Chosroid Dynasty
Encyclopedia
The Chosroids were a dynasty
of the kings and later of the presiding princes
of the early Georgian
state of Iberia
, natively known as Kartli
, from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Of Iranian
origin and a branch of the Mihranid House
, the family accepted Christianity
as their official religion c.
337, and maneuvered between the Byzantine Empire
and Sassanid Iran to retain a degree of independence. After the abolition of the Iberian kingship by the Sassanids in c. 580, the dynasty survived in its two closely related, but sometimes competing princely branches – the elder Chosroid and the younger Guaramid
– down to the early ninth century when they were succeeded by the Georgian Bagratids
on the throne of Iberia.
(ruled AD
284-361) was installed, through his marriage to an Iberian princess (daughter of the last Georgian Arsacid
king Aspacures I), on the throne of Iberia by his father whom the Georgian chronicles refer to as "Chosroes", Great King of Iran. This being during the rule of the Sassanid dynasty over Iran, it is assumed that the Iberian dynasty might have been related to the Sassanids. However, the exact kinship between the two dynasties remains unclear. The name Chosroes (Khusraw) was not used by the Iranian Sassanids till some time later; hence, either the Georgian annals are mistaken in the name of Mirian’s father, or "Chosroes" was taken as a general term meaning "king".
Professor Cyril Toumanoff
suggested that the Chosroids were a branch of the Mihranid
princely family, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran, who were distantly related to the Sassanids, and whose two other branches were soon placed on the thrones of Gogarene and Gardman
, the two Caucasian
principalities where the three nations – Armenians
, Albanians
, and Georgians
– commingled. The Georgian historian Giorgi Melikishvili
, however, doubted the Iranian origin of the Chosroids and considered them a local dynasty that had invented a mythological foreign ancestry, not an unusual thing in feudal genealogies. Either way, the Georgian tradition might have exaggerated Mirian's pedigree so as to make him the son of the Great King of Iran.
whose Armenian branch
was now in decline and the Georgian one had already been extinct.
As an Iranian vassal king, Mirian III (ruled 284-361), the founder of the Chosroid Dynasty, participated in the Sassanid war against the Roman Empire
. However, in the Peace of Nisibis
of 298, Rome was acknowledged its suzerainty over eastern Georgia, but recognized Mirian as the king of Iberia. Mirian quickly adapted to the change in the political fabric of Caucasia, and established close ties with Rome. This association was further enhanced after the female Christian missionary, Nino
, converted Mirian, his wife Nana and household into Christianity in or around 337. However, the Sassanids continued to vie with Rome for influence over Iberia, and succeeded in temporarily deposing Mirian's Romanophile successor, Sauromaces II
, in favor of the pro-Iranian Aspacures II
in 361. The Roman emperor Valens
intervened and restored Sauromaces to the throne in 370, although Aspacures’ son and successor, Mithridates III (r. 365-380), was permitted to retain control of the eastern part of the kingdom. However, by 380, the Sassanids had successfully reasserted their claims by reuniting Iberia under the authority of Aspacures III of Iberia
(r. 380-394) and began to extract tribute from the country. The Romans evidently admitted the loss of Iberia in the aftermath of the 387 Treaty of Acilisene with Iran. The growth of Iranian influence in eastern Georgia, including the promotion of Zoroastrianism
, was resisted by the Christian church and a part of the nobility, the invention of the Georgian alphabet
, a crucial instrument in the propagation of Christian learning, being the most important cultural legacy of this struggle. The Chosroid kings of Iberia, albeit Christian, remained generally loyal to their Iranian suzerains until Vakhang I Gorgasali (r. 447-522), perhaps the most popular Chosroid king of Iberia traditionally credited also with the foundation of Georgia’s modern-day capital Tbilisi
, reversed his political orientation in 482, bringing his state and church more into line with current Byzantine policy. He then led, in alliance with the Armenian prince Vardan I Mamikonian, an open revolt against the Sassanids and continued a desperate, but eventually unsuccessful, struggle until the end of his life.
