77-516: Aranshahik was the first ruling dynasty of Caucasian Albania from an unknown date until the late sixth century AD. According to Movses Khorenatsi , the dynasty of Aranshahik was established by the Armenian king Vagharshak. Almost no information exists about Prince Arran and his early successors. According to tradition, in the beginning of the 7th century the Mihranids had invited 60 men of
154-556: A brother of the king, named Cosis, who as soon as the fighting was at close quarters, rushed upon Pompey himself and smote him with a javelin on the fold of his breastplate; but Pompey ran him through the body and killed him". Plutarch also reported that "after the battle, Pompey set out to march to the Caspian Sea, but was turned back by a multitude of deadly reptiles when he was only three days march distant, and withdrew into Lesser Armenia". The first kings of Albania were certainly
231-483: A few inscriptions, and an Armenian manuscript dating from the 15th century. This manuscript, Matenadaran No. 7117 , first published by Ilia Abuladze in 1937 is a language manual, presenting different alphabets for comparison – Armenian alphabet, Greek , Latin , Syriac , Georgian , Coptic , and Caucasian Albanian among them. The alphabet was titled: "Ałuanicʿ girn ē" ( Armenian : Աղուանից գիրն Է , meaning, "These are Albanian letters"). In 1996, Zaza Aleksidze of
308-413: A hundred talents for their ransom. These Alans therefore plundered the country without opposition, and with great ease, and proceeded as far as Armenia, laying waste all before them. Now, Tiridates was king of that country, who met them and fought them but was lucky not to have been taken alive in the battle; for a certain man threw a noose over him and would soon have drawn him in, had he not immediately cut
385-585: A medieval chronicle " Ajayib-ad-Dunia ", written in the 13th century by an unknown author, Arran is said to have been 30 farsakhs (200 km) in width, and 40 farsakhs (270 km) in length. All the right bank of the Kura River until it joined with the Aras was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known as Shirvan ). The boundaries of Arran have shifted throughout history, sometimes encompassing
462-631: A pupil of Mesrob Mashtots, in his book The Life of Mashtots , wrote about how his tutor created the alphabet: Then there came and visited them an elderly man, an Albanian named Benjamin. And he (Mashtots) inquired and examined the barbaric diction of the Albanian language, and then through his usual God-given keenness of mind invented an alphabet, which he, through the grace of Christ, successfully organized and put in order. A Caucasian Albanian alphabet of fifty-two letters, bearing resemblance to Georgian, Ethiopian and Armenian characters, survived through
539-594: Is IMPDOMITIANO CAESARE·AVG GERMANIC L·IVLIVS MAXIMVS> LEG XII·FVL. According to Domitian 's titles in it, the related march took place between 84 and 96. The inscription was studied by Russian expert Yevgeni Pakhomov , who assumed that the associated campaign was launched to control the Derbent Gate and that the XII Fulminata has marched out either from Melitene , its permanent base, or Armenia, where it might have moved from before. Pakhomov supposed that
616-513: Is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus , mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are Aghwank and Aluank , among the Udi people , who regard themselves as descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania. However, its original endonym is unknown. The name Albania is derived from
693-561: Is also mentioned by Dionysius Periegetes (2nd or 3rd century AD) who describes Albanians as a nation of warriors, living by the Iberians and the Georgians. In 1899 a silver plate featuring Roman toreutics was excavated near Azerbaijani village of Qalagah . The rock inscription near the south-eastern part of Boyukdash's foot (70 km from Baku ) was discovered on June 2, 1948, by Azerbaijani archaeologist Ishag Jafarzadeh . The legend
770-552: Is cognate with the name of the country Īrān (from the gen. plur. *aryānām ). The Alans were documented by foreign observers from the 1st century CE onward under similar names: Latin : Alānī ; Greek : Ἀλανοί Alanoi ; Chinese : 阿蘭聊 Alanliao ( Pinyin ; Alan + Liu ) in the 2nd century, 阿蘭 Alan in the 3rd century, later Alanguo ( 阿蘭國 ); Parthian and Middle Persian Alānān (plural); Arabic Alān (singular); Syriac Alānayē ; Classical Armenian Alank' ; Georgian Alaneti ('country of
847-531: Is reported by Strabo upon the account of Theophanes of Mytilene who participated in it. As testified by Kamilla Trever , Pompey reached the Albanian border at modern Qazakh District of Azerbaijan. Igrar Aliyev showed that this region called Cambysene was inhabited mainly by stock-breeders at the time. When fording the Alazan river, he was attacked by forces of Oroezes, King of Albania, and eventually defeated them. According to Plutarch , Albanians "were led by
