

thumb|150px|left|Royal Standard of the [[Principality of Khachen (Kingdom of Artsakh) during the reign of Grand Prince Hasan Jalal Dawla (1214–1261)]]

In the 7th–9th centuries, the South Caucasus was dominated by the Arab Caliphates. In the early 9th century two Armenian princes, Sahl Smbatian and Esayi Abu-Muse, revolted against Arab rule and established two independent principalities in Artsakh: Khachen and Dizak. At the time the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII addressed letters "to prince of Khachen – to Armenia", being the residence of the Armenian prince Sahl Smbatian. In 852–855 Sahl Smbatian and Esayi Abu-Muse fought against the Abbasid commander Bugha. The latter 28 times unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Ktich Castle (situated near modern-day Togh in Nagorno-Karabakh), the main stronghold of the Armenians of Artsakh. The descendants of Sahl Smbatian through his son Atrnerseh consolidated their rule over Artsakh over the years; Artsakh was politically unified for three-and-a-half centuries until Hasan the Great partitioned it between two of his sons in 1182.