Abkhazian Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Abkhazia
, also known as the Kingdom of the Abkhazes refers to an early medieval
feudal
state in the Caucasus
which lasted from the 780s until being united, through dynastic succession, with the Kingdom of the Georgians
(see Tao-Klarjeti
) in 1008.
n, Byzantine
and Muslim
annals, supported by modern epigraphic and archaeological records.
The problem of the Abkhazian Kingdom, particularly the questions of the nature of its ruling family and its ethnic composition, is a main point of controversy between modern Georgian and Abkhaz scholars. This can be largely 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 on the side of the Georgian historians, some of them claiming that the kingdom was completely Georgian.
Most international scholars agree that it is extremely difficult to judge the ethnic identity of the various population segments due primarily to the fact that the terms "Abkhazia" and "Abkhazians" were used in a broad sense during this period—and for some while later—and covered, for all practical purposes, all the population of the kingdom, comprising both the Georgian (including also Mingrelians, Laz
, and Svans with their distinct languages that are sisters to Georgian
) and possible modern Abkhaz (Abasgoi, Apsilae, and Zygii
) peoples. It seems likely that a significant (if not predominant) proportion of the Georgian-speaking population, combined with a drive of the Abkhazian kings to throw off the Byzantine political and cultural dominance, resulted in Georgian replacing the Greek
as the language of literacy and culture.
authority. It lay chiefly along the Black Sea
coast in what is now northwestern part of modern-day disputed Republic of Abkhazia and extended northward into the territory of today’s Krasnodar Krai
of Russia
. 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
. The Arab
s, pursuing the retreating Georgian princes – brothers Mir of Egrisi and Archil of Kartli – surged into Abkhazia in 736. Dysentery
and flood
s, combined with a stubborn resistance offered by the archon Leon I and his Kartli
an 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 (Lazica) 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 (e.g., The Vitae of the Georgian Kings by Leonti Mroveli
) and Armenia
n (e.g., The History of Armenia by Hovannes Draskhanakertsi
) chronicles.
The successful defense against the Arabs, and new territorial gains, gave the Abkhazian princes enough power to claim more autonomy from the Byzantine Empire. 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 (modern-day Kutaisi
). According to Georgian annals, Leon subdivided his kingdom into eight duchies : Abkhazia proper, Tskhumi
, Bedia, Guria
, Racha
and Takveri, Svaneti
, Argveti
, and Kutatisi.
The most prosperous period of the Abkhazian kingdom was between 850 and 950. In the early years of the 10th century, it stretched, according to Byzantine sources, along the Black Sea coast three hundred Greek
miles, from the frontiers of the thema of Chaldia
to the mouth of the river Nicopsis, with the Caucasus
behind it. The increasingly expansionist tendencies of the kingdom led to the enlargement of its realm to the east. Beginning with George I (872/73-878/79), the Abkhazian kings controlled also Kartli
(central and part of eastern Georgia
), and interfered in the affairs of the Georgian and Armenia
n Bagratid
s. In about 908 King Constantine III (898/99-916/17) had finally annexed a significant portion of Kartli, bringing his kingdom up to the neighborhood of Arab-controlled Tfilisi
(modern-day Tbilisi). Under his son, George II
(916/17-960), the Abkhazian Kingdom reached a climax of power and prestige. 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
.
.jpg)
George’s successors, however, were unable to retain the kingdom’s strength and integrity. During the reign of Leon III (960-969), Kakheti and Hereti emancipated themselves from the Abkhazian rule. A bitter civil war
and feudal revolts which began under Demetrius III (969-976) led the kingdom into complete anarchy under the unfortunate king Theodosius III the Blind
(976-978). By that time the hegemony in Transcaucasia had finally passed to the Georgian Bagratids
of Tao-Klarjeti
. In 978, the Bagratid prince Bagrat
, nephew (sister’s son) 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 to the unified Georgian monarchy, officially styled then as the Kingdom of Georgians.
, and by 1081, all of Armenia, Anatolia
, Mesopotamia
, Syria and most of Georgia were conquered and devastated by the Seljuks.
Only Abkhazia and the mountainous areas of Svanetia, Racha
and Khevi-Khevsureti did not acknowledge Seljuk suzerainty, serving as a relatively safe haven for numerous refugees. By the end of 1099 David IV of Georgia
stopped paying tribute to the Seljuks and put most of Georgian lands except Tbilisi and Ereti under his effective control having Abkhazia and Svanetia as his reliable rear bases. In 1105–1124 Georgian armies under King David undertook a series of brilliant campaigns against the Seljuk Turks and liberated not only the rest of Georgia but also Christian-populated Ghishi-Kabala area in western Shirvan
and a big portion of Armenia
.
origin), came from the dynasty which is sometimes known in modern history writing as the Leonids after the first king Leon, or Anosids, after the prince Anos from whom the royal family claimed their origin. Prince Cyril Toumanoff
relates the name of Anos to the later Abkhaz noble family of Achba or Anchabadze
. By convention, the regnal numbers of the Abkhazian kings continue from those of the archons of Abasgia. There is also some lack of consistency about the dates of their reigns. The chronology below is given as per Toumanoff.
