1.
Tao (historical region)
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Tao is a historical Georgian region in the territory of modern Turkey. Its name derives from the name of Taochi, its oldest inhabitants, in the Middle Ages, it was a province within various Georgian royal Bagrationi kingdoms and states from the 8th to the 16th century. Afterwards, the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, tao-Klarjeti Klarjeti Diauehi Taochi Tayk Georgia in Encyclopædia Britannica Online
2.
Klarjeti
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The Klarjeti was a province of ancient and medieval Georgia, which is now part of the Artvin Province and Ardahan Province, northeastern Turkey. Klarjeti, the province of Tao and several other smaller districts constituted a larger region with shared history. Klarjeti, traversed by the Chorokhi, stretched from the Arsiani Range westwards, towards the Black Sea and it was bordered by Shavsheti and Nigali on the north, and Tao on the south. The region roughly corresponds to Cholarzene of Classical sources and probably to Kaţarza or Quturza of the earlier Urartian records. In the 370s division of Iberia between the Roman and Iranian empires, Klarjeti passed to the former, but it is unknown whether as a province or as a vassal. The marriage of the Chosroid king Vakhtang I of Iberia to the Roman princess Helena seems to have enabled the Iberians to regain the province c,786, when the Guaramid possessions passed to their resurgent cousins from the Bagrationi family. The Bagrationi dynasty presided over a period of prosperity and cultural revival in the area. The taxes collected at Artanuji were a factor in the rise of the Bagrationi power. Around 870, Klarjeti became a fiefdom of one of the three principal branches of the Georgian Bagrationi rulers. This line—known in the medieval Georgian records as the Sovereigns of Klarjeti —was eventually dispossessed by their cousin Bagrat III, Klarjeti never fully recovered from a series of Seljuk attacks later in the 11th century and further declined in the Mongol and Timurs invasions in the 13th and 14th century. After the partition of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, Klarjeti passed to the princes of Meskheti who lost the area to the Ottoman conquest in 1551
3.
South Caucasus
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Transcaucasia, or the South Caucasus, is a geopolitical region in the vicinity of the southern Caucasus Mountains on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Transcaucasia roughly corresponds to modern Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Transcaucasia and Ciscaucasia together comprise the larger Caucasus geographical region that divides Eurasia. All of present-day Armenia is in Transcaucasia, the majority of present-day Georgia and Azerbaijan, including the exclave of Nakhchivan, parts of Iran and Turkey are also included within the region of Transcaucasia. Goods produced in the region include oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits and it remains one of the most politically tense regions in the post-Soviet area, and contains three heavily disputed areas, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Between 1878 and 1917 the Russian controlled province of Kars Oblast was also incorporated into the Transcaucasus, Transcaucasia is a Latin rendering of the Russian-language word zakavkazie, meaning the area beyond the Caucasus Mountains. This implies a Russian vantage point, and is analogous to similar terms such as Transnistria and Transleithania, other forms of this word include Trans-Caucasus and Transcaucasus. The region is referred to as Southern Caucasia and the South Caucasus. Located on the peripheries of Turkey, Iran and Russia, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, throughout history, Transcaucasia was usually under the direct rule of the various in-Iran based empires and part of the Iranian world. In the course of the 19th century, Qajar Iran had to cede the region as a result of the two Russo-Persian Wars of that century to Imperial Russia. Ancient kingdoms of the region included Armenia, Albania and Iberia, later, the Orthodox Christian Kingdom of Georgia dominated most of Transcaucasia. The region was conquered by the Seljuk, Mongol, Turkic, Safavid, Ottoman, Afsharid. The 1826-1828 conquerings were confirmed in the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay, in 1801, what is now Georgia was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire. After 1828-1829 war, Ottomans ceded Western Georgia except Adjaria, which was known as Sanjak of Batum, finally after Russo-Turkish War, Russians completed conquest of Transcaucasus. In 1844, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were combined into a single czarist government-general, Transcaucasia, in particular where modern-day Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Iran are located, is one of the native areas of the wine-producing vine Vitis vinifera. Some experts speculate that Transcaucasia may be the birthplace of wine production, archaeological excavations and carbon dating of grape seeds from the area have dated back to 7000–5000 BC. Wine found in Iran has been dated to c. 7400 BC and c. 5000 BC, the earliest winery, dated to c. 4000 BC, was found in Armenia
4.
Trabzon
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Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a gateway to Persia in the southeast. Trabzon formed the basis of states in its long history and was the capital city of the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461. During the early period, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, became a focal point of trade to Iran. The Turkish name of the city is Trabzon and it is historically known in English as Trebizond. In Latin, Trabzon was called Trapezus, which is the latinization of the Ancient Greek Τραπεζοῦς, both in Pontic Greek and Modern Greek, it is called Τραπεζούντα. In Ottoman Turkish and Persian, it is written as طربزون, during Ottoman times, Tara Bozan was also used. Some western geographers used this name instead of the Latin Trebizond, in Laz it is known as ტამტრა or Trapuzani, in Georgian it is ტრაპიზონი and in Armenian it is Տրապիզոն Trapizon. The 19th-century Armenian travelling priest Byjiskian called the city by other, native names, including Hurşidabat, in classical antiquity the city was founded as Τραπεζοῦς by Milesian traders. It was one of a number of Milesian emporia or trading colonies along the shores of the Black Sea, others include Sinope, Abydos and Cyzicus. Like most Greek colonies, the city was an enclave of Greek life. Early banking activity is suggested occurring in the city according to a silver coin from Trapezus in the British Museum. Trebizonds trade partners included the Mossynoeci, when Xenophon and the Ten Thousand mercenaries were fighting their way out of Persia, the first Greek city they reached was Trebizond. The city and the local Mossynoeci had become estranged from the Mossynoecian capital, xenophons force resolved this in the rebels favor, and so in Trebizonds interest. The city was added to the kingdom of Pontus by Mithridates VI Eupator, when the kingdom was annexed to the Roman province of Galatia in 64–65, the fleet passed to new commanders, becoming the Classis Pontica. Trebizond gained importance under Roman rule in the 1st century for its access to roads leading over the Zigana Pass to the Armenian frontier or the upper Euphrates valley, new roads were constructed from Persia and Mesopotamia under the rule of Vespasian. In the next century, the emperor Hadrian commissioned improvements to give the city a more structured harbor, a mithraeum now serves as a crypt for the church and monastery of Panagia Theoskepastos in nearby Kizlara, east of the citadel and south of the modern harbor. Although Trebizond was rebuilt after being pillaged by the Goths in 258, only in the reign of Diocletian appears an inscription alluding to the restoration of the city, Ammianus Marcellinus could only write of Trebizond that it was not an obscure town
5.
Tamar of Georgia
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Tamar the Great reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty, her position as the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right was emphasized by the title mepe, Tamar was successful in neutralizing this opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy aided by the decline of the hostile Seljuq Turks. Tamar was married twice, her first union being, from 1185 to 1187, to the Rus prince Yuri, whom she divorced and expelled from the country, defeating his subsequent coup attempts. For her second husband Tamar chose, in 1191, the Alan prince David Soslan and she remains an important symbol in Georgian popular culture and has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar, with her feast day commemorated on 14 May. Tamar was born in circa 1160 to George III, King of Georgia, and his consort Burdukhan, while it is possible that Tamar had a younger sister, Rusudan, she is only mentioned once in all contemporary accounts of Tamars reign. The name Tamar is of Hebrew origin and, like other biblical names, was favored by the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty because of their claim to be descended from David, the second king of Israel. Tamars youth coincided with an upheaval in Georgia, in 1177, her father. Prince Demna, castrated and blinded on his uncles order, did not survive the mutilation and soon died in prison, once the rebellion was suppressed and the pretender eliminated, George went ahead to co-opt Tamar into government with him and crowned her as co-ruler in 1178. By doing so, the king attempted to preempt any dispute after his death, at the same time, he raised men from the gentry and unranked classes to keep the dynastic aristocracy away from the center of power. For six years, Tamar was a co-ruler with her father upon whose death, in 1184, Tamar continued as the monarch and was crowned a second time at the Gelati cathedral near Kutaisi. She inherited a strong kingdom, but the centrifugal tendencies fostered by the great nobles were far from being quelled. The energetic involvement of Tamars influential aunt Rusudan and the Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Michael IV Mirianisdze was crucial for legitimizing Tamars succession to the throne, however, the young queen was forced into making significant concessions to the aristocracy. She had to reward the Catholicos-Patriarch Michaels support by making him a chancellor and this attempt at feudal constitutionalism was rendered abortive when Tamar had Qutlu Arslan arrested and his supporters were inveigled into submission. Yet, Tamars first moves to reduce the power of the aristocratic élite were unsuccessful and she failed in her attempt to use a church synod to dismiss the Catholicos-Patriarch Michael, and the noble council, darbazi, asserted the right to approve royal decrees. Even the queens first husband, the Rus prince Yuri, was forced on her by the nobles. Pursuant to dynastic imperatives and the ethos of the time, the nobles required Tamar to marry in order to have a leader for the army and to provide an heir to the throne. Their choice fell on Yuri, son of the murdered prince Andrei I Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal, the choice was approved by Tamars aunt Rusudan and the prince was brought to Georgia to marry the queen in 1185. Yuri proved to be an soldier, but a difficult person
6.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
7.
