House of Hasan-Jalalyan

The House of Hasan-Jalalyan (in Armenian: Հասան-Ջալալյաններ) was an Armenian dynasty that ruled the region of Khachen in Artsakh from the thirteenth century AD onwards in what is now the regions of lower Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh and Zangezur.[1] It was named after Hasan Jalal Dawla (Հասան-Ջալալ Դոլա), an Armenian feudal prince from Khachen.

Reign under Jalal Dawla

The reign of the Hasan-Jalalyan family was concentrated between the Terter and the Khachenaget rivers. Jalal's birth date is unknown however his reign, beginning in 1214 and ending at the time of his death 1260 in Ghazvin, encompassed both Artsakh and the surrounding Armenian regions. He was addressed with the titles tagavor (king, թագավոր) or inknakal (self-ruling or autonomous leader, ինքնակալ) but took the official title of "King of Artsakh and Balk", as he married the daughter of the final king of Dizak-Balk.

Under Mongol rule, he traveled twice to Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol empire, where he was able to obtain special autonomy rights and privileges for himself and the people under his domain from the ruling khan. Arghun Khan, the ruling regional Mongol leader at the time, placed so many restrictions against Armenians, that it prompted Hasan Jalal in 1256 to journey to the capital to protest against the encroachments upon Nerses, the Catholicos of Albania. In response, the khan drafted a document "guaranteeing freedom for Lord Nerses, Katolikos of Albania, for all his properties and goods, that he be free and untaxed and allowed to travel freely everywhere in the dioceses under his authority, and that no one disobey what he said."

Relations between Armenians and Mongols however, continued to deteriorate and this particular document failed to uphold what it promised. In 1260, Hasan Jalal allied himself with the forces of the Georgian king David Narin who was leading an insurrection against Mongol rule. The insurrection subsequently failed and under the orders of Arghun Khan, Jalal Dawla was executed.

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