ABSTRACT
In 763/145H, 'Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur inaugurated the establishment of the city of Baghdad, and in the next year he moved to his new capital. The 'Abbasids adopted not only the style of the Persian court and administrative system, but the latter's imperialist and elitist politics too. However, the Borderlands between the two empires were not clearly marked until the rise of the 'Abbasids. From the beginning of their caliphate, the 'Abbasids raised all taxes and initiated religious persecutions in Armenia east of the Borderlands. The anarchistic tribal emirates contributed to the traditional rivalries between the naxarars, and to the complication of relations with the Caliphate. Babakians aggressive policies and violent conduct against the Armenian population, in 836 the Siwnis captured and gave this enemy of the Caliphate to the Arabs and were generously rewarded by the Caliph al-Mutasim. During the decades from 830s to 880s, the Armenian sectarian–Muslim alliance, often referred to by Ojneci, Narekaci, Michael the Syrian.
