Georgia in the Light of Iran-Byzantine Wars (6th Century)
Journal Title: Pro Georgia. Journal of Kartvelological Studies - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 26
Abstract
Over the centuries, the Caucasus, particularly Georgia, thanks to its distinctive geopolitical location, was one of the main military arenas of various occupants. Therefore, it was always deemed as „fl ash point” as in the distant past as well as in the following periods. In the present publication the attention is focused on the important episodes, illustrating the Sassanid Iran (226-651) and Byzantium political relations, which were connected with Georgia. Among the different types of oppositions between two powerful empires the most important was the redistribution of spheres of infl uence in the Middle East and the Transcaucasia, as well as gaining monopoly on the trade-caravan road arteries. At the beginning of the 6th century, the Byzantine Empire and Iran had already somewhat divided spheres of infl uence in the Transcaucasia, but none of them was satisfi ed with what they had received, that’s why between them were permanently continuing the battles. Iranian government was trying to have a solid political base in Kartli (East Georgia), for this purpose it was accomplishing the ideological pressure too - in particular, was demanding from Kartli to accept the Zoroastrian faith. Because of this, the King Gurgen appealed for help to the Byzantium, which immediately responded to his request. As a result, a new war broke out between Iran and Byzantium, which with brief intervals (in 532 and 545 years they had concluded temporary peace agreements) and periodic change of the balance of forces, overall lasted for a long time (527-562). Finally, in accordance with the peace, concluded in 562 in Dara, eastern Georgia remained in Iran’s, and Lazika (Kolkheti) – in Byzantium’s possession, issue of Svaneti turned out to be unresolved because of the very important trade and transit road, passing through its territory. An aspiration of dominating over the trade-caravan road led Iran and Byzantium to a new war (in 571). Transcaucasia became the fi ghting arena again, where at the time a powerful anti-Iranian rebellion blew up. The result of the ongoing war in the region was the fact that in Armenia and Georgia the Persian domination came down and the Byzantine infl uence got restored. At the end of the 6th century, to some extent, the relationship between Iran and Byzantium became warmer. The reason for this was that because of anti-dynasty rebellion in Iran, Shahinshah Khosrow the II (590-628) appealed for help to Byzantine Caesar Mavrike (582-602), requesting the reinforcement army, to reckon with the enemies and regain his throne. It is noteworthy that in return Khosro promised him to hand over various territories, including the largest part of Kartli to Tbilisi. Indeed, he kept his word and in exchange for received effective assistance from the Caesar, together with a large part of Kartli, conceded a part of Armenia till Vani Lake and a certain part of Mesopotamia. Thus, in the 6th century many years of wars, continuing between Sassanid Iran and the Byzantium ended in 591 by signing of the truce, which was not violated until 604. The study issues in the publication are highlighted and the fi ndings are based on the comparison and critical analysis of the data of Greek, Syrian, Arab, Georgian, Armenian written sources. Also are taken into consideration the points of view, expressed in the scientifi c literature.
Authors and Affiliations
Nana Gelashvili
Keywords
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