Duchy of Kldekari
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Kldekari was a duchy in mediaeval Georgia. The duchy was established in 876 by Liparit I of the Baghvashi, having seized this key place, the Baghvashi family used their position to contest borders with the neighbouring principalities. The rivalry between the Baghvashi and the Bagrationi House of Georgia erupted immediately after the creation of the unified Georgian kingdom under Bagrat III, the latter prevailed and, in 989, forced the Kldekarian duke Rati I to abdicate in favour of his son, Liparit II. A descendant, Liparit IV, became a regent for the young Georgian king Bagrat IV in the early 1030s, subsequently, relations between the two men deteriorated and flared into an armed conflict. His son and heir, John, was allowed by the Georgian crown to succeed Liparit IV as a duke, in 1074, John revolted against King George II of Georgia, and attempted to get Seljuk support. However, a Seljuk invasion force temporarily occupied the duchy and captured the ducal family, david IV, a new and perhaps the most successful king of Georgia, forced the Baghvashi into submission in 1093, and checked their subsequent attempts to revolt. In 1103, he took advantage of the death of the last Kldekarian duke Rati III, Liparit I Liparit II Rati I Liparit III Rati II Liparit IV John Liparit V Rati III Saeristavo of Kldekari
8.
Kingdom of Georgia
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The Kingdom of Georgia, also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval monarchy which emerged in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV, a predominantly Christian, Georgian-speaking realm, it was the principal historical precursor of present-day Georgia. Lasting for several centuries, the fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. The Kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, fractured Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors. The ascendancy of the Bagrationi dynasty can be traced to the 8th century, the restoration of the Georgian kingship begins in AD888, when Adarnase IV of Iberia took the title of King of Georgians. The United Kingdom of Georgia was established in 1008, in this year, Bagrat III, son of Gurgen II, became the ruler of the Kingdom of Western Georgia, including the Principalities of Imereti, Samegrelo, Abkhazeti, Guria and Svaneti. Bagrats mother was Queen Gurandukht, a daughter of George II of Abkhazia, the first decades of the 9th century saw the rise of a new Georgian state in Tao-Klarjeti. Ashot Courapalate of the family of Bagrationi liberated from the Arabs the territories of former southern Iberia. In practice, however, the region functioned as an independent country with its capital in Artanuji. The hereditary title of Curopalates was kept by the Bagrationi family, the first united Georgian monarchy was formed at the end of the 10th century when Curopalate David invaded the Earldom of Kartli-Iberia. Three years later, after the death of his uncle Theodosius the Blind, King of Egrisi-Abkhazia, in 1001 Bagrat added Tao-Klarjeti to his domain as a result of Davids death. In 1008–1010, Bagrat annexed Kakheti and Hereti, thus becoming the first king of a united Georgia in both the east and west, in 1071, the Seljuq army destroyed the united Byzantine-Armenian and Georgian forces in the Battle of Manzikert. By 1081, all of Armenia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Syria, in Georgia, only the mountainous areas of Abkhazia, Svaneti, Racha, and Khevi–Khevsureti remained out of Seljuq control and served as a relatively safe havens for numerous refugees. The rest of the country was dominated by the conquerors who destroyed the cities and fortresses, looted the villages, in fact, by the end of the 1080s, Georgians were outnumbered in the region by the invaders. The Golden Age began with the reign of David IV, the son of George II and Queen Helena, in 1121, he decisively defeated much larger Turkish armies during the Battle of Didgori, with fleeing Seljuq Turks being run down by pursuing Georgian cavalry for several days. A huge amount of booty and prisoners were captured by Davids army, David IV made particular emphasis on removing the vestiges of unwanted eastern influences, which the Georgians considered forced, in favor of the traditional Christian and Byzantine overtones. As part of this effort he founded the Gelati Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, David also played a personal role in reviving Georgian religious hymnography, composing the Hymns of Repentance, a sequence of eight free-verse psalms. In this emotional repentance of his sins, David sees himself as reincarnating the Biblical David, with a relationship to God
9.
Georgian language
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Georgian is a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians. It is the language of Georgia. Georgian is written in its own writing system, the Georgian script, Georgian is the literary language for all regional subgroups of Georgians, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages, Svans, Mingrelians and the Laz. Georgian is the most pervasive of the Kartvelian languages, a family that also includes Svan and Megrelian and Laz. Dialects of Georgian are from Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Guria, Adjara, Imerkhevi, Kartli, Kakheti, Saingilo, Tusheti, Khevsureti, Khevi, Pshavi, Fereydan, Mtiuleti and Meskheti. Georgian as separate from the other Kartvelian languages would have emerged in the 1st millennium BC in the area known later as the Kingdom of Iberia, the evolution of Georgian into a written language was a consequence of the conversion of the Georgian elite to Christianity in the mid-4th century. The first Georgian texts are inscriptions and palimpsests dating to the 5th century, Georgian has a rich literary tradition. The oldest surviving work in Georgian is the 5th century Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik by Iakob Tsurtaveli. In the 11th century, Old Georgian gives rise to Middle Georgian, the Georgian national epic, Shota Rustavelis The Knight in the Panthers Skin, dates from the 12th century. This marked the beginning of the modern Georgian language, symbols on the left are those of the IPA and those on the right are of the modern Georgian alphabet. Opinions also differ on the aspiration of /t͡sʰ, t͡ʃʰ/, as it is non-contrastive, a former distinction between /x/ and /qʰ/ has been lost. Prosody in Georgian involves stress, intonation, and rhythm, stress is very weak, and linguists disagree as to where stress occurs in words. Jun, Vicenik, and Lofstedt have proposed that Georgian stress and intonation are the result of pitch accents on the first syllable of a word, the rhythm of Georgian speech is syllable-timed. Georgian contains many harmonic clusters involving two consonants of a type which are pronounced with only a single release, e. g. ბგერა bgera, ცხოვრება tskhovreba. There are also frequent consonant clusters, sometimes involving more than six consonants in a row, as may be seen in words like გვფრცქვნი gvprtskvni and მწვრთნელი mtsvrtneli. Vicenik has observed that Georgian vowels following ejective stops have creaky voice, Georgian has been written in a variety of scripts over its history. Currently the Mkhedruli or Military script is almost completely dominant, the others are used mostly in religious documents, Mkhedruli has 33 letters in common use, a half dozen more are obsolete in Georgian, though still used in other alphabets, like Mingrelian, Laz, and Svan. The letters of Mkhedruli correspond closely to the phonemes of the Georgian language, however, the first examples of a Georgian script date from the 5th century AD
10.
Armenia
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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk
11.
Basil II
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Basil II was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his supposed ancestor, the early years of his long reign were dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. For this he was nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer, by which he is popularly known and his reign is therefore often seen as the medieval apogee of the Empire. She originated from the Peloponnese, possibly from the city of Sparta, Basils paternal ancestry is of uncertain origins, his putative ancestor Basil I, the founder of the dynasty, being variously ascribed Armenian, Slavic, or Greek origins. Indeed the biological father of Leo VI the Wise was possibly not Basil I, the family of Michael III were Anatolian Greeks from Phrygia, though originally of the Melchisedechian heretical faith. In 960, Basil was associated on the throne by his father, who died in 963. Nikephoros was murdered in 969 by his nephew John I Tzimisces, when Tzimisces died on 10 January 976, Basil II finally took the throne as senior emperor. Basil was a soldier and a superb horseman, and he would prove himself as an able general. Basil waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the details of administrative business, even though Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes were brilliant military commanders, both had proven to be lax administrators. Skleros was allowed to live, but he ended his days blind, perhaps through disease and these rebellions had a profound effect on Basils outlook and methods of governance. The historian Psellus describes the defeated Bardas Skleros giving Basil the following advice, let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs, admit no woman to the imperial councils. Share with few your most intimate plans, Basil, it would appear, took this advice to heart. In order to defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 had captured Chersonesos, Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In exchange he demanded to be married to Basils younger sister Anna, the Byzantines viewed all the nations of Northern Europe, be they Franks or Slavs, as barbarians. Anna herself objected to marrying a barbarian ruler, as such a marriage would have no precedence in imperial annals, Vladimir had conducted long-running research into different religions, including sending delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his primary reason for choosing the Orthodox religion, when Vladimir promised to baptize himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed. Vladimir and Anna were married in the Crimea in 989, the Rus recruitments were instrumental in ending the rebellion, and they were later organized into the Varangian Guard
12.
Kouropalates
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The female variant, held by the spouses of the kouropalatai, was kouropalatissa. The title is first attested in the early 5th century, as an official of vir spectabilis rank under the castrensis palatii, unlike them, however, it later came to be granted to important foreign rulers, mostly in the Caucasus. Thus, from the 580s to the 1060s, sixteen Georgian ruling princes and kings held that honorific, as well as, after 635, according to the Klētorologion of Philotheos, written in 899, the insignia of the rank were a red tunic, mantle and belt. Their award by the Byzantine emperor signified the elevation of the recipient to the office, the title survived into the Palaiologan period, but was rarely used. Justin II, under his uncle Emperor Justinian I, baduarius, under his father-in-law Emperor Justin II. Peter, the brother of Emperor Maurice, domentziolus, the nephew of Emperor Phocas. Artabasdos, under Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, Michael I Rangabe, the son-in-law of Emperor Nikephoros I. Bardas, uncle and effective regent for Emperor Michael III, Leo Phokas, general and brother of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Darigbed, the Sassanian equivalent Bury, John Bagnell, the Imperial Administrative System of the Ninth Century - With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos. Basil II and the Governance of Empire, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press. New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, martindale, John Robert, Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, Morris, J. eds. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III, A. D. 527–641, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press. Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography, Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, washington, District of Columbia, Georgetown University Press
13.
