Arsacid | |
---|---|
Dynasty | |
Parent house | Arsacid dynasty of Parthia |
Country | Caucasian Albania |
Founded | c. 300 |
Founder | Vachagan I |
Final ruler | Vachagan III |
Dissolution | 510 |
The Arsacid dynasty was a dynasty of Parthian origin, which ruled the kingdom of Caucasian Albania from the 3rd to the 6th century. They were a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia and together with the Arsacid rulers of the neighboring Armenia and Iberia formed a pan-Arsacid family federation. [1]
Albania first emerged as an important participant in politics by the end of the 2nd-century BC, most likely in connection to the wars between the Parthian Mithridates II (r. 124–91 BC) and the Armenian king Artavasdes I (r. 159–115 BC). [2] The modern historian Murtazali Gadjiev argues that it was at the end of the 3rd-century that the Arsacids (a cadet branch of the Parthian Arsacids) gained the kingship of Albania, by being appointed as proxies by the Romans in order to gain complete control over the Caucasus. [3] Their accession marked the dominance of Iranianism in the country, and the elevation of Parthian as the language of the educated. [4]
In the 330s, the Sasanian King of Kings ( shahanshah ) of Iran, Shapur II (r. 309–379), forced the Albanian king Vachagan I (or Vache I) to acknowledge his suzerainty. [3] Urnayr fought alongside Shapur II at the Battle of Bagavan in 372, where he was injured by the Armenian general Mushegh I Mamikonian, who spared him. [5] [6] When Urnayr returned to Albania, he sent a message to Mushegh thanking him for sparing his life, and also informed him of a surprise attack planned by Shapur II. [7] Urnayr was succeeded by Vachagan II in c. 375. [8] In 387, through the machinations of the Sasanians, the Armenian provinces of Artsakh, Utik, Shakashen, Gardman and Kolt were ceded to Albania. [9] In c. 462, shahanshah Peroz I abolished Arsacid rule in Albania after suppressing a rebellion led by Vache II. [8] Their rule was later restored in 485, when Vachagan III was installed on the throne by Peroz's brother and successor Balash (r. 484–488). [6] A staunch Christian, Vachagan III ordered the Albanian aristocrats who had apostatized to return to their Christian beliefs. Furthermore, he also declared war against Zoroastrianism, Paganism, idolatry and witchcraft. [6]
Starting from Urnayr, the Arsacids repeatedly married into the family of the ruling Sasanian kings of Iran; Urnayr's mother was a Sasanian princess, and he was himself married to Shapur II's daughter, with Aswagen most likely being their offspring; Vache II was the nephew of Yazdegerd II and son of an Albanian king, probably Aswagen; Vache II himself married the niece (or sister) of Peroz I; and Vachagan III was the son (or nephew) of Yazdegerd II and brother (or nephew) of Vache II. [10] This has led Gadjiev to label the Arsacids of Albania as "Arsacid-Sasanian". [10] This relationship strengthened Sasanian influence in Albania, increasing the importance of Middle Persian in the country. [11]
Based on written sources, Gadjiev has deduced a list of Arsacid kings of Albania and their approximate reign. [8]
Peroz I was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II, he disputed the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III, eventually seizing the throne after a two-year struggle. His reign was marked by war and famine. Early in his reign, he successfully quelled a rebellion in Caucasian Albania in the west, and put an end to the Kidarites in the east, briefly expanding Sasanian rule into Tokharistan, where he issued gold coins with his likeness at Balkh. Simultaneously, Iran was suffering from a seven-year famine. He soon clashed with the former subjects of the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, who possibly had previously helped him to gain his throne. He was defeated and captured twice by the Hephthalites and lost his recently acquired possessions.
Yazdegerd II, was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 438 to 457. He was the successor and son of Bahram V.
Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus, mostly in what is now Azerbaijan. The modern endonyms for the area are Aghwank and Aluank, among the Udi people, who regard themselves as descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania. However, its original endonym is unknown.
Juansher was the Mihranid prince of Caucasian Albania, ruling the principality from 637 to 669. He was the son and successor of Varaz Grigor.
Barda is a city and the capital of the Barda District in Azerbaijan, located south of Yevlax and on the left bank of the Tartar river. It served as the capital of Caucasian Albania by the end of the 5th-century. Barda became the chief city of the Islamic province of Arran, the classical Caucasian Albania, remaining so until the tenth century.