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#1732776722091924-529: Is said to be part of Albania (Theophanes Mytilenaeus apud Strabo, 11.4.5). In the 2nd century BC parts of Albania were conquered by the Kingdom of Armenia , presumably from Medes (although possibly it was earlier part of Orontid Armenia ). The original population of the territories on the right bank of Kura before the Armenian conquest consisted of various autochthonous people. Ancient chronicles provide
1001-751: Is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North-Africa. They are generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians , and possibly related to the Massagetae . Modern historians have connected the Alans with the Central Asian Yancai of Chinese sources and with the Aorsi of Roman sources. Having migrated westwards and becoming dominant among the Sarmatians on
1078-659: The Achaemenid empire , measures may have been taken to fortify the Caucasian passes. By the mid-6th century BC, Albania has been incorporated in the Achaemenid empire ; it was later controlled by the Achaemenid satrapy of Media . The building of fortifications and gates in and around Darband is traditionally ascribed to the Sassanid Empire . The Greek historian Arrian mentions (perhaps anachronistically)
1155-610: The Ancient Greek name Ἀλβανία and Latin Albanía , created from Greek sources that incorrectly translated the Armenian language. The prefix "Caucasian" is used to avoid confusion with Albania in the Balkans , which has no geographical or historical connections to Caucasian Albania. Little is known of the region's prehistory, including the origins of Caucasian Albania as a geographical and/or ethnolinguistic concept. In
1232-679: The Aorsi ( Ancient Greek Αορσιοι ) ) had become a vassal state of the Kangju and was now known as Alan (< LHC: * ʔɑ-lɑn 阿蘭) Y. A. Zadneprovskiy suggests that the Kangju subjugation of Yancai occurred in the 1st century BCE, and that this subjugation caused various Sarmatian tribes, including the Aorsi, to migrate westwards, which played a major role in starting the Migration Period . The 3rd century Weilüe also notes that Yancai
1309-782: The Aorsi , a powerful Sarmatian tribe living between the Don River and the Aral Sea , mentioned in Roman records, in particular Strabo . The Later Han dynasty Chinese chronicle, the Hou Hanshu , 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), mentioned a report that the Yancai nation (奄蔡 lit "Vast Steppes" or "Extensive Grasslands" < LHC * ʔɨam - sɑ ; a.k.a. Hesu (闔蘇), compare Latin Abzoae , identified with
1386-472: The Georgian Centre of Manuscripts discovered at Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai , Egypt, a text written on parchment that had been reused in a Georgian palimpsest . In 2001 Aleksidze identified its script as Caucasian Albanian, and the text as an early lectionary dating to perhaps before the 6th century. Many of the letters discovered in it were not in the Albanian alphabet listed in
1463-644: The Georgian Kingdom under David the Builder finalising the process of their Georgianisation . The history of Albania before the 6th century BC is unknown. According to one hypothesis, Caucasian Albania was incorporated in the Median empire , as early as the 7th or 6th century BC. However, an increasing Persian influence on the region is usually believed to be connected with the defence of Persia's northern frontiers, from invading nomads. As early as
1540-739: The Germanic Goths expanded south-eastwards and broke the Alan dominance on the Pontic Steppe . The Alans however seem to have had a significant influence on the culture of the Goths, who became excellent horsemen and adopted the Alanic animal style art. (The Roman Empire, during the chaos of the 3rd century civil wars, suffered damaging raids by the Gothic armies with their heavy cavalry before
1617-976: The Hunnic defeat of the Goths on the Pontic Steppe around 375 CE , many of the Alans migrated westwards along with various Germanic tribes . They crossed the Rhine in 406 CE along with the Vandals and Suebi , settling in Orléans and Valence . Around 409 CE they joined the Vandals and Suebi in crossing the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula , settling in Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis . The Iberian Alans, soundly defeated by
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#17327767220911694-617: The Illyrian Emperors adapted to the Gothic tactics, reorganized and expanded the Roman heavy cavalry, and defeated the Goths under Gallienus , Claudius II and Aurelian .) After the Gothic entry to the steppe, many of the Alans seem to have retreated eastwards towards the Don, where they seem to have established contacts with the Huns . Ammianus writes that the Alans were "somewhat like
