Who owns Caucasian Albania
To make our reasoning more substantive, let us first cite a note about Caucasian Albania prepared for the Great Soviet Encyclopedia by the famous Caucasian scholar Z.I. Yampolsky.It notes that Caucasian Albania was one of the most ancient states on the territory of eastern Transcaucasia. It was inhabited by diverse peoples, including the Albanians. The special place of Caucasian Albania in the Caucasus was also determined by the fact that the “gates of the Caucasus” were located on its territory (the city of Chola, in the region of modern Derbent), which was a bridge between Europe and Asia.
Archaeological excavations on the territory of Azerbaijan (in Mingechevir, Chukhurkabal, Sofulu, Kabala, Toprakhkala, Khynislakh, etc.), carried out at different times during the existence of the USSR, as well as information from ancient authors (Arrian, Pliny, Strabo, Appian, Plutarch, etc. ), many Armenian chroniclers (Favst, Yeghishe, Khorenatsi, Koryun, etc.) testify that at the end of the 1st millennium BC. NS. the population of Caucasian Albania was engaged in plow farming, pasture cattle breeding and various crafts. On this material basis, relations of early slave property developed, and a state arose, headed by the king and the chief priest. The moon was considered the supreme deity worshiped by the peoples of this state. The main city by the beginning of our era was Kabala. Its ruins have been preserved in the modern Kutkashen region of Azerbaijan.
In the 1st century. BC NS. the people of Caucasian Albania, together with the peoples of Armenia and Georgia, fought against the invasions of the ancient Romans in the Transcaucasus (the campaigns of Lucullus in 69-67 and Pompey in 66-65 BC). In the III-V centuries, Christianity was adopted in this state as a state religion. The Christian Church was headed by an autocephalous Albanian Catholicos. But in the 8th century, most of the population of Caucasian Albania was Muslim. During the 9th - 10th centuries, the Albanian princes managed to restore the royal power several times for a short time. Then most of the state's lands became part of the Azerbaijani feudal states - Shirvan and others.
It was established, according to Z.I. Yampolsky, that part of modern Azerbaijanis can be considered the descendants of the ancient population of Caucasian Albania. But due to certain historical circumstances, written monuments of Albania of local origin have survived to the present day, mainly in the ancient Armenian language.
No one doubts this fact. In the same way, what is indisputable for modern historical geography is that during the Middle Ages, Caucasian Albania covered almost the entire territory of the modern Azerbaijan Republic, Southern Dagestan and the Alazani Valley of Eastern Georgia.
The question of the border between Armenia and Caucasian Albania in the 1st century. BC NS. - IV century. n. NS. belongs to the category debated mainly by the scientists of Azerbaijan and Armenia. A common point of view in science is that the border ran along the Kura River; Azerbaijani scholars dispute it, claiming that the border ran along the Araks and, therefore, Albania also included Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and some adjacent regions.
At the same time, according to a number of Armenian scientists, the territories south of the Kura, between Lake Sevan and Araks, belonged to Armenians from the early times of the formation of the Armenian ethnos, from the 7th century BC. However, the prevailing view in academic circles is that Armenia occupied these territories with a non-Armenian population only in the 2nd century BC. That is why the famous publicist and writer Murad Aji exclaims in one of his essays: “As a geographer it amazes me that there is not even a description of the borders of Caucasian Albania. What territory did the country occupy? What people inhabited it? How did you live? And why did everything become unknown? These are important questions, they contain the key to understanding the causes of modern tragedies, which seem to be not related to each other, but are connected with the Caucasus, with its history. Indeed, how to judge the Chechen war or the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, not knowing the events that preceded them? "
This is how cleverly the popular Caucasian publicist throws a "logical bridge" from distant antiquity and the Middle Ages to modern geopolitics. Here everything turns out like Goebbels, who declared that history for him is just a basket of papers, from which he pulls out "everything he needs."
It is possible, for example, with reference to "objective, scientific coverage of the questions posed", to prove that the peoples of Transcaucasia for many centuries lived side by side and maintained the closest political, economic and spiritual relations and together, shoulder to shoulder, fought for their independence. And you can also focus on the problem "which of the peoples should belong to the historical heritage of Caucasian Albania." Unfortunately, in the Caucasus, under conditions of aggravation of interethnic relations, the influence of many external factors on the development of events, history ceases to be a science.
Arguments and counterarguments
Basically, a heated debate around the problems of Caucasian Albania is being conducted among themselves by Azerbaijani and Armenian historians. Understanding the risk of any historical interpretation of existing problems, we will only state the indicated theses, without going into polemics.So, Azerbaijani historians, like their Armenian colleagues, continue to "work out" the theses of Stalinist historiography about the need to prove the autochthonous origin of their peoples. Remember how at one time in the USSR they tried to "prove" that "Russia is the homeland of elephants." In this sense, the Transcaucasian national historiography looks, on the whole, provincial, although it clothe itself with science.
In this case, some peculiarities appear. After the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan, for example, raised its departure from Russia, with which it coexisted for three hundred years, to the rank of a national liberation movement. But when, through the efforts of the US State Department, the term "Greater Middle East" was introduced into big politics and Western historiography, Azerbaijan faced a new problem of national identification. It became necessary to "scientifically" determine the problems of the conquests of the Ottoman and Persian empires in Transcaucasia, in which the Azerbaijani state formations (khanates, sultanates) never had the status of independence.
And after the US and NATO undertook a "crusade" in the Muslim East (Iraq, Afghanistan), it was Washington that first spoke about the possibility of the so-called "fragmentation of the Greater Middle East." Therefore, one has to read with surprise some conclusions of authoritative Baku specialists, which, referring to the “incorrect reflection of the historically formed socio-economic, socio-cultural and ethnic parameters of the region by modern Russian historians, do not include the northeastern regions of Turkey (Ily Kars, Ardahan, Artvin, Igdir, etc.) and the north-western regions of Iran (the ostans of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan) ”. According to Azerbaijani specialists, these areas "for many centuries (before the conquest of the Caucasus by Russia) were in the same socio-economic and ethnocultural area, where mainly Caucasian peoples live today, which allows us to consider them" Caucasian "regions of these countries, as well as Caucasian region of Russia ".
The most curious thing is that Azerbaijan continues to be confident that the world community already considers Armenia (along with Azerbaijan and Georgia) in the group of "South Caucasian" states as the same type, including them in the Central Caucasus. "
But the fact is that Turkey is still denied admission to the EU. Moreover, the problem of preserving its territorial integrity (Kurdistan) has arisen to its full extent, scenarios for the formation of three states on the territory of Iraq are becoming real, there are scenarios for the division of Afghanistan. That is why, in the emerging geopolitical context, a real renaissance is taking place in regional historiography, in which the options for the emergence of new state formations in the "Greater Middle East" and in the Caucasus are played out on historical material.
In this sense, the evolution of Armenian historiography is more consistent and logical. Having lost their statehood in the early Middle Ages, the Armenians, as an ethnos, not only preserved themselves, but also consistently went to the reconstruction of their country, entering into various conceivable and inconceivable military-political alliances. In May 1918, after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Seim, the independence of Armenia was proclaimed. Its statehood was preserved in the future. Currently, Armenia, already in a new status, skillfully maneuvers at a broad political and diplomatic level, knows how to draw the attention of the world community to the problems of its national history (genocide), and skillfully appeals to the Christian values accepted in the West.
At the same time, Yerevan remains a strategic partner of Russia along with an active Western policy. Therefore, the existing level of "scientific polemics" around the problems of Caucasian Albania is of an opportunistic, political nature. Instead of changing the vectors of the historical discussion, for example, developing theses about Russian-Azerbaijani relations, along with relations with Iran and Turkey, Baku historians "get bogged down" in the problems of Caucasian Albania and "stew in their own juice." Indeed, by and large, there is no need to convince the Azerbaijanis themselves of their national exclusiveness and antiquity. As for the global perception of these problems, the situation here is somewhat different.
Now let us ponder over the basic postulates of the controversy put forward by Azerbaijani historians. It is about the exaltation of the Albanians as their supposed ancestors with access to a territorial dispute with Armenia. Moreover, some Azerbaijani researchers place Caucasian Albania on the territory of the present Republic of Armenia (the Antrapatena problem is introduced). In such descriptions, all lands, churches and monasteries in the Republic of Armenia in the blink of an eye become Albanian.
As for the adoption of Christianity by Armenia in the IV century, this fact is transferred a thousand kilometers south of today's Armenia, to the Euphrates River. That is, by doing so, the Bakuvians “open” “new horizons” for Yerevan already in the southern direction. And what is also important: in this case, historians do not do without elements of "conspiracy theories." Describing, for example, the main written monuments of the Albanian civilization, they claim that all of them were allegedly deliberately destroyed by the Armenians - first together with the Arabs, and then during the so-called second campaign for the systematic destruction of written sources already in the 19th century.
And in order to fulfill the "laws of the genre", we will cite one more incidental case.
In late 2005 - early 2006 in the Azerbaijani academic environment and society, a new book by Azerbaijani historian Farida Mammadova "Caucasian Albania and Albanians" was vividly discussed. This work was criticized, and the author himself, right in the spirit of the 30s of the last century, was branded as a "traitor to the Motherland" and "Armenian spy". And all because of the fact that Mamedova placed in her monograph the historical map “Albania and neighboring countries in the II-I centuries. BC BC ", which indicated the state of Great Armenia.
As for the Armenian historians, their arguments are more straightforward. They proceed from the thesis established in modern historiography (for example, A. Novoseltsev), which says that there were no “ancient Azerbaijanis” in the Transcaucasus in the first centuries of the spread of Christianity and until the 11th century, and the Turkic-speaking Azerbaijanis themselves were never Christians. In particular, referring to the question of the time when the Turkic ethnic element appeared in the Transcaucasus, Armenian historians draw attention to two very important circumstances. Firstly, the Azerbaijani language belongs to the Oghuz group of the Turkic languages. Therefore, the Khazars and other Türks, whose penetration into Transcaucasia can be said before the 11th century, belong to completely different groups of the Türkic language family.
