Diocese of Kashkar, sometimes called Kaskar, [1] [2] was the senior diocese in the Church of the East's Province of the Patriarch. Its see was in the city of Kashkar. The diocese is attested between the fourth and the twelfth centuries. The bishops of Kashkar had the privilege of guarding the patriarchal throne during the interregnum between the death of a patriarch and the appointment of his successor. [2] As a result, they are often mentioned by name in the standard histories of the Nestorian patriarchs, so that a relatively full list of the bishops of the diocese has survived.
According to legend, the diocese of Kashkar was the oldest diocese in Persia. It was said to have been founded by the apostle Mari in the first century, several decades before the establishment of a diocese in the Persian capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon. [3] Although a first-century foundation date is highly unlikely, the diocese of Kashkar was certainly one of the oldest dioceses of the Church of the East. The antiquity of the diocese and its claim to an apostolic foundation were recognised at the synod of Isaac in 410, when it was ranked second after the patriarchal diocese of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and its bishop was appointed guardian of the patriarchal throne ( natar kursya ). [4]
The earliest-known bishop of Kashkar was ʿAbdishoʿ, who was one of several Persian bishops who opposed the claim to precedence put forward by the bishop Papa of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 315. [5] The last-known bishop of Kashkar was Sabrishoʿ, who was transferred from the diocese of Qaimar to Kashkar by the patriarch Eliya III (1176–90). [6] By 1222 the guardianship of the vacant patriarchal throne, for centuries a privilege of the bishops of Kashkar, was in the hands of the metropolitans of Beth Huzaye.
The bishop ʿAbdishoʿ of Kashkar was one of several Persian bishops who opposed the claim to precedence put forward by the bishop Papa of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 315. [7]
The bishop Paul of Kashkar was martyred between 341 and 350, during the persecution of Shapur II. [8]
The successive bishops ʿAbdishoʿ and ʿAbda of Kashkar were martyred in 376 [9] or 377. [8]
The bishop Maraï of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Isaac in 410. [10]
The bishop Abner of Kashkar was one of eleven named bishops listed in the acts of the synod of Dadishoʿ in 424 as having been reproved at the synods of Isaac in 410 and Yahballaha I in 420. [11]
The bishop ʿAbdishoʿ of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Acacius in 486. [12]
The bishop Emmanuel of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Babaï in 497. [13]
The bishop Shubhalmaran of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Joseph in 554. [14]
The bishop Maraï of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Ezekiel in 576. [15]
The bishop Shemʿon of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Ishoʿyahb I in 585. [16]
The bishop Gregory of Kashkar was appointed by Ishoʿyahb I, according to the Chronicle of Seert (before 596). [17]
The bishop Theodore of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Gregory in 605. [18]
The bishop Yazdapneh of Kashkar was among the bishops present at the deathbed of the patriarch Ishoʿyahb III in 659. [19]
The patriarch Aba II was bishop of Kashkar before his election and consecration as patriarch in 740/1. [20]
The bishop Isaac of Kashkar assembled a synod of East Syriac bishops in 773 to elect a patriarch after the death of the patriarch Yaʿqob II. [8]
The bishop Brikh-Baroyeh of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Timothy I in 790. [21]
The bishop Zakarya of Kashkar was present at the consecration of the patriarch Ishoʿ Bar Nun in 823. [8]
The bishop Israel of Kashkar was appointed by the patriarch Sargis (860–72). [22]
The bishop Hnanishoʿ of Kashkar was natar kursya between the death of the patriarch Enosh and the consecration of his successor Yohannan II in 884. [23]
The bishop David of Kashkar was natar kursya between the death of the patriarch Yohannan IV in 905 and the consecration of his successor Abraham III in 906. [24]
The bishop Israel of Kashkar acted as natar kursya after the death of the patriarch Emmanuel I in 960, and was briefly elected patriarch himself in 961. [25]
