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Padre de Marie of Artsack and Sahandouxt
Founder of the kingdom of Artsakh
The Kingdom of Artsakh was a medieval dependent Armenian kingdom on the territory of Syunik, Artsakh (present-day Nagorno-Karabakh), Gardman and Gegharkunik.[1] Contemporary sources referred to it as the Khachen. The royal[citation needed] house of Khachen was a cadet branch of the ancient Syunid dynasty and was named Khachen, after its main stronghold. The kingdom emerged when Hovhannes-Senekerim acquired the royal title in 1000.[citation needed]
The kingdom was under the protectorate of the Bagratuni kings of Armenia.
Artsakh maintained its sovereign rulers, though in the early 13th century they accepted Georgian, then Mongol suzerainty.[2] They lost the royal title after the assassination of Hasan-Jalal (12141261) by the Ilkhanid ruler Arghun, but continued to rule Syunik as a principality, which from the 16th century comprised five Armenian melikdoms and lasted until the early 19th century.[1] The descendants of the kings of Syunik played a prominent role in the history of Syunik as far as the 20th century.[citation needed]