View source for Melik

{{Short description|Armenian noble title}}
{{about||the village formerly named Melik in Greece|Meliki|the variant of the name and origin of the term|Malik}}

[[File:Five principalities of karabakh.png|thumb|250px|right|The five principalities of Karabagh (Gyulistan, Jraberd, Khachen, Varanda, Dizak), the last remnant of Armenian statehood (16th century)]]
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[File:Melikdoms-of-Karabakh.jpg|250px|thumb|Map of Melikdoms of Karabakh]] -->
{{History of Nagorno-Karabakh}}
'''Мelik''' ({{Langx|hy|մելիք|translit=melik’}}, from {{langx|ar|ملك|translit=[[malik]]|lit=king}}) was a hereditary [[Armenian nobility|Armenian noble]] [[title]] used in [[Eastern Armenia]] from the [[Late Middle Ages]] until the nineteenth century. The meliks represented some of the last remnants of the old Armenian nobility, as well as Persian nobility in [[Shirvan]] and other areas of the [[Persian Empire]]. The most prominent and powerful meliks were those of [[Karabakh|Karabagh]] ([[Artsakh (historical province)|Artsakh]]) and [[Syunik (historical province)|Syunik]], which ruled autonomous or semi-autonomous principalities known as melikdoms ({{Langx|hy|մելիքություն|translit=melikut’yun}}) under Iranian suzerainty. Meliks also existed in [[Yerevan]], [[Nakhchivansky Uyezd|Nakhichevan]], [[Sevan (city)|Sevan]], [[Lori Province|Lori]], [[Northwestern Iran|Northwestern Persia]], and other areas, although outside of Karabagh and Syunik most were merely hereditary leaders of local Armenian communities, not rulers of principalities.

The meliks of Karabagh each had their troops and military fortifications known as {{transliteration|hy|sghnakh}}s. They ruled on legal disputes within their territory and collected tax. The meliks of Karabagh saw themselves as the last bastion of Armenian independence in the region. After the conquest of Eastern Armenia by the Russian Empire, the meliks were generally not recognized as princes, but only as untitled nobles. Many of them, especially meliks from Karabagh, became Russian generals.

== History ==

=== Origins ===
The conquest of Armenia by successive foreign dynasties during the medieval period dealt severe blows to the traditional [[Armenian nobility]]. By the end of Mongol rule in Armenia, the old social structure of Armenia had been virtually destroyed and the great princely houses had mostly disappeared.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=293}} Remnants of these princely houses survived in a few places, most notably in the mountainous and strategically important regions of [[Karabakh|Karabagh]] (part of historical [[Artsakh (historical province)|Artsakh]] province) and [[Syunik (historical province)|Syunik]], where they retained their autonomy.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=|pp=293, 299}} Old Armenian titles fell out of use and were replaced with the flexible term melik, which was used to refer to any of the remnants of the Armenian nobility, whether successors of the great princely houses or of the lower gentry ({{Transliteration|hy|[[azat]]}}s).{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=293}} Later, the term was used to refer to even lower layers of elites, such as municipal and village chiefs in charge of duties such as tax collection.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=293}}{{Sfn|P῾apazyan|1981}} Outside of Karabagh and Syunik, most people bearing the title of melik were merely hereditary leaders of local Armenian communities, rather than (semi-)autonomous rulers.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=293–294}} According to historian [[Robert H. Hewsen]], all of the melik houses of Karabagh and probably most of those of Syunik were descended from branches of the [[Siunia dynasty|Syuni dynasty]].{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1973–1974|p=298}} Besides the meliks of Karabagh, Syunik, [[Lori (historic province)|Lori]] and [[Somkhiti]], the other meliks of Eastern Armenia cannot be proven to have been of princely origin,{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=292–295}} although the highly influential Aghamalian meliks of Yerevan were almost certainly of princely extraction.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1984b|loc=pp. 319–320, fn. 4}}{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}} The other, minor meliks may have been descendants of the gentry or local headmen and larger landowners who were raised to the status of melik.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=294}}

