Meruzhan Artsruni

Meruzhan Artsruni ( Meružan Arcruni, also spelled Merujan, Ardzruni, Artzruni, Artsrouni; died 371 or 380/1) was a 4th-century nakharar (Armenian feudal lord) from the Artsruni family.

When the Persian king Shapur II invaded Armenia in the 360s, Meruzhan, his brother-in-law Vahan Mamikonian, and several other Armenian lords renounced Christianity for Zoroastrianism and defected to Persia. Arsaces and Vasak would later be captured by Shapur by deception; Vasak was put to death and Arsaces committed suicide or was executed in Anhush Berd. James R. Russell believes Meruzhan to have been the dynastic ruler of Sophene who saw himself as a ruler exercising his lawful powers to counter the growth of Christianity. According to Moses of Chorene, Meruzhan was put to death by Smbat Bagratuni in Kogovit following the Battle of Bagavan in 371, where the Roman-Armenian army defeated the Persians.