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
, also known as the Kingdom of the Abkhazes refers to an early medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
state in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
which lasted from the 780s until being united, through dynastic succession, with the Kingdom of the Georgians
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
(see Tao-Klarjeti
Tao-Klarjeti
Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used in modern history writing to describe the historic south-western Georgian principalities, now forming part of north-eastern Turkey and divided among the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars...
) in 1008.
Historiographical conundrum
Writing the kingdom’s primary history was dominated by the Georgian, ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n, Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
annals, supported by modern epigraphic and archaeological records.
The problem of the Abkhazian Kingdom, particularly the questions of the nature of its ruling family and its ethnic composition, is a main point of controversy between modern Georgian and Abkhaz scholars. This can be largely 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
Abkhaz people
The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
that enabled them to extend their dominance over the neighboring areas. This is objected on the side of the Georgian historians, some of them claiming that the kingdom was completely Georgian.
Most international scholars agree that it is extremely difficult to judge the ethnic identity of the various population segments due primarily to the fact that the terms "Abkhazia" and "Abkhazians" were used in a broad sense during this period—and for some while later—and covered, for all practical purposes, all the population of the kingdom, comprising both the Georgian (including also Mingrelians, Laz
Laz
Laz may refer to the Laz people, who live by the Black Sea, or to their language. As a given name, Laz may be a diminutive for Lazar, Lazarus, Lazaro, or Lazaros...
, and Svans with their distinct languages that are sisters to Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
) and possible modern Abkhaz (Abasgoi, Apsilae, and Zygii
Zygii
The Zygii has been described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis.He wrote:...
) peoples. It seems likely that a significant (if not predominant) proportion of the Georgian-speaking population, combined with a drive of the Abkhazian kings to throw off the Byzantine political and cultural dominance, resulted in Georgian replacing the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
as the language of literacy and culture.
Early history
Abkhazia, or Abasgia of classic sources, was a princedom under the ByzantineByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
authority. It lay chiefly along the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast in what is now northwestern part of modern-day disputed Republic of Abkhazia and extended northward into the territory of today’s Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai
-External links:* **...
of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It had Anacopia as the capital. Abkhazia was ruled by a hereditary archon
Archon
Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
who effectively functioned as a Byzantine viceroy. The country was chiefly Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and the city of Pityus was a seat of an archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
directly subordinated to the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
. The Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s, pursuing the retreating Georgian princes – brothers Mir of Egrisi and Archil of Kartli – surged into Abkhazia in 736. Dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
and flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s, combined with a stubborn resistance offered by the archon Leon I and his Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
an and Egrisian allies, made the invaders retreat. Leon I then married Mir’s daughter, and a successor, Leon II
Leon II of Abkhazia
Leon II of Abkhazia was King of Abkhazia, a country in the northern Caucasus Mountains, from 767/68-811/12. He was descended on his father's side from the Anchabadze royal clan, but was also a grandson of the reigning Khagan of the Khazars . Leon recognized the Khazar khagan as his overlord during...
exploited this dynastic union to acquire Egrisi (Lazica) 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 (e.g., The Vitae of the Georgian Kings by Leonti Mroveli
Leonti Mroveli
Leonti Mroveli was the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, presumably an ecclesiastic. Mroveli is not his last name, but the adjective for the diocese of Ruisi, whose bishop he probably was...
) and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n (e.g., The History of Armenia by Hovannes Draskhanakertsi
John V the Historian
Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi was Catholicos of Armenia from 897 to 925, and a noted chronicler and historian. He is called John V the Historian, and is known for his History of Armenia. It was printed at the end of the seventeenth century...
) chronicles.
The successful defense against the Arabs, and new territorial gains, gave the Abkhazian princes enough power to claim more autonomy from the Byzantine Empire. Towards circa 786, Leon won his full independence with the help of the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
; he assumed the title of King of the Abkhazians and transferred his capital to the western Georgian city of Kutatisi (modern-day Kutaisi
Kutaisi
Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...
). According to Georgian annals, Leon subdivided his kingdom into eight duchies : Abkhazia proper, Tskhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
, Bedia, Guria
Guria
Guria is a region in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 143,357 and Ozurgeti is a regional capital.-Geography:...