=== Melikdoms of Karabagh and Syunik ===
{{main|Melikdoms of Karabakh}}The meliks of Karabagh (Artsakh) and Syunik were the successors of the earlier Armenian lords of those regions, mainly of Syuni origin, who had maintained their autonomy following the Seljuk conquest of Armenia in the tenth century. The Armenian lords of Artsakh and part of Syunik were more or less united from the tenth century under the [[Principality of Khachen]].{{Sfn|Ulubabyan|1979}}{{Efn|Hewsen refers to the Principality of Khachen as the [[Kingdom of Artsakh]], at least for the period 1000 to 1266, when its rulers used a royal title.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=119}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1984a|pp=44, 49}}}} Khachen reached its peak in the thirteenth century under the [[House of Hasan-Jalalyan|Hasan-Jalalian]] family, although the principality was later broken up and weakened because of the attacks of foreign conquerors.{{Sfn|Ulubabyan|1979}} In the mid-fifteenth century, the [[Qara Qoyunlu]] ruler [[Jahan Shah]] placed a number of territories along the northern frontier of his realm under the control of the Armenian nobles of Karabagh and Syunik, many of whom had earlier been dispossessed by [[Timur]].{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=297}} They were granted the title of melik and allowed broad autonomy.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=297}}{{Efn|Bagrat Ulubabyan places the de facto appearance of the five melikdoms of Karabagh in the second half of the 16th century and the official recognition of the melikdoms during the reign of Shah Abbas I rather than Jahan Shah.{{Sfn|Ulubabyan|1979}}}} The meliks of Karabagh and Syunik retained their autonomous status under [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] rule, although they were weakened as a result of the devastating [[Ottoman–Persian Wars|Ottoman–Safavid]] wars in the sixteenth century.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=298}} During the reign of Shah [[Abbas the Great|Abbas I]] ({{Reign|1588|1629}}), the Safavids confirmed and increased the rights of the meliks and apparently raised new people to the status of melik.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=298}} Succession of a new melik was confirmed by a decree of the shah, but was actually hereditary, with the eldest son or sometimes a younger brother of the melik succeeding him.{{Sfn|P῾apazyan|1981}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=298}}[[File:Armenia, Late 18th century till late 19th century.png|thumb|Armenian autonomy during late 18th-late 19th century in orange, including [[Melikdoms of Karabakh|Karabagh]]]]
The five Armenian melikdoms of Karabagh, known as the [[Melikdoms of Karabakh|Khamsa melikdoms]], were Gulistan, Jraberd, [[Melikdom of Varanda|Varanda]], Khachen, and [[Dizak]].{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=86}} These five principalities were ruled by the Beglarian, Israelian, Shahnazarian, [[House of Hasan-Jalalyan|Hasan-Jalalian]], and Avanian families, respectively.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=86}} The Khamsa melikdoms formed a league against their foreign enemies, but they also competed with each other.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=299}}{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=86}} The melidom of Tsar was geographically in Karabagh but not a part of the Khamsa melikdoms' league.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} There were four important melikdoms in Syunik: Sisian (or Angeghakot), Ghapan (or Bekh), Tatev and [[Melikdom of Kashatagh|Kashatagh]].{{Sfn|Hewsen|1975–1976|p=219}} Sisian was ruled by the Tangians, Tatev and Ghapan by branches of the Parsadanians, and Kashatagh by the Haykazians (from which branched off the Israelians of Jraberd).{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=301–306, 324}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1975–1976|pp=224–230}} To the north, near [[Lake Sevan]] (Gökche), there were the minor melikdoms of Gegham and Gardman.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1975–1976|p=219}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=301–306}} These two were ruled by branches of the Shahnazarian (originally Shahanshah or Ulubekian) family which later took over Varanda.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=301–306}}