Secondly, in their opinion, the specific data of the sources, painting the ethnic picture of the Transcaucasus until the 11th century, do not report anything about any significant and stable mass of Turks in Azerbaijan. In this regard, for example, the Russian historian A. Novoseltsev, referring to the works of V.V.Bartold, A. Ali-zade and other researchers, connects the change in the ethnic appearance of the eastern Transcaucasia and the beginning of the formation of the Turkic-speaking Azerbaijani people only with the invasion of the Oguzes in the 11th century. “We can say with confidence,” notes A. Novoseltsev, “that everything that in the territorial aspect belongs to the right bank of the Kura River, that is, to the northeastern edge of Armenia, has nothing in common with either Caucasian Albania or the Albanians. and everything that chronologically precedes the 11th century, that is, the invasion of the Turkic-speaking Oguz tribes into the Transcaucasus, has nothing to do with the Azerbaijani people. " It turns out that finding the so-called "Albanian roots" in the ethnogenesis of modern Azerbaijanis is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
By the way, modern Turkish historiography also works in favor of this thesis, which does not deny in the early Middle Ages the "arrival of the Turks" from Central Asia to Asia Minor. Although the Turkization of this region began partly in the pre-Seljuk era, under the Abbasids, when the Turks were involved in the protection of the borders with Byzantium: Karluks, Kipchaks, Pechenegs, Oguzes, etc. its unusual historical past of numerous foreign tourists.
But the point is not only in the controversy between the researchers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The study of the cultural heritage of Caucasian Albania has undergone significant changes in recent years, including in connection with new approaches and discoveries in this area. The practice of applying the new norms also highlighted a number of problematic points that are unlikely to find a proper solution due to the sharp politicization of the problem.
In May 2007, a conference dedicated to the ethnocultural heritage of Caucasian Albania was held in Baku. The Baku symposium is considered the third attempt by scientists from both post-Soviet and foreign scientific schools to lift the veil of secrets over the mysterious country of Caucasian Albania. Opening this symposium, Arif Kerimov, President of the Federal Lezghin National-Cultural Autonomy, uttered the “iconic” words: “We are united by Caucasian Albania, the historical heritage should not suffer from any political claims that are undoubtedly detrimental to cultural interaction. The humanities should not be a hostage to politics, let alone its servant. An objective scientific approach is needed here. " And the doctor of historical sciences, professor of the Dagestan State University Murtuzali Gadzhiev on behalf of the leadership of the DSC RAS and the leadership of the DGU called for an active dialogue between historians of the countries of the Eastern Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia and Dagestan.
Following Baku, the problems of statehood in Albania were also discussed at a symposium in Yerevan. However, as the news agencies reported at the time, scientific and political discussions of the problems of ethnocultural and territorial succession of the ancient state called Caucasian Albania were updated there. It was about attempts to determine the ethnic composition, culture, border of this state. As the famous Armenian historian Vladimir Barkhudaryan stated in this regard, the discussion was about "the tendencies of using historical factors for political purposes, as well as the study of the common life of three states - Armenia, Georgia and Albania, the writing of which appeared almost simultaneously". At the same time, it was stated that Caucasian Albania is the first confederate state of related tribes, which existed for 1200 years.
Then the controversy of scientists was transferred to Moscow. On May 14-15, 2008, the capital of Russia hosted the International Scientific Symposium "Caucasian Albania and the Lezgin Peoples: Historical and Cultural Heritage and Modernity" cultural autonomy. The symposium was attended by over 100 representatives from Russia, Austria, Armenia, Georgia, Switzerland, etc.
The very fact of holding a symposium on this topic caused strong protests in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani press defined the meaning of the discussion of the history and culture of Ancient Albania outside the “Turkic” context as follows: “As you can see, Russia seeks to exacerbate interethnic relations in the north of Azerbaijan. An attempt is made to attribute history, cultural heritage, folklore, monuments of Caucasian Albania to the Lezgins. Thus, the Lezghins form the opinion that they owned a large state on the territory of Azerbaijan. This sends a signal to the Lezgins that they must return the land "belonging to them by historical right." In this regard, some Azerbaijani media described the Moscow conference as a provocation organized by the Russian and Armenian special services.
Captured by historical complexes
Where does such a "political complex" come from and why does the controversy around the "legacy of the Caucasian Tsar Pea" cause such a painful reaction in Baku? The answer is simple. It is well remembered in Azerbaijan that the Karabakh armed conflict was preceded by a massive information-analytical attack undertaken by the then “Soviet” Armenian historians regarding the historical heritage of Caucasian Albania. The first syndromes of this offensive were felt by Heydar Aliyev, who was then the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan. In this regard, he repeatedly appealed to the ideological department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, but at the same time “subtly” orienting Baku historians to “fight against the Armenian falsification of the history of Azerbaijan”. Therefore, by the time the armed conflict in Karabakh began, a sufficient amount of “explosive historical material” had been accumulated in the national historiography of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and as a consequence - in the public consciousness of the two neighboring peoples. That is why Azerbaijan, in the desire of researchers to more thoroughly study the phenomenon of Caucasian Albania, sees another danger for itself.Especially in the part when the Armenian historiography has recently begun to "work out" the principles of "focal civilization", meaning the Armenian-Udi (Armenian-Lezghin) union, allegedly destroyed by Islam. At the same time, it is argued that it was the Armenian-Lezgin-Christian element that was the main ethnic and spiritual basis of Caucasian Albania, "which, from the geopolitical, geo-economic and geostrategic points of view, played a significant role in the history of not only Armenia and the Caucasus, but also Byzantium." Moreover, it turns out that the Armenians in Caucasian Albania increasingly associated themselves with the local Armenian-Udi (Albanian) Christian world, while the rest of the Lezghins associated themselves with Islam. When, in the course of the Islamization of the Caucasus, the Armenian-Udi component disappeared, this also led to the disappearance of the Albanian state.
Thus, playing "ethnic cards" on the historical site of Caucasian Albania leads any historically unprepared reader to serious geopolitical conclusions. For example, why not add Nagorno-Karabakh and some of the North Caucasian peoples to it along with the recently published idea of creating an Armenian-Georgian confederation in the Transcaucasus. Then the new "Republic of Caucasian Albania" would receive a powerful historical-ideological and religious-political impetus for further independent geopolitical development and expansion up to the Caspian Sea. In the long term, such an approach would make it possible to ideologically and geographically define geopolitical competitors in the struggle for the eastern Caucasus in the event that the restless Islamic South starts an offensive in the North.
True, the described threat from the South is far-fetched. But the development of a new historical and political concept of development in this direction seems to continue. That is why the ancient Caucasian Albania is being torn to pieces. Historians of Azerbaijan. Armenia, Georgia, some North Caucasian peoples are trying to take away the remaining scanty material, political and ideological legacy to their “national apartments”. At the same time, the following picture is displayed in the spirit of the Western concept of the "clash of civilizations": Caucasian Albania is a continuation of the Christian world in the Caucasian region. And the emergence of Islam in the Caucasus is portrayed as "the curtailment of the renovationist humanistic process."
It is clear that Baku is closely following the political and historical tendencies that are becoming widespread in historiography. What's the answer? For example, Eldar Ismailov, director of the Institute for Strategic Studies of the Caucasus, chairman of the editorial board of the Central Asia and the Caucasus magazine, in a summary to one of his articles, proposed his counter-concept: to contribute to the formation of the Caucasus region as an independent subject of global politics and economy. For this, in his opinion, it is necessary to structure the socio-economic space of the Caucasus, including the North, Central and South Caucasus, to choose Azerbaijan and Georgia as the integrating core of the region. And for the full implementation of this project, to begin the process of integration of the states of the Central Caucasus and Central Asia in the system of world economic relations, in order, ultimately, to form a Central Eurasian regional union.
Epilogue
The Caucasus is located at the crossroads of continents. Under constant pressure from both the south and the north, the peoples of this region were able to create, preserve and develop a kind of culture. The vitality of traditions is one of the most striking and striking features of the culture that developed in ancient times in the Caucasus, and to this day cannot but admire the uniqueness of an objectively minded researcher. One of the greatest features of the history of the Caucasus lies in the fact that it served as an intermediary between the civilizations of the East and West, enriching the world civilization. In this sense, the Caucasus remains practically unexplored. Plunging into the Caucasus means being ready to discover the mysteries of the past, enriching yourself with new knowledge. But the main thing is to properly dispose of this knowledge, not to make a weapon out of history that would shoot into the future.Caucasian Albania is a confederate state of 26 Albanian-speaking (read: Caucasian-speaking) tribes. It was formed in the 4th century. BC, after the fall of the ancient Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids in 330 BC. Most of the countries of the Near and Middle East were under the rule of the Achaemenids (558–330 BC). In all likelihood, Transcaucasia was also in the sphere of influence of this kingdom. The victories of Alexander the Great over the Persian king Darius III under Grannik in 334 and under Issus in 333 led to the suppression of the Achaemenid dynasty and the fall of their state in 330. Naturally, under these favorable conditions, a confederate polyethnic and multilingual state - Caucasian Albania was formed. The ethnic groups that were part of the union were aware of their blood (historically generic) and linguistic community. This was the strength of the 26 tribes, united into a state with more than a thousand years of history (IV – III centuries BC - IX – X centuries AD).
Caucasian Albania, possessing rich natural resources and favorable climatic conditions, constantly maintained economic and cultural ties with the Near and Middle East. These ancient contacts with Iranian, Semitic-Hamitic (Afrasian) peoples and languages were reflected in material culture, in languages and in the spiritual sphere.
Unfortunately, the history, economy, culture, beliefs of Caucasian Albania are very poorly covered in science, and the works that exist on these issues are largely contradictory, incorrectly polemical. After the collapse of Caucasian Albania, feudal states with their kings, nutsals, sultans, khans and other rulers, as well as free societies, were formed on an ethno-linguistic basis.
Caucasian Albania (in Armenian historiography - Aghvania) was left without successors, an “orphan”. Everyone treats her at his own whim, sometimes she is “pitied” and “caressed”, and sometimes she is pulled to pieces; disagreements erupt between heirs and non-heirs over the right to inherit "property".
The most unexplored in the history of Caucasian Albania are its spirituality, its beliefs, languages, writing and written traditions, culture and values associated with it. Until this side is investigated, Caucasian Albania remains a mystery for historians.
There is a wise saying: if you want to know the essence of a person, make him speak. Indeed, if you want to know the essence (truth) of Caucasian Albania, make it speak, enter into a dialogue. There are ample opportunities for this: man-made monuments of Caucasian Albania have been preserved. These living witnesses will tell us a lot of unknowns.