The bishop Abraham of Kashkar was transferred from the diocese of Hamadan by the patriarch ʿAbdishoʿ I (963–86). He was deposed and excommunicated for seven years for misbehaviour, and was eventually restored to his old diocese at the request of the Nestorians of Hamadan. [26]
The bishop Ishoʿ (ʿIsa) was appointed for Kashkar by the patriarch Mari (987–99). [27]
The bishop Shemʿon, metropolitan of Beth Garmaï when Elijah of Nisibis completed his Chronography in 1018/19, was originally bishop of Beth Daraye and later bishop of Kashkar. [28]
The bishop Mari Ibn Kura of Kashkar died shortly before the patriarch Yohannan VII in 1057, requiring the office of natar kursya to be undertaken by the bishop of al-Nuʿmaniya. [29]
The bishop Hormizd of Kashkar was present at the consecration of the patriarch ʿAbdishoʿ II in 1074. [30]
The seat of the diocese of Kashkar appears to have been transferred to Wasit by the end of the eleventh century. The bishop Hormizd 'of Wasit' was present at the consecration of the patriarch Makkikha I in 1092. [31]
An unnamed bishop of Wasit was perfected by the patriarch Bar Sawma after his consecration in 1134. [32]
The bishop Sabrishoʿ of Qaimar was transferred to the diocese of Kashkar by the patriarch Eliya III (1176–90). [33]
The titular see of Kaskar of the Chaldeans is included, as an archiepiscopal titular see of the Chaldean Catholic Church, in the list of such sees recognized by the Catholic Church. [34] The title has been vacant since 2003. It has had a single incumbent, Titular Archbishop Emmanuel-Karim Delly (1967.05.06 – 2003.12.03). [35]
At the height of its power, in the 10th century AD, the dioceses of the Church of the East numbered well over a hundred and stretched from Egypt to China. These dioceses were organised into six interior provinces in Mesopotamia, in the Church's Iraqi heartland, and a dozen or more second-rank exterior provinces. Most of the exterior provinces were located in Iran, Central Asia, India and China, testifying to the Church's remarkable eastern expansion in the Middle Ages. A number of East Syriac dioceses were also established in the towns of the eastern Mediterranean, in Palestine, Syria, Cilicia and Egypt.
The Metropolitanate of Maishan or Maysan was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. The historical region of Maishan or Maysan is situated in southern Iran. The metropolitans of Maishan sat at Prath d'Maishan, and for most of its history the province had three suffragan dioceses, at Karka d'Maishan, Rima and Nahargur. The last metropolitan of Maishan, the noted East Syriac author Shlemun (Solomon) of Basra, is attested in 1222, and it is not clear when the province ceased to exist.
Metropolitanate of Beth Garmai was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the fifth and fourteenth centuries. The region of Beth Garmai is situated in northern Iraq, bounded by the Little Zab and Diyala Rivers and centered on the town of Karka d'Beth Slokh. Several bishops and metropolitans of Beth Garmaï are mentioned between the fourth and fourteenth centuries, residing first at Shahrgard, then at Karka d'Beth Slokh, later at Shahrzur and finally at Daquqa. The known suffragan dioceses of the metropolitan province of Beth Garmaï included Shahrgard, Lashom (ܠܫܘܡ), Khanijar, Mahoze d'Arewan, Radani, Hrbath Glal (ܚܪܒܬܓܠܠ), Tahal and Shahrzur. The suffragan dioceses of 'Darabad' and 'al-Qabba', mentioned respectively by Eliya of Damascus and Mari, are probably to be identified with one or more of these known dioceses. The diocese of Gawkaï, attested in the eighth and ninth centuries, may also have been a suffragan diocese of the province of Beth Garmaï. The last known metropolitan of Beth Garmaï is attested in the thirteenth century, and the last known bishop in 1318, though the historian ʿAmr continued to describe Beth Garmai as a metropolitan province as late as 1348. It is not clear when the province ceased to exist, but the campaigns of Timur Leng between 1390 and 1405 offer a reasonable context.
The Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, with see in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. It was attested between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. As its name entails, it was the province of the patriarch of the Church of the East. The province consisted of a number of dioceses in the region of Beth Aramaye, between Basra and Kirkuk, which were placed under the patriarch's direct supervision at the synod of Yahballaha I in 420.