1771-630: The Kura river and each of them had its own king and language. Sometime before the 1st century BC they federated into one state and were ruled by one king. Strabo wrote of the Caucasian Albanians in the 1st century BC: At the present time, indeed, one king rules all the tribes, but formerly the several tribes were ruled separately by kings of their own according to their several languages. They have twenty-six languages, because they have no easy means of intercourse with one another. Albania
1848-527: The Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country, which they found full of people, and replenished with abundance of cattle, while nobody dared make any resistance against them; for Pacorus, the king of the country, had fled away for fear into places where they could not easily come at him, and had yielded up everything he had to them, and had only saved his wife and his concubines from them, and that with difficulty also, after they had been made captives, by giving
1925-773: The Pontic–Caspian steppe , the Alans are mentioned by Roman sources in the 1st century CE . At that time they had settled the region north of the Black Sea and frequently raided the Parthian Empire and the South Caucasus provinces of the Roman Empire . From 215 to 250 CE the Goths broke their power on the Pontic Steppe , thereby assimilating a sizeable portion of the associated Alans. Upon
2002-492: The Udi people . The Caucasian Albanian tribes of Hereti were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy by Dinar , Queen of Hereti in the 10th century. The religious affairs of this small principality were now officially administered by the Georgian Orthodox Church . In 1010, Hereti became absorbed into the neighbouring Georgian kingdom of Kakheti . Eventually, in the early 12th century, these lands became part of
2079-819: The Udi people . The pre-Islamic population of Caucasian Albania might have played a role in the ethnogenesis of a number of modern ethnicities, including the Azerbaijanis of Qabala , Zaqatala , Shaki , and Oguz ; the Armenians of Oghuz and Shaki ; the Georgians of Kakhetia and Hereti ( Ingiloy ); and the Laks , the Lezgins and the Tsakhurs of Daghestan . According to Armenian medieval historians Movses Khorenatsi , Movses Kaghankatvatsi and Koryun ,
2156-656: The Visigoths in 418 CE, subsequently surrendered their authority to the Hasdingi Vandals . In 428 CE, the Vandals and Alans crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa , where they founded a kingdom which lasted until its conquest by forces of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 534. Eventually in the 9th century those Alans who remained under Hunnic rule established
2233-540: The 11th century there already were conciliar mosques in Partaw, Qabala and Shaki; the cities that were the creed of Caucasian Albanian Christianity. These Islamised groups would later be known as Lezgins and Tsakhurs or mix with the Turkic and Iranian population to form present-day Azeris , whereas those that remained Christian were gradually absorbed by Armenians or continued to exist on their own and be known as
2310-462: The 15th-century Armenian manuscript. Muslim geographers Al-Muqaddasi , Ibn-Hawqal and Estakhri recorded that a language which they called Arranian was still spoken in the capital Barda and the rest of Arran in the 10th century. Iranian contact in the region goes back to the Median and Achaemenid times. During this Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania , the Parthian language spread in
2387-678: The 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, the area south of the Greater Caucasus and north of the Lesser Caucasus was divided between Caucasian Albania in the east, Caucasian Iberia in the center, Kolchis in the west, Armenia in the southwest and Atropatene to the southeast. In 252, Caucasian Albania acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire , appearing among its provinces in Shapur I's inscription at
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2464-742: The 2nd century BCE, the Alans were pushed west by the Kangju people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as the Ἰαξάρται Iaxártai in Greek, and the Iaxartae in Latin), the latter of whom were living in the Syr Darya basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region. The first mentions of names that historians link with the Alani appear at almost the same time in texts from
2541-472: The 2nd-century BC layer, were minted by Clodius and Caesar . The coins of Augustus are ubiquitous. The Qabala treasures revealed the denarii of Otho , Vespasian , Trajan and Hadrian . In 69-68 BC Lucullus , having overcome Armenian ruler Tigranes II , approached the borders of Caucasian Albania and was succeeded by Pompey . After the 66-65 BC wintering Pompey launched the Iberian campaign. It