Economically, in terms of natural resources, territorially, in terms of climatic conditions, in terms of living standards, Caucasian Albania, to put it modestly, was not inferior to its neighbors - Armenia and Georgia. She was not inferior to them in the spiritual sphere. The values of the Near and Middle East were part of her values: belief in one God (in Zoroastrianism - in Ahuramazda, in Judaism - in Yahweh). The Albanian-speaking, that is, the mountainous Caucasian-speaking, or East Caucasian peoples, especially in the metropolis (Kuro-Alazani and Samur valleys), professed Zoroastrianism, and as islands - and Judaism.
Christianity in Caucasian Albania began to establish itself from the moment of its appearance, that is, from the first century. Apostle Thaddeus and his disciple Elisha were active in missionary work in Caucasian Albania.
In Caucasian Albania, in its metropolis, in the historical homeland of the Lezgin-speaking peoples, Christian shrines of a high level of monumental architecture have survived to this day. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, the shrines of Zoroastrianism and Christianity in Caucasian Albania still coexisted. Elements of Zoroastrianism in civil construction among the Tsakhurs were present until the 30s of the 20th century: in the living rooms, a special niche was left in the wall for storing fire. Before the advent of electricity, a lighted lamp was left in this niche; it was extinguished only during the day, at sunrise, and at sunset it was again lit.
In the fire, man saw sacred power. Many peoples in the history of mankind professed the cult of fire. It is also present in various variations in the rituals of monotheistic religions. You come to God's temple - the church, and light a candle; in Islam, evil forces are expelled by fire or a wedding procession is consecrated with lamps. The legacy of antiquity is the Olympic flame, a traditional attribute (since 1936) of the Olympic Games, lit by the sun in Olympia and delivered by a relay to the grand opening of the Games.
Before the establishment of Christianity in Caucasian Albania, there were temples of sacred fire and servants of these temples. Fire has always been symbolically associated with the sun. In architecture, the Tsakhurs and Rutuls still retain the symbol of the sun as a source of life and light.
And nevertheless, Christianity, by the power of God's word from the mouth of the Apostle Thaddeus and his disciple Elisha, already in the 1st century A.D. finds fertile ground in Caucasian Albania. The temple founded by Thaddeus and completed by Elisha in the village of Kish was built on the foundations of an older temple, most likely a temple of the sacred fire.
Kish is an ancient village of Yikis-Albanians (modern Rutuls, formerly part of the free society of Khinovites; the village of Khin is located behind the pass in the Greater Caucasus at the beginning of the Charagan-Akhty Chai River, the right tributary of the Samur), located more than seven kilometers from the city of Sheki to the side The Greater Caucasus.
In recent years, the village of Kish has regained its former glory: the oldest (perhaps the first) Christian apostolic church in the Caucasus has been studied and restored. The leadership of Azerbaijan has recently begun to pay serious attention to the history and spiritual values of Caucasian Albania; The Republic of Azerbaijan has finally declared itself as the legal successor to the heritage of Caucasian Albania. This is the truth: without the past, there is no present. An Azerbaijani-Norwegian project was implemented (with the participation of the famous scientist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl) for the study, restoration and museumification of the apostolic temple in Kish (2000-2003). And now, active work continues to identify the possibility of restoring Christian shrines of Caucasian Albania in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
There are many Christian shrines in the Republic of Dagestan. It would be worth at the level of two sovereign states - the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan - to create a joint project for the study and restoration (at least selectively) of the Christian shrines of Caucasian Albania, to include them in the list of protected cultural values. Dagestan (RD), along with Azerbaijan, is the direct successor of the heritage of Caucasian Albania. It is indisputable that Caucasian Albania, already from the 1st century AD, gradually became Christian, and in 313 under King Urnayri, Christianity was declared its official religion.
There are works describing the Christian world of Caucasian Albania. They convincingly show that Christianity in Caucasian Albania, in its metropolis for a long time was the main (perhaps the only) religion. Yikis-Albanians (primarily the ancestors of modern Tsakhurs, Rutuls, Kryzov, Budukhs), Kyurintsy, Aguls, Tabasarans, Udins lived by the canons of Christianity, according to which they created and developed their Christian culture: theological and secular literature, jurisprudence, opened schools, prepared clergy. The Albanian church had a rich material base, the clergy constituted the elite part of the population. The affairs of the church were controlled by the clergy in the person of the independent Albanian Catholicosate, the military and ruling laity did not have supremacy over the Church, did not have the right to interfere in its affairs. The church was also endowed with land ownership.
Christian shrines of Caucasian Albania have mainly been preserved from Derbent to the west, towards the Kuro-Alazani Valley. They are very compactly represented (and have survived to this day) in the Sheki-Kakhsko-Zagatala zone.
In the IV-VII centuries. the role of Derbent as a center of Christian culture in Caucasian Albania was great, but from the VIII century. Derbent is becoming a stronghold for the spread of Islam in the mountains of Dagestan and the entire North Caucasus. According to legend, and according to the testimony of architects, modern Juma mosque in Derbent in the past it was a church, later reconstructed.
Positions of the Christian Church until the 16th century inclusive were strong among the Tsakhurs, although from 1075 the first madrasah in the Caucasus worked in Tsakhur. It is surprising that the Islamization of Dagestan for a number of reasons dragged on for almost a millennium. The Arab conquests in Dagestan ceased at the beginning of the 9th century, and Islam, despite the military and economic pressure from the Caliphate, had established itself by this time only in a fifth of the region. The subsequent Islamization of Dagestan was no longer associated with the Arabs, but with the Seljuk Turks, who, in a compact settlement, mastered the territory of Caucasian Albania and other regions.
A simple list of Christian shrines from Sheki towards Kakhi, Zagatala and Belokana , as well as in the upper reaches of the Samur clearly shows that Christianity among the peoples of this region was at one time the only guideline in spirituality, they fully lived by the values of Christianity.
Below we give the names of localities (villages) in western Caucasian Albania, where the dilapidated shrines of Christianity have been preserved:
1. Sheki region: Bideiz - a dilapidated small Albanian church (AC), Bash-Kyungut - on the outskirts of the village there is also a small AC, Orta-Zeydit - not far from the village on the AC mountain; the architectural structure has been preserved; there are two chapels nearby; the village of Dzhalut (now the Oguz region, during the years of the USSR it was called the Vartashen region. Udins mainly lived in Vartashen, some of whom left for the Russian Federation in the 90s of the XX century. Udins are one of the ancient peoples of Caucasian Albania, they preserved Christianity) - the ruins of the ancient AC; its construction, like the construction of the church in Kish, is associated with the name of St. Elisha, which means that the church was built in the 1st century BC. according to R. Kh .; on the southern outskirts of Shin (a rutulo-speaking village, in the past it was one free society with the village of Barch) at the foot of the Greater Caucasus, towards the Shinsko-Salavat pass, west of Sheki, a small church-chapel has been preserved; it is heavily overgrown with dense forest, but the walls are well preserved; perhaps, in the distant past, there was a place where the "sacred fire" was kept.
2. Kakh region: the largest number of Christian shrines is preserved here in the villages where Tsakhurs live; the Kuma Basilica, the pearl of the Christian shrines of Caucasian Albania, stands out here V-VII centuries; the church is located in the center of the village of Qum (Russian transliteration - Qum); the walls and columns of the building have been preserved; it is a revered temple, a shrine of both the inhabitants of the village of Qum and the surrounding settlements (all of them are Tsakhur-speaking). Researchers are evaluating Kuma Basilica as the most archaic. In all other villages of the region (Kakhi, Lekida, Zarna, Gulluke , Chinare, Mukhakhe, etc.) also preserved dilapidated churches of Caucasian Albania. In Qom, in addition to the main one described above, there were other churches, according to the testimony of architects, very original, possibly more ancient than the Cathedral Church of Kuma of the 5th century.
In the Kakh region, among the shrines of Caucasian Albania, the only Lekid monastery in Caucasian Albania stands out (see the color insert between pages 96 and 105). It occupies a dominant height among the surrounding Tsakhur villages; this height forms a plateau at the foot of the Greater Caucasus, convenient for the monastery. The entire complex of the monastery is surrounded by a wall, near
the entrance to the monastery, a huge stone with a cross is mounted in the wall. Inside the monastery, about 200-250 meters from the gate, the dilapidated religious and economic buildings of the monastery have been preserved: two churches, five chapels, underground storage of rice and other products. These storages are striking in depth (more than 5-6 meters), finished with special construction cement, which does not lend itself to moisture and is extremely resistant (among Tsakhurs it is known as qiraj and, apparently, borrowed from the Greeks in connection with the construction of Christian churches from the 1st century AD; other loanwords from Greek in construction vocabulary: kIparameterI‘Shingles’, kyr'Resin for roofing'. The ruins of residential and household buildings have been preserved inside the monastery. There is no doubt that the monastery possessed great wealth, in particular arable land for growing cereals (mainly wheat of various varieties - winter and spring, corn, rice), summer and winter pastures for keeping sheep and cattle, hazelnut plantations, walnut groves walnut and chestnut; there were also orchards and melons.
From the Lekid monastery to the south, on the slope of the mountain, lies the Tsakhur village of Lekid, whose scholars are known in the Muslim world of both Dagestan and the Near and Middle East. To the north of the monastery is the Tsakhur village of Lekid-Kutyuklu. The shrines of the Lekid monastery are directly connected with the Mamrukh temple - an outstanding shrine of Caucasian Albania.
3. In the Zagatala region, the Mamrukh temple (see color insert between pages 96 and 105) stands out. It is located on the pass between the Tsakhur villages of Mamrukh - Zarna - Dzhynykh (Gullug). Mamrukh belongs to the Zakatala region, Zarna and Dzhinykh (Gullug) to the Kakh region. The Mamrukh temple is located at an altitude of 1600-1700 m above sea level. The mountain is covered with dense forest characteristic of this zone: oak, elm, walnut, chestnut, fig, dogwood, cherry plum, apple tree, pear, etc. The temple was protected by fortress walls. It was built earlier than the Lekid temple (before the official date of the adoption of Christianity in 313). One of the most revered among the shrines of Caucasian Albania, the temple was subjected to multiple robberies. Two chapels have survived in the center of the village of Mamrukh, and a mosque has been built not far from them. It is likely that there used to be a church where it was built. The Mamrukh temple is directly connected with the village of Attal, located in the upper reaches of the Samur at an altitude of 1800-2000 m above sea level. Mamrukh and Attal form one community (jamat).