died in 580, the Sassanids seized opportunity to abolish the monarchy, without much resistance from the Iberian aristocracy. Dispossessed of the crown, heirs of Vakhtang I remained in their mountain fortresses – the senior Chosroid branch in the province of Kakheti
, and the minor one, the Guaramids, in Klarjeti
and Javakheti
. A member of the latter branch, Guaram I
(r. 588-590), revolted, in 588, from the Sassanid rule and pledged his loyalty the Byzantine emperor Maurice
, being bestowed with the high Byzantine dignity
of curopalates
. He succeeded in restoring the autonomy of Iberia in the form of a presiding principate, a rearrangement that was accepted by Iran in the peace of 591, which divided Iberia between Byzantium and Iran at Tbilisi. Guaram's son and successor, Stephanus I (r. 590-627), transferred his allegiance to the Sassanids and reunited Iberia, eventually drawing a vigorous response from the Byzantine emperor Heraclius
(610-641), who, in alliance with the Khazars
, campaigned in Iberia and captured Tbilisi after an uneasy siege in 627. Heraclius I had Stephanus flayed alive and gave his office to the pro-Byzantine Chosroid prince Adarnase I of Kakheti
(r. 627-637/42).
Reinstated by Heraclius, the Chosroid dynasty were persistent in their pro-Byzantine line, but Stephanus II (637/642-c. 650) was forced to recognize himself a tributary to the Arab
Caliphate
which would eventually become a dominant regional power. Following the death of Adarnase II
(r. c. 650-684), the rival Guaramid branch, with Guaram II
(684-c. 693), regained power, and the elder Chosroid branch again withdrew into their appanages in Kakheti, where it produced a notable member, Archil
, a saint
of the Georgian Orthodox Church, martyred at the hands of the Arabs in 786. Upon Archil’s death, his elder son Iovane (died c. 799) evacuated to the Byzantine-dominated region of Egrisi
(Lazica) in western Georgia, while his younger son Juansher (r. 786-c. 807) remained in Kakheti and married Latavri, daughter of Prince Adarnase of Erusheti-Artani, the forefather of the Georgian Bagratid dynasty
.
The main Chosroid branch outlived its younger Guaramid line, extinct since 786, by two decades. With Juansher’s death in c. 807, it too died out. The Chosroid possessions in Kakheti were taken over by the local noble families who formed a succession of chorepiscopi down to the eleventh century, while the Guaramid estates passed to their relatives from the Bagratid dynasty.
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
of the kings and later of the presiding princes
Principate of Iberia
The Principate of Iberia is a conventional term applied to an aristocratic regime in early medieval Caucasian Georgia that flourished in the period of interregnum between the sixth and ninth centuries, when the leading political authority was exercised by a succession of princes...
of the early Georgian
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...
state of Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
, natively known as 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...
, from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Of Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
origin and a branch of the Mihranid House
House of Mihran
The House of Mihrān was a leading Iranian noble family , one of the Seven Great Houses of the Sassanid Persian Empire which claimed descent from the earlier Arsacid dynasty...
, the family accepted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
as their official religion c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
337, and maneuvered between the Byzantine Empire
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 Sassanid Iran to retain a degree of independence. After the abolition of the Iberian kingship by the Sassanids in c. 580, the dynasty survived in its two closely related, but sometimes competing princely branches – the elder Chosroid and the younger Guaramid
Guaramid Dynasty
The Guaramid Dynasty was the younger branch of the Chosroid royal house of Iberia . They ruled Iberia as presiding princes in the periods of 588-627, 684-748, and 779/780-786, three with the dignity of curopalates bestowed by the Byzantine imperial court.- History :This branch descended from the...
– down to the early ninth century when they were succeeded by 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...
on the throne of Iberia.
Origins
According to the early medieval Georgian tradition, the first Chosroid king Mirian III (Mihran)Mirian III of Iberia
Mirian III was a king of Iberia , contemporaneous to the Roman emperor Constantine I .According to the early medieval Georgian annals and hagiography, Mirian was the first Christian king of Iberia, converted through the ministry of Nino, a Cappadocian female missionary...
(ruled AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
284-361) was installed, through his marriage to an Iberian princess (daughter of the last Georgian Arsacid
Arsacid dynasty of Iberia
The Iberian Arsacids , a branch of the eponymous Parthian dynasty, ruled the ancient Georgian kingdom of Iberia from c. 189 until 284 AD, when they were succeeded by the Chosroid Dynasty.-History:...
king Aspacures I), on the throne of Iberia by his father whom the Georgian chronicles refer to as "Chosroes", Great King of Iran. This being during the rule of the Sassanid dynasty over Iran, it is assumed that the Iberian dynasty might have been related to the Sassanids. However, the exact kinship between the two dynasties remains unclear. The name Chosroes (Khusraw) was not used by the Iranian Sassanids till some time later; hence, either the Georgian annals are mistaken in the name of Mirian’s father, or "Chosroes" was taken as a general term meaning "king".