2618-635: The Alani. The 1st century CE Jewish historian Josephus supplements this inscription. Josephus reports in the Jewish Wars (book 7, ch. 7.4) how Alans (whom he calls a " Scythian " tribe) living near the Sea of Azov crossed the Iron Gates for plunder (72 CE) and defeated the armies of Pacorus , king of Media , and Tiridates , King of Armenia , two brothers of Vologeses I (for whom
2695-434: The Alans for the purpose of uniting a heterogeneous group of tribes through the invocation of a common, ancestral 'Aryan' origin. Like the name of Iran (* Aryānām ), the adjective * aryāna is related to Airyanəm Waēǰō ('stretch of the Aryas'), the mythical homeland of the early Iranians mentioned in the Avesta . Some other ethnonyms also bear the name of the Alans: the Rhoxolāni ('Bright Alans'), an offshoot of
2772-566: The Alans were "formerly called Massagetae ," while Dio Cassius wrote that "they are Massagetae." It is likely that the Alans were an amalgamation of various Iranian peoples , including Sarmatians , Massagetae and Sakas . Scholars have connected the Alans to the nomadic state of Yancai mentioned in Chinese sources. The Yancai are first mentioned in connection with late 2nd century BCE diplomat Zhang Qian's travels in Chapter 123 of Shiji (whose author, Sima Qian , died c. 90 BCE). The Yancai of Chinese records has again been equated with
2849-403: The Alans whose name may be linked to religious practices, and the Alanorsoi ('White Alans'), perhaps a conglomerate of Alans and Aorsi . The personal names Alan and Alain (from Latin Alanus ) may have been introduced by Alan settlers to Western Europe during the first millennium CE. The Alans were also known over the course of their history by another group of related names including
2926-417: The Alans'); Hebrew Alan (pl. Alanim ). Rarer Latin spellings include Alauni or Halani . The name was also preserved in the modern Ossetian language as Allon . The ethnonym Alān is a dialectal variant of the Old Iranian * Aryāna , itself derived from the root arya -, meaning ' Aryan ', the common self-designation of Indo-Iranian peoples . It probably came in use in the early history of
3003-448: The Aranshahiks to a banquet and had killed them all, with the exception of Zarmihr Aranshahik, who had married a Mihranid princess. Hence the Mihranid family had becomen princes of Gardman and presiding princes of all Caucasian Albania . Sahl Smbatean was a descendant of Zarmihr Aranshahik. According to Arakel Babakhanian Esayi Abu-Muse was a member of the local house of Aranshahik too. Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania
3080-402: The Caspian Sea. By the early 2nd century CE the Alans were in firm control of the Lower Volga and Kuban . These lands had earlier been occupied by the Aorsi and the Siraces , whom the Alans apparently absorbed, dispersed and/or destroyed, since they were no longer mentioned in contemporaneous accounts. It is likely that the Alans' influence stretched further westwards, encompassing most of
3157-409: The Caucasian Albanian (the Armenian name for the language is Aghvaneren, the native name of the language is unknown) alphabet was created by Mesrob Mashtots , the Armenian monk , theologian and translator who is also credited with creating the Armenian alphabet . This alphabet was used to write down the Udi language , which was probably the main language of the Caucasian Albanians. Koryun ,
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3234-414: The Caucasian Albanians for the first time in the battle of Gaugamela , where the Albanians, Medes, Cadussi and Sacae were under the command of Atropates . Albania first appears in history as a vassal state in the empire of Tigranes the Great of Armenia (95-56 BC). The kingdom of Albania emerged in the eastern Caucasus in 2nd or 1st century BC and along with the Georgians and Armenians formed one of
3311-487: The Caucasian Albanians were Christianized in the 4th century, part of the population was assimilated by the Armenians (who dominated in the provinces of Artsakh and Utik that were earlier detached from the Kingdom of Armenia ) and Georgians (in the north), while the eastern parts of Caucasian Albania were Islamized and absorbed by Iranian and subsequently Turkic peoples (modern Azerbaijanis). Small remnants of this group continue to exist independently, and are known as
3388-438: The Caucasus followed different pagan religions. Under Achaemenid , Parthian and especially Sassanid influence, Zoroastrianism also grew in the region. Christianity started to spread in the late 4th century in the Sassanid era. The Arab conquest and the Chalcedonian crisis led to severe disintegration of the Church of Caucasian Albania . Starting from the 8th century, much of the local population converted to Islam . By