In Attal, two slabs with Albanian script with ornamented graphics, executed very skillfully, are inserted into the wall of a house. On the sides on both sides there are crosses described in the special literature. Attal also has a Christian cemetery from the early Middle Ages.
In June 2009, in Attal (Rutulsky District, Republic of Dagestan), while preparing a foundation pit for a house, a local stone with graphemes close to the Albanian alphabet was found (see color insert between pages 96 and 105).
The Attal inscription replenishes the list of known epigraphic monuments of Albanian writing from Mingechaur and other monuments of Albanian studies (the Caucasian-Albanian alphabet found by I. Abuladze in 1937 in Matenadaran, the find of the Armenianist A. Kudryan in the USA in 1956, Sinai palimpsests of Albanian texts found Professor Z. Aleksidze at the end of the 20th century).
Christian shrines in the Zagatala and Belokan regions should also be noted: the church in Mukhakh, which was also a political center: the rulers of the Tsakhur Khanate / Sultanate met here, in the Church of Mukhakh, with the Albanian Catholicos on domestic and foreign policy of the Khanate / Sultanate and free societies; ruins of small churches in Kabiz-Dera (Avars live), Mazim-Garay (Belokansky district, Avars live). To the west of Mukhakh, Christian shrines of the KA are rare.
The Christian world of Caucasian Albania, its relics that have come down to the XXI century, deserve the close attention of mankind; lives in them Spirit Savior. The Lekida cult ensemble of Christianity should be included in the UNESCO list of protected objects, restored and preserved for mankind: “The temple in Lekida, located in the extreme northeast of Christian culture even before the Arab conquests, can help in solving one of the most important problems in the history of world architecture(our italics - G. And.) - the question of the formation and development of buildings with a domed square, which gave the idea of the Constantinople Hagia Sophia ”.
I am sure that there will be sponsors who will come to the aid of the priceless shrines of Caucasian Albania, and that they will be preserved as pearls of world culture.
Ibragimov G. Christianity among the Tsakhurs (Yikians-Albanians) // Alpha and Omega. 1999. No. 1 (19). S. 170-181; Ibragimov G. Kh. The riddle of history - will it be solved // Theoretical and methodological problems of national-Russian bilingualism. Makhachkala, 2009, pp. 115–130.
The study “Christian World of Caucasian Albania” was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation within the framework of the project “Tsakhur-Russian Dictionary” (project No. 09-04-00495).
This state arose in the territories of Azerbaijan, southern Dagestan and Georgia at the end of the 2nd century BC. The borders are not exactly known, the most controversial is the issue of the border between Caucasian Albania and Armenia, and most importantly - about the lands of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Name
The name Caucasian Albania (Alvania) appeared in the 1st century AD. Its origin is not fully understood. Some historians believe that the Romans were involved in its appearance (in Latin "albus" means white), because this name is found in the Balkans, in Italy and even in Scotland, which in ancient times was called Albania. The largest of the Scottish islands is called Arran - this is how Caucasian Albania was called after its conquest by the Arabs.
Others believe that the Romans only gave a Latin sound to some local name of the country. Armenian historians of the 5th-7th centuries assumed that the word came from the name of the ruler, whose name was either Alla or Aran. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Azerbaijani historian Bakikhanov suggested that the ethnonym appeared from the name of the people "Albanians", which included the concept of "white" (albi), as a "free man".
Population
For the first time, Albanians are mentioned in the time of Alexander the Great by the historian Lucius Flavius Arianus. According to him, the Albanians fought on the side of the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC.
It is known that initially the Albanians were a union of 26 different tribes who spoke different dialects of Lezghin. They began to be called Albanians because it was this tribe that initiated the unification. Among the tribes were Gargars, Udins, Chilbi, Lezgins, Lpins and Silvas. All of them lived on the lands between Iberia and the Caspian Sea, inhabited the foothills of the Greater Caucasus and the territory of Dagestan.
Language
The Gargars were the most numerous tribe among the Albanians. Based on their language, an alphabet was created, in which there were 52 simple graphemes and two digraphs. In addition to the Lezgi languages, Albania spoke Middle Persian, Armenian and Parthian. Albanian was gradually supplanted by the Turkic dialects, Armenian and Georgian.
Archaeologists have found several samples of Albanian writing, which date back to the 7th-8th centuries. So, in the Christian monastery of St. Helena on the Sinai Peninsula in 1996, a text in Albanian of 120 pages was found. A Georgian text was written on top of it. The text has now been decrypted and published.
Religion
In ancient times, the Albanians were pagans, they worshiped the sun and the moon and made human sacrifices to the gods. Zoroastrianism actively penetrated from Persia to Albania. The spread of Christianity is associated with the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, who was brutally murdered in the city of Alban, and with the preaching of Saint Elisha, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus, better known as Elishe. Christianity became the official religion of Albania from the beginning of the 4th century. During the period of Arab rule, Mohammedanism penetrated the country, and gradually spread everywhere.
History
By about the middle of the 1st century. BC. the union of tribes was transformed into a state headed by a king. The capital of Albania until the 6th century was Kabala (destroyed by the Persians in the 6th century). For the first time, Caucasian Albania as a separate country was mentioned by the Roman historian Strabo, who in his 17-volume "Geography" pointed out that the country lies between the Kura River and the Caspian Sea.
In the III - I centuries BC. On the territory of Albania, there was a Yaloylupetin culture, whose people were engaged in winemaking and cultivated the land. Here are found characteristic burial mounds, burials in jugs and tombs. During the excavations, iron knives and daggers, arrowheads and spearheads, sickles, gold jewelry, and ceramics were found.
In 66 BC. the country was invaded by the Roman consul Gnaeus Pompey, who stood with his army on the Kura, but was attacked by the Albanian king Oroz. Having repulsed the attack, the consul attacked Albania, destroyed the king's army and "granted" peace to the Albanians. In the 2nd century AD, the Roman emperor Trajan turned Armenia into a Roman province and elevated his protege to the throne of Albania, but soon the state's independent position was restored.
Dynasties
The first royal dynasty that ruled in Caucasian Albania - Arranshahi, according to Armenian sources, descended from Japheth, the son of the biblical righteous Noah. Perhaps the first kings were nominated from among the most noble local leaders. The dynasty ruled until the middle of the 3rd century. Then, until the beginning of the 6th century, the Arshakids, the younger branch of the Parthian kings, ruled in Albania. The first representative of the dynasty was Vachagan I the Brave, who was a descendant of the leaders of the Muskuts.
In the 9th-10th centuries, the processes of armenization, and then of the Turkenization of the population, took place in the country. Since a single Albanian nationality did not work out, the country is disintegrated into principalities. The Albanian ethnos disappears, leaving behind only names.
(Lezgi - Alpan, Alupan; Greek - Albania; Armenian - Aluank, Aghvank; Persian - Arran) - an ancient Lezghian state that arose in the IV century. BC. in the eastern Transcaucasia, which occupied part of the territory of modern Azerbaijan, Eastern Georgia and Southern Dagestan.
The capitals of Caucasian Albania at different times were the cities of Chur (Chola), Kabala (until the 6th century) and Partav.
1. Etymology
2. Population
3. Territory
4. History
4.1 Ancient history
4.2 Fight against Sassanian Iran
4.3 The invasion of the Arabs. Religious and political division
4.4 The collapse of the Albanian state and civilization
5. Religion
5.1 Paganism
5.2 Christianity
6. Language and writing
7. Albanian kings and royal dynasties
8. List of Albanian Catholicos
1. ETHYMOLOGY
Soviet historian K. V. Trever in his book "Essays on the history and culture of Caucasian Albania in the IV century. BC BC - VII century. n. NS." investigates the question of the origin of the name "Albania" (in Greek and Latin sources), "Alvank" (in Armenian sources), considering it not fully clarified. In her opinion, the issue is complicated by the fact that the country in the Balkans has the same name, and this term is also found in the toponymy of Italy and Scotland. The ancient Celtic name for Scotland was "Albania", the largest of the Scottish mountainous islands is called "Arran", also called part of Caucasian Albania after its conquest by the Arabs. According to the author's fair opinion, the explanation of the origin of this term from the Latin "albus" - "white" and the attribution of this name to the Romans is not justified, since the Romans could only give a Latin sound to the name of the area.
K.V. Trever also considers the version given in Armenian and Albanian sources proper.
At the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Armenian historian Moses Khorensky tried to explain the origin of the name "Alvank", referring to the name that was borne by the legendary ancestor of the Sisak clan, who, during the distribution of the northern countries, "inherited the Albanian plain with its mountainous part, ranging from the Yeraskh River (Aras - Araks) to the fortress , called Khnarakert and ... this country was named Alvank because of the meekness of Sisak's temper, since the name itself was Alu ”. The same version is repeated in the work of the Albanian historian of the 7th century. Moses of Daskhuran, which has come down to us, unfortunately, only in Armenian translation.
Further, K. Trever gives two more versions. First, AK Bakikhanov, who at the beginning of the 19th century made a very interesting and unsubstantiated assumption that the ethnic term "Albanians" contains the concept of "white" (from Latin "albi") in the sense of "free". The second is the assumption of the Russian expert on Caucasus N. Ya. Marr that the word “Albania”, like the name “Dagestan”, means “a country of mountains”. The author points out that "taking into account that Balkan Albania, like Scotland, is a mountainous country, this explanation of N. Ya. Marr seems to be more convincing."
Similar research was done by other authors who came to approximately the same conclusions. It is interesting that none of the authors of the XIX-XX centuries. in his developments did not refer to local onamastic, linguistic and folklore material. Some of the aforementioned authors reached Scotland and Ireland in their studies, but never saw what was literally lying under their feet. Until now, a village has survived in the Quba region of modern Azerbaijan, which still bears the name Alpan. Until recently, the village of Alpanar was located in the Agul district of the region of modern Dagestan. A number of toponyms with the same name are found in other Lezgin-populated regions of Azerbaijan and Dagestan.