Utik, also known as Uti, was a historical province and principality within the Kingdom of Armenia. It was ceded to Caucasian Albania following the partition of Armenia between Sassanid Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire in 387 AD. Most of the region is located within present-day Azerbaijan immediately west of the Kura River, while a part of it lies within the Tavush province of present-day northeastern Armenia.
The Mihranids were an Iranian family which ruled several regions of Caucasus from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of Sasanian Persian descent but were of Parthian origin.
Caucasian Albania was a kingdom in the Caucasus, which was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire from 252 to 636.. The name Albania is derived from the Ancient Greek name Ἀλβανία and Latin Albanía. Caucasian Albania should not be confused with European Albania. The two countries have nothing in common. The toponym was created from Greek sources who incorrectly translated the Armenian language.
Sanesan or Sanatruk was the king of Maskut in the early 4th century. Sanesan's people, the Mazk'kut'k, have variously been identified as the Massagetae or as the Meskheti.
Mushegh I Mamikonian was an Armenian military officer from the Mamikonian family who occupied the hereditary office of sparapet (generalissimo) of the Kingdom of Armenia under the Arsacid kings Pap and Varazdat. He took part in the Armenian resistance against the forces of the Sasanian monarch Shapur II, notably taking part in the Battle of Bagavan, where the Iranian forces were defeated. He was the regent of Armenia under the young and inexperienced Varazdat, who eventually suspected him of posing a danger to his rule, and thus had him executed, in 377/8.
Urnayr was the third Arsacid king of Caucasian Albania from approximately 350 to 375. He was the successor of Vache I.
Vachagan I "the Brave" was the first Arsacid ruler of Caucasian Albania, ruling approximately from 300 to 336.
Vache I was the second Arsacid ruler of Caucasian Albania from approximately 336 to 350. He was succeeded by Urnayr.
Aswagen was the eight Arsacid king of Caucasian Albania, ruling from approximately 415 to 440. He was most likely the son of the previous Albanian king Urnayr, while his mother was a daughter of the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran, Shapur II. Aswagen was himself married to a daughter of shahanshah Yazdegerd II. It was under Aswagen that the Caucasian Albanian script was created in c. 420.
Vache II was the ninth Arsacid king of Caucasian Albania from approximately 440 to 462. He was the son and successor of Aswagen. His mother was a daughter of the Sasanian king Yazdegerd II, and he was himself married to the niece or sister of Peroz I.
Vachagan IIIthe Pious or Vachagan II was the last Arsacid king of Caucasian Albania, ruling approximately from 485 to 523.
Varaz Grigor was the first known Mihranid king of Caucasian Albania from 628 until at least 654. The last holder of the title was Vachagan III.
The Maskut were a group of Massagetaen-Sarmato-Alanian tribes located in the eastern part of the Caucasus, along the western coast of the Caspian Sea. They lived between Derbent and Shaporan, which corresponds to present-day northeast Azerbaijan and southeast Dagestan (Russia). The name "Maskut" is also sometimes used to refer to a geographic area, rather than an ethnic group. The first wave of these tribes arrived in the 3rd-century from the Volga–Don Canal and the northern coast of the Caspian Sea. The modern Russian-Dagestani historian Murtazali Gadjiev suggests that these tribes had immigrated as a result of not only climate changes and longing to explore new regions, but as well as due to concurrent conflicts.
This is an alphabetical index of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from the Sasanian Empire (224–651). Feel free to add more, and create missing pages.
The Lupenians or Lpins were a historical tribe that lived in modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan in antiquity. The Lupenians were mentioned in several sources in different languages. They are equated with Pliny's Lupenii, dwelling south of the tribe of Silvii (Chola), just next to the Diduri and near the frontier of Caucasian Albania. They had a main settlement or city which is only known by the foreign names Lp’nats’ k’aghak’ and Loubion Kōmē. The Ravenna Cosmography mentions their land as "Patria Lepon" situated next to Iberia and the Caspian Sea. The Tabula Peutingeriana also mentions the Lupenii. Vladimir Minorsky proposed later Arabic versions as well. They were probably related to the Caucasian Albanians and have been suggested as one of the 26 constitutive groups of the Caucasian Albanian kingdom.