Origins of The Name
See also: List of geographic names of Iranian originAccording to some legends and ancient sources, such as Movses Kagankatvatsi, (Albanian) Arran or Arhan was the name of the legendary founder of Caucasian Albania, who in some versions was son of Noah's son Yafet (Japheth) and also, possibly the eponym of the ancient Caucasian Albanians (Aghvan), and/or the Iranic tribe known as Alans (Alani). The nearby Araks (Aras) river was known to Ancient Greek geographers as the Araxes, and has a source near from Mount Ararat. James Darmesteter, in his discussion of the geography of the Avesta's Vendidad I, observes that the 12th century Bundahishn (29:12) identified the "Airyana Vaego by the Vanguhi Daitya" on the northern border of Azerbaijan, and did so "probably in order that it should be as near as possible to the seat of the Zoroastrian religion yet without losing its supernatural character by the counter-evidence of facts." Darmesteter further associated the Vanguhi Daitya river with the Araxes, and compared the name "Airyana Vaego" with that of Arran.
According to C.E. Bosworth:
| “ | The Georgians knew them as Rani, a form taken over in an Arabized form for the early Islamic geographical term al-Rān (pronounced ar-Rān). | ” |
Read more about this topic: Arran (Caucasus)
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