In addition, it is known that the ancient pagan god of fire among the Lezghins was called Alpan. Lightning in the modern Lezgi language is called "TsIailapan", which means "Alpan's fire".
In recent years, another version has appeared about the origin of the name "Albania". It is associated with recently found pages from one book telling about the history of Albania. According to this book, the self-name of the Albanian state was Alupan. And it happened on behalf of the first legendary Albanian king - Alup.
2. POPULATION
Population of Caucasian Albania - Albanians initially it was a union of 26 tribes who spoke mainly different dialects of the Lezghin branch of the Nakh-Dagestan group of the North Caucasian family of languages. These included the legi, gels, gargars, utias, chilbs, silvas, lpins, etc. Numerous tribes of the Albanian tribal union inhabited the territory between Iberia and the Caspian Sea, from the Caucasian ridge to the Aras River (Araks). The most widespread opinion is that the Albanian alphabet was created on the basis of the Gargar dialect.
It is believed that during its almost 1000-year history, no consolidation of the Albanian tribes took place. It is hard to believe. Indeed, among other peoples, with the formation of a state, similar processes took place much faster. For example, in Kievan Rus, the ancient Russian nationality took shape over two centuries. The same can be said about France, England, Germany, etc. Rather, the already formed Albanian nationality, due to the prevailing circumstances, after the establishment of the Arabs in the Eastern Caucasus, again disintegrated into separate nationalities. A significant part of the Albanian population, which retained the Christian faith, underwent armenization during this period and in subsequent times. ... Western Albanians, who also remained Christians, became Georgianized and formed the basis of the population of the historical province of Hereti. Well, those who converted to Islam from the Arabs are the current Lezgins, Tabasarans, Rutul, Tsakhur and other peoples of the Lezghin group of languages have survived only in part, having first undergone Arabization and Persization, and then, starting from the 13th century, and Turkization.
All these processes have taken place over the centuries. Sources, for example, still record the Albanian-Lek language in the Barda district, in present-day Karabakh, in the 10th century, but then references to it gradually disappear. The population of southern Albania at this time more and more switches to the Persian language. This mainly refers to the cities of Arran and Shirvan, while the rural population retained for a long time the ancient Albanian-Lek language, akin to the modern languages of the Lezghin group. The Albanians who inhabited the eastern lowland lands, presumably, first underwent partial Persization, then, after the adoption of Islam and Arabization, after which, already from the beginning of the 13th century, they began to undergo Turkization. In the XII-XVII centuries, the foothill part of Arran was intensively populated by Turkic nomads, and gradually the ancient name of Arran was replaced by Karabakh (Turkic-Iranian "Black Garden"). At the same time, the mountainous regions of Karabakh strenuously resisted Turkization and became a refuge for the Christian population, although by that time it was already partially Armenized.
3. TERRITORY
The most ancient region of Caucasian Albania was the northern part of the Kura valley south of the confluence of the Alazani. In the 1st millennium BC. NS. early urban communities began to form here, including the ancient capital of Albania, Kabalaka. The population of the country, as usual before and at the beginning of the formation of the state, was multi-tribal, it was based on the ancestors of the modern Lezghin peoples.
From the beginning of the emergence of the centralized Albanian kingdom, it occupied the territory from north to south from Derbent to the Aras (Araks) River, from west to east from the middle reaches of the Iori and Alazani rivers to the Caspian Sea.
Anthropological studies show that the current Karabakh Armenians are mainly direct physical descendants of the most ancient population of the region, i.e. Albanian.
4. HISTORY
4.1. The oldest history
About the ancient history of Caucasian Albania evidenced by artifacts of archaeological cultures such as Yaloylutepa.
Yaloylutepa culture belongs to the III-I centuries. BC NS. and named after the monuments in the Yaloylutepe area (Gabala region of Azerbaijan). Among the finds are known burial grounds - ground and burial mounds, burials in jugs and raw tombs, burials - crumpled on their sides, with tools (iron knives, sickles, stone grinders, pestles and millstones), weapons (iron daggers, arrowheads and spears, etc. ), ornaments (gold earrings, bronze pendants, brooches, numerous beads) and mainly with ceramics (bowls, jugs, vessels with legs, "teapots", etc.). The population was engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding.
The Albanians are first mentioned during the time of Alexander the Great by Arrian: they fought against the Macedonians on the side of the Persians in 331 BC. NS. under Gaugamela in the army of the Persian king Darius III. At the same time, it is not known in what dependence they were on Tsar Darius III, whether this dependence was in general or they acted as mercenaries - like, for example, the Greek hoplites.
The truly ancient world met the Albanians during the campaigns of Pompey, in 66 BC. e .. Pursuing Mithridates Eupator, Pompey moved to the Caucasus and at the end of the year placed the army in winter quarters in three camps on the Kura, in Albania. Apparently, the initial invasion of Albania was not part of his plans; but in mid-December the Albanian king Aras (Oroiz) crossed the Kura and unexpectedly attacked all three camps, but was repulsed. The following summer, Pompey, for his part, launched a surprise attack on Albania in retaliation and defeated the Albanians. But the Romans still failed to conquer Albania and they were forced to conclude peace with it. In the course of these events, the first detailed descriptions of Albania were compiled (especially by the historiographer of Pompey Theophanes of Mitylensky), which have come down to us in the presentation of Strabo (Geography, 11.4):
« People there are distinguished by their beauty and tall stature, at the same time they are simple-minded and not petty. ... They are lighthearted about the issues of war, government and agriculture. However, they fight both on foot and on horseback in full and heavy armor ...
They put up more troops than the Iberians. It is they who arm 60 thousand infantry and 22 thousand horsemen, with such a large army they marched against Pompey. The Albans are armed with darts and bows; they wear shells and large oblong shields, as well as helmets made of animal skins, ..
Their kings are also wonderful. Now, however, they have one king governing all the tribes, whereas before, every tribe of different languages was governed by its own king. … .They revere Helios, Zeus and Selena, especially Selene, whose sanctuary is located near Iberia. The duty of a priest for them is performed by the most respected person after the king: he stands at the head of a large and densely populated sacred area, and also disposes of the slaves of the temple, many of whom, possessed by God, utter prophecies. … ..
Old age is highly respected by Albanians, and not only by parents, but also by other people. Caring for the dead or even remembering them is considered wickedness. Together with the dead, all their property is buried, and therefore they live in poverty, deprived of their father's wealth.»
Ruins of the fortress walls of the ancient Kabbalah
(the foundation of white limestone was made in the XX century to avoid the collapse of the remains of the towers)
One way or another, by the IV century. BC NS. Albania turned from a union of tribes into an early class state with its king. The main city of Albania until the 6th century was Kabala (Kvepelek: Kabalaka; Kabalak). This city existed until the 16th century, when it was destroyed by the Safavid troops. Its ruins have survived in the modern Kabala (formerly Kutkashen) region of Azerbaijan.
Octavian Augustus mentions in his inscription about the allied relations of Rome with the kings of Albania, as well as Iberia and Media of Atropatena. The ancient Greek historian Claudius Ptolemy (II century) in his geographical description of Albania divides its territory into five zones, the natural-geographical boundaries of which are the rivers of the Eastern Caucasus that he calls. Moreover, in four such districts, he especially singles out one city and names other settlements. In the interfluve bordering with Asian Sarmatia, the river Soana and the river Gerr are the city of Telaiba and the settlement of Tilbis, in the interfluve of Gerra and Kaysia - the city of Gelda and the points of Tiavna and Tabilaka, in the interfluve of Kaysia and Alban - the city of Alban and the points of Khabala, Khobota, Boziata, Mysiya, Khadaha, Alam, in the interfluve of Alban and Kura - the city of Gaitara and 11 settlements, and, finally, between the anonymous river flowing into the Kure and the border with Iberia - five more settlements.
4.2. Fight against Sassanian Iran
In 450 the Albanians took part in the anti-Persian uprising, which was headed by Vardan Mamikonyan and which the Iberians also joined. The first major victory of the rebels was won precisely in Albania, at the city of Khalkhal, which then served as the summer capital of the Albanian kings. Then, however, the rebels were defeated in the Battle of Avarayr. In 457, King Wache raised a new uprising. But it also ended in defeat. As a result, in 461 the independence of the Albanian kingdom was abolished, and Albania became a province - a province (military-administrative district) within the Sassanid state.
Chirakh-kala fortress of the 6th century -
part of the Gilgilchay defensive wall built
during the reign of the Sassanian king Kavad.
Shabran region of Azerbaijan
In 481, an uprising broke out in Iberia, where King Vakhtang Gorgasal, having displaced the head of the pro-Iranian party in the country - Pitihsha (governor) of Vazgen, began military operations against the Persians. Soon Albania and Armenia joined the uprising and the rebels managed to inflict sensitive blows on the Persians twice: in 481 near the village of Akori, and in 482 in the battle of Nersekhapat. The successful course of the uprising was largely facilitated by the war of Shah Peroz with the Hephthalites, which ended in 484 with the defeat of Peroz and his death. The extremely tense foreign policy situation caused by the unsuccessful war with the Hephthalites, the difficult economic situation of the state, the continuing uprising in Transcaucasia - forced the Valarsh (484-488) who came to the throne in 484 to make significant concessions to the Transcaucasian peoples. In 485, a peace treaty was concluded in the village of Nvarsak, which legalized the privileges and rights of the Albanian, Iberian and Armenian nobility, and in Albania, the royal power of the local Albanian dynasty was restored, which was abolished more than 20 years ago under Peroz. The nephew of Vache II, Vachagan, who was once a hostage to the Persians, was elevated to the throne in Partava.
Vachagan the Pious, probably, on the one hand, because of his penchant for Christianity - his parents were Christians, but for internal political reasons he renounced the teachings of magicians, forbade the construction of fire temples, and he expelled sorcerers, sorcerers and priests of fire. He pursued this policy throughout the country. Vachagan III, according to Moses of Daskhuran, established schools, fought against the sects that appeared in connection with the forcible implantation of Zoroastrianism in 439-484.
