Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. Chapters in the history of Armenia
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ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
242
and were lords (sepuh), and a lower class of peasants and
labourers who were vassals (shinakan), working on the land
or as craftsmen. The peasants paid dues to the nobles and
feudal lords, and served under them in war ; but they were
free men, able to move about as they pleased, and there does
not seem to have been any serfdom of the sort that existed
to some extent in Georgia. In addition, the clergy formed
a class of their own, with extensive lands which belonged to
the Church and to its more important ofHces. In course of
time yet another class—the citizen class—came into being
in the towns. The community was based on the " great
family," which, with its head, sons, daughters-in-law, and
grandchildren, formed a natural labour unit, often consisting
of nearly a hundred members. This was not unlike the
Georgian system (cf. p. 88). The Armenians may have
brought it with them from Europe, where it continued in
force down to recent times, especially among the Southern
Slavs, Serbians, etc.
Armenia seems never to have formed a really united State ;
it was rather a series of cantons, with fertile valleys and
plains separated by high mountain ranges ; these cantons
were inhabited by separate tribes, partly composed of different
stocks, and it is impossible to say with certainty what propor
tion of them was really Armenian. Each tribe was under an
hereditary chief, who belonged to a powerful family owning
extensive lands, and ruled it with practically unlimited power.
It is characteristic that several of the most powerful families
were of non-Armenian origin. One example was the Artsruni
family in Van, which was of Khaldian descent, perhaps
originally Assyrian (?). The Mamikoni family, which gave
Armenia its noblest champions of liberty, came from the east
and was possibly of East Parthian origin, and related to the
royal family of the Arsacids. The powerful Bagratid family
liked to be thought Jewish, but was more probably of Medo-
Persian descent.
At the head of the State was the king, as the chief ruler and
war-lord ; but he was usually more or less dependent on the
tribal chiefs, wThose power, especially if several of them joined
forces, was often equal to his own. Gradually a feudal
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