3465-574: The Huns, but in their manner of life and their habits they are less savage." Jordanes contrasted them with the Huns, noting that the Alans "were their equals in battle, but unlike them in their civilisation, manners and appearance". In the late 4th century, Vegetius conflates Alans and Huns in his military treatise – Hunnorum Alannorumque natio , the "nation of Huns and Alans" – and collocates Goths, Huns and Alans, exemplo Gothorum et Alannorum Hunnorumque . The 4th century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus noted that
3542-421: The Iranian tribe known as Alans (Alani), who in some versions was a son of Noah 's son Yafet . James Darmesteter , translator of the Avesta , compared Arran with Airyana Vaego which he also considered to have been in the Araxes - Ararat region, although modern theories tend to place this in the east of Iran. The Parthian name for the region was Ardhan ( Middle Persian : Arran ). The Arabic
3619-465: The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht . The kingdom would remain an integral part of the empire until its fall. By the end of the 3rd-century, the kings of Caucasian Albania were replaced with an Arsacid family , and would later be succeeded by another Iranian royal family in the 5th century AD, the Mihranids . Aghuank ( Old Armenian : Աղուանք Ałuankʿ , Modern Armenian : Աղվանք Aġvank’ ) is the Armenian name for Caucasian Albania. Armenian authors mention that
3696-428: The Mediterranean, Middle East and China. In the 1st century CE, the Alans migrated westwards from Central Asia , achieving a dominant position among the Sarmatians living between the Don River and the Caspian Sea . The Alans are mentioned in the Vologases inscription which reads that Vologases I , the Parthian king between around 45 and 78 CE, in the 11th year of his reign (62 CE), battled Kuluk , king of
3773-429: The Sarmatian world, which by then possessed a relatively homogenous culture. In 135 CE , the Alans made a huge raid into Asia Minor via the Caucasus, ravaging Media and Armenia. They were eventually driven back by Arrian , the governor of Cappadocia , who wrote a detailed report ( Ektaxis kata Alanoon or 'War Against the Alans') that is a major source for studying Roman military tactics . From 215 to 250,
3850-552: The above-mentioned inscription was made): Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned somewhere as being Scythians, and living around Tanais and Lake Maeotis . This nation about this time laid a design of falling upon Media , and the parts beyond it, in order to plunder them; with which intention they treated with the king of Hyrcania ; for he was master of that passage which king Alexander shut up with iron gates. This king gave them leave to come through them; so they came in great multitudes, and fell upon
3927-405: The cord with his sword and escaped. So the Alans, being still more provoked by this sight, laid waste the country, and drove a great multitude of the men, and a great quantity of the other booty from both kingdoms, along with them, and then retreated back to their own country. The fact that the Alans invaded Parthia through Hyrcania shows that at the time many Alans were still based north-east of
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#17327767220914004-407: The day for the Vandals in an armed encounter with the Franks at the crossing of the Rhine on December 31, 406). According to Gregory, another group of Alans, led by Goar , crossed the Rhine at the same time, but immediately joined the Romans and settled in Gaul. Under Beorgor ( Beorgor rex Alanorum ), they moved throughout Gaul, till the reign of Petronius Maximus , when they crossed
4081-562: The entire territory of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, and at other times only parts of the South Caucasus . In some instances, Arran was a part of Armenia. Medieval Islamic geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns, which included Barda , Beylagan , and Ganja , along with others. Originally, at least some of the Caucasian Albanians probably spoke Lezgic languages close to those found in modern Dagestan ; overall, though, as many as 26 different languages may have been spoken in Caucasian Albania. After
4158-423: The language of the educated". With the establishment of the Sassanids, Middle Persian , a closely related language to Parthian, became an official language of the Sassanid Empire . At this time, Persian enjoyed even more success than the Caucasian Albanian language and the region was greatly affected by Iran. According to Vladimir Minorsky : "The presence of Iranian settlers in Transcaucasia, and especially in