An Albanian historian of the 7th century wrote about Vachagan III: “Being a very pious, beneficent, peace-loving, creative person, he sent a command to all sides of his kingdom, many areas of which were rejected by the villain Peroz, and many princes were deprived of their ancestral possessions, and returned to everyone his possession ... Then the princes of Albania, who received their possessions, united with them, took with them to Persia a husband from the royal family of their country, fearless, wise, learned and prudent, tall and slender Vachagan, brother of the king of Albania Vache, and summoned him to the royal throne through Valarshak, king Persian.
Vachagan III was a reformer. He officially returned the country to Christianity, expelled the sectarians of Zoroastrianism from the country, created a general educational network of schools in the country, restored the ancestral possessions of the princes, strengthened the integrity of the country, and again united all the ancient Lezgin lands into a single state.
However, with his death, the royal power in Albania was again liquidated and replaced by the power of the Persian governors - marzpan.
Meanwhile, through the Derbent passage, the raids of nomadic tribes from the north intensified. In 552, the Savirs invaded Eastern Transcaucasia and over time Albania began to come under increasing pressure from Sassanian Iran, both political and religious. After that, the Persian Shah Khosroy (531-579) deployed a grandiose fortification construction in the Derbent region, designed to protect his state from nomads. Derbent fortifications blocked the narrow passage between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, but still did not become a panacea for invasions. So in 626 the invading Turkic-Khazar army under the command of Shad captured Derbent and again plundered Albania.
4.3. The invasion of the Arabs. Religious and political division of the country
VII century - the most difficult period in the history of the Albanian-Lezgin peoples, which became a turning point, primarily in terms of ethno-religious and political development. The controversial events that took place during this period turned the country's history backwards. The invasion of the Arabs and the ensuing confrontation in the region of the Byzantine Empire, the Khazar Kaganate and the Caliphate itself, and at the beginning of the period also of Sassanian Iran, turned the country into an object of insatiable imperial aspirations of the aforementioned powers. Despite stubborn resistance from the people and the efforts of the feudal nobility, Albania was fragmented and split into parts.
True, at the beginning of the period, in 628, after a more than 100-year hiatus, all the attributes of statehood were restored in Albania. The country became independent again. The local dynasty of Mikranids was established in power. Varz-Grigor (628-643) and his son Jevanshir (643-680) became completely independent rulers.
Jevanshir showed himself as a very subtle politician and a talented military leader. Skillfully maneuvering between the Arabs, Khazars and Byzantines, Jevanshir for the entire period of his reign managed to create quite acceptable conditions for the successful development of his country in the most difficult foreign policy conditions of that time. Under him, a new (after Vachagan the Pious) surge occurs in both the economic and cultural life of the country. In this era, the Albanian writing and literature received its further development.
Soon after the death of this prince (killed by the conspirators), the "History of Albania" was compiled by the Albanian historian Moses of Daskhuran (Armenian historians most often call him Movses Kagankatvatsi or Kalankatuiskiy). This monument also contains a unique example of Albanian poetry - an elegy-lament, composed by an Albanian poet-lyricist of the 7th century. Davtak on the death of Jevanshir.
In 654, the troops of the Caliphate left Derbent and attacked the Khazar possession of Belendzher, but the battle ended in the defeat of the Arab army.
Dzhevanshir resisted the conquerors for several decades, made alliances with the Khazars, then with Byzantium, then with the Arabs. Balancing between them, Jevanshir proceeded from the interests of his state and achieved a lot in this. However, after his death, the situation changed.
It is believed that the Arabs forced only pagans to accept the new religion. In relation to Christians and Jews, they seemed to adhere to a different tactics. Christians and Jews, as "people of the scripture", were given the opportunity to voluntarily accept a new religion, ie. acts of violence to force them to convert to Islam were not acceptable. In case of non-acceptance of Islam, Christians and Jews had to pay an additional tax - jizya.
But this "rule", for some reason, was not applied to the Christian people of Albania. The Albanian people were subjected to violent Islamization. Why did it happen? Why did the Georgians and Armenians manage to preserve their ethnos and religion, while the Albanians did not?! ... Unfortunately, this problem, precisely with this formulation of the question, was never even considered in domestic or foreign historiography at any time. Apparently, someone “really didn't need it”! ...
Be that as it may, it is believed that by the 11th century, despite stubborn resistance, most of the population of Caucasian Albania was Muslimized by the Caliphate. Many Albanians preferred to go under the fold of the Armenian or Georgian churches, avoiding Islamization, which contributed to the de-ethnicization of the Albanians, turning them into Armenians and Georgians.
In 705, the Arabs abolished the Mikranid rule in Albania.
With the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty, the Arabs managed to gain a foothold in the Transcaucasus, and from the first years of the VIII century they made decisive attempts to expand their zone of influence further north. And then they collide with the Khazars, whose state at that time was at the peak of its power. A period of continuous Arab-Khazar wars begins. Success was accompanied alternately by both the one and the other side. Derbent remained the border zone between the adversaries, and the Albanian-Lezgin lands largely became the arena of confrontation. The Arabs were never able to advance further than Derbent. Of course, the Khazars played a primary role here. However, the Albanian-Lecs, who for at least several hundred years opposed the adoption of the new religion and annoyed the Arabs in every possible way, also played an important role here.
4.4 The collapse of the Albanian state and civilization
The 8th century is a turning point in the history of the Albanian-Lezghin people. It was during this period that there was a massive resettlement of Arabs to Arran, and to the Derbent region. The Arab historian al-Balazuri reports that even under the Caliph Osman (40-50 years of the 7th century) the ancient city of Shamkhor (Shamkhur) was inhabited by Arabs. After the conquest of Derbent by Maslamoy, 24 thousand Arabs from Syria and other places were resettled there.
This policy of the Arab conquerors met with widespread resistance from the Albanian people. But the forces were not equal. Under the onslaught of the superior forces of the conquerors, the local population gradually began to move to the mountainous regions of Albania, that is, to where they mainly live to this day. At the same time, the mass migration of Arabs from their native places to the territory of Albania continued. The Arabs, along with the Persians and tatami who had already fortified here, greatly changed the ethnic background in the area between the Samur and Kura rivers. Christianity has ceased to be a state religion. Islam was spread everywhere. The Arabs raged throughout the country.
According to sources, during these years the territory of Albania called Ran was included by the Arabs into a new administrative unit created by them, which they called - Arminia. The governor of this formation was the governor of the Caliph, who was sitting in the Armenian Dvina, and then, from the beginning of the Abassid rule, he transferred his residence to Partav, the former capital of Caucasian Albania.
The wars with the Caliphate and joining it had a most disastrous effect on the socio-economic, ethno-religious, cultural and external and internal political development of Caucasian Albania. Murder and slavery of masses of people became commonplace at this time. Destruction and robbery of cities and villages, seizure or destruction of agricultural crops, handicraft products, theft of tens and hundreds of thousands of livestock undermined the productive forces of Albania. All this especially affected the flat and foothill lands, leading here to a slowdown and regression of economic and social development.
Moses Daskhuransky wrote in this regard: “At the same time, the violence of the people of the South (meaning the Arabs, in the book the Arabs are also called“ Ismailis ”,“ Agari ”,“ Tachiki ”) spread to all sides of the earth, cruel and ruthless, which is like a flame devoured all the splendor and well-being of people. The time of violence has come ..., the brutal Ismailites - Hagarians took possession of all the blessings of the earth, and the sea and dry land submitted to the forerunners of the Antichrist - the sons of perdition. This turned into heavy revenge on Albania, the capital of which, Partav, was taken away from the Alpan princes by the tachiks as punishment for their nasty incest. And since they established the first throne of their power in Syrian Damascus, so here, in Albania, in Partava, they put a governor from the court (tachiks) to suck out the country's juices. " (1, p. 163).
The hardest position of the Albanian people and state was aggravated by the treacherous policy of the Armenian Church. Having entered into an agreement with conquerors of other faiths, the Monophysite Armenian Church, with their help, did everything to discredit the Diophysite Alpanic church organization in the eyes of the Arabs, presenting it as hostile, based on almost pagan foundations. Thus, the Armenian church ministers fully paid off with the Albanian church for the disagreements and contradictions that existed between them since ancient times, long before the arrival of the Arabs. All this led to a significant weakening of the position of the Albanian Church. In fact, she found herself in a subordinate position in relation to the Armenian church, which contributed to the fall of the authority of the Alpanian church, the destruction of all literary monuments. In 704, the Alpanian Diophysite Church loses its independence. From now on, Albanian Catholicos were to be ordained in Armenia, i.e. actually be confirmed by the Armenian Catholicos. "Since the 8th century, the Albanian Church was considered as a part of the Armenian Church, and the language of worship becomes the ancient Armenian." The Armenian Church did everything in order not to leave anything that could remind of the history and culture of the Albanians, destroying or crushing them under itself or, in general, passing them off as purely Armenian. All these outrages began under the Arabs and continued in subsequent times under other conquerors. Similar actions take place today, but more on the part of Armenian learned men.
Z. Buniatov believes that part of the Armenians of modern Artsakh are Armenianized Albanians. S.T.Yeremyan also notes that part of the Albanians have become Armenized. A.P. Novoseltsev believes that part of the Albanians who preserved Christianity gradually adopted the Armenian language. Another argument in favor of the above is the identical names of villages and localities in Artsakh, South Dagestan and North Azerbaijan.
According to I.P. Petrushevsky, because the Armenian Church in Albania also served as an instrument for the Armenization of the country.
Even before the 15th century, priests who spoke the Lezgin language served in the monasteries of Artsakh.
According to I.A. Orbeli, “in the northern mountainous regions of Albania, currently constituting southern Dagestan, settlers also found refuge, displaced from the more accessible and Araks and Kuroy ... ".
Aran, abandoned by most of the Albanians, was inhabited by Arabs, some Persian tribes in the VIII-IX centuries, and after the XIII-XIV centuries, that is, after the conquest of the territory of historical Alpan by the Mongols, Turkmen tribes began to move here. They were the first Turkic tribes to migrate to the territory of historical Caucasian Albania. It is no coincidence that the Lezgins, as an autochthonous people, call the Turks Mongols, preserving in historical memory the fact that they moved to the territory of historical Alpan (Albania) on the "bayonets of the Mongols".
Starting from the 9th century, the ethnonym "Alban" gradually began to go out of use. Alpan, as a single country with a single Alpano-Lek people and Christian religion, no longer exists.
