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RSHTUNI ARMENIAN 639 AD - 717 AD
This list covers the independent Armenian state founded by Theodore Rshtuni from its inception after the Byzantine defeat at the Yarmuk until its final conquest by the Arabs. Throughout its existence it was a no-man’s land fought over by Byzantines and Arabs, playing off each neighbour against the other. The nucleus of its army was Byzantine-trained cavalry who became the nakharak nobility, supplemented by volunteer horse archers and tough Armenian mountain peasants. Reference: Histoire de I’Armenie des origines a 1071. Rene Grousset.