Nairi (Armenian usages)

History of Armenia
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Prehistory Stone & Copper Age Shulaveri-Shomu culture c.6500–3400 BCE Areni-1 Cave Complex Kura–Araxes culture c.3400–2000 BCE Legend of Hayk (?) 2492 BCE Bronze & Iron Age Hayasa-Azzi c.1500–1290 BCE Arme-Shupria c.1300s–1190 BCE Ararat/Urartu Nairi Tribes 1114–860 BCE Kingdom of Van 860–590 BCE Scythian & Mede Invasions 6th Century BCE
Antiquity Achaemenid Period Satrapy of Armina 549–331 BCE Orontid Dynasty Ancient Armenia Armenia Minor 331–72 BCE Kingdom of Armenia 321 BCE–428 CE Artaxiad dynasty 189 BCE–12 CE Empire 84–34 BCE Arsacid dynasty 52–428 CE Roman–Parthian War 58–63 CE Roman Province of Armenia 114–118 CE Christianization 301 CE Kingdom of Sophene c.200–94 BCE Kingdom of Commagene 163 BCE–72 CE Marzpanate period Byzantine Armenia 387–536 Persian Armenia 428–646 Mamikonian dynasty Battle of Avarayr 451
Middle Ages Arabic Period Emirate of Armenia 653–884 Hamamshen 700s–1300s Amatuni Dynasty Medieval Armenia Bagratid Armenia 884–1045 Bagratid dynasty 861–1118 Kingdom of Vaspurakan 908–1021 Artsruni dynasty Sajid dynasty 889–929 Sallarid dynasty 919–1062 Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget 979–1118 Kingdom of Syunik 987–1170 Kingdom of Artsakh 1000–1261 House of Hasan-Jalalyan Battle of Manzikert 1071 Cilician & Turco-Mongol Period Seljuq rule 1071–1201 Georgian union 1201–1236 Ilkhanid rule 1236–1335 Principality of Khachen 1261–1750 Kara Koyunlu & Aq Koyunlu 1335–1508 Kingdom of Cilicia 1198–1375 Rubenid dynasty 1000–1261 Hethumid dynasty 1226–1373 Lusignan dynasty 1341–1375
Early modern age Perso-Ottoman Period Safavid & Qajar rule 1502–1828 Five Melikdoms Nakhichevan deportation 1606 Ceding of Eastern Armenia 1828 Ottoman rule 1548–1915 Six Vilayets 1878 Hamidian massacres 1895–1896 Armenian Genocide 1909–1918 Russian period Russian rule 1828–1918 Armenian Oblast 1828–1840 Western Armenia 1915–1918 National Liberation Movement Armenakan 1885 S.D. Hunchakian Party 1887 ARF (Dashnaktsutyun) 1890 Caucasus Campaign 1914–1918 Battle of Sardarapat 1918 Battle of Karakilisa 1918 Modern Armenia First Republic of Armenia 1918–1920 Treaty of Batum 1918 War with Azerbaijan 1918–1920 War with Georgia 1918 Treaty of Sèvres 1920 Wilsonian Armenia 1920 War with Turkey 1920 Treaty of Alexandropol 1920
Modern age Soviet Period Armenian S.S.R. 1920–1991 February Uprising 1921 Republic of Mountainous Armenia 1921 Treaty of Moscow 1921 Treaty of Kars 1921 Territorial claims against Turkey 1945–1953 Independence Armenian diaspora Hidden Armenians Republic of Armenia since 1991 Post-Soviet transition 1991–1995 Modern era since 1995 Republic of Artsakh since 1994 Nagorno-Karabakh War 1989–1994
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During the late 19th century rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire, the word "Nairi" or "Nayiri" (Armenian: Նայիրի in TAO or Նաիրի in RAO) came to be used as a synonym for Armenia among Armenians who came to see the Nairi (see also Mitanni, better known to Armenians as Aram-Naharin), a people located in the wider area of the Armenian Highlands during the Late Bronze Age, as their remote ancestors.

In 1916, Vahan Terian published a collection of poems entitled Land of Nairi (Armenian: Yerkir Nairi), in which he used Nairi in place of Armenia. Likewise in 1923, Yeghishe Charents wrote a satirical novella entitled Land of Nairi, using Nairi as a synonym for Armenia. Another writer, Hayastan Yeghiazarian, used Nairi Zarian as his pen-name, replacing his first name, Hayastan (the Armenian word for Armenia since the Late Middle Ages) with Nairi.

As a proper name

Nairi is used by Armenians as a first name for both boys and girls, as well as a name for a variety of products and businesses ranging from restaurants to movie theaters, magazines to publishing houses, hotels to cognac, and even computers. In the United States, especially in areas where there are large Armenian diaspora communities, many businesses, including beauty-salons, bakeries, and grocery stores bear the name Nairi. A famous example of this would be the "Nairi" brand of Armenian brandy produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company.

Nayiri (in Armenian Նայիրի) was also a prominent Armenian language long-running literary, social and artistic publication. It was established in Aleppo, Syria by the literary Armenian figure Antranig Dzarougian as a monthly from 1941 to 1949. The journal continued as a weekly / biweekly / monthly in Lebanon for many more years from the 1950s until the death of Dzarougian in 1989.

Other examples include the Nairi Stadium in Yerevan, Armenia, and Nairi a society of the Armenian minority in Russia.^[1]

References