Professor 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...
suggested that the Chosroids were a branch of the Mihranid
House of Mihran
The House of Mihrān was a leading Iranian noble family , one of the Seven Great Houses of the Sassanid Persian Empire which claimed descent from the earlier Arsacid dynasty...
princely family, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran, who were distantly related to the Sassanids, and whose two other branches were soon placed on the thrones of Gogarene and Gardman
Gardman
Gardman was one of the eight districts of the ancient province of Utik' in the Kingdom of Armenia and simultaneously, together with the district of Tush, an Armenian principality. In the Early Middle Ages a feudal state of Gardman emerged on the area of Caucasian Albania...
, the two Caucasian
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...
principalities where the three nations – Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Albanians
Caucasian Albania
Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...
, and Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
– commingled. The Georgian historian Giorgi Melikishvili
Giorgi Melikishvili
Giorgi Melikishvili was a Georgian historian known for his fundamental works in the history of Georgia, Caucasia and the Middle East. He earned an international recognition for his research of Urartu....
, however, doubted the Iranian origin of the Chosroids and considered them a local dynasty that had invented a mythological foreign ancestry, not an unusual thing in feudal genealogies. Either way, the Georgian tradition might have exaggerated Mirian's pedigree so as to make him the son of the Great King of Iran.
Early Chosroids
The ascendance of the Mihranid lines to the thrones of Caucasia was, in fact, a manifestation of the victory of the Sassanids over what remained in the region of the Arsacid Dynasty of ParthiaParthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
whose Armenian branch
Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia
The Arsacid dynasty or Arshakuni dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 AD to 428 AD. Formerly a branch of the Iranian Parthian Arsacids, they became a distinctly Armenian dynasty. Arsacid Kings reigned intermittently throughout the chaotic years following the fall of the Artaxiad Dynasty...
was now in decline and the Georgian one had already been extinct.
As an Iranian vassal king, Mirian III (ruled 284-361), the founder of the Chosroid Dynasty, participated in the Sassanid war against the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. However, in the Peace of Nisibis
Peace of Nisibis
The peace treaty of Nisibis was concluded between the Roman and Sassanid Persian empires at Nisibis in 299. It ended the Roman–Sassanid war and enforced the Roman military exploits during the conflict...
of 298, Rome was acknowledged its suzerainty over eastern Georgia, but recognized Mirian as the king of Iberia. Mirian quickly adapted to the change in the political fabric of Caucasia, and established close ties with Rome. This association was further enhanced after the female Christian missionary, Nino
Saint Nino
Saint Nino , ), Equal to the Apostles in and the Enlightener of Georgia, was a woman who preached Christianity in Georgia....
, converted Mirian, his wife Nana and household into Christianity in or around 337. However, the Sassanids continued to vie with Rome for influence over Iberia, and succeeded in temporarily deposing Mirian's Romanophile successor, Sauromaces II
Sauromaces II of Iberia
Saurmag II |Latinized]] as Sauromaces), of the Chosroid Dynasty, was a king of Iberia from AD 361 to 363 and diarch from 370 to 378...
, in favor of the pro-Iranian Aspacures II
Aspacures II of Iberia
Aspacures II , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia from c. 363 to 365.His name, recorded by the contemporaneous historian Ammianus Marcellinus , is evidently a Latinized rendition of Varaz-Bakur or Varaz-Bakar of the later, early medieval, Georgian chronicles...
in 361. The Roman emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
intervened and restored Sauromaces to the throne in 370, although Aspacures’ son and successor, Mithridates III (r. 365-380), was permitted to retain control of the eastern part of the kingdom. However, by 380, the Sassanids had successfully reasserted their claims by reuniting Iberia under the authority of Aspacures III of Iberia
Aspacures III of Iberia
Aspacures III , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia from c. 380 to 394. He was the son and successor of Mirdat III and was married to the daughter of Trdat, his relative and successor. He is credited by the Georgian chronicles with the construction of the church of Tsilkani...
(r. 380-394) and began to extract tribute from the country. The Romans evidently admitted the loss of Iberia in the aftermath of the 387 Treaty of Acilisene with Iran. The growth of Iranian influence in eastern Georgia, including the promotion of Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
, was resisted by the Christian church and a part of the nobility, the invention of the Georgian alphabet
Georgian alphabet
The Georgian alphabet is the writing system used to write the Georgian language and other Kartvelian languages , and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus such as Ossetic and Abkhaz during the 1940s...
