Caucasian Iberians - History

History

The area was inhabited in earliest times by several relative tribes of Tibareni, Mushki, Saspers, Gugars, Diaokhi, etc., collectively called Iberians (the Eastern Iberians) by ancient Greek (Herodotus, Strabo, etc.) and Roman authors. Iberians called their country Kartli after a mythic chief, Kartlos. One of the Iberian tribes of Mtskheta (the future capital of the Iberian kingdom) dominated the early Kingdom. The Mtskheta tribe was later ruled by a prince locally known as mamasakhlisi (“the father of the household” in Georgian).

The Georgian chronicle Kartlis Tskhovreba (“History of Kartli”) claims that a Persian general Azo of Alexander’s army massacred a local ruling family and conquered the area, until being defeated at the end of the 4th century BC by Prince Pharnavaz, who was at that time a local chief. Pharnavaz, victorious in the power struggle, became the first king of Iberia (c. 302-c. 237 BC). Driving back an invasion, he subjugated the neighbouring areas, including a significant part of the western Georgian state of Colchis (locally known as Egrisi). Pharnavaz then focused on social projects, including the citadel of the capitol, the Armaztsikhe, and the idol of the god Armazi (derived from the Iranian god Ahura-Mazda). He also reformed the Georgian written language, and created a new system of administration, subdividing the country in several counties called saeristavos. His successors managed to gain control over the mountainous passes of the Caucasus, with the Daryal (also known as the Iberian Gates) being the most important of them.

Roman general Pompey invaded Iberia in 65 BC, during his war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, and Armenia; but Rome did not establish her power permanently over Iberia. Nineteen years later, the Romans again marched (36 BC) on Iberia, forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Albania as their ally. While another Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection and became her ally.

The Iberian king Mirian III adopted Christianity as a state religion in AD 327 (this event is attributed to the mission of a Cappadocian woman, Saint Nino, who since 303 had preached Christianity in Iberia), and Iberia allied itself with the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. The religion would become a strong tie between Georgia and Rome (later the Byzantine Empire), and would have a large scale impact on the state's culture and society. However, after the emperor Julian was slain during his failed campaign in Persia in 363, Rome ceded control of Iberia to Persia, and King Varaz-Bakur I (Asphagur) (363-365) became a Persian vassal — an outcome confirmed by the Peace of Acilisene in 387.

The early reign of the Iberian king Vakhtang I dubbed Gorgasali (447-502) was marked by relative revival of the kingdom. Formally a vassal of the Persians, he secured the northern borders by subjugating the Caucasian mountaineers, and brought the adjacent western and southern Georgian lands under his control. He established an autocephalic patriarchate at Mtskheta, and made Tbilisi his capital. In 482, he led a general uprising against Persia. A desperate war for independence lasted for twenty years, but he could not get Byzantine support, and was defeated, dying in battle in 502.