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The Principality of Kapan (Փանախանի տունը) was an Armenian principality that existed from 1722 to 1730 in the region of Zangezur. It was formed through union of the Armenian regions of Angeghakot, Kashatagh, Tatev and Baghk.

History
The Armenian Meliks, local feudal lords, had long been recognized as governors of the area of by the Iranian shahs. In 1722, however, the Safavid state collapsed. Numerous Muslim tribes in the area were now competing for influence in the area. Peter the Great's steady advance south towards the Caucasus during the Russo-Persian War of 1722–1723 with a massive 30,000-strong army had revived hope among the Armenians and Georgians that Russian arms could help remove the region from Muslim rule. Muslim misrule in the regions of Kapan and Artsakh (Karabakh) eventually provoked the Armenian meliks in 1722 to request military aid from the Georgian ruler Vakhtang VI.

Vakhtang agreed to aid the meliks; he sent Davit Bek, reportedly one of his most capable officers, together with some 2,000 Armenian soldiers. Davit made the fort of Halidzor his base of operations. With the support of the local peasants and the meliks, Davit managed to defend the Armenian-inhabited areas from the Muslim tribes and establish the Principality of Kapan in 1722. He also fought against those Armenian meliks who opposed the rebellion. Encouraged by his successes, many Armenians raised the banner of revolt against the Muslims and joined Davit's ranks. The meliks of Karabakh, who were waging their own battles against Muslim rulers, cooperated with Davit Bek, lending him men and materiel. In the spring of 1724, a force of 2,000 Armenian fighters from Karabakh commanded by Avan Yuzbashi and Ivan Karapet joined Davit Bek's forces in Kapan.

Although initially Davit's main enemy were the Iranians, he soon came to the conclusion that it was the Ottoman Turks who posed a much greater danger. In 1724, the Ottomans invaded Iran and Eastern Armenia, capturing Tiflis, Yerevan and Hamadan, prompting the Armenians to ally with the Iranians against the Ottoman invaders.



In the spring of 1727, Davit Bek won a spectacular victory over a larger Ottoman army at the Battle of Halidzor. The Armenian forces went on to drive the Turks out of Kapan and advanced south towards Meghri, capturing the Ottoman-controlled Meghri Fortress. In 1727, in order to put a halt to the Ottoman approach in the area, King Tahmasp II of Iran appointed Davit the governor of the area, and gave him the right to administer the area as a vassal Armenian principality under Iranian control. Davit Bek then campaigned against the Ottomans at Ordubad and Agulis.

In 1728, upon the death of Davit Bek, command of the Armenian forces in Syunik passed to Mkhitar Sparapet. Mkhitar's death in 1730 marked the end of the 18th-century Armenian liberation struggle in Syunik. However, oral traditions from Syunik hold that Armenian resistance continued under different leaders until Nader drove out the Ottomans and restored Iranian control over Transcaucasia in 1735.