David III of Tao
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Kuropalates was a Byzantine courtier title bestowed upon him in 978 and again in 990. Between 987 and 989, David joined his friend Bardas Phocas in a revolt against the Byzantine emperor Basil II, yet he was able to secure for his heir, Bagrat III, an opportunity to become the first ruler of a unified Georgian kingdom. He succeeded his brother, Bagrat II, as a duke of Tao in 966, in order to enact his ambitious plans, David had to secure his independence from the Byzantine Empire, which would reach its greatest height under the emperor Basil II. However, the integrity of the empire itself was serious threat after a full-scale rebellion, led by Bardas Skleros. Following a series of battles the rebels swept across Asia Minor. On this occasion, he was granted the high Byzantine court title of kouropalates, Basil II also rewarded the valor of David’s commander Tornikios by funding a Georgian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos. Although populated now chiefly with Greek monks, it is to this day known as Iviron and these formidable acquisitions made David the most influential ruler in the Caucasus, enabling him to interfere in and arbitrate dynastic disputes in both Georgia and Armenia. David invested these revenues in extensive building projects, constructing towns, forts and churches, having no children of his own, David adopted his kinsman, the young prince Bagrat, heir to the Bagratid throne of Kartli. He did so at the request of the energetic Georgian nobleman Iovane Marushis-dze, through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, two years later, in 978, David and Marushis-dze secured the crown of Abkhazia for Bagrat by displacing Theodosius III. Once the rebels were defeated by the Byzantine-Rus forces in 989, Basil dispatched a force under John of Chaldea to punish the Georgians. Reconciled with the emperor, he was granted, in c,990, the title of kuropalates again in return for his promise that upon his death the lands previously placed under his sovereignty would revert to the Byzantine Empire. Another problem arose around the year, when Bagrat of Abkhazia planned a punitive expedition against the non-submissive duke Rati of Kldekari in Lower Kartli. Persuaded that his intended to attack Tao and kill him. As a medieval Georgian chronicler relates, After the reconciliation with the emperor and his kinsmen, mamlan, the Rawadid emir of Azerbaijan, was also twice defeated, the second time decisively, in 998, near Archesh. David was murdered by his nobles early in 1000, according to Aristakes, Although the Georgian Chronicles maintain that David died in 1001, several Armenian and Muslim accounts suggest he may have died in 1000. e. Yet another Armenian, Samuel Anetsi, also puts the date as 1000, Basil II was at that time in the eastern provinces of his empire, wintering on the plain of Tarsus following his campaign against the Fatimid dynasty in Syria. On hearing of David’s death he marched north-eastward to claim the lands David had promised to the emperor, the local Georgian and Armenian nobility submitted without any serious resistance
14.
Bardas Sklerus
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Bardas Skleros or Sclerus was a Byzantine general who led a wide-scale Asian rebellion against Emperor Basil II in 976–979. Bardas belonged to the family of the Skleroi, which owned enormous estates at the eastern outskirts of Asia Minor. His mother Gregoria descended from Basil Is brother Bardas, the greatest coup of his early career was a brilliant defense of Constantinople against the army of Svyatoslav I of Kiev in 970. During the Battle of Arcadiopolis, he managed to inflict as many as 20,000 casualties on the Rus. After he had shown himself equal to dealing with the fiercest enemies of Byzantium, Bardas became an advisor to John I Tzimiskes. Upon Johns death, Skleros aspired to replace him as an acting emperor, the eunuch Basil Lekapenos, who actually led the imperial government, entertained other plans, however, deposing Bardas from his key post of general in the East in 975. Upon hearing the news of his deposition, Skleros came to an agreement with local Armenian, Georgian and he successfully stirred up rebellion among his relatives and adherents in the Asian provinces, rapidly making himself master of Caesaria, Antioch, and most of Asia Minor. After several navy commanders defected to Skleross side, he dashed to Constantinople, the rebel navy under Michael Kourtikios raided the Aegean and attempted to blockade the Dardanelles, but were defeated by the Imperial Fleet. Having lost supremacy at sea, Skleros at once laid siege to the town of Nicaea, the town was fortified by a certain Manuel Erotikos, father of the future emperor Isaac Komnenos and progenitor of the Komnenoi dynasty. Meanwhile, Basil recalled from exile Bardas Phokas the Younger, a general who had revolted in the previous reign, Phokas proceeded to Sebastea in the East, where his family demesnes were situated. He came to an understanding with David III Kuropalates of Tao, Skleros instantly left Nicaea for the East and defeated Phokas in two battles, but the latter was victorious in a third. On March 24,979 two leaders clashed in combat, with Skleros cutting the right ear of Phocas horse with his lance before sustaining a grave wound to the head. The rumour of his death put his army to flight, thereupon the rebellion was subdued without difficulty. After the Asian potentates refused to support his operations against Constantinople, Skleros. They resided in honourable captivity at the court for six years. In 987 Skleros was finally recalled to his homeland by Phokas, Skleros promptly mustered an army to support Phokass cause, but his plans of profiting from the attendant disorders were frustrated when Phokas had him committed to prison. Their leader inspired them with his own determination and bound them into one coherent body. By favours he won their loyalty, by his kindliness he earned their devotion and he reconciled their differences, ate at the same table as his men, drank from the same cup, called them by name, and by his flattery bound them to his allegiance
15.
Bardas Phokas the Younger
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Bardas Phokas was an eminent Byzantine general who took a conspicuous part in three revolts for and against the ruling Macedonian dynasty. Bardas was a scion of the Phokas family, the most prominent Byzantine aristocratic clan in the 10th century and his father Leo Phokas the Younger was a curopalates and brother to the Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Even as a man, Bardas gained a reputation for his great expertise in the science of war, If his military career was quick to peak. Upon his uncles death in 970, Phokas and his family rebelled against the new emperor and their own cousin, Bardas was proclaimed emperor by troops stationed at Caesarea, but their rebellion was extinguished by another skilled commander, Bardas Skleros. Phokas and his relatives were captured and exiled to the island of Chios, in 978 Bardas was delivered from his prison cell by the eunuch Basil Lekapenos, Basil IIs uncle and de facto regent. He was dispatched in disguise to his native Cappadocia to stir up the local aristocracy against Skleros, despite several initial setbacks, and with the assistance of a Georgian army led by Tornikios, Phokas eventually suppressed the revolt, gaining victory in single combat with Skleros. For his vital services to the crown, he was rewarded with an office of Domestic of the Scholae. Later, to quote Psellos, he was given the privilege of a triumph, while Constantine VIII was easily swayed by his advisers, his brother Basil II was apparently irked by their supremacy. Basils energy showed that he was determined to take the administration into his own hands and his growing independence alarmed both Basil Lekapenos and Phokas. In 987 they entered into negotiations with their former enemy, Skleros. In a campaign that curiously mimicked Skleros revolt a decade earlier, Phokas proclaimed himself emperor and it was no longer in imagination, but in very truth, that he put on the imperial robes, with the emperors crown and the royal insignia of purple, says Psellos. After relegating his colleague Skleros to a prison, Phokas proceeded to lay siege to Abydos, at this point Basil II obtained timely aid, in the form of Varangian mercenaries, from his brother-in-law Vladimir, the Rus prince of Kiev, and marched to Abydos. The two armies were facing each other, when Phokas galloped forward, seeking personal combat with the Emperor who was riding in front of the lines. Just as he prepared to charge at Basil, however, Phokas suffered a seizure, fell from his horse and his head was cut off and brought to Basil. By his marriage to a cousin, one Adralestina, Bardas left two sons, Leo and Nikephoros and his grandson and namesake, Bardas Phokas, was blinded by imperial authorities in 1025. It is believed that the Cretan family of the Phokades descends from him
16.
Bagrat III of Georgia
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Bagrat III, of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Abkhazia from 978 on and King of Georgia from 1008 on. He united these two titles by dynastic inheritance and, through conquest and diplomacy, added more lands to his realm, before Bagrat was crowned as king, he had also reigned in Kartli as co-ruler with his father Gurgen from 976 to 978. Bagrat oversaw the construction of Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi, western Georgia, Bagrat was born in about 960 to Gurgen, a Bagrationi Dynasty prince from Kartli, and his wife, Gurandukht, who was a daughter of the late king George II of Aphkhazeti. Being still in his minority, Bagrat was adopted by his childless kinsman David III Kuropalates, presiding prince of Tao/Tayk, the Abkhazian Kingdom was then under the rule of Theodosius III the Blind, a weak and inauspicious king, who was Bagrat’s uncle by his mother’s side. The kingdom was engulfed into chaos and feudal warfare. Ioane Marushis-dze, the energetic eristavi of Kartli, urged, in 976, David responded vigorously and the Kakhetians had to withdraw to avoid the confrontation. David gave Kartli to Bagrat and installed Gurgen as his regent, the Kakhetians quickly returned to the offensive and seized Bagrat and his parents. However, David promptly interfered and restored his stepson in Kartli, in 978, Ioane Marushis-dze, aided by David, forced Theodosius of Abkhazia to abdicate the throne in favour of his nephew Bagrat. The latter left his mother, Gurandukht, to govern Kartli, within two years, Bagrat assumed full ruling powers. He proved an able ruler and succeeded in restoring law and order in his kingdom, while he was in Kutaisi, the aristocratic opposition of Kartli led by Kavtar Tbeli disregarded Gurandukht’s authority and ran their fiefdoms as semi-independent rulers. When Bagrat returned to Kartli to deal with situation, the nobles offered him an armed resistance, but the king won the battle at Moghrisi. Finally he directed his attention towards Kldekari in Lower Kartli, whose duke Rati continued to ignore the royal authority, the preparations for this expedition, in 989, produced much confusion as David of Tao was misinformed about the true intentions of his stepson. According to Georgian chronicles, Bagrat then went alone, fell at his feet, believed that too and released him in peace. After the reconciliation with his stepfather, Bagrat was finally able to receive fealty from Rati who abandoned his duchy at swordpoint and retired to his patrimony in Argveti. David was murdered by his nobles in 1000, and his possessions, according to the previous agreement, passed to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Later the same year, Gurgen attempted to take David Kuropalates’ succession by force and this formidable acquisition brought Bagrat’s realm to the neighbourhood of the Shaddadid emirate of Arran in what is now Azerbaijan, whose ruler al-Fadl I b. Muhammad raided Kakheti following its incorporation into Georgia, Bagrat drove back this incursion and, in alliance with the Armenian king Gagik I, successfully campaigned against the Shaddadid city of Shamkir, levying a tribute upon it. Bagrat’s reign, a period of uttermost importance in the history of Georgia, anxious to create more stable and centralized monarchy, Bagrat eliminated or at least diminished the autonomy of the dynastic princes
17.
