Bagrat of Armenia (789-851) was the duke of Bagratid Armenia from 826 to 851, succeeding Duke Ashot III of Armenia and preceding Duke Smbat III of Armenia.
Biography[]
Bagrat was born in 789 to Duke Ashot III of Armenia, and he was a Christian Armenian of the House of Bagrationi. Bagrat succeeded his father as duke of Bagratid Armenia in 826, and Bagrat and his brother Duke Smbat III of Armenia divided their father's lands between them. After 841, there were several quarrels between the two rival brothers, but they both gained greater authority because the Abbasid Caliphate was preoccupied with the rebellion of the Khurramites in Iran. Bagrat still had to assist the Abbasids in fighting the Byzantine Empire at the 838 Battle of Dazimon, a victory. In 849 Caliph al-Mutawakkil decided to remove Armenian autonomy by appointing a governor, Abu Said Muhammad al-Marwazi, but Bagrat prevented the Arab tax collectors from entering the country by sending envoys with gifts and the promised tribute to the men as they arrived at the border. Armenians massacred Arab settlers as they fought, and in 851, Abu Said died on the way to invade the country. His son Yusuf ibn Abu Said al-Marwazi captured Bagrat while he was going to hold negotiations with the Arabs, and he was imprisoned at the caliphate's capital of Samarra. Yusuf was killed next year in revenge, but Bagrat died shortly after. He was succeeded by Duke Smbat III of Armenia.