Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Ani" in English language version.
By the 1260s, at which time Ani was under Ilkhanid rule, the gavit seems to have acted as a central deposit for legal affairs, especially those concerning taxes and import duties. The interior and exterior of the building are replete with inscriptions recording changes to levies – usually the alleviation of taxes, but occasionally impositions (such as the ban on Sunday street trading after the earthquake. These texts show a marked difference from the earlier Shaddadid inscriptions in the city about trade. Whereas those inscriptions were in Persian, these are all in Armenian, despite their ultimate authority coming from Iran. Indeed six of the inscriptions begin their texts with the words "[In the name of] the Ilkhan". They even adopt Mongolian terms, notably the word yarligh (imperial decree) which appears in the inscription of 1270.
The interior of Ani cathedral, a longitudinal stone building with pointed vaults and a central dome, built about 1001, is astonishingly Gothic in every detail, and numerous other equally close parallels could be cited.
Awag (d. 1250), the son of Iwané Zak'arian (d. 1234), was the first Caucasian noble to submit to the Mongols. Kirakos Gandzakets'i gives a detailed account of how this happened.' In 1236, Awag, seeing that the Mongols continued to besiege his stronghold, Kayen, even after taking his daughter and gifts, sent one of Khachen's nobles, Grigor called Tghay to meet the Mongol leader Chormaghan, who was camped at the time by the shores of Lake Geghark'unik* (Sevan). When the great Commander Chormaghan heard about Awag's intention to submit, he ordered his troops to stop besieging the fortress. Soon after, Awag was received by Chormaghan.
As Watenpaugh explains, 'Ani is so symbolic, so central for Armenians, as a religious site, as a cultural site, as a national heritage symbol, a symbol of nationhood.'
Դարպասի վերևի պատին Անի քաղաքի զինանշանն է՝ հովազի բարձրաքանդակով:
Անիի զինանշանը` վազող հովազը
The Turkish government's practice of calling the town "Anı," rather than Ani, in order to give it a more Turkish character...
Adres: Ocaklı Köyü, Ani Antik Kenti
Chaghatai dispatched Toghta to assault Awag's fortress of Kayan. (...) Awag surrendered in the name all of Georgia agreeing to pay tribute and to have his troops join the Mongol army. (...) Chormaqan took his own force west to the ancient capital of Armenia, Ani, and Awag accompanied him. The city was under the authority of Shahnshah and the leaders hesitated to surrender. A mob killed the Mongol envoys, and as was their custom in such circumstances, the Mongols relentlessly assaulted the city. Some of the princes surrendered in exchange for a promise of clemency, but after they came out the Mongols divided them up and killed them all. The survivors in the city were enslaved. The destruction was so fierce that the city of Kars surrendered without a fight, hoping to avoid Ani's fate.
The Turkish government's practice of calling the town "Anı," rather than Ani, in order to give it a more Turkish character...