Theodosiopolis (Armenia)
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Erzurum is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the largest city in, and the capital of and it is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, Erzurum, known as The Rock in NATO code, served as NATOs southeastern-most air force post during the Cold War. The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif that was a symbol throughout Anatolia. Erzurum has some of the finest winter sports facilities in Turkey, the city was originally known in Armenian as Karno Kaghak, meaning city of Karin, to distinguish it from the district of Karin. After the Arab conquest of Armenia, the city was known to the Arabs as Kālīkalā, during Roman times, Erzurum was named Theodosiopolis. It got its present name after its conquest by the Seljuks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, a neighboring commercial city named Artsn was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048-49. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, some older sources derive the name Erzurum from the Arabic Arḍ-ar-Rūm land of the Rûm. The surroundings of Erzurum at the Urartian period presumably belonged to Diauehi, later, Erzurum existed under the Armenian name of Karin. During the reigns of the Artaxiad and Arsacid kings of Armenia, after the partition of Armenia between the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia in 387 AD, the city passed into the hands of the Romans. They fortified the city and renamed it Theodosiopolis, after Emperor Theodosius I, emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I both refortified the city and built new defenses during their reigns. Theodosiopolis was conquered by the Umayyad general Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik in 700/701 and it became the capital of the emirate of Ḳālīḳalā and was used as a base for raids into Byzantine territory. Though only an island of Arab power within Christian Armenian-populated territory, in 931, and again in 949, Byzantine forces led by Theophilos Kourkouas, grandfather of the future emperor John I Tzimiskes, captured Theodosiopolis. Its Arab population was expelled and the city was resettled by Greeks, Emperor Basil II rebuilt the city and its defenses in 1018 with the help of the local Armenian population. In 1071, after the battle at Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks took possession of Theodosiopolis. The Saltukids were rulers of an Anatolian beylik centered in Erzurum, melike Mama Hatun, sister of Nâsırüddin Muhammed, was the ruler between 1191 and 1200. Theodosiopolis repelled many attacks and military campaigns by the Seljuks and Georgians until 1201 when the city, erzen-Erzurum fell to the Mongol siege in 1242, and the city was looted and devastated. Then became part of the beylik, Black Sheep Turkmen, empire of Timur Lenk
18.
Erzurum
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Erzurum is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the largest city in, and the capital of and it is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, Erzurum, known as The Rock in NATO code, served as NATOs southeastern-most air force post during the Cold War. The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif that was a symbol throughout Anatolia. Erzurum has some of the finest winter sports facilities in Turkey, the city was originally known in Armenian as Karno Kaghak, meaning city of Karin, to distinguish it from the district of Karin. After the Arab conquest of Armenia, the city was known to the Arabs as Kālīkalā, during Roman times, Erzurum was named Theodosiopolis. It got its present name after its conquest by the Seljuks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, a neighboring commercial city named Artsn was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048-49. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, some older sources derive the name Erzurum from the Arabic Arḍ-ar-Rūm land of the Rûm. The surroundings of Erzurum at the Urartian period presumably belonged to Diauehi, later, Erzurum existed under the Armenian name of Karin. During the reigns of the Artaxiad and Arsacid kings of Armenia, after the partition of Armenia between the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Persia in 387 AD, the city passed into the hands of the Romans. They fortified the city and renamed it Theodosiopolis, after Emperor Theodosius I, emperors Anastasius I and Justinian I both refortified the city and built new defenses during their reigns. Theodosiopolis was conquered by the Umayyad general Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik in 700/701 and it became the capital of the emirate of Ḳālīḳalā and was used as a base for raids into Byzantine territory. Though only an island of Arab power within Christian Armenian-populated territory, in 931, and again in 949, Byzantine forces led by Theophilos Kourkouas, grandfather of the future emperor John I Tzimiskes, captured Theodosiopolis. Its Arab population was expelled and the city was resettled by Greeks, Emperor Basil II rebuilt the city and its defenses in 1018 with the help of the local Armenian population. In 1071, after the battle at Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks took possession of Theodosiopolis. The Saltukids were rulers of an Anatolian beylik centered in Erzurum, melike Mama Hatun, sister of Nâsırüddin Muhammed, was the ruler between 1191 and 1200. Theodosiopolis repelled many attacks and military campaigns by the Seljuks and Georgians until 1201 when the city, erzen-Erzurum fell to the Mongol siege in 1242, and the city was looted and devastated. Then became part of the beylik, Black Sheep Turkmen, empire of Timur Lenk
19.
Lake Van
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Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey, lies in the far east of that country in the provinces of Van and Bitlis. It is a soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the worlds largest endorheic lakes - a volcanic eruption blocked the outlet from the basin in ancient times. Although Lake Van has an altitude of 1,640 m in a region with harsh winters, its high salinity prevents most of it from freezing, and even the shallow northern section freezes only rarely. Lake Van is 119 kilometres across at its widest point, averaging a depth of 171 metres with a recorded depth of 451 metres. The lake surface lies 1,640 metres above sea level, Lake Van has an area of 3,755 km2 and a volume of 607 cubic kilometres. The western portion of the lake is deepest, with a large basin deeper than 400 m lying northeast of Tatvan, the eastern arms of the lake are shallower. The Van-Ahtamar portion shelves gradually, with a depth of about 250 m on its northwest side where it joins the rest of the lake. The Erciş arm is much shallower, mostly less than 50 m, the lake water is strongly alkaline and rich in sodium carbonate and other salts, which are extracted by evaporation and used as detergents. The lakes outlet was blocked at some time during the Pleistocene, now dormant, Nemrut Dağı is close to the western shore of the lake, and another dormant stratovolcano, Süphan Dağı dominates the northern side of the lake. The water level of the lake has often altered dramatically, near Tatvan, investigation by Degens and others in the early 1980s determined that the highest lake levels had been during the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago. Approximately 9,500 years ago there was a drop to more than 300 metres below the present level. This was followed by an equally-dramatic rise around 6,500 years ago, similar-but-smaller fluctuations have been seen recently. The level of the rose by at least three metres during the 1990s, drowning much agricultural land, and seems to be rising again. The level rose approximately two meters in the ten years prior to 2004. As a deep lake with no outlet, Lake Van has accumulated great amounts of sediment washed in from surrounding plains and valleys, and occasionally deposited as ash from eruptions of nearby volcanoes. This layer of sediment is estimated to be up to 400 metres thick in places, in 1989 and 1990, an international team of geologists led by Dr. Stephan Kempe from the University of Hamburg retrieved ten sediment cores from depths up to 446 m. Although these cores only penetrated the first few meters of sediment, litt expects to find that Lake Van stores the climate history of the last 800,000 years—an incomparable treasure house of data which we want to tap for at least the last 500,000 years
20.
Nikephoros Ouranos
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Nikephoros Ouranos, Latinized as Nicephorus Uranus, was a high-ranking Byzantine official and general during the reign of Emperor Basil II. A well-educated man, he wrote a manual and composed several surviving poems. Very little is known of Ouranoss origin, his years or his family. A prōtospatharios and asēkrētis Basil Ouranos, possibly a relative, is attested. Nikephoros Ouranos himself first enters history in the early 980s, during negotiations between Byzantium and the Emir of Baghdad for the return of the rebel general Bardas Skleros. Once in Baghdad, however, Ouranos was accused of trying to poison or to negotiate in secret with Skleros. It is very likely that the charges against him were orchestrated by Basil Lekapenos and he remained in prison in Baghdad until after Bardas Skleros himself was let go in late 986, and was back at Constantinople in 987. By that time, Basil Lekapenos had fallen from power and had died, following their success, the Bulgarians had penetrated deep into Greece, raiding and pillaging even unto Corinth in the Peloponnese. In 997, Ouranos assembled his forces at Thessalonica and marched south to meet them, while the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel, upon hearing of his coming, turned north. The two armies met on the banks of the river Spercheios in Central Greece, which was flooded due to heavy rainfall in the preceding days. Both armies thus encamped on opposite shores of the river, the Bulgarians, confident that the Byzantines could not cross the river, neglected to station guards. Ouranos, however, found a ford further upstream, crossed his army over during the night, the battle was a rout, as the majority of the Bulgarian army, caught unawares, was either killed or captured. Even Tsar Samuel and his son were wounded and only escaped by lying among the slain, Ouranos continued campaigning in the area over the next years, although no information on his operations is provided by the chronicler Skylitzes, our main source. In December 999, Ouranos was appointed doux of Antioch in Syria, in 1000–1001, Ouranos quelled an uprising by two Syrian Bedouin tribes, the Noumeritai and the Ataphitai. In 1005–1007, he was engaged in operations against the Arab rebel Al-Asfar, nothing is known of Ouranos after that date, although the fact that a successor as doux of Antioch was not appointed until 1011 may mean that he continued to occupy the office until that date. The 10th century saw a revival in the practice of writing encyclopedic works, including military manuals, Nikephoross Taktika represent the final example among the latter, and were written while he was governor of Antioch. The work consists of 178 chapters, which can be divided into the following parts, Chapters 66–74 are derived from the 1st-century author Onasander. Chapters 75–175 and 176–178 likewise are derived from ancient authors, of Ouranoss own additions, chapter 63 deals with raids into enemy territory
21.
