Шаһиншаһ

The election by the nobles of Smbat’s son Ashot I (the Great), who had been accepted as "prince of princes" by the Arabs in 862, to be king of Armenia in 885 was recognized by both caliph and emperor. Throughout the 10th century, art and literature flourished. Ashot III (the Merciful; 952—977) transferred his capital to Ani and began to make it into one of the architectural gems of the Middle Ages.
The Bagratids of Ani—who bore the title shāhanshāh ("king of kings"), first conferred upon Ashot II (the Iron) by the caliph in 922—were not the sole rulers of Armenia. In 908 the Artsruni principate of Vaspurakan became a kingdom recognized by the caliph; in 961 Mushegh, the brother of Ashot III, founded the Bagratid kingdom of Kars; and in 970 the prince of Eastern Siuniq declared himself a king.

The addition of the title of "King of the Armenians" ("mepe somekhta") indicates the conquest of the kingdom of Tashir-Dzorageti, whose kings were called "mepe somekhta" in Georgian, and not of the Ani-kingdom of the Armenian Bagratids, who bore the title of "Shahansha". The titles of "Shahansha" and "Sharvansha" should have appeared in the latter years of the reign of David the Builder, when he conquered Shirvan, but it is recorded only in the charter of King Giorgi III. We feel that the titles given in the charter of Giorgi III, namely, King of the Abkhazians, Kartvelians, Ranians and Kakhians, "Sharvansha" and "Shahansha" were adopted in the last years of the reign of David the Builder.