The meliks of Karabagh and, to a lesser extent, Syunik were fully autonomous and held executive, legislative, judicial, military, and fiscal authority over their territories.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} They issued their own decrees, ruled on legal disputes and criminal cases and collected their own taxes, from which they paid tribute to the Iranian shah.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} They were often responsible for maintaining more than one fortress, called {{transliteration|hy|sghnakh}}s.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=291}}{{Sfn|Hewsen|1981–1982|p=394}}{{Sfn|Ulubabyan|1984}} They had their own military forces consisting of one to two thousand infantrymen, although more troops could be raised in emergencies.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} A melik had his own banner ({{transliteration|hy|droshak}}), commander ({{transliteration|hy|zoravar}}), and his subordinates, the chiliarchs ({{transliteration|hy|hazarapet}}s) and centurions ({{transliteration|hy|haryurapet}}s or {{transliteration|hy|yuzbashi}}s).{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} These officers were often members of the melik's family.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} Despite the name, the centurions or {{transliteration|hy|yuzbashi}}s were not literally the commanders of a hundred men, but rather vassals of the meliks, either hereditarily or by appointment, who controlled two or more villages and furnished a certain number of troops under his own banner.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1973–1974|pp=299–300}}
[[File:Princely Palace of Meliz Dizak (54).jpg|thumb|A building of the [[Togh's Melikian Palace|residence]] of the meliks of [[Dizak]] in [[Tugh (village)|Tugh]] (Togh) in Karabagh]]
The meliks of Karabagh saw themselves as the saw themselves as the last bastion of Armenian independence in the region and sometimes claimed to speak on behalf of the entire Armenian people in their communications with foreign rulers.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1984a|pp=52–53}} The meliks played an especially prominent role in Armenian political life from 1678 until the Russian annexation of Eastern Armenia in 1828.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} In 1678, Catholicos Hakob Jughayetsi called a secret meeting at [[Vagharshapat|Etchmiadzin]] with leading meliks and members of the clergy, where he proposed accepting [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] in exchange for European protection.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=86}} A delegation of meliks headed by the Catholicos set out for Rome, but the mission was abandoned after the Catholicos died on the journey.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=86}} Only the young [[Israel Ori]] of the Haikazian family went on to Europe.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=|pp=86–87}} Ori spent much of his life trying to convince a European ruler, first [[Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine]] and later [[Peter the Great]], to conquer Iranian Armenia with the help of the meliks.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=|pp=86–87}} He did not succeed, but his activities contributed to Armenian elites seeing Russia as an ally and liberator of the Armenians.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|p=|pp=86–87}} The collapse of Safavid power and the [[Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)|Russian invasion of Iran]] in 1722 raised Armenian hopes of liberation from Muslim rule.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|pp=163–165}} The meliks of Syunik and Karabagh raised a rebellion against the local Turkic tribal lords under the leadership of [[Avan Yuzbashi]] and [[Davit Bek]], an Armenian from Georgia of possible melik extraction.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|pp=88–89}}{{Sfn|Hovhannisyan|P῾ap῾azyan|1972|pp=162–163}}{{Sfn|Bournoutian|2001|p=409}} The rebels were soon faced with an Ottoman invasion, which they resisted successfully in Syunik and Karabagh at least until the deaths of Davit and his successor [[Mkhitar Sparapet]] in 1728 and 1730.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|pp=88–89}}

In 1735, [[Nader Shah|Nader Khan Afshar]] drove the Ottomans out of the South Caucasus and was crowned Nader Shah the next year.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|pp=88–89}} Nader reconfirmed the autonomy of the meliks of Karabagh and recognized Karabagh and [[Zangezur]] as semi-autonomous regions.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|pp=88–89}} After Nader's death in 1747, chaos beset Iran again, allowing the Muslim khanates to reassert their power in the Caucasus.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1997|pp=89–91}} During this time, [[Melik Shahnazar II|Melik Shahnazar of Varanda]] allied himself with [[Panah Khan Javanshir]], the chieftain of a Turkic tribe, against other Armenian meliks, which ultimately led to the downfall of the autonomous Armenian melikdoms of Karabagh.{{Sfn|Hacikyan|Basmajian|Franchuk|Ouzounian|2005|pp=5–6}}