Antioch
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Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greco-Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the city of Antakya, Turkey. Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, the citys geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants, particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Persian Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the city of the Near East. It was also the center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Most of the development of Antioch was done during the Roman Empire. Antioch was called the cradle of Christianity as a result of its longevity, the Christian New Testament asserts that the name Christian first emerged in Antioch. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, a single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley. The settlement of Meroe pre-dated Antioch, a shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the Persian Artemis, was located here. This site was included in the suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Io and this name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians—an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the citys coins. Io may have been an early colony of trading Greeks. John Malalas also mentions a village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch and this account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch, and may be legend intended to enhance Antiochs status. But the story is not unlikely in itself, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, his generals divided up the territory he had conquered. Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four sister cities in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch and he is reputed to have built sixteen Antiochs. Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means, an eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the year of his reign
22.
Giorgi I
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There was also a Giorgi I, Catholicos of Kartli who ruled in 677–678. Giorgi I, of the House of Bagrationi, was the king of Georgia from 1014 until his death in 1027 and he spent most of his thirteen-year-long reign waging a bloody and fruitless territorial war with the Byzantine Empire. Giorgi was born in 998 or, according to a version of the Georgian chronicles,1002. Upon his father’s death on 7 May 1014, he inherited the kingdoms of Abkhazia, Kartli, as his predecessor, Giorgi continued to be titled as King of the Abkhazians and Georgians. Contemporary sources, however, frequently omitted one of the two components of this title when abbreviating it, the new sovereign’s young age was immediately exploited by the great nobles, who had been suppressed under the heavy hand of Bagrat. All the efforts by David’s stepson and Giorgi’s father, Bagrat III, young and ambitious, Giorgi launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates’ succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. He also entered in an alliance with the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, Al-Hakim, beyond that, the Byzantines were at that time involved in a relentless war with the Bulgar Empire, limiting their actions to the west. But as soon as Bulgaria was conquered, and Al-Hakim was no more alive, however, the imperial courier could not overtake the prince – he was already in the Georgian possessions. Giorgi was evidently preparing to take revenge for his defeat, and he was buried in the Bagrati Cathedral in his capital Kutaisi. A recently discovered grave, presumably robbed in the 19th century, is proposed to have belonged to Giorgi I, the most important representation of Giorgi I in historical fiction is probably in Konstantine Gamsakhurdias magnum opus, The Hand of the Great Master. The author has noted that he has been deeply interested in Georges character and historical figure for a long time, as well as his reign full of turmoil. In the story, the king is portrayed as a philanderer who enjoys feasting in low-class taverns with his comrades disguised as random peasants. The author seems to be emphasizing on the human, fleshly wishes and desires despite his position on the social ladder, such as lust, love, loathing
23.
History of Georgia (country)
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The country of Georgia was first unified as a single kingdom in 1008 AD, arising from the ancient predecessor states of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished and reached its Golden Age during the 10th to 13th centuries under King David IV, lasting for several centuries, the kingdom fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by the 1340s. Throughout the early period, Georgia fell into decline as it clashed against various hostile empires, including Ottoman Empire. The kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors with which it had little in common. Renewed incursions beginning in 1386 led to the collapse of the kingdom by 1493. Georgia’s geopolitical landscape began to shift in 1783, when the struggling Eastern Georgia forged an alliance with the Russian Empire and this led to the gradual, forced annexation of Georgia by Russia starting in 1801. Present-day Georgia has been independent since the Soviet collapse in 1991, post-communist Georgia was almost immediately beset by Russian-backed separatist rebellions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It also suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s and this lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, when Georgia pursued a strongly pro-Western foreign policy, introducing major economic and democratic reforms. Notwithstanding these crises and the change of political forces in the country, as a developing economy, Georgia made significant changes, moving from a near-failed state in 2003 to a relatively well-functioning market economy in 2014. In 2014, Georgia joined the European Unions Free Trade Area, evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c.1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans in Europe, later prehistoric remains are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s, the earliest evidence of wine to date has been found in Georgia, where 8000-year old wine jars were uncovered. Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, from the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a feature being the central pier. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings, in the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni, together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture. Diauehi, a union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, at the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians
24.
Prehistoric Georgia
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Humans have been living in Georgia for an extremely long time, as attested by the discoveries, in 1999 and 2002, of two Homo erectus skulls at Dmanisi in southern Georgia. The archaeological layer in which the remains, hundreds of stone tools. The site yields the earliest unequivocal evidence for presence of early humans outside the African continent, later Lower Paleolithic Acheulian sites have been discovered in the highlands of Georgia, particularly in the caves of Kudaro, and Tsona. Acheulian open-air sites and find-spots are also known in other regions of Georgia, the first uninterrupted primitive settlement on the Georgian territory dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, more than 200,000 years ago. Sites of this period have been found in Shida Kartli, Imeretia, Abkhazia, buffered by the Caucasus Mountains, and benefiting from the ameliorating effects of the Black Sea, the region appears to have served as a biogeographical refugium throughout the Pleistocene. These geographic features spared the Southern Caucasus from the climatic oscillations. Upper Paleolithic remains have been investigated in Satsurblia, Devis Khvreli, Sakazhia, Sagvarjile, Dzudzuana, Samertskhle Klde, Gvarjilas Klde, a cave at Dzudzuana has yielded the earliest known dyed flax fibers that date back to 36,000 BP. At that time, the area of the South Caucasus appears to have been sparsely populated in contrast to the valleys of the Rioni River. The Paleolithic ended some 10, 000-12,000 years ago to be succeeded by the Mesolithic culture and it was when the geographic medium and landscapes of the Caucasus were finally shaped as we have them today. Signs of Neolithic culture, and the transition from foraging and hunting to agriculture, the so-called early Neolithic sites are chiefly found in western Georgia. These are Khutsubani, Anaseuli, Kistriki, Kobuleti, Tetramitsa, Apiancha, Makhvilauri, Kotias Klde, Paluri, most of these sites relate to the flourishing late Neolithic/Eneolithic archaeological complex known as the Shulaveri-Shomu culture. Radiocarbon dating at Shulaveri sites indicates that the earliest settlements date from the late sixth − early fifth millennium BC. In the highlands of eastern Anatolia and South Caucasus, the combination of domesticable animals and sowable grains. In this sense, the region can justly be considered one of the cradles of civilization. The entire region is surmised to have been, in the beginning in the last quarter of the 4th millennium BC, inhabited by people who were possibly ethnically related. The ethnic and cultural unity of these 2,000 years is characterized by scholars as Chalcolithic or Eneolithic. Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, very early metal objects have been discovered in layers of the Neolithic Shulaveri-Shomutepe culture. From the beginning of the 4th millennium metals became used to extend in East Georgia
25.
Trialeti culture
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The Trialeti culture, is named after the Trialeti region of Georgia. It is attributed to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC, Trialeti culture emerged in the areas of the preceding Kura-Araxes culture. The earliest Shulaveri-Shomu culture existed in the area from 6000 to 4000 BC, the flourishing stage of Trialeti culture began near the end of the third millennium BC. At that time, there was already strong social differentiation indicated by rich mound burials, there are parallels to the Early Kurgan culture. Geographical interconnectedness and links with other areas of the Near East are seen in aspects of the culture. For example, a found in Trialeti is nearly identical to the one from Shaft Grave 4 of Mycenae in Greece. Trialeti-Vanadzor painted monochrome and polychrome pottery is similar to that in the other areas of the Near East. In particular, similar ceramics is known as the Urmia ware, also, similar pottery was produced by the Uzarlik culture, and the Karmirberd-Sevan culture. The site at Trialeti was originally excavated in 1936–1940 in advance of a hydroelectric scheme, a further six barrows were uncovered in 1959–1962. Martqopi kurgans are somewhat similar, and are contemporary to the earliest among the Trialeti kurgans, together, they represent the early stage of the Early Kurgan culture of Central Transcaucasia. This Early Kurgan period, known as Martkopi-Bedeni, has interpreted as a transitional phase. The Trialeti culture was known for its form of burial. The elite were interred in large, very rich burials under earth and stone mounds, also there were many gold objects found in the graves. These gold objects were similar to found in Iran and Iraq. They also worked tin and arsenic and this form of burial in a tumulus or kurgan, along with wheeled vehicles, is the same as that of the Kurgan culture which has been associated with the speakers of Proto-Indo-European. In fact, the black burnished pottery of especially early Trialeti kurgans is similar to Kura-Araxes pottery, in a historical context, their impressive accumulation of wealth in burial kurgans, like that of other associated and nearby cultures with similar burial practices, is particularly noteworthy. This practice was probably a result of influence from the civilizations to the south in the Fertile Crescent. Kura-Araxes culture Shulaveri-Shomu culture Prehistoric Georgia Middle Bronze Age, Trialeti Culture, South Caucasus - collection of articles at academia. edu
26.
