Artaz

Artaz was an Armenian principality of the Amatuni family, based at Shavarshan castle, later Maku. In 1337 its prince was a vassal of the Jalayirids, and the family followed the Armenian Apostolic Church.

During Timur's invasion, the garrison held out at Maku castle, an episode recorded by the Castilian envoy Clavijo. A branch of the Amatuni retained Artaz until the early sixteenth century, when Ottoman expansion and the arrival of Kurdish tribes ended Armenian rule there.