5. RELIGION
5.1. Paganism
Before the adoption of Christianity, the Albanians were pagans. According to Strabo, "the Sun, Zeus and the Moon, especially the Moon" were revered here. Strabo describes an Albanian temple of the deity of the Moon, located near the borders of Iberia, possibly in present-day Kakheti. In Albania, the temples were assigned land (chora), according to Strabo, "vast and well-populated." Also, the influence of Zoroastrianism penetrated into Albania, however, in comparison with neighboring Iberia, this happened later. =
5.2. Christianity
Christianity to Albania as early as the 1st century. n. NS. brought by Saint Elisha (Elisha), disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus, who was killed in Armenia. Elisha was ordained by the first patriarch of Jerusalem, the brother of the Lord Jacob, and, having received the eastern countries for himself, from Jerusalem through Persia, avoiding Armenia, entered the country of Mazkuts - Muskuts - Mushkur. In 43 A.D. he began his sermons in Choge (Chura) and attracted many disciples in different
places, making them know salvation. As a result, the first Christian communities appeared in Albania, especially in its northern and eastern regions. This dates back to the beginning of our era. But Christianity became the state religion in Albania only in 313 under King Basla (Urnayr).
The primary fundamental canons were adopted at the Alpansky (Aluensky) Cathedral, which took place in the summer residence of the Alpanian princes at the end of the 4th century.
Candlesticks discovered in Mingachevir.
History Museum, Baku
In 551, under pressure from the Iranian authorities and the Persian marzpan, who demonstratively refused to sit in the Albanian capital Kabal and settled near the Iranian border, the city of Partav, the Albanian Catholicos Abas transferred his residence from Chur to Partav.
One of the tragic pages in the history of the Albanian-Lezghin people is associated with the fate of the Albanian Catholicos of the late 7th - early 8th centuries Bakur.
6. LANGUAGE AND WRITING
6 Stone capital of the 5th-6th centuries columns of a Christian temple (VI-VII centuries) with an Albanian inscription,
found during excavations in the Sudagylan settlement,
at Mingechevir. History Museum, Baku
In historiography, for various reasons, the opinion about the "multilingualism of the Albanians" has become firmly established. The main argument in favor of this version is the message of Strabo, who lived at the turn of the two eras, that the "Albanians had 26 tribes" who spoke different languages or dialects. At the same time, everyone seems to forget at once that all the ancient states at the early stages of their development were nothing more than a union of different tribes. And no one asks how such a multilingual state existed for nearly 1000 years!
Z. Yampolskiy believes that the translation of Strabo's work is not quite correct: “The translators of his text into Russian translated his words as 26 languages, together 26 adverbs. This also follows from the subsequent statements of Strabo, where he notes that "now one king rules over all." In this regard, K. Trever notes that “we have the right to conclude that by the middle of the 1st century. BC, when the Romans first encountered the Albanians on their territory during the campaigns of Lucullus, Pompey and Anthony, the tribal union was already headed by the Albanian tribe and their language became predominant. "
Arab sources report that in the X century in the Berdaa (Partav) district, and in the plains of Utica, the Albanian language was still spoken. In particular, Al-Mukaddasi wrote: “In Armenia they speak Armenian, and in Arran they speak Arran; when they speak Persian, they can be understood, and their Persian language is somewhat reminiscent of Khurasan. "
Ibn Haukal writes about the same: "For many groups of the population in the outskirts of Armenia and neighboring countries, there are other languages than Persian and Arabic, like Armenian for the inhabitants of Dabil and its region, and the inhabitants of Berd'a speak Arran."
Armenian writer of the 5th century Koryun reports that Mesrop Mashtots, having come in 415 "to the country of the Albanians, renewed their alphabet, contributed to the revival of scientific knowledge and, having also left their mentors with them, returned to Armenia." It is important to pay attention to the word "renewed". It turns out that Mashtots did not create the Albanian alphabet, but restored and improved it.
Koryun also has other important information about the writing of the Albanians. He points to the translation of religious books into the Albanian language, in other words, the creation of literature on it. He writes that the Bishop of Albania "Blessed Jeremiah immediately set about translating divine books, with the help of which wild-thinking, idle wandering and harsh people of the country of Aghvank quickly recognized the prophets, apostles, inherited the gospel, were aware of all divine traditions ...".
Since the 30s of the XIX century. Albanian texts are being searched for. And only more than 100 years later the Albanian alphabet was discovered. Then at the turn of the 40-50s. several lapidary inscriptions and graffiti were found on two candlesticks and tiles in Mingechur. A small inscription copied from the Derbent wall at the end of the 19th century has also survived.
In fact, until recently in the hands of specialists there was not a single line of a letter written in Albanian, except for a few short Mingechaur inscriptions, which did not lend themselves to unambiguous deciphering due to the impossibility of a complete interpretation of the Matenadaran alphabet.
And only the 90s of the XX century turned out to be, indeed, fateful for the Albanian writing and language. In the hands of specialists, two of the most important sources of the Albanian writing turned out to be at once. These are the "Albanian Book" by an anonymous author and the Sinai palimpsests.
Sinai palimpsests, more precisely, Caucasian Albanian texts on Albano-Georgian palimpsests found in the library of St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, is a unique historical monument written in the language of the Caucasian Albanians. In 2008, 248 pages of the Albanian text of the Sinai palimpsests were published in Belgium in English (two large format volumes). The authors of this publication are four prominent specialists in the Caucasian languages and the history of the Caucasus - German linguists Jost Gippert (University of Frankfurt) and Wolfgang Schulze (University of Munich), Georgian historian, corresponding member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences Zaza Aleksidze and French philologist and historian of Christianity, member of the Academy of Inscriptions and fine literature Jean-Pierre Mahe. Nobody doubts the competence of these world-renowned scientists.
It was at this time that the "Albanian Book" was published in the form of photocopies of its 50 pages, written in the "Mesrop" alphabet and in the Albanian language. Despite the efforts of numerous skeptics who unfoundedly called it a falsification, this book is comparable and explainable in comparison with the Sinai Albanian texts, although they refer to periods of the history of Caucasian Albania, separated from each other by 5-6 centuries.
7. ALBANIAN KINGS AND ROYAL DYNASTIES
Warrior helmet of Caucasian Albania
from the monument to Nyudi, Akhsu region of Azerbaijan.
History Museum, Baku
The legendary founder of the Albanian state was Alup, the leader and leader of the tribal union. And after Alup "the first kings of Albania were representatives of the local Albanian nobility from among the most advanced tribal leaders."
It should be noted that in Armenian sources the name of the legendary founder of the Albanian state is referred to as Aran. Moses Khorensky testifies that Aran, who, apparently, is a legendary ancestor, the eponym of the Albanians (which is possibly connected with the Middle-Median name “Aran”, the Parthian “Ardan”), “inherited the entire Albanian plain with its mountain part ... "and that" from the descendants of Aran come the tribes - Utii, Gardmans, Tsavdei and the Gargar principality. "
The unknown author of the "Albanian Book" lists the name of King Aran second after the legendary Alup. And another Albanian historian Moses Daskhurinvi (Kalankatui) seems to assert that Alup and Aran are two names of the same person. He writes that the first king of Albania, Aran, was called Alu by the people because of his supposedly gentle disposition.
According to K.V. Trever, “the first kings of Albania were undoubtedly representatives of the local Albanian nobility from among the most advanced tribal leaders. Their non-Armenian and non-Iranian names also speak of this (Orois (Aras), Kosis, Zober in Greek transmission). "
List of Albanian kings (according to F.A. Badalov)
1. Alup- the youngest son of the legendary Targum - the progenitor of the Caucasian peoples, the leader, leader and high priest of the ancient Lezgin tribes. Legendary founder of the state of Alupan.
2. Run- another legendary ruler, possibly from the Kasp tribe (Caspians). He created a kingdom between the Kura and Araks rivers. He strove to unite all ancient Lezgin tribes under his command. For the first time he named the country Alupan-Alpan (Alupan is the country of Alup).
3. King of the Legs(real name unknown) - the ruler of the leg (lezgov).
4. Ashtik- an ally of the Mannean king Iranzu. During his reign, the Cimmerians attacked Albania from the north. They destroyed the fortress on the Jilga hill, passed through Mushkur, through the Pakul region (Baku), “from there they went south along the seashore. Ashtik ordered to quickly restore villages, cities and fortresses burned by the barbarians. For forty days, sacrifices were made to the gods in all domains. "
5.Sur- one of the early rulers of Albania, the eponym of the first capital of the Albanian kingdom: Sur - Tsur - Chur.
6. Tumarush [Tomiris].
7. Nushaba [Felistria](40-30 years IV century BC)
8. Aras [Oroiz, Irris, Orod, Urus, Rusa](70-60 years of the 1st century BC) - a possible prototype of the hero of the Lezghin heroic epic "Sharvili".
9. Zober [Zuber, Zubir ]
(last quarter of the 1st century BC) - fought against the Roman commander Canidius.
10. Vachagan(2nd quarter of the 1st century AD) - a contemporary of Elisha, the one who created the first Christian community in the city of Chura in 43 AD.
11. Aran(3rd quarter of the 1st century AD) - a protege of the Persians, originally from Syunik (foreigner).
12. Kakas(70-80 years of the 1st century AD) - henchman of the Persian king, his son-in-law. During the reign of Kakas, the Gilans (Alans) attacked Albania and a Persian garrison was located near the Caspian (Derbent) passage for the first time.
Farasmanid dynasty
13. Farasman(98/114 - 150 AD) - henchman of the Roman emperor Trajan.
14. Patika (n)(50-60 years of the 2nd century AD).
15. Wachi(2nd half of the 2nd century AD)
16. Arachi(2nd half of the 2nd century AD)
17. Shiri(1st half of the 3rd century AD).
18. Galav [Kjelav](2nd half of the 3rd century AD).
19. Farasman the Last [Porsaman] in Persian sources (80-90 years. III century AD) - the ruler of Mushkur and all of Albania. The last representative of the Farasmanid dynasty.
Dynasty of Mushkurs (Aranshahiks)
20. Vachagan the Brave [Baril Vachagan](298-302 AD) - an ally of the Romans, fought against Sassanian Persia. After the victory, he established himself on the Albanian throne. Originally from Mushkur, founder of the Mushkur dynasty.