Diauehi
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Diauehi or Diaokhi, Daiaeni was a coalition of tribes, or kingdoms, located in northeastern Anatolia, that was formed in the 12th century BC in the post-Hittite period. It is mentioned in the Urartian inscriptions and it is usually identified with Daiaeni of the Yonjalu inscription of the Assyria king Tiglath-Pileser I’s third year. Diauehi is a locus of proto-Kartvelian, it has been described as an important tribal formation of possible proto-Georgians by Ronald Grigor Suny. Most probably, the core of the Diauehi lands may have extended from the headwaters of the Euphrates into the valleys of Çoruh to Oltu. This federation was powerful enough to counter the Assyrian forays, although in 1112 BC its king and he was captured and later released on terms of vassalage. In 845 BC, Shalmaneser III finally subdued Diauehi and downgraded its king, Asia, king Asia of Diauehi was forced to submit to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III in 845 BC, after the latter had overrun Urartu and made a foray into Diauehi. In the early 8th century, Diauehi became the target of the newly emerged regional power of Urartu, both Menua and Argishti I campaigned against the Diauehi king, Utupurshi, annexing his southernmost possessions and forcing him to pay tribute, which included copper, silver and gold. Diauehi was finally destroyed by Colchian incursions by about the 760s BC, antonio Sagona, Claudia Sagona, Archaeology At The North-east Anatolian Frontier, I, An Historical Geography And A Field Survey of the Bayburt Province, Peeters, ISBN 90-429-1390-8 Georgia. Retrieved February 14,2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service Kavtaradze, an Attempt to Interpret Some Anatolian and Caucasian Ethnonyms of the Classical Sources, Sprache und Kultur, #3. The Bulletin of Ancient History, vol, Ancient kingdoms of Anatolia Prehistoric Georgia
27.
Ancient history of Georgia
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The country of Georgia was first unified as a single kingdom in 1008 AD, arising from the ancient predecessor states of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished and reached its Golden Age during the 10th to 13th centuries under King David IV, lasting for several centuries, the kingdom fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by the 1340s. Throughout the early period, Georgia fell into decline as it clashed against various hostile empires, including Ottoman Empire. The kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors with which it had little in common. Renewed incursions beginning in 1386 led to the collapse of the kingdom by 1493. Georgia’s geopolitical landscape began to shift in 1783, when the struggling Eastern Georgia forged an alliance with the Russian Empire and this led to the gradual, forced annexation of Georgia by Russia starting in 1801. Present-day Georgia has been independent since the Soviet collapse in 1991, post-communist Georgia was almost immediately beset by Russian-backed separatist rebellions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It also suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s and this lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, when Georgia pursued a strongly pro-Western foreign policy, introducing major economic and democratic reforms. Notwithstanding these crises and the change of political forces in the country, as a developing economy, Georgia made significant changes, moving from a near-failed state in 2003 to a relatively well-functioning market economy in 2014. In 2014, Georgia joined the European Unions Free Trade Area, evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c.1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans in Europe, later prehistoric remains are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s, the earliest evidence of wine to date has been found in Georgia, where 8000-year old wine jars were uncovered. Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, from the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a feature being the central pier. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings, in the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni, together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture. Diauehi, a union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, at the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians
28.
Colchis
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Colchis was an ancient kingdom and region on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Internationally, Colchis is perhaps best known for its role in Greek mythology, most notably as the destination of the Argonauts, as well as the home to Medea and the Golden fleece. Colchis was populated by Colchians, an early Kartvelian-speaking tribe, ancestral to the contemporary Western Georgians, namely Svans and Mingrelians, the kingdom of Colchis, Kolkhis or Qulha which existed from the c. According to the scholar of Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff, Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer. Colchis can be regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian kingdom. It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis. A second South Caucasian tribal union emerged in the 13th century BC on the Black Sea coast. There is some difference in authors as to the extent of the country westward, thus Strabo makes Colchis begin at Trabzon, while Ptolemy, on the other hand. The name of Colchis first appears in Aeschylus and Pindar, the earlier writers only speak about it under the name of Aea, the residence of the mythical king Aeëtes, Kolchian Aia lies at the furthest limits of sea and earth, wrote Apollonius of Rhodes. Scylax mentions also Mala or Male, which he, in contradiction to other writers, the central part of the region is Colchis Plain, stretching between Sokhumi and Kobuleti, most of that lies on the elevation below 20 m above sea level. Marginal parts of the region are mountains of the Great and the Lesser Caucasus, the climate is mild humid, near Batumi, annual rainfall level reaches 4,000 mm, which is the absolute maximum for the continental western Eurasia. The dominating natural landscapes of Colchis are temperate rainforests, yet degraded in the part of the region, wetlands. In at least some parts of Colchis, the process of urbanization seems to have been advanced by the end of the 2nd millennium BC. The Colchian Late Bronze Age saw the development of significant skill in the smelting and casting of metals, sophisticated farming implements were made, and fertile, well-watered lowlands and a mild climate promoted the growth of progressive agricultural techniques. Colchis was inhabited by a number of related but distinct tribes whose settlements lay along the shore of the Black Sea and these Colchian tribes differed so completely in language and appearance from the surrounding Indo-European nations that the ancients provided various wild theories to account for the phenomenon. Herodotus regarded the Colchians as Ancient Egyptian race, Apollonius of Rhodes states that the Egyptians of Colchis preserved as heirlooms a number of wooden tablets, which show, with considerable accuracy, seas and highways. Detlev Fehling regards the link between Colchis and Egypt as a clear example of the way Herodotus used spurious sources to back up stories he had made up himself. In the 13th century BC, the Kingdom of Colchis was formed as a result of the consolidation of the tribes inhabiting the region. This power, celebrated in Greek mythology as the destination of the Argonauts, the home of Medea, the kingdom of Tabal was conquered by the Assyrian emperor Shalmaneser III in the 830s BC
29.
Kingdom of Iberia
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Iberia, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south. Its population, known as the Iberians, formed the nucleus of the Georgians, Iberia, ruled by Pharnavazid, Arsacid and Chosroid royal dynasties, together with Colchis to its west, would form the nucleus of the unified medieval Kingdom of Georgia under Bagrationi dynasty. In the 4th century, after Christianization of Iberia by Saint Nino during the reign of King Mirian III Christiantity was made the religion of the kingdom. Starting in the early 6th century AD, the position as a Sassanian vassal state was changed into effectively direct Persian rule. In 580, king Hormizd IV abolished the monarchy after the death of King Bakur III, the term Caucasian Iberia is also being used to distinguish it from the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe. The provenance of the name Iberia is unclear, the letter s in this instance served as a prefix for the root word Ver. Accordingly, in following Ivane Javakhishvilis theory, the designation of Sber, a variant of Sver, was derived from the word Hber. According to another theory, it is derived from a Colchian word, Imer, meaning country on the side of the mountain, that is of the Likhi Range. In earliest times, the area of Caucasian Iberia was inhabited by several related tribes stemming from the Kura-Araxes culture, collectively called Iberians in Greco-Roman ethnography. The Moschi, mentioned by various historians, and their possible descendants. The Moschi had moved slowly to the northeast forming settlements as they traveled, one of these was Mtskheta, the future capital of the Kingdom of Iberia. The Mtskheta tribe was ruled by a prince locally known as mamasakhlisi. The written sources for the periods of Iberias history are mostly medieval Georgian chronicles. Pharnavaz, victorious in a struggle, became the first king of Iberia. His successors managed to control over the mountainous passes of the Caucasus with the Daryal being the most important of them. The period following this time of prosperity was one of incessant warfare as Iberia was forced to defend against numerous invasions into its territories. Some southern parts of Iberia, that were conquered from Kingdom of Armenia, in the 2nd century BC were reunited to Armenia, nineteen years later, the Romans again marched on Iberia forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Albania. While another Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, a stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I as the friend of the Caesars and the king of the Roman-loving Iberians
30.
Roman Georgia
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Roman Georgia refers to the area of Georgia that was under Roman control. Between the 1st century BC and the 7th century AD Rome, at times, intermittently controlled directly or indirectly the kingdoms of Colchis. Romes conquests reached the Caucasus area at the end of the 2nd century BC, when the Roman Republic started to expand in Anatolia and the Black Sea. In the area of what is now western Georgia there was the Kingdom of Colchis that in those years had fallen under control of the Kingdom of Pontus, Iberia, on the other hand was invaded and became a vassal state of the empire. From this point on Colchis became the Roman province of Lazicum, with Emperor Nero later incorporating it into the Province of Pontus in 63 AD, despite the fact that all major fortresses along the seacoast were occupied by the Romans, their rule was pretty loose. In 69 AD, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus staged an uprising against the Romans which ended unsuccessfully. Christianity began to spread in the early 1st century, traditional accounts relate the event with Saint Andrew, Saint Simon the Zealot, and Saint Matata. While the Laz peoples kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, a stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I as the friend of the Caesars and the king of the Roman-loving Iberians. Emperor Vespasian fortified the ancient Mtskheta site of Arzami for the Iberian kings in 75 AD, in the 3rd century AD, the Lazi tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. Colchis was a scene of the rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War from 542 to 562. This new South Western Caucasian state survived more than 250 years until 562 when it was absorbed by the Eastern Roman Empire, during Justinian I. Indeed, in 591 AD Byzantium and Persia agreed to divide Caucasian Iberia between them, with Tbilisi to be in Persian hands and Mtskheta to be under Roman/Byzantine control, at the beginning of the 7th century the temporary truce between the Romans and Persia collapsed again. The Iberian Prince Stephanoz I, decided in 607 AD to join forces with Persia in order to all the territories of Caucasian Iberia. Sebastopolis continued to remain the last Roman/Byzantine stronghold in western Georgia, one of the main legacies of Rome to Georgia is the Christian faith. The final conversion of all Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to St. Nina of Cappadocia. She was the daughter of pious and noble parents, the Roman general Zabulon, a relative of the great martyr St. George. Christianity was declared the state religion by King Mirian III of Iberia as early as 327 AD, which gave a stimulus to the development of literature, arts. Petra in Lazica is an ancient bishopric in Georgia that is included in the Catholic Churchs list of titular sees, Roman presence was huge in coastal Georgia, where some Roman Forts were defended for centuries by legionaries
31.