=== Other meliks ===
There were also melikdoms in southern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]: in [[Lori (historic province)|Lori]], Aghstev and Pambaki.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=306–307}} The Armenians of Tbilisi had their own melik from the Bebutian family.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=294}} There were twelve melikdoms in Nakhichevan.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} South of the [[Aras (river)|Aras River]], there were meliks in [[Maku, Iran|Maku]], [[Marand]], [[Khoy]], and [[Arasbaran|Karadagh]] and [[Salmas County|Salmast]].{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=306–307}} There were at least eleven meliks in the [[Erivan Khanate]], including those of the Aghamalians, Geghamians, Loris-Melikians, Arghutians, and so on.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|pp=306–307}} There were four semi-autonomous meliks in the [[Ganja Khanate|Khanate of Ganja]], who, according to Raffi, had good relations with the Khan.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=154}} Further east, there was one melik each in [[Shaki, Azerbaijan|Shaki]], [[Shamakhi]], and Baku.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=163}} There were also meliks in [[Surmalu uezd|Surmalu]] who claimed descent from the ancient noble house of [[Kamsarakan]].{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=308}}

==== Meliks of Erivan ====
{{See also|Erivan Khanate#Partial Armenian autonomy}}
From the mid-seventeenth century until 1828, the Armenians of the [[Erivan Khanate|province (or khanate) of Erivan]] were under the authority of the Aghamalian meliks of Yerevan (Erivan).{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}} Each mahal (district) of the province with a significant Armenian population had its own melik as a hereditary leader, who, along with the Armenian village headmen, answered to the melik of Yerevan.{{Sfn|Hewsen|2001|p=168}} The melik of Yerevan was the most powerful non-religious leader in the province after the sardar (governor).{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1982|p=90}} He was appointed directly by the shah and on some occasions dealt with him directly.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1982|p=91}} The meliks of Yerevan accumulated great wealth from their properties and the tribute they received from all the Armenian villages of the province.{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}} The Aghamalian meliks had full administrative, legislative and judicial powers over the Armenians under their authority save for the death penalty, which remained the sole right of the sardar.{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}} The melik also appointed the commander of the Armenian infantry units that served in the sardar's army.{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}} The Aghamalians' exact origin cannot be determined, but their high degree of authority and their high-level marriage alliances (for example, with the royal house of Georgia) strongly suggests a princely origin.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1984b|loc=pp. 319–320, fn. 4}}{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}}

=== After Russian conquest ===
After the Russian conquest of Karabagh in 1813, the meliks of Karabagh were reduced to untitled nobles with the word "melik" incorporated into their surnames.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=295}} Save for a few exceptions, the meliks were generally not officially recognized as princes in the Russian Empire.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=295}} Some meliks remained on their ancestral properties after the Russian conquest.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1972|p=303}} The descendants of the meliks of Karabagh formed a large part  of Russian Armenian "high society" in major cities such as Baku, Tbilisi, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.{{Sfn|Hewsen|1981–1982|p=389}}

== Melik families of Eastern Armenia ==
[[File:Hasan-Jalal coat of arms.gif|thumbnail|Flag of the [[Hasan-Jalalian]] family]]

Altogether, there were between 70 and 90 melikal houses in Eastern [[Armenia]], mostly in the provinces of [[Artsakh (historic province)|Artsakh]], [[Utik|Gardman]], [[Syunik Province|Syunik]], [[Lori Province|Lori]], [[Yerevan]], [[Nakhchivansky Uyezd|Nakhichevan]], [[Melikdom of Kashatagh|Kashatagh]], and [[Arasbaran|Karadagh]]. Below is the incomplete list of some of the most prominent [[Armenia]]n melik houses:

(15th–19th centuries) 
* [[House of Hasan-Jalalyan|Melik Hasan-Jalalian]] (meliks of [[Principality of Khachen|Khachen]] before 1755)
* Melik-Avanian (Meliks of [[Dizak]])
* Melik-Mirzakhanian (meliks of Khachen-Khndzristan after 1755)
* Melik-Shahnazarian (meliks of Varanda)
* Melik-Beglarian (meliks of Gulistan)
* Melik-Haykayzan (meliks of [[Melikdom of Kashatagh|Kashatagh]])
* Melik-Israelian (meliks of Jraberd before 1783)
* Melik-Alaverdian (meliks of Jraberd in 1783 - 1814)
* [[Atabekians|Melik Atabekian]] (meliks of Jraberd since 1814 - mid-1850s)
* Meliks of Barsum (Utik)
* Meliks of Getashen (Utik)
* Meliks of Khachakap (Utik)
* Meliks of Voskanapat (Utik)

