the arordiner movement has antecedents in the early 20th century, with the doctrine of "tseghakron" (ցեղակրօն, literally "national religion") of the philosopher and nationalist political theorist garegin nzhdeh. it took an institutional form in 1991, just after the collapse of the soviet union in a climate of national reawakening, when the armenologist slak kakosyan founded the "order of the children of ari" ("arordineri ukht"). neopaganism expert victor schnirelmann estimated the following of armenian neopaganism to be "no more than a few hundred people".