Lazica
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Lazica was the name given to the territory of Colchis during the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. By the mid-3rd century, Lazica was given autonomy within the Roman Empire. Throughout much of its existence, it was mainly a Byzantine strategic vassal kingdom occasionally coming under Sassanid Persian rule, the kingdom fell to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century. Egrisi in the 8th century successfully repelled the Arab occupation and formed the Kingdom of Abkhazia-Egrisi from c,780, one of the early medieval polities which would converge into the unified kingdom of Georgia in the 11th century. In the early 4th century, the Christian eparchy of Pitiunt was established in this kingdom, other ancient episcopal sees in Lazica include Rhodopolis, Saesina, and Zygana. In 325 among the participants of the First Council of Nicaea was the bishop of Pitiunt, the first Christian king of Lazica was Gubazes I, in the 5th century, Christianity was made the official religion of Lazica. Later, the nobility and clergy of Lazica switched from the Hellenic ecclesiastic tradition to the Georgian, the Bichvinta Cathedral is one of oldest monuments of the Georgian Christian architecture constructed by the Georgian King Bagrat III of the Bagrationi Royal House in the late 10th century. It was under Bagrat III, that Lazica unified with the eastern Georgian lands of Iberia-Kartli to form a united Kingdom of Georgia. 456 –466 Damnazes. –521/522 Tzath I, attested 521/522 – 527/528 Opsites, dates of reign unknown, likely some time before 541 Gubazes II c.541 –555 Tzath II, 556–. 662, mentioned as patricius of Lazica in the Hypomnensticum of Theodosius and Theodore of Gangra Grigor 670 – c.675 Sergius, son of Barnucius, c. 696/697 Culture of Georgia Diaokhi History of Georgia History of Abkhazia Laz people Lazic War Roman Georgia Sanigs http, //web. raex. com/~obsidian/caucasus. html#Colchis www. colchis. de
32.
Medieval Georgia
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The country of Georgia was first unified as a single kingdom in 1008 AD, arising from the ancient predecessor states of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished and reached its Golden Age during the 10th to 13th centuries under King David IV, lasting for several centuries, the kingdom fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by the 1340s. Throughout the early period, Georgia fell into decline as it clashed against various hostile empires, including Ottoman Empire. The kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors with which it had little in common. Renewed incursions beginning in 1386 led to the collapse of the kingdom by 1493. Georgia’s geopolitical landscape began to shift in 1783, when the struggling Eastern Georgia forged an alliance with the Russian Empire and this led to the gradual, forced annexation of Georgia by Russia starting in 1801. Present-day Georgia has been independent since the Soviet collapse in 1991, post-communist Georgia was almost immediately beset by Russian-backed separatist rebellions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It also suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s and this lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, when Georgia pursued a strongly pro-Western foreign policy, introducing major economic and democratic reforms. Notwithstanding these crises and the change of political forces in the country, as a developing economy, Georgia made significant changes, moving from a near-failed state in 2003 to a relatively well-functioning market economy in 2014. In 2014, Georgia joined the European Unions Free Trade Area, evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c.1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans in Europe, later prehistoric remains are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s, the earliest evidence of wine to date has been found in Georgia, where 8000-year old wine jars were uncovered. Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, from the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a feature being the central pier. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings, in the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni, together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture. Diauehi, a union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, at the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians
33.
Principality of Iberia
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Principality of Iberia was an early medieval aristocratic regime in a core Georgian region of Kartli, i. e. Iberia per classical authors. It flourished in the period of interregnum between the sixth and ninth centuries, when the political authority was exercised by a succession of princes. Its borders fluctuated greatly as the princes of Iberia confronted the Persians, Byzantines, Khazars, Arabs. When the king of a unified Iberia, Bakur III, died in 580, Iberia became a Persian province ruled by a marzpan. However, the direct Persian control brought about heavy taxation and a promotion of Zoroastrianism in a largely Christian country. Therefore, when the Eastern Roman emperor Maurice embarked upon a campaign against Persia in 582. Maurice did respond, and, in 588, sent his protégé, Guaram I of the Guaramids, however, Guaram was not crowned as king, but recognized as a presiding prince and bestowed with the Eastern Roman title of curopalates. The Byzantine-Sassanid treaty of 591 confirmed this new rearrangement, but left Iberia divided into Roman-, the presiding princes of Iberia, as the leading local political authority, were to be confirmed and sanctioned by the court of Constantinople. They are variously entitled in Georgian sources, eristavt-mtavari, eris-mtavari, eristavt-eristavi, most of them were additionally invested with various Roman/Byzantine titles. For example, eight out of the fourteen presiding princes held the dignity of curopalates, dispossessed of the principate of Iberia, the Chosroids retired to their appanage in Kakheti where they ruled as regional princes until the family became extinct by the early 9th century. The Guaramids returned to power and faced a difficult task of maneuvering between the Byzantines and Arabs, the Arabs, primarily concerned with maintaining control of the cities and trade routes, dispossessed them of Tbilisi where a Muslim emir was installed in the 730s. The Guaramids were briefly succeeded by the Nersianids between c.748 and 779/80, and had vanished once and for all by 786 and this year witnessed a bloody crackdown upon the rebellious Georgian nobles organized by Khuzayma ibn Khazim, an Arab viceroy of the Caucasus. The extinction of the Guaramids and near-extinction of the Chosroids allowed their cousins of the Bagratid family. Having accepted the Byzantine protection, the Bagratids, from their base in the region of Tao-Klarjeti,590 Stephen I, the Guaramid, c. 590–627 Adarnase I, the Chosroid, 627–637/642 Stephen II, the Chosroid,650 Adarnase II, the Chosroid, c. 650–684 Guaram II, the Guaramid, 684–c,693 Guaram III, the Guaramid, c. 748 Adarnase III, the Nersianid, c, toumanoff, Cyril, Studies in Christian Caucasian History
34.
Arab rule in Georgia
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This period is called Araboba in Georgian. The history of Arab rule in Georgia can be divided into 3 main periods,1, from the first appearance of Arab armies around 645 until the establishment of the Emirate of Tbilisi in 736. Those years saw the installation of political control over the Georgian lands by the Umayyad Caliphate. From 736 until 853, when the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad destroyed Tbilisi to quell a rebellion by the local emir, from 853 until the 2nd half of the 11th century, when the Great Seljuq Empire replaced the Arabs as the main force in the Middle East. Before that, the power of the emirate of Tbilisi had already declined in favor of independent Georgian states, Tbilisi remained however under Arab rule until 1122. In the first decades of the 7th century, most of present-day Georgia was under the authority of the Principate of Iberia. This state, like its predecessors, continually played the two powers of the time, the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires, to guarantee its own survival as an independent state. From the next decade however, the Muslim conquests of the Middle East started, the first Arab incursions in present-day Georgia happened approximately between 642 and 645, during the Conquest of Persia. It soon turned into an invasion, and Tbilisi was taken in 645. The presiding prince Stephen II had to recognize the suzerainty of the Rashidun Caliph, the Caliphate was then still in its first decades, very unstable politically, and had not yet developed a system of administration able to keep their numerous conquests under control. The main manifestation of Arab power over a region was at the time a religious command of Islam. The most significant of those uprisings, which engulfed the whole Caucasus region, happened in 681–682, despite a two-year-long struggle, the revolt was quelled, Adarnase was killed, and the Arabs installed in his place Guaram II of the rival Guaramid Dynasty. In their efforts to assert their rule over Iberia, the Arabs also had to contend with two major powers in the region, the Byzantine Empire and the Khazars. The latter, a confederation of semi-nomadic Turkic peoples, ruled over the north of the Greater Caucasus range. They had played a role in Caucasian history since the beginning of the 7th century, later, they successfully halted the Muslim armies in a series of wars, but also helped them suppressing the Georgian revolt of 682. Around 685, the Emperor Justinian II concluded a truce with the Caliph, in which they agreed on joint possession of Iberia and Armenia. However, the Arab victory at the Battle of Sebastopolis in 692 upset the balance, and led to a new Arab conquest of Armenia, a new status quo, more favourable to the Arabs, was now in place. Around 730, two led to a change in Umayyad policy towards Georgia
35.
