kingdom · Caucasus

Kingdom of Kars

963 CE – 1065 CE · capital Kars

A small Armenian kingdom centred on the fortress city of Kars, ruled by a junior Bagratid line until it was handed to Byzantium.

Origins

In 963 Ashot III of Bagratid Armenia gave the district of Vanand, with the fortress of Kars, to his brother Mushegh, who took the title king. The kingdom remained linked to the senior line at Ani while governing its own affairs.

Rule and society

Kars was a strong fortress town on the route from Anatolia to the Caucasus, and its Cathedral of the Holy Apostles, built by King Abas in the 930s-40s when Kars was still the Bagratid capital, dominated the city. The kings ruled local nobles and peasants and acted as allies and rivals of the kings at Ani.

Decline and legacy

After Byzantium annexed Ani in 1045 and the Seljuks sacked it in 1064, King Gagik-Abas surrendered Kars to the Byzantine Empire in 1065 for lands in Cappadocia. The Seljuks took the city soon after.

Lineage

Bagratid Armenia 884 CE – 1045 CEKingdom of KarsByzantine Empire 330 CE – 1453 CE

More states of Caucasus →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Kars. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kars
MLA
“Kingdom of Kars.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kars. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Kars.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kars.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Kars’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kars (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