, Racha
Racha
Racha is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains...
and Takveri, Svaneti
Svaneti
Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...
, Argveti
Argveti
Argveti , also Argwet’i or Margweti , is a historic district in Imereti, western Georgia.The area lay on the historic Iberian-Lazican frontier, i.e., between what are now eastern and western parts of Georgia...
, and Kutatisi.
The most prosperous period of the Abkhazian kingdom was between 850 and 950. In the early years of the 10th century, it stretched, according to Byzantine sources, along the Black Sea coast three hundred Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
miles, from the frontiers of the thema of Chaldia
Chaldia
Chaldia was a historical region located in the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor . Its name was derived from a people called the Chaldoi that inhabited the region in Antiquity. Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme, known as the Theme of Chaldia , in...
to the mouth of the river Nicopsis, with the Caucasus
Greater Caucasus
Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains....
behind it. The increasingly expansionist tendencies of the kingdom led to the enlargement of its realm to the east. Beginning with George I (872/73-878/79), the Abkhazian kings controlled also Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
(central and part of eastern Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
), and interfered in the affairs of the Georgian and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n Bagratid
Bagratuni Dynasty
The Bagratuni, Bagratid or alternatively Pakradouni royal dynasty of Armenia was a royal family whose branches formerly ruled many regional polities, including the Armenian lands of Sper|presently Ispir in Tayk Province of the Armenian Kingdom, Bagrevand in Ayrarat Province of the Armenian...
s. In about 908 King Constantine III (898/99-916/17) had finally annexed a significant portion of Kartli, bringing his kingdom up to the neighborhood of Arab-controlled Tfilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
(modern-day Tbilisi). Under his son, George II
George II of Abkhazia
George II was King of the Abkhazians from 916 AD until 960 AD. His lengthy reign is regarded as a zenith of cultural flowering and political power of his realm....
(916/17-960), the Abkhazian Kingdom reached a climax of power and prestige. For a brief period of time, Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
in eastern Georgia and Hereti
Hereti
Hereti was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.-History:...
in the Georgian-Albanian
Caucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...
marches also recognized the Abkhazian suzerainty. As a temporary ally of the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, George II patronized the missionary activities of Nicholas Mystikos
Nicholas Mystikos
Nicholas I Mystikos or Nicholas I Mysticus was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 901 to February 906 and from May 912 to his death in 925. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 16.Nicholas was born in the Italian Peninsula and had become a friend of the Patriarch Photios...
in Alania
Alania
Alania may refer to:*Alania, the medieval state of the Alans or Alani people in the North Caucasus*The short name of the modern North Ossetia-Alania, one of the Caucasian republics in the Russian Federation...
.
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
and feudal revolts which began under Demetrius III (969-976) led the kingdom into complete anarchy under the unfortunate king Theodosius III the Blind
Theodosius III of Abkhazia
Theodosius III the Blind , was King of the Abkhazians from circa 975 to 978.He was a son of George II of Abkhazia, who sent Theodosius to be brought up at Constantinople. After his reigning brother Leon III died in 967, a rebel party of Meskhetian, Egrisian and Kartlian nobles put him as a rival...
(976-978). By that time the hegemony in Transcaucasia had finally passed to the Georgian Bagratids
Bagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
of Tao-Klarjeti
Tao-Klarjeti
Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used in modern history writing to describe the historic south-western Georgian principalities, now forming part of north-eastern Turkey and divided among the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars...
. In 978, the Bagratid prince Bagrat
Bagrat III of Georgia
Bagrat III , of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty, was King of the Abkhazians from 978 on and King of Georgia from 1008 on. He united these two titles by dynastic inheritance and, through conquest and diplomacy, added some more lands to his realm, effectively becoming the first king of what is...
, nephew (sister’s son) of the sonless Theodosius, occupied the Abkhazian throne with the help of his adoptive father David III of Tao
David III of Tao
David III Kuropalates or David III the Great , also known as David II, was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid family of Tao/Tayk, a historic region in the Georgian–Armenian marchlands, from 966 until his murder in 1000...
. 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 to the unified Georgian monarchy, officially styled then as the Kingdom of Georgians.
Seljuk Invasion
The second half of the 11th century was marked by the disastrous invasion of the Seljuk Turks who by the end of 1040s succeeded in building a vast nomadic empire including most of Central Asia and Iran. In 1071 Seljuk armies destroyed the united Byzantine-Armenian and Georgian forces in the Battle of ManzikertBattle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...
, and by 1081, all of Armenia, Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, Syria and most of Georgia were conquered and devastated by the Seljuks.