Emirate of Tbilisi
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The Emirs of Tbilisi ruled over the parts of today’s eastern Georgia from their base in the city of Tbilisi, from 736 to 1080. Since then, the city has been the capital of Georgia to this day, the Arabs first appeared in Georgia, namely in Kartli in 645. It was not, however, until 735, when they succeeded in establishing their control over a large portion of the country. In that year, Marwan II took hold of Tbilisi and much of the lands and installed there an Arab emir. During the Arab period, Tbilisi grew into a center of trade between the Islamic world and northern Europe, beyond that, it functioned as a key Arab outpost and a buffer province facing the Byzantine and Khazar dominions. Over time, Tbilisi became largely Muslim, but the Islamic influences were strictly confined to the city itself, Tbilisi was a large city with a strong double wall pierced by three gates. It lay on both banks of the Kura River, and the two parts were connected by a bridge of boats, the contemporary geographers especially mention its thermal springs, which supplied the baths with constant hot waters. The houses were built, to the surprise of contemporary Arab travelers. In the first half of the century, Tbilisi is said to have been the second largest, after Derbend. The Abbasid Caliphate weakened after the Abbasid civil war in the 810s, at the same time, the emirate became a target of the resurgent Georgian Bagrationi dynasty who were expanding their territory from Tao-Klarjeti across Georgian lands. The Emirate of Tbilisi grew in strength under Ishaq ibn Ismail. He withheld his annual payment of tribute to Baghdad, and declared his independence from the Caliph, the Abbasids chose not to rebuild the city extensively, and as a result the Muslim prestige and authority in the region began to wane. Beginning in the 1020s, the Georgian kings pursued a contradictory but generally expansionist policy against the emirs of Tbilisi, the territories of the emirate shrank to Tbilisi and its immediate environs. However, the Seljuk invasions of the 1070s–1080s thwarted the Georgian advance, Georgian King David IV’s victories over the Seljuk Turks inflicted a final blow to Islamic Tbilisi, and a Georgian army entered the city in 1122, ending four hundred years of Muslim rule. The office of emir —now an appointed Georgian royal official—survived in Tbilisi, as well as big cities of Georgia, into the 18th century. Khalil Isa b. ash-Sheikh ash-Shayban Ibrahim Gabuloc Jaffar I b, Jaffar Fadlun of Ganja According to Georgian sources between 1062 and 1068 and again between 1080 and 1122 council of elders rule Emirate of Tbilisi
36.
Bagrationi dynasty
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The Bagrationi dynasty is a royal family that reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, this line is often referred to as the Georgian Bagratids. The common origin with the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty has been accepted by scholars, the family, in the person of Ashot I, the great-grandson of the presiding prince of Armenia Ashot III Bagratuni, gained the principate of Iberia at the end of the 8th century. His descendants restored, in 888, the Georgian monarchy and united various native polities into the Kingdom of Georgia, which prospered from the 11th to the 13th century. This period of time, particularly the reigns of David IV the Builder, the dynasty persisted within the Russian Empire as an Imperial Russian noble family until the 1917 February Revolution. The earliest Georgian forms of the name are Bagratoniani, Bagratuniani and Bagratovani. These names as well as the Armenian Bagratuni and the modern designation Bagratid mean the children of Bagrat or the house of/established by Bagrat. A successor, Guaram, was installed as a prince of Kartli under the Byzantine protectorate. Thus, according to version, began the dynasty of the Bagratids. This tradition enjoyed a general acceptance until the early 20th century, the Jewish origin, let alone the biblical descent, of the Bagratids has been discounted by modern scholarship. Adarnase’s son, Ashot I, acquired the principality of Kartli in 813, although certain, the generation-by-generation history of the Bagrationi dynasty begins only in the late 8th century. The Odzrkhe line, known in the annals as the Bivritianis. They cannot, however, be considered the ancestors of the later Bagratids who eventually restored Georgian royal authority. In 813, the new dynasty acquired, with Ashot I, despite the revitalization of the monarchy, Georgian lands remained divided among rival authorities, with Tbilisi remaining in Arab hands. The sons and grandsons of Ashot I established three separate branches – the lines of Kartli, Tao, and Klarjeti – frequently struggling with each other, the Kartli line prevailed, in 888, with Adarnase I, it restored the indigenous Georgian royal authority dormant since 580. In spite of repeated incidents of dynastic strife, the continued to prosper during the reigns of Demetrios I, George III. With the death of George III the main line became extinct. The invasions by the Khwarezmians in 1225 and the Mongols in 1236 terminated Georgia’s golden age, the struggle against the Mongol rule created a dyarchy, with an ambitious lateral branch of the Bagrationi dynasty holding sway over western Georgia
37.
Kingdom of Abkhazia
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Writing the kingdoms primary history was dominated by Georgian and Byzantine sources supported by modern epigraphic and archaeological records. This can be explained by the scarcity of primary sources on these issues. Most Abkhaz historians claim the kingdom was formed as a result of the consolidation of the early Abkhaz tribes that enabled them to extend their dominance over the neighboring areas. This is objected to on the side of the Georgian historians, Abkhazia, or Abasgia of classic sources, was a princedom under Byzantine authority. It had Anacopia as the capital, Abkhazia was ruled by a hereditary archon who effectively functioned as a Byzantine viceroy. The country was chiefly Christian and the city of Pityus was a seat of an archbishop directly subordinated to the Patriarch of Constantinople, another Abasgian episcopal see was that of Soteropolis. The Arabs, pursuing the retreating Georgian princes – brothers Mir of Egrisi, dysentery and floods, combined with a stubborn resistance offered by the archon Leon I and his Kartlian and Egrisian allies, made the invaders retreat. Leon I then married Mir’s daughter, and a successor, Leon II exploited this dynastic union to acquire Egrisi in the 770s, presumably considered as a successor state of Lazica, this new polity continued to be referred to as Egrisi in some contemporary Georgian and Armenian chronicles. The successful defense against the Arabs, and new territorial gains, towards circa 786, Leon won his full independence with the help of the Khazars, he assumed the title of King of the Abkhazians and transferred his capital to the western Georgian city of Kutatisi. According to Georgian annals, Leon subdivided his kingdom into eight duchies, Abkhazia proper, Tskhumi, Bedia, Guria, Racha and Takveri, Svaneti, Argveti, the most prosperous period of the Abkhazian kingdom was between 850 and 950. The increasingly expansionist tendencies of the led to the enlargement of its realm to the east. Beginning with George I, the Abkhazian kings controlled also Kartli, in about 908 King Constantine III had finally annexed a significant portion of Kartli, bringing his kingdom up to the neighborhood of Arab-controlled Tfilisi. Under his son, George II, the Abkhazian Kingdom reached a climax of power, for a brief period of time, Kakheti in eastern Georgia and Hereti in the Georgian-Albanian marches also recognized the Abkhazian suzerainty. As a temporary ally of the Byzantines, George II patronized the missionary activities of Nicholas Mystikos in Alania, george’s successors, however, were unable to retain the kingdom’s strength and integrity. During the reign of Leon III, Kakheti and Hereti emancipated themselves from the Abkhazian rule, a bitter civil war and feudal revolts which began under Demetrius III led the kingdom into complete anarchy under the unfortunate king Theodosius III the Blind. By that time the hegemony in Transcaucasia had finally passed to the Georgian Bagratids of Tao-Klarjeti, in 978, the Bagratid prince Bagrat, nephew of the sonless Theodosius, occupied the Abkhazian throne with the help of his adoptive father David III of Tao. In 1008, Bagrat succeeded on the death of his natural father Gurgen as the King of Kings of the Georgians, thus, these two kingdoms unified through dynastic succession, in practice laying the foundation for the unified Georgian monarchy, officially styled then as the Kingdom of Georgians. Only Abkhazia and the areas of Svanetia, Racha and Khevi-Khevsureti did not acknowledge Seljuk suzerainty
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Hereti
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The Kingdom of Hereti was a kingdom in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. Nowadays it roughly corresponds to the corner of Georgias Kakheti region. The area was inhabited in earliest times by Hers, Sujs, Tchilbs, collectively called Hers, these tribes came under the rule of the Caucasian Albania. Hereti was populated by Caucasian Albanians, Dagestani, Armenians, Persians and Georgians and it had flourishing towns that traded with Persia and Armenia. With its decline, the area was incorporated into the Iberian kingdom forming one of its duchies in the 5th century. It was when the name Hereti first appeared in the Georgian sources, according to traditional accounts, the name of the province originated from the legendary patriarch Heroes, the son of Thargamos, who founded the city of Hereti at the Alazani River. As a reward for the contribution in struggle against the Arab occupants, after the death of the last Kartlian erismtavaris John and Juansher, the Heretian lords extended their fiefdoms and, in 787, established an independent principality with the capital in Shaki. The principality gained significant strength and prestige by 893 allowing Prince Hamam to be crowned the king, the allies occupied and divided the country but for a short time as Adarnase Patrikios soon reconquered what had been lost. A son and successor, Ishkhanik ruled together with his mother Dinar, sister of Grand Magister Gurgen IV, under them, Hereti was forced to recognize the supremacy of the stronger neighbour, Principality of Deilam, ruled by the Salarid dynasty. In 950, Ishkhanik took advantage of the power struggle in the Salarid State. It was during his reign, that the Heretians abandoned their Monophysite faith to convert to Georgian Orthodox Christianity, the next Heretian ruler, John added to his kingdom part of the former Albanian kingdom and the eastern Georgian mountainous area Tzanaria. After his death, a local dynasty seems to have ceased to exist, the area then was contested between his successor, David, and the Georgian king Bagrat III who sought to bring all Georgian lands into a single monarchy. The next Kakhetian ruler, already titled as the king, Kvirike III the Great finally absorbed Hereti into his “kingdom of Kakhs, when the Georgian king David the Builder brought the kingdom under his control in 1104, Hereti became a saeristavo within the Georgian realm. Georgian rule of Hereti was interrupted by Atabegs of Azerbaijan, Khwarezmid Empire, after the final disintegration of the unified Georgian monarchy in 1466, Hereti came under the Kakhetian crown. Afterwards the name of the province itself has disappeared from the historic records and public usage due to successively Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, Safavid, Afsharid. Kingdom of the Rans and Kakhs
Byzantine Empire
Duchy of Kldekari
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