21. Vache I [Saint Vache, Makias Vache](301-309 / 313 AD) - Prepared the ground for the adoption of Christianity in Albania and therefore remained in the memory of the people as Saint Vache.
22. Urnair [Basla](313-377) - under him Albania officially adopted Christianity
23. Vachagan II(378-383 AD) - Summoned the Aluen Cathedral in his summer residence.
24. Mikrevan [Megrevan](383-388 AD).
25. Satu [Sat1u](388-399 AD)
26. Urnayr [Sani (other) Urnayr] (end of the 4th century AD).
27. Farim (con.IV- early.Vcenturies)
28. Sakas Mushkursky- ruled for only 1 year.
29. Asai (early V century - 413)- notable for the fact that his throne was not in the capital of Kabal, but in the city of Chura.
30. Evsagen [Arakil, Vesegen, Arsvagan, Sagen, Segen](413 - 444).
31. Vache II [Scientist Vache, Mikitis Vache](444 - 461) - the leader of the uprising against the Persian yoke in 459 - 461.
461-485- Sassanian Persia abolished the royal power in Albania and appointed its governor (marzpan) there.
32. Vachagan III [Pious Vachagan, Outstanding Vachagan](485 - 510) - from the family of the Mushkur kings, the ruler of Tsakhur.
510 - 628- The Sassanids again abolished the princely power in Albania. The country was again ruled by the Persian marzpans. After Vachagan III, Albania was ruled by a marzpan named Piran-Gushnasp, from the Micranid clan, a Christian by faith. He was martyred in 542 during the persecution of Christians by the Zoroastrian Persians. After these events, the capital of Albania, at the direction of the Persian court, was moved from Kabala (Kvepele) to Partav.
Micranid dynasty
33. Varz-Grigor [Girgur](628 - 643) - the first representative of the Micranid dynasty.
34. Javanshir [Javanshir](643 - 680) - the son of Girgur, an outstanding political figure of the 7th century.
35. Varz-Trdat I(680 - 699) - the son of his brother Jevanshir. 699 to 704 was a hostage in Byzantium.
36. Sheru and Spraam- after the detention of the king by the Byzantines as a hostage, in fact, his wife Spraam becomes the ruler. Formally, Prince Sheru was considered the ruler.
37. Varz-Trdat(705 - 711 (?)) - in 705 (or in 709) the patrick-exarch (the second person after the emperor) in Albania was released and appointed by the Byzantine king Justinian. The Arab governor was also in power during this period.
38. Sabas [Upas, Aviz](720 - 737) - the king of the leks (leks).
39. Varazman- ruled the country (formally) in the middle of the VIII century.
40. Stepannos(2nd half of the VIII century) - the son of Varazman, was a formal ruler, actually ruled by the Arabs.
41. Varz Tiridates II (son of Stepanos)- was killed in 821 by the prince Nersa. He also stabbed the son of Varz Tiridates (Varz Tiridates III) in the arms of his mother and took possession of his property. This Varz Tiridates was from the Micranid clan who inherited Albania, passing from father to son. He was the eighth ruler, counting from Varz-Girgur, the first prince of Albania from this family.
42. Sunbatan Sahli(835 - 851) - a descendant of Brave Vachagan and Saint Vacha, from the dynasty of Mushkur-Aranshahiks. After the murder of Varz Tiridates III, together with his brothers, he gathers the militia and restores the power of the Aranshahiks in Albania.
43. Hamam [GIamim](893 - early X century) - son of Sunbatan Sahli. In 893 he restored the princely power in Albania. Prior to that, he was one of the organizers of the military campaign to Partav in 876, where the Arabs settled.
44. Shar Kirim [ Sanacrim - Senekerim](957-1000) - after the death of the Arab governor in 957, Albania emerged from the yoke of the Salarids and Kirim was declared the Grand Duke (Shar) of Albania. Before that, he was the ruler of Sheki.
8. ALBANIAN CATHOLICOSES (according to F.A. Badalov)
Saint Elisha (Elisha)- AD 43 (formed the first Christian community in Chura).
Due to the fault of the scribes who copied the ancient Albanian manuscripts, the names of the Albanian Catholicos between Saint Elisha and Saint Shuphalisho did not reach us. As for Grigoris, a protege of the Armenian king, he was not accepted by the Albanians and was executed as a resident of the Armenian royal court.
Saint Shupalisho(Roman by birth),
Lord Matteos
Lord Sahak
Vladyka Moses
Lord of the Pandas
Lord Lazar
Vladyka Grigor (Girgur)
Vladyka Zachary
Lord david
Vladyka Johan
Vladyka Eremiah
Lord Abas(552-575 AD)
Saint Viru- was a Catholicos for 34 years (595 - 629)
Vladyka Zakariy- 15 years
Vladyka Johan- 25 years
Lord Ukhtanes- 12 years
Vladika Elizar- 6 years old (from the Bishopric of Shaki)
Saint Nerses-Bakur- 17 years old (686- 703/4) (from the bishopric of Gardman)
Lord Simeon- 1.5 years
Vladyka Mikael- 35 years
Vladyka Anastas- 4 years
Vladyka Joseph-17 years
Lord david- 4 years
Lord david- 9 years
Lord Matteos- 1.5 years
Vladyka Moses- 2 years
Lord Aharon- 2 years
Lord Solomon- 0.5 years
Lord Theodoros- 4 years (from the Bishopric of Gardman)
Lord Solomon- 11 years
Vladyka Johan- 25 years
Vladyka Moses- 0.5 years
Lord Davut- 28 years old (from the Bishopric of Kabal)
Vladyka Jobsep- 22 years old (878 -? YY.)
Lord Samueel- 17 years
Lord Yunan- 8.5 years
Lord Simeon- 21 years old
Lord Davut- 6 years
Lord Sahak-18 years
Lord Gagik- 14 years old
Lord Davut- 7 years
Lord Davut- 6 years
Vladyka Petros- 18 years
Vladyka Moses- 6 years
Vladyka Markos
Vladyka Moses
History of the Ancient World M. 1983 pp. 399-414 TSB. Article: Davtak Kertog
ALBANIA CAUCASIAN- an ancient slave-owning (later feudal) state in the Eastern Transcaucasia, which included the territories of the lower course of the Kura in western Azerbaijan, the southern regions of Dagestan in the north, the Araks valley in the south and reaching the Caspian Sea in the east. The capital of Caucasian Albania was the city of Kabalaka (Kutkashen region of modern Azerbaijan).
The Albanian king Oris, together with the Iberian king Artok and the Armenian Tigran the Great, took part in the struggle against the Roman invaders (the campaigns of Lucullus and Pompey in Transcaucasia) in the 1st century. BC.
Roman historian Strabo (and later Plutarch) at the beginning of the 1st century. AD described the location of Caucasian Albania in Eastern Transcaucasia, indicating that the Albanians lived between the Iberians (eastern Georgia) and the Caspian and were divided into 26 tribes. These included "Albanians", "Gelas" (Legi), "Utiy" (Udins), "Caspians", etc. The population was engaged in arable farming, winemaking, cattle breeding. Archaeological excavations on the territory of ancient Caucasian Albania confirm the high level of development of crafts, in particular, pottery and jewelry.
In the 4th century. The Albanian ruler Urnayr, following Armenia and Iberia, adopted Christianity as the state religion. Up to 8 c. AD the Albanian Christian Church remained autocephaly.
In 3-5 centuries. Albanians opposed the expansion of the Iranian Sassanids. The Persians tried to gain a foothold in Chola (near Derbent), an important trade route in the Transcaucasus. In 450–451 they fought together with the Armenians and Iberians against the Persians under the general leadership of the Armenian prince Vardan Mamikonian.
In 461, the Sassanids abolished the Albanian statehood of King Vache II. In 487-510 Vachagan II succeeded in restoring royal power in Albania, but in the 6th century. statehood was again liquidated.
In the 7th century. Albanian princes Mehranids, taking advantage of the Sassanid struggle against the Arab Caliphate, restored Albanian statehood. Prince Javanshir from the Mehranid dynasty was forced to fight for independence in two directions at once - in the south against Arab expansion, and in the north against the strengthening Khazar Kaganate ( cm... KHAZAR KAGANAT).
In the 5th century. in Albania, an alphabet of 52 letters appeared, similar to the Armenian and ancient Georgian. Schools were opened with the support of the local clergy. Church writings were translated into Albanian. Literature and science developed. Has reached our days History of the country Aghvanov, written by the Armenian historian and writer Movses Kagankatvatsi in the 7th century, is the most valuable source on the history of Albania and the entire region.
Feudal Albania was a centralized state. The kings preached Christianity as the ideological basis of the Albanian kingdom. Albania had a large army at that time - approx. 60 thousand infantry and 20 thousand cavalry.
In difficult historical conditions, Caucasian Albania gradually became an arena of fierce confrontation between Persians and Byzantines, Arabs and Persians, Arabs and Byzantines, as well as the invasion of the Khazars from the north. Albanian rulers hardly managed to maneuver between these powerful forces of that time.
At the beginning of the 8th century. Caucasian Albania is conquered by the Arab Caliphate. However, in the 9th century. the position of the Arabs in Transcaucasia has noticeably weakened, and in Albania the national liberation movement of the Khurramites begins against the rule of the Caliphate. By the end of the 9th century. on the territory of Caucasian Albania, a number of Muslim principalities of the Shaddadids and Mazyadids emerged. Against the background of these events, the assimilation of the Turkic-speaking tribes took place in the Eastern Transcaucasia.
Part of the Albanians created from the 9th century. in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) political formations - melikoms (princedoms). The successors of these principalities up to the 19th century. there were Armenian feudal melikdoms. On the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 10th century. Prince Grigory Hamam temporarily restored the royal title of Caucasian Albania.
At the end of the 18th century. Russian policy in Transcaucasia, which is believed to be carried out by Prince Potemkin, assumed the creation of Christian Albania under the protectorate of the Russian Empire, based on the Karabakh melikoms as opposed to the Iranian policy in the Caucasus. However, after the Russo-Persian War and the conclusion of the Turkmenchay Peace Treaty of 1828, the Russian government decided to abandon this idea.
A number of modern historians consider the Caucasian Albanians to be the ancestors of Azerbaijanis, Dagestan peoples (Laks, Lezghins, Tsakhur, etc.), as well as part of the Georgians of Kakheti.