, a crucial instrument in the propagation of Christian learning, being the most important cultural legacy of this struggle. The Chosroid kings of Iberia, albeit Christian, remained generally loyal to their Iranian suzerains until Vakhang I Gorgasali (r. 447-522), perhaps the most popular Chosroid king of Iberia traditionally credited also with the foundation of Georgia’s modern-day capital Tbilisi
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...
, reversed his political orientation in 482, bringing his state and church more into line with current Byzantine policy. He then led, in alliance with the Armenian prince Vardan I Mamikonian, an open revolt against the Sassanids and continued a desperate, but eventually unsuccessful, struggle until the end of his life.
Later Chosroids
After Vakhtang I's death in 522, the family went in decline and exercised only a limited authority over Iberia, the government being effectively run by the Tbilisi-based Iranian viceroy through the compromise with local princes. When Bacurius III of IberiaBacurius III of Iberia
Bakur III |Latinized]] as Bacurius) was the last Chosroid king of Iberia upon whose death the Iberian monarchy was abolished by Sassanid Iran....
died in 580, the Sassanids seized opportunity to abolish the monarchy, without much resistance from the Iberian aristocracy. Dispossessed of the crown, heirs of Vakhtang I remained in their mountain fortresses – the senior Chosroid branch in the province of 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...
, and the minor one, the Guaramids, in Klarjeti
Klarjeti
Klarjeti was a province of ancient and medieval Georgia, which is currently part of the Artvin Province in northeastern Turkey. Klarjeti, the neighboring province of Tao and several other smaller districts constituted a larger region with shared history and culture conventionally known as...
and Javakheti
Javakheti
Javakheti is a historical region of the nation of Georgia, in the southeastern part of the country's Samtskhe-Javakheti province. Today it comprises the Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda municipal territories. It was historically bordered in the west with both sides of the Mtkvari river, in the north,...
. A member of the latter branch, Guaram I
Guaram I of Iberia
Guaram I was a Georgian prince, who attained to the hereditary rulership of Iberia and the Roman title of curopalates from 588 to c. 590. He is commonly identified with the Gorgenes of the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes....
(r. 588-590), revolted, in 588, from the Sassanid rule and pledged his loyalty the Byzantine emperor Maurice
Maurice (emperor)
Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...
, being bestowed with the high Byzantine dignity
Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy
The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative...
of curopalates
Curopalates
Kouropalatēs, Latinized as curopalates or curopalata and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time of Emperor Justinian I to that of the Komnenoi in the 12th century...
. He succeeded in restoring the autonomy of Iberia in the form of a presiding principate, a rearrangement that was accepted by Iran in the peace of 591, which divided Iberia between Byzantium and Iran at Tbilisi. Guaram's son and successor, Stephanus I (r. 590-627), transferred his allegiance to the Sassanids and reunited Iberia, eventually drawing a vigorous response from the Byzantine emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
(610-641), who, in alliance with 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...
, campaigned in Iberia and captured Tbilisi after an uneasy siege in 627. Heraclius I had Stephanus flayed alive and gave his office to the pro-Byzantine Chosroid prince Adarnase I of Kakheti
Adarnase I of Iberia
Adarnase I or Adrnerse , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 627 to 637/642....
(r. 627-637/42).
Reinstated by Heraclius, the Chosroid dynasty were persistent in their pro-Byzantine line, but Stephanus II (637/642-c. 650) was forced to recognize himself a tributary to 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...
Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
which would eventually become a dominant regional power. Following the death of Adarnase II
Adarnase II of Iberia
Adarnase II , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from c. 650 to 684/5. He is presumably the Iberian patrician mentioned in the 660s letter of Anastasius Apocrisarius pertaining to the martyrdom of Maximus the Confessor, and the prince Nerses whose revolt against Arabs is...
(r. c. 650-684), the rival Guaramid branch, with Guaram II
Guaram II of Iberia
Guaram II , of the Guaramid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 684/5 to c. 693.He was a hereditary duke of Klarjeti and Javakheti, and acquired the office of presiding prince of Iberia when his predecessor, Adarnase II of the Chosroid dynasty died in the struggle with the Khazars in...
