Dilgam ismailov

379). Artsakh (present-Karabakh), the country of Marlar 
(present Nakhchivan), Caspiana and other regions of Albania 
were returned back. The Sassanid king Sapur II strengthened
persecution against the Christian religion.
In 371 Dzirav battle took place between the Romans – 
Sassanid armies. Albania took the Sassanid’s side in this battle 
too. The Roman army won Dzirav battle. Albania was deprived 
of provinces like Uti, Shakashena (Sakasena), Colt (Albania's 
western border province) and Girdiman valley in this battle. 
Albania returned its lost provinces on the basis of the 
agreement signed between Rome and Iran in 387. Armenia 

---

57 
was divided between the two countries. Armenian state 
bodies were put an end.
Christianity began to be spread in Albania at the 
beginning of the IVcentury. The Sassanid shah, Yezdagerd I 
enabled Christian religious beliefs and used Christians’ servi-
ces. During the reign of king of the kings, Yezdagerd II (438-
457) reinforced the struggle against Christianity. The Shah called 
all rulers of Albania and neighbouring countries to Ctesiphon and 
had forced them to adopt Zoroastrianism. Albanian ruler, Vache II
 
(440-463), Yezdakerd’s nephew, under the pressure of his uncle 
rejected Christianity and accepted Zoroastrianism. Syunik ruler 
Vasak who had refused Christianity, fought for the sake of 
strengthening the Sassanid religious ideology in Albania.
Feudal lords were divided into two groups. Larger feudal 
lords were called the patricks. The 2
nd
group was organized by 
freedmen consisting of small and medium feudal lords. 
Freedmen were considered vassals of patricks. The freedmen 
had to give the rulers troops, take certain positions in the palace 
and fight for Albanian and Sassanid’s troops during the war. 
Together with the priests, the freedmen were free of life (gezit) 
taxes. They received lands instead of their services to the 
Albanian and Sassanid rulers. During the V and VII centuries 
the legacy of feudal land ownership was called dastakert in 
Albania. Conditional land ownership was called khostak and 
was given to representatives of the ruling class for their 
services. The main part of the population was peasants in 
Albania. During the reign of the Sassanid, as in Atropatena, 
there were kharag and gezit taxes in Albania too. Kharag was 
collected for the use of land and, gezit was called the soul tax. 
The resentment began to increase against the Sassanid 
power on religious grounds. So, one of the movements was led 

---

58 
by Vardan Mamikonyan. The Albanian ruler Vache II didn’t 
join the fight against the Sassanid. In 450 the Sassanid gangs 
were defeated by the rebels in the battle near Khalkhal (present 
Gazakh region). On May 26