4235-448: The legion proceeded to the spot continually along the Aras River . The later version, published in 1956, states that the legion was stationing in Cappadocia by that time whereas the centurion might have been in Albania with some diplomatic mission because for the talks with the Eastern rulers the Roman commanders were usually sending centurions. In 1953 twelve denarii of Augustus were unearthed. In 1958 one denarius, coined in c. 82 AD,
4312-413: The long period of Persian and Median rule, most of the natives were not even Indo-Europeans". He also states that the several peoples of the right bank of Kura "were highly Armenicized and that many were actually Armenians per se cannot be doubted". Many of those people were still being cited as distinct ethnic entities when the right bank of Kura was acquired by the Caucasian Albanians in 387 AD. There
4389-431: The name Ho-su 闔蘇, reconstructed in ‘Old Chinese’ as ĥa̱p-sa̱ĥ, can be compared with Abzoae found in Pliny VI, 38 (see also Pulleyblank (1968), p. 252). Also Humbach (1969), pp. 39–40, accepts the identification, though with some reserve. Around 370, according to Ammianus, the peaceful relations between the Alans and Huns were broken, after the Huns attacked the Don Alans, killing many of them and establishing an alliance with
4466-401: The name derived from the word " ału " («աղու») meaning amiable in Armenian. The term Aghuank is polysemous and is also used in Armenian sources to denote the region between the Kur and Araxes rivers as part of Armenia . In the latter case it is sometimes used in the form "Armenian Aghuank" or "Hay-Aghuank". The Armenian historian of the region, Movses Kaghankatvatsi , who left
4543-403: The names of several peoples that populated these districts, including the regions of Artsakh and Utik . These were Utians , Mycians, Caspians , Gargarians, Sakasenians, Gelians, Sodians, Lupenians , Balas[ak]anians, Parsians and Parrasians. According to Robert H. Hewsen , these tribes were "certainly not of Armenian origin", and "although certain Iranian peoples must have settled here during
4620-439: The only more or less complete historical account about the region, explains the name Aghvank as a derivation from the word ału (Armenian for sweet, soft, tender), which, he said, was the nickname of Caucasian Albania's first governor Arran and referred to his lenient personality. Movses Kaghankatvatsi and other ancient sources explain Arran or Arhan as the name of the legendary founder of Caucasian Albania (Aghvan) or even of
4697-416: The proximity of the passes, must have played an important role in absorbing and pushing back the aboriginal inhabitants. Such names as Sharvan, Layzan, Baylaqan, etc., suggest that the Iranian immigration proceeded chiefly from Gilan and other regions on the southern coast of the Caspian". The presence of the Persian language and Iranian culture continued during the Islamic era. The original population of
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#17327767220914774-408: The region. It is possible that the language and literature for administration and record-keeping of the imperial chancellery for external affairs naturally became Parthian, based on the Aramaic alphabet . According to Toumanoff: "the predominance of Hellenism , as under the Artaxiads, was now followed by a predominance of "Iranianism", and, symptomatically, instead of Greek, as before, Parthian became
4851-447: The regionally powerful kingdom of Alania . It survived until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century CE. Various scholars regard these Alans as the ancestors of the modern Ossetians. The Alans spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into the modern Ossetian language . The name Alan represents an Eastern Iranian dialectal form of Old Iranian term Aryan , and so
4928-410: The representatives of the local tribal nobility, to which attest their non-Armenian and non-Iranian names (Oroezes, Cosis and Zober in Greek sources). The population of Caucasian Albania of the Roman period is believed to have belonged to either the Northeast Caucasian peoples or the South Caucasian peoples . According to Strabo , the Albanians were a group of 26 tribes which lived to the north of
5005-404: The survivors. These Alans successfully invaded the Goths in 375 together with the Huns. They subsequently accompanied the Huns in their westward expansion. Following the Hunnic invasion in 370, other Alans, along with other Sarmatians , migrated westward. One of these Alan groups fought together with the Goths in the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE, in which emperor Valens
5082-446: The territory of Dagestan . However, in post-Islamic times the geographic notion of Arran reduced to the territory between the Kura and Aras rivers. Ancient Caucasian Albania lay on the south-eastern part of the Greater Caucasus mountains. It was bounded by Caucasian Iberia (present-day Georgia ) to the west, by Sarmatia to the north, by the Caspian Sea to the east, and by the provinces of Artsakh and Utik in Armenia to