(684-c. 693), regained power, and the elder Chosroid branch again withdrew into their appanages in Kakheti, where it produced a notable member, Archil
Archil of Kakheti
Archil was a Christian prince of the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti who flourished in the eighth century and was executed by the Arabs for having refused to convert to Islam...
, a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
of the Georgian Orthodox Church, martyred at the hands of the Arabs in 786. Upon Archil’s death, his elder son Iovane (died c. 799) evacuated to the Byzantine-dominated region of Egrisi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
(Lazica) in western Georgia, while his younger son Juansher (r. 786-c. 807) remained in Kakheti and married Latavri, daughter of Prince Adarnase of Erusheti-Artani, the forefather of the Georgian Bagratid dynasty
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...
.
The main Chosroid branch outlived its younger Guaramid line, extinct since 786, by two decades. With Juansher’s death in c. 807, it too died out. The Chosroid possessions in Kakheti were taken over by the local noble families who formed a succession of chorepiscopi down to the eleventh century, while the Guaramid estates passed to their relatives from the Bagratid dynasty.
Kings of Iberia
- Mirian IIIMirian III of IberiaMirian III was a king of Iberia , contemporaneous to the Roman emperor Constantine I .According to the early medieval Georgian annals and hagiography, Mirian was the first Christian king of Iberia, converted through the ministry of Nino, a Cappadocian female missionary...
, 284-361- Rev II, co-king 345-361
- Sauromaces IISauromaces II of IberiaSaurmag II |Latinized]] as Sauromaces), of the Chosroid Dynasty, was a king of Iberia from AD 361 to 363 and diarch from 370 to 378...
, 361-363, diarch 370-378 - Aspacures IIAspacures II of IberiaAspacures II , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia from c. 363 to 365.His name, recorded by the contemporaneous historian Ammianus Marcellinus , is evidently a Latinized rendition of Varaz-Bakur or Varaz-Bakar of the later, early medieval, Georgian chronicles...
, 363-365 - Mithridates III, 365-380, diarch 370-378
- Aspacures IIIAspacures III of IberiaAspacures III , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia from c. 380 to 394. He was the son and successor of Mirdat III and was married to the daughter of Trdat, his relative and successor. He is credited by the Georgian chronicles with the construction of the church of Tsilkani...
, 380-394 - Tiridates, 394-406
- Pharasmanes IV, 406-409
- Mithridates IV, 409-411
- ArchilArchil of IberiaArch'il , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia from c. 411 to 435. He was the son and successor of King Mirdat IV....
, 411-435 - Mithridates V, 435-447
- Vakhtang I, 447-522
- DachiDachi of IberiaDach'i , of the Chosroid Dynasty, was the king of Iberia reigning, according to a medieval Georgian literary tradition, for 12 years, from c. 522 to 534...
, 522-534 - Bacurius IIBacurius II of IberiaBakur II |Latinized]] as Bacurius), of the Chosroid Dynasty, was a king of Iberia from 534 to 547 A.D....
, 534-547 - Pharasmanes V, 547-561
- Pharasmanes VI, 561-?
- Bacurius IIIBacurius III of IberiaBakur III |Latinized]] as Bacurius) was the last Chosroid king of Iberia upon whose death the Iberian monarchy was abolished by Sassanid Iran....
, ?-580
Princes of Kakheti and Presiding Princes of Iberia
- Adarnase IAdarnase I of IberiaAdarnase I or Adrnerse , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 627 to 637/642....
, Prince of Kakheti, c. 580-637; Presiding Prince of Iberia, 627-637 - Stephanus I (II), Prince of Kakheti and Presiding Prince of Iberia, 637-c. 650
- Adarnase IIAdarnase II of IberiaAdarnase II , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from c. 650 to 684/5. He is presumably the Iberian patrician mentioned in the 660s letter of Anastasius Apocrisarius pertaining to the martyrdom of Maximus the Confessor, and the prince Nerses whose revolt against Arabs is...
, Prince of Kakheti and Presiding Prince of Iberia, c. 650-684 - Stephanus II, Prince of Kakheti, 685-736
- Mihr, Prince of Kakheti, 736-741
- Archil “the Martyr”Archil of KakhetiArchil was a Christian prince of the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti who flourished in the eighth century and was executed by the Arabs for having refused to convert to Islam...
, Prince of Kakheti, 736-786 - Iovane, Prince of Kakheti, 786-790
- Juansher, Prince of Kakheti, 786-807