==Prominent members of melik families==
*[[Israel Ori]] (1658–1711)
*[[David Bek]] (d. 1728)
*[[Melik Shahnazar II]] (d. 1792)
*[[Avan-khan]] (d. 1744)
*[[Valerian Madatov]] (1782–1829)
*[[Count Loris-Melikov]] (1825–1888)

==Popular culture==
The meliks of Karabagh and Syunik inspired the historical novel ''David Bek'' (1882) by [[Raffi (poet)|Raffi]], the [[opera]] ''David Bek'' (1950) by [[Armen Tigranian]] and the novel {{transliteration|hy|Mkhitar Sparapet}} (1961) by [[Sero Khanzadyan]].{{Sfn|Hacikyan|Basmajian|Franchuk|Ouzounian|2005|pp=5–6}} In 1944, the film ''[[David Bek (film)|David Bek]]'' was released and in 1978, [[Armenfilm]] in association with [[Mosfilm]] produced another movie about the efforts of David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet called ''Star of Hope'' ({{transliteration|hy|Huso astgh}}).

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

* {{Cite book |last=Bournoutian |first=George A. |title=Armenians and Russia (1626-1796): A Documentary Record |publisher=Mazda Publishers |year=2001 |isbn=1-56859-132-2 |location=Costa Mesa, California |author-link=George A. Bournoutian}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bournoutian |first=George A. |title=The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century |publisher=Macmillan |year=1997 |isbn=0-333-61974-9 |editor-last=Hovannisian |editor-first=Richard |editor-link=Richard G. Hovannisian |location= |pages=81–107 |chapter=Eastern Armenia from the Seventeenth Century to the Russian Annexation}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George A. |title=Eastern Armenia in the Last Decades of Persian Rule 1807–1828: A Political and Socioeconomic Study of the Khanate of Erevan on the Eve of the Russian Conquest |title-link=Eastern Armenia in the Last Decades of Persian Rule, 1807–1828 |date=1982 |publisher=Undena Publications |isbn=0-89003-123-1 |location=Malibu, California}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hacikyan |first1=Agop Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmtPLvnrc38C |title=The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to Modern Times |last2=Basmajian |first2=Gabriel |last3=Franchuk |first3=Edward S. |last4=Ouzounian |first4=Nourhan |date=2005 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |isbn=0-8143-3221-8 |location=Detroit, Michigan |display-authors=1 |author-link1=Agop Jack Hacikyan}}
* {{cite book |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |title=Armenia: A Historical Atlas |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-226-33228-4 |author-link=Robert H. Hewsen}}
* {{cite book |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |title=Medieval Armenian Culture |publisher=Scholars Press |year=1984a |editor1=Samuelian, Thomas J. |editor-link=Thomas J. Samuelian |series=University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies |location=Chico, California |pages=42–68 |contribution=The Kingdom of Arc'ax |editor2=Stone, Michael E. |editor2-link=Michael E. Stone}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |date=1972 |title=The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: A Preliminary Study |journal=[[Revue des Études Arméniennes]] |series=Nouvelle série |volume=IX |pages=285–329}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |date=1973–1974 |title=The Meliks of Eastern Armenia II |journal=[[Revue des Études Arméniennes]] |series=Nouvelle série |volume=X |pages=281–303}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |date=1975–1976 |title=The Meliks of Eastern Armenia III |journal=[[Revue des Études Arméniennes]] |series=Nouvelle série |volume=XI |pages=219–243}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |date=1984b |title=The Meliks of Eastern Armenia VI: The House of Aghamaleanc῾ |journal=[[Bazmavēp]] |volume= |pages=319–333|url=https://tert.nla.am/archive/NLA%20AMSAGIR/Bazmavep/1984(3-4)_ocr.pdf|issue=3–4}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |date=1981–1982 |title=Three Armenian Noble Families of the Russian Empire |url=https://tert.nla.am/archive/NLA%20AMSAGIR/haskhayagit/1981-82.pdf |journal=Hask |volume=Բ․–Գ․ [II–III] |pages=389–400}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hovhannisyan |first1=A. G. |url=http://serials.flib.sci.am/openreader/Hay%20joxovrdi%20patmutyun_%20h.4/book/index.html#page/164/mode/2up |title=Hay žołovrdi patmut῾yun |last2=P῾ap῾azyan |first2=H. D. |publisher=Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House |year=1972 |editor-last=Xač῾ikyan |editor-first=L. S. |volume=IV |location=Yerevan |pages=134–189 |language=hy |trans-title=History of the Armenian People |chapter=Hay azatagrakan šaržumə iranakan tirapetut῾yan ew t῾urk῾ zavt῾ič῾neri dem XVIII dari aṙajin kesum |trans-chapter=The Armenian liberation movement against Iranian rule and the Turkish invaders in the first half of the 18th century |author-link=Ashot Hovhannisian |display-editors=etal}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica|article=Erevan|last=Kettenhofen|first=Erich|last2=Bournoutian|first2=George A.|last3=Hewsen|first3=Robert H.|author-link3=Robert H. Hewsen|volume=8|fascicle=5|pages=542–551|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/erevan-1}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1981 |title=Melik῾ |encyclopedia=[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia|Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran]] |location=Erewan |url=https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_7.djvu/385 |last=P῾apazyan |first=H. |editor-last=Hambarjumyan |editor-first=Viktor |editor-link=Viktor Ambartsumian |volume=7 |pages=385 |language=hy}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1984 |title=Słnaxner |encyclopedia=[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia|Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran]] |location=Erewan |url=https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_10.djvu/450 |last=Ulubabyan |first=B. |editor-last=Hambarjumyan |editor-first=Viktor |editor-link=Viktor Ambartsumian |volume=10 |pages=450 |language=hy|trans-title=Sghnakhs}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1979 |title=Xač῾eni išxanut῾yun |encyclopedia=[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia|Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran]] |location=Erewan |url=https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_5.djvu/25 |last=Ulubabyan |first=B. |editor-last=Hambarjumyan |editor-first=Viktor |editor-link=Viktor Ambartsumian |volume=5 |pages=25–26 |language=hy|author-link=Bagrat Ulubabyan|trans-title=Principality of Khachen}}

