Gugark
Etymology
Etymologically, Gugark in Armenian language denotes land of Gugars. word "Gugar" being a root and suffix -k meaning "land of".
History
In ancient Urartian inscriptions dating to 785 BC, the territory of Gugark is referred to as Zabaha, which is known today as Javakheti (Javakhk in Armenian). In the beginning of IV century BC, (302BC) the territory was under Caucasian Iberia, but during Artaxias I's reign it was conquered. During the reign of the Artaxiad and Arshakuni kings of Armenia, Gugark was ruled by one of the kingdom's four bdeashkhs. The bdeashkh of Gugark was responsible for protecting the state's northern border. During the 4th century, the region was ruled by members of a branch of the House of Mihran. In 387, Armenia was partitioned between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires and Gugark, with the exception of the canton of Tashir, was annexed to Caucasian Iberia. The ruler of the region around 425 was Arshusha. In 652, the Armenian prince Theodore Rshtuni was allowed by the Arabs to unite Gugark with his realms.
In the following centuries, Gugark and its cantons fell under the sway of several rulers. In the 8th century, it became a part of Emirate of Tbilisi. In the middle of the 9th century, it was taken by the Georgian Bagrationis, while the Armenian Bagratunis took over its eastern cantons.
Inhabitants
Armenian catholicos and historian Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi says in his history that the majority of this region was Armenian people with minority of Iberian people. Also an Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi mentions Arshusha V, bdeashkh of the Iberians.
Cantons
- Dzoropor
- Tsobopor
- Treghk
- Artahan
- Javakhk
- Upper Javakhk
- Tashir
- Kangark
- Kagharjk
- Nigal
- Mrugh
- Mrit
- Shavshet
- Koghbopor
- Kvishapor
- Boghnopor
- Tashran
- Manglyats
- Ashotsk
List of bdeashkhs
Based on available sources, Cyril Toumanoff deduced an incomplete list of the ruling Mihranid bdeashkhs of Gugark.
| Name | Reign |
|---|---|
| Peroz | 330–361? |
| Bakur I | after 394–430 |
| Arshusha I | after 430–? |
| Bakur II | mid 5th-century |
| Arshusha II | ?–470 |
| Varsken | 470–482 |
| Arshusha III | 482–after 540/1 |
| Arshusha IV | ca. first decade of the 7th-century |
| Vahram-Arshusha V | late 620s |
| Arshusha VI | mid 8th-century |
See also
References
- ^ "Գուգարք". Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. Yerevan. 1975. pp. 240–241.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Melkonyan, A. A. (2007). Javakhk in the 19th Century and the 1st Quarter of the 20th Century: A Historical Research. Erevan: National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Institute of History. ISBN 978-99941-73-07-5. OCLC 607636080.
- ^ "Geography of Strabo, Book XI, Chapter 14, P325".
- ^ Toumanoff, Cyril (1961). "Introduction to Christian Caucasian History, II: States and Dynasties of the Formative Period". Traditio. 17: 38.
- ^ Rapp, Stephen H. (2014). The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. Ashgate Publishing. p. 389. ISBN 978-1472425522.
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