The Battle of Avarayr, 451 AD

Every year, on the Thursday preceding Great Lent, Armenians throughout the world celebrate the anniversary of an important event in their history -- the religious war waged between pagan Persia and Christian Armenia in the year 451 A.D.

The hero of this war was St. Vartan the Brave. All those who gave their lives in this war are called collectively, the Vartanians.

The cause of the battle was religious. Armenia, which proclaimed Christianity as its state religion in 301 A.D. lived peacefully, first under its own kings, and then under Persian rule. Armenia developed its own culture with great zeal during the first half of the fifth century. In this period, the Bible was translated into the Armenian language and Christianity flourished in the country.

After becoming Christians, Armenians began to show signs of alienation from the Persians. In order to force the Armenians to revert back to the Persian religion, the King of Persia decreed that all Christians under his rule should abandon their new religion and accept Mazdeism, which was the worship of the sun and fire.

The Armenians, in a mass meeting of the clergy and ruling princes, gave a bold answer to this royal decree insisting that they had not the slightest intention of denying their Christian faith.

The Persians countered this boldness with a heavy hand. They sent a huge army of some 220,000 strong to Armenia to crush the resistance and to convert the country to paganism by force.

In 451 A.D. on the field of Avarayr, near Mount Ararat, a band of 66,000 semi-trained and poorly equipped Armenian fighters, under the leadership of Vartan Mamigonian, their commander-in-chief, stood waiting for the invading army of Persians. In this battle, Vartan and his comrades suffered a military defeat but in reality the victory was theirs. They lost the battle, but in the end attained the aim for which they were fighting. The Persians eventually stopped their attempt to convert the country to their religion. They realized how steadfast Armenians were in their faith and convictions. The defeat of the of the brave Armenians became a moral victory.

As a result of such battles in our history and the fine spirit that the Vartanians displayed, the Christian religion has survived in Armenia over many centuries and under most trying circumstances. We are the proud heirs of this unconquerable spirit.