Only Abkhazia and the mountainous areas of Svanetia, Racha
Racha
Racha is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains...
and Khevi-Khevsureti did not acknowledge Seljuk suzerainty, serving as a relatively safe haven for numerous refugees. By the end of 1099 David IV of Georgia
David IV of Georgia
David IV "the Builder", also known as David II , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125....
stopped paying tribute to the Seljuks and put most of Georgian lands except Tbilisi and Ereti under his effective control having Abkhazia and Svanetia as his reliable rear bases. In 1105–1124 Georgian armies under King David undertook a series of brilliant campaigns against the Seljuk Turks and liberated not only the rest of Georgia but also Christian-populated Ghishi-Kabala area in western Shirvan
Shirvan
Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...
and a big portion of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
Rulers
Most Abkhazian kings, with the exception of John and Adarnase of the Shavliani (presumably of SvanSvan
Svan may refer to:*Svan people, an ethnographic group of the Georgian people*Svan language*Svaneti, a region of Georgia*Lusaghbyur, Shirak, Armenia, formerly called Svan*Anaco Airport, ICAO code*Gunde Svan, former Swedish top-level cross-country skier...
origin), came from the dynasty which is sometimes known in modern history writing as the Leonids after the first king Leon, or Anosids, after the prince Anos from whom the royal family claimed their origin. Prince Cyril Toumanoff
Cyril Toumanoff
Cyril Leo Heraclius, Prince Toumanoff was an United States-based historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, the Byzantine Empire, and Iran...
relates the name of Anos to the later Abkhaz noble family of Achba or Anchabadze
Anchabadze
Anchabadze , also known as Achba , is an Abkhaz-Georgian family, and the oldest surviving noble house originating in Abkhazia, Georgia.The Anchabadze family is supposed to have its roots in the early medieval ruling dynasty of Abasgia...
. By convention, the regnal numbers of the Abkhazian kings continue from those of the archons of Abasgia. There is also some lack of consistency about the dates of their reigns. The chronology below is given as per Toumanoff.
House of the Anosids (Achba/Anchabadze)
- Leon IILeon II of AbkhaziaLeon II of Abkhazia was King of Abkhazia, a country in the northern Caucasus Mountains, from 767/68-811/12. He was descended on his father's side from the Anchabadze royal clan, but was also a grandson of the reigning Khagan of the Khazars . Leon recognized the Khazar khagan as his overlord during...
, 767/68-811/12 - Theodosius II, 811/12-837/38
- Demetrius II, 837/38-872/73
- George I of Aghts’epi, 872/73-878/79
House of Shavliani
- John Shavliani, 878/79-c. 880
- Adarnase ShavlianiAdarnase of AbkhaziaAdarnase Shavliani was the King of Abkhazia between 880 and 887/888. He succeeded his father, the usurper John Shavliani, to the throne but was deposed and put to death by Bagrat I, the son of Demetrius II.- See also :*Abkhazian Kingdom...
, c. 880-887/88
House of the Anosids (Achba/Anchabadze)
- Bagrat IBagrat I of AbkhaziaBagrat I was the King of Abkhazia between 887/88 and 898/99. He was the son of Demetrius II of the Anosids dynasty. After the usurper John Shavliani seized the throne Bagrat fled to Constantinople and lived there for some time until he returned to Abkhazia in 887/888, deposed and put to death...
, 887/88-898/99 - Constantine III, 898/99-916/17
- George IIGeorge II of AbkhaziaGeorge II was King of the Abkhazians from 916 AD until 960 AD. His lengthy reign is regarded as a zenith of cultural flowering and political power of his realm....
, 916/17-960 - Leon III, 960-969
- Demetrius III, 969-976
- Theodosius IIITheodosius III of AbkhaziaTheodosius III the Blind , was King of the Abkhazians from circa 975 to 978.He was a son of George II of Abkhazia, who sent Theodosius to be brought up at Constantinople. After his reigning brother Leon III died in 967, a rebel party of Meskhetian, Egrisian and Kartlian nobles put him as a rival...
, 976-978
See also
- Divan of the Abkhazian KingsDivan of the Abkhazian KingsThe Divan of the Abkhazian Kings is a short medieval document composed in Georgian in the late 10th or early 11th century. It has come down to us in a 15th-century version. The text was first studied and published by the Georgian scholar Ekvtime Takaishvili...
- Principality of AbkhaziaPrincipality of AbkhaziaThe Principality of Abkhazia emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the dissolution of the unified Georgian monarchy...
- History of GeorgiaHistory of Georgia (country)The nation of Georgia was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty in the 9th to 10th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of ancient Colchis and Iberia...