The Metropolitanate of Nisibis was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East, between the fifth and seventeenth centuries. The ecclesiastical province of Nisibis had a number of suffragan dioceses at different periods in its history, including Arzun, Beth Rahimaï, Beth Qardu, Beth Zabdaï, Qube d’Arzun, Balad, Shigar (Sinjar), Armenia, Beth Tabyathe and the Kartawaye, Harran and Callinicus (Raqqa), Maiperqat, Reshʿaïna, Qarta and Adarma, Qaimar and Hesna d'Kifa. Aoustan d'Arzun and Beth Moksaye were also suffragan dioceses in the fifth century.
Beth Huzaye or ʿIlam was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East, between the fifth and fourteenth centuries. The metropolitan bishops of Beth Huzaye sat at Beth Lapat (Jundishapur). The metropolitan province of Beth Huzaye had a number of suffragan dioceses at different periods in its history, including Karka d'Ledan, Hormizd Ardashir, Shushter, Susa, Ispahan, Mihraganqadaq and Ram Hormizd. The Diocese of Shahpur Khwast may also have been a suffragan Diocese of the province of Beth Huzaye.
Metropolitanate of Adiabene was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the 5th and 14th centuries, with more than fifteen known suffragan dioceses at different periods in its history. Although the name Hadyab normally connoted the region around Erbil and Mosul in present-day Iraq, the boundaries of the East Syriac metropolitan province went well beyond the Erbil and Mosul districts. Its known suffragan dioceses included Beth Bgash and Adarbaigan, well to the east of Adiabene proper.
The Metropolitanate of Hulwan was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the eighth and twelfth centuries, with suffragan dioceses for Dinawar, Hamadan, Nihawand and al-Kuj. The city of Hulwan was one of the chief towns in the western Iranian province of Media. The metropolitanate of Hulwan was ranked among the 'exterior provinces', so called to distinguish them from the province of the patriarch and the five core Mesopotamian 'interior' provinces.
Metropolitanate of Fars was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the sixth and twelfth centuries. It was centered in what is now Fars Province, the historic cradle of ancient Persian civilization. Besides several centers in the Fars region itself, this East Syriac ecclesiastical province also included several dioceses in Arabia and a diocese for the island of Soqotra.
The Metropolitanate of Merv was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East, between the fifth and eleventh centuries, with several known suffragan dioceses.
The Metropolitanate of Rai was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East, between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The province of Rai had a suffragan diocese for Gurgan.
For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the district of Salmas in northwest Iran was an archdiocese of the Chaldean Catholic Church, now a part of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Urmyā.
Dioceses of the Church of the East after 1552 were dioceses of the Church of the East and its subsequent branches, both traditionalist and pro-Catholic.
Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Seert was a diocese of the Chaldean Catholic Church, centered in Seert. It existed during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The diocese was ruined during the First World War.
The Diocese of Amid (Diyarbakir) was a diocese or archdiocese of the Chaldean Church from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. From at least the 13th century the city of Amid had been part of the Diocese of Maiperqat of the Church of the East; following the schism of 1552 it became the seat of its own diocese in the Chaldean Church.
The Diocese of Tirhan was an East Syriac diocese of the Church of the East, within the central ecclesiastical Province of the Patriarch. The diocese is attested between the sixth and fourteenth centuries.
The patriarch of the Church of the East is the patriarch, or leader and head bishop of the Church of the East. The position dates to the early centuries of Christianity within the Sassanid Empire, and the Church has been known by a variety of names, including the Church of the East, Nestorian Church, the Persian Church, the Sassanid Church, or East Syrian.
Enosh was Patriarch of the Church of the East between 877 and 884.
ʿAbdishoʿ I was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 963 to 986.
Diocese of Armenia was an East Syriac diocese of the Church of the East between the fifth and fourteenth centuries. The diocese served members of the Church of the East in Armenia, and its bishops sat at Halat. The diocese is last mentioned in 1281, and probably lapsed in the fourteenth century during the disorders that attended the fragmentation of the Mongol empire.