War der georgische Fürstensohn Ninia Lip´arit´in den frühern 1050er Jahren byzantinischer Militärkommandant von Iberia? – Did Niania Lip´arit´, son of the Georgian prince, serve as the military commander of Byzantine Iberia in the early 1050s? (original) (raw)

CHAPTER VI Diarchy and the Georgian-Armenian War. Gugark//Gogarena, i.e. Kartli of Armazian kings. Chronology of the Division of the Kingdom of Kartli into Two Parts. Misplacement of the names of Armazi and Mtskheta kings in Leonti Mroveli’s edition of “The Georgian Chronicles”. The Georgian-Armenian War. Kings: Amazasp I, Deruk/Ardok III, Mirdat III. * This Chapter is part of the book "Chronology of Georgian Kings and Patricians of the Ancient Period and the Early Middle Ages. The Pegan Georgian Kings.” Volume I. Full references are available in the full text. * The same title is also available in the Georgian language.

Governors of the Part of Kartli with a Center in Tbilisi Gurgen and Juansher and Bivritiani Patricians of Kartli – Guaram I, Stepanos I, Adarnase, Stepanos II, Guaram II, Guaram the Child. Chapter XI Gurgen the Ruler of Kartli. The Identity of Juansher Juansheriani. Bivritiani/Baghadad/Bagratunis. Guaram “Curopalates” and his Closest Descendants: Stepanos I, Adarnase, Stepanos II, Guaram II, Guaram the Child. Adarnase Bagratuni (Bagrationi). Bakurians and the Sons of Baghadad. * This Chapter is part of the book "Chronology of Georgian Kings and Patricians of the Ancient Period and the Early Middle Ages. The Christian Georgian Kings And Patricians.” Volume II. Full references are available in the full text. * The same title is also available in the Georgian language.

At the end of the 9th c. the Sajids carried out several raids in Transcaucasia. According to Movses Kalankatuaci or his continuator, in 899 the Sajids raided Kartli (Iberia), and seized two “brave Georgian/Iberian generals, prince Georg and his brother Arewes”. Yovhannes Catholicos described the two brothers as Sewordi princes. What was their identity? Were they Georgian or Sewordik? Analysis of the Armenian historical texts demonstrates that 1) the Sewordik’ clan held the Utik province; 2) in the 9th-10th centuries Utik was centered not at Partav-Barda, but at the fortress of Tavush; 3) the province of Utik // the land of Sewordians comprised the valleys of the Tavush, the Aghstev (Dzoropor), and the Debeda (Dzoroyget). These three areas were parts of the Georgian province of Kvemo Kartli (Arm. Gugark). Because of mixed – Ibero-Armeno-Albanian – population the Kvemo Kartli region was a bone of contention among the Caucasian dynasts. By the end of the 9th c. the Bagratuni kings of Armenia gained the upper hand and spread their suzerainty over the whole region, including Tashiri (the Debeda valley) and Gardabani (the Aghstev and the Tavush valleys). However, the Armenian ruling elite and intellectuals viwed these conquered territories as Georgian/Iberian lands - the fact reflected in the Bagratuni title (prince of princes/king of kings of Armenia and Iberia), the place (Virk, i.e. Iberia, Vratc-dasht, i.e. Iberian/Georgian valley) and the ethnic (vratc, i.e. Iberian/Georgian) names applied to Kvemo Kartli and its local population. The historico-geographical examination of the problem explains the discrepancy in the narratives of Movses Kalankatuaci and Yovhannes Catholicos: Georg and Arewes were Sewordi princes; because their domains were situated in Kvemo Kartli, they were described as Georgian/Iberian princes by certain Armenian writers.

This essay is an early version of a revised and extended discussion to appear in my forthcoming monograph, Between the Clashing Rocks: Small Kingdoms, Great Powers, and Cultural Identity in Late Antiquity (The Johns Hopkins University Press). – CJH