The Battle of Sevan: Armenia's King Ashot II and the Arab Siege

In the early 10th century, Armenia's Bagratid kingdom faced its gravest threat: an Arab invasion led by the Sajid emir Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj. King Ashot II, called Yerkat (the Iron), retreated to the island fortress of Sevan in Lake Sevan. There, with a small band of loyal nakharars, he mounted a desperate defense against a far larger Arab fleet. This episode dives into the Battle of Sevan (924 AD), a turning point where Armenian resilience and ingenuity—using fishing boats as warships—repelled the emirate and secured Bagratid independence. We explore Ashot II's iron will, the strategic importance of Sevan's island outposts, the role of the Catholicos Hovhannes V, and how this victory echoed through the subsequent golden age of Ani. The battle is one of Armenia's great underdog stories, rarely told outside Armenian historiography. #BattleOfSevan #AshotII #Yerkat #Bagratid #Sevan #LakeSevan #Sajid #YusufIbnAbiL'Saj #MedievalArmenia #Nakharar #CaucasusHistory #ArmenianHistory #Siege #MilitaryHistory #MedievalBattles #History #FexingoHistory #ArmenianKingdom Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo