Guaramid Dynasty
Encyclopedia
The Guaramid Dynasty was the younger branch of the Chosroid royal house
of Iberia
(Kartli
, eastern Georgia
). They ruled Iberia as presiding princes
(erismtavari) in the periods of 588-627, 684-748, and 779/780-786, three with the dignity of curopalates
bestowed by the Byzantine
imperial court.
, Odzrkhe
, and the western half of that of Tsunda, of which, however, they were soon deprived by the elder Chosroid line and left as Princes of Klarjeti and Javakheti
. Beginning with Leo's son Guaram I
(r. 588-c. 590), members of this house were Presiding Princes of Iberia in the years 588-627, 684-C.748, c.780-786, three with the dignity of curopalate bestowed by the Byzantine government.
The Guaramids were related through marriage with the leading princely houses of Georgia – the Chosroids, Nersianids
, and the Bagratids
. In the latter case, the marriage of Guaram III
(r. 779/780-786)’s daughter with the fugitive Bagratuni prince Vasak produced the new Bagrationi dynasty, which would later become the last and the most long-lasting ruling family of Georgia. The extinction of Guaramid line by the late 8th century allowed their Bagratid cousins to gather their inheritance in the former Guaramid estates once they themselves had come to power.
The tenth-century Georgian chronicler Sumbat Davitis-Dze
in his History of the Bagratids erroneously (or purposefully) identified the Guaramids as essentially Bagratid who allegedly came from the Holy Land
to settle in the Georgian lands.
Chosroid Dynasty
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...
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...
(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...
, 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...
). They ruled Iberia as 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...
(erismtavari) in the periods of 588-627, 684-748, and 779/780-786, three with the dignity 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...
bestowed by the 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...
imperial court.
History
This branch descended from the Iberian King Vakhtang I's son Leo, born of Vakhtang's second wife, Helena, a relative of the Byzantine emperor (485/6). Leo and his brother Mihrdat were given the western portion of the Kingdom of Iberia, composed of the duchies of KlarjetiKlarjeti
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...
, Odzrkhe
Odzrkhe
Odzrkhe or Odzrakhe was a historic fortified town and the surrounding area in what is now Abastumani, Samtskhe-Javakheti region, southern Georgia. According to medieval Georgian historic tradition, it was founded by the mythic hero Odzrakhos of the Kartlosid line. The ruins of old fortifications...
, and the western half of that of Tsunda, of which, however, they were soon deprived by the elder Chosroid line and left as Princes of Klarjeti 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,...
. Beginning with Leo's son 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-c. 590), members of this house were Presiding Princes of Iberia in the years 588-627, 684-C.748, c.780-786, three with the dignity of curopalate bestowed by the Byzantine government.
The Guaramids were related through marriage with the leading princely houses of Georgia – the Chosroids, Nersianids
Nersianid Dynasty
The Nersianids were an early medieval Georgian princely family. Appearing in the late 5th century, in the reign of King Vakhtang I of Iberia , they figure in the eighth as dukes of Inner Iberia and twice attained, in the persons of Adarnase III and his son Nerse, to the office of Presiding Prince ...
, and the 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...
. In the latter case, the marriage of Guaram III
Guaram III of Iberia
Guaram III , of the Guaramid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from before 693 to c. 748.Guaram III was bestowed with the Byzantine title of curopalates, and thus, must have succeeded his father or grandfather Guaram II shortly before 693, i.e., before the resurgent Caliphate ousted the...
(r. 779/780-786)’s daughter with the fugitive Bagratuni prince Vasak produced the new Bagrationi dynasty, which would later become the last and the most long-lasting ruling family of Georgia. The extinction of Guaramid line by the late 8th century allowed their Bagratid cousins to gather their inheritance in the former Guaramid estates once they themselves had come to power.
The tenth-century Georgian chronicler Sumbat Davitis-Dze
Sumbat Davitis-Dze
Sumbat Davitis-Dze , or Sumbat, son of David, in modern English transliteration, was the 11th-century Georgian chronicler who described in his The Life and Tale of the Bagratids the history of the Bagrationi Dynasty of Georgia from the beginnings until c. 1030. The Georgian scholar Ekvtime...
in his History of the Bagratids erroneously (or purposefully) identified the Guaramids as essentially Bagratid who allegedly came from the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
to settle in the Georgian lands.
Guaramid rulers of Iberia
- Guaram IGuaram I of IberiaGuaram 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....
(588-c. 590) - Stephanus I (c. 590-627)
- Guaram IIGuaram II of IberiaGuaram 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) - Guaram IIIGuaram III of IberiaGuaram III , of the Guaramid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from before 693 to c. 748.Guaram III was bestowed with the Byzantine title of curopalates, and thus, must have succeeded his father or grandfather Guaram II shortly before 693, i.e., before the resurgent Caliphate ousted the...
(c. 693-c. 748) - Stephanus III (779/780-786)