5159-407: The territory of the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan . The districts of Albania were: The kingdom's capital in antiquity was Qabala (Gabala; Kapalak). Classical sources are unanimous in making the Kura River (Cyros) the frontier between Armenia and Albania after the conquest of the territories on the right bank of Kura by Armenians in the 2nd century BC. The original territory of Albania
5236-462: The three nations of the Southern Caucasus . Albania came under strong Armenian religious and cultural influence. Herodotus , Strabo , and other classical authors repeatedly mention the Caspians but do not seem to know much about them; they are grouped with other inhabitants of the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, like the Amardi, Anariacae, Cadusii, Albani (see below), and Vitii (Eratosthenes apud Strabo, 11.8.8), and their land ( Caspiane )
5313-765: The treaty of Nisibis stipulated the reestablishment of the Roman protectorate over Caucasian Iberia and Albania. But fifty years later Rome lost the area that since then remained an integral part of the Sasanian Empire . Alans Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Alans ( Latin : Alani ) were an ancient and medieval Iranic nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what
5390-408: The variations Asi , As , and Os ( Romanian Iasi or Olani , Bulgarian Uzi , Hungarian Jász , Russian Jasy , Georgian Osi ). It is this name at the root of the modern Ossetian . The Alans were formed out of the merger of the Massagetae , a Central Asian Iranian nomadic people, with some old tribal groups. Related to the Asii who had invaded Bactria in
5467-437: The west along the Kura river. These boundaries, though, were probably never static—at times the territory of Caucasian Albania included land to the west of the Kura river. Albania or Arran in Islamic times was a triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of the Kura and Aras rivers, Mil plain and parts of the Mughan plain , and in the pre-Islamic times, corresponded roughly to
5544-409: Was ar-Rān . In Georgian , it was known as რანი ( Rani ). In Ancient Greek , it was called Ἀλβανία Albanía . What its inhabitants were called is unknown. In pre-Islamic times, Caucasian Albania/Arran was a wider concept than that of post-Islamic Arran. Ancient Arran covered all of eastern Transcaucasia, which included most of the territory of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic and part of
5621-604: Was an enduring relation of Albania with Ancient Rome . The Latin rock inscription close to Boyukdash mountain in Gobustan, Baku , which mentions Legio XII Fulminata , is the world's easternmost Latin inscription known. In Albania, Romans reached the Caspian Sea for the first time. The Roman coins circulated in Caucasian Albania till the end of the 3rd century AD. Two denarii , which were unearthed in
5698-520: Was approximately 23,000 km . After 387 AD the territory of Caucasian Albania, sometimes referred to by scholars as "Greater Albania," grew to about 45,000 km . In the 5th century the capital was transferred to Partav in Utik', reported to have been built in the mid-5th century by the King Vache II of Albania, but according to M. L. Chaumont, it existed earlier as an Armenian city. In
5775-633: Was killed. As the Roman Empire continued to decline , the Alans split into various groups; some fought for the Romans while others joined the Huns, Visigoths or Ostrogoths . A portion of the western Alans joined the Vandals and the Suebi in their invasion of Roman Gaul . Gregory of Tours mentions in his Liber historiae Francorum ("Book of Frankish History") that the Alan king Respendial saved
5852-514: Was revealed in the Şamaxı trove. During the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138) Albania was invaded by the Alans , an Iranian nomadic group. This invasion promoted an alliance between Rome and the Albanians that was reinforced under Antoninus Pius in 140 AD. Sassanians occupied the area around 240 AD but after a few years, the Roman Empire regained control of Caucasian Albania. In 297
5929-577: Was then known to be Alans, although they were no longer vassals of the Kangju. Dutch Sinologist A. F. P. Hulsewé noted that: Chavannes (1905), p. 558, note 5, approves of the identification of Yen-ts’ai with the ‘Αορσοι mentioned by Strabo, as proposed by Hirth (1885), p. 139, note 1 ; he believes this identification to be strengthened by the later name Alan, which explains Ptolemy's "Alanorsi". Marquart (1905), pp. 240–241, did not accept this identification, but Pulleyblank (1963), pp. 99 and 220, does, referring for additional support to HSPC 70.6b where
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