In his highly valuable work History of Armenia, the 13th-century historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi, specifically writing about the identity of Hasan-Jalal Dawla—the King of Artsakh and Prince of Princes from 1214 to 1261—stated: “Hasan, the Grand Prince of Khachen in the regions of Artsakh, whom they affectionately called Jalal, was a pious, God-fearing, and modest man, an Armenian by nationality.”
Based on the historian K. Gandzaketsi’s words, we can unequivocally assert that Hasan-Jalal Dawla was of Armenian nationality.
The attached image shows the high-relief sculpture of Hasan-Jalal Dawla, the King of Artsakh and Prince of Princes, depicted on the drum of the dome of St. John the Baptist Church in Gandzasar.
STEPAN HASAN-JALALYAN
Political scientist