== Further reading ==
*Hewsen, Robert. "The Meliks of Eastern Armenia," pts. 1-4, ''[[Revue des Études Arméniennes]]'', Nouvelle Series, 9 (1972); 10 (1973-1974); 11 (1975-1976); 14 (1980).  
*{{cite book |author=Raffi |title=The Five Melikdoms Of Karabagh, (1600-1827)  |translator-last=Melkonian |translator-first=Ara Stepan |date=2010 |publisher=Taderon Press |isbn=978-1-903656-57-0 |publication-place=London |oclc=670483701 |author-link=Raffi (novelist)}}
*{{Cite book |last=Leo |title=Hayoc῾ patmut῾yun. errord hator. girk῾ erkrord |publisher=Hayastan hratarakč῾ut῾yun |year=1973 |editor-last=Grigoryan |editor-first=Z. |series=Erkeri žołovacu [''Collected Works''] |volume=III, part 2 |location=Erewan |pages=16–29, 253–274 |language=hy |trans-title=History of Armenia, Vol. III (pt. 2) |author-link=Leo (historian) |editor-last2=T῾amrazyan |editor-first2=H. |editor-last3=T῾op῾č῾yan |editor-first3=Ē. |editor-last4=Nersisyan |editor-first4=M. |editor-last5=Sargsyan |editor-first5=M. |display-editors=1}}

==External links==
* [https://meliqunion.wixsite.com/home/news The Armenian Meliq Union]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021128202140/http://www.geocities.com/azat10/ The Honorable House of Melik ]

[[Category:Armenian noble titles]]
[[Category:Early modern history of Armenia]]