Chosroid dynasty

Early Chosroids

The ascendance of the Mihranid lines to the thrones of Caucasia was, in fact, a manifestation of the victory of the Sassanids over what remained in the region of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia whose Armenian branch was now in decline and the Georgian one had already been extinct.

As an Iranian vassal king, Mirian III (ruled 284–361), the founder of the Chosroid dynasty, participated in the Sassanid war against the Roman Empire. However, in the Peace of Nisibis of 298, Rome was acknowledged its suzerainty over eastern Georgia, but recognized Mirian as the king of Iberia. Mirian quickly adapted to the change in the political fabric of Caucasia, and established close ties with Rome. This association was further enhanced after the female Christian missionary, Nino, converted Mirian, his wife Nana and household into Christianity in or around 337. However, the Sassanids continued to vie with Rome for influence over Iberia, and succeeded in temporarily deposing Mirian's Romanophile successor, Sauromaces II, in favor of the pro-Iranian Aspacures II in 361. The Roman emperor Valens intervened and restored Sauromaces to the throne in 370, although Aspacures’ son and successor, Mihrdat III (r. 365–380), was permitted to retain control of the eastern part of the kingdom. However, by 380, the Sassanids had successfully reasserted their claims by reuniting Iberia under the authority of Aspacures III of Iberia (r. 380–394) and began to extract tribute from the country. The Romans evidently admitted the loss of Iberia in the aftermath of the 387 Treaty of Acilisene with Iran. The growth of Iranian influence in eastern Georgia, including the promotion of Zoroastrianism, was resisted by the Christian church and a part of the nobility, the invention of the Georgian alphabet, a crucial instrument in the propagation of Christian learning, being the most important cultural legacy of this struggle. The Chosroid kings of Iberia, albeit Christian, remained generally loyal to their Iranian suzerains until Vakhang I Gorgasali (r. 447–522), perhaps the most popular Chosroid king of Iberia traditionally credited also with the foundation of Georgia’s modern-day capital Tbilisi, reversed his political orientation in 482, bringing his state and church more into line with current Byzantine policy. He then led, in alliance with the Armenian prince Vahan Mamikonian, an open revolt against the Sassanids and continued a desperate, but eventually unsuccessful, struggle until the end of his life.

Later Chosroids

After Vakhtang I's death in 522, the family went in decline and exercised only a limited authority over Iberia, the government being effectively run by the Tbilisi-based Iranian viceroy through the compromise with local princes. When Bacurius III of Iberia died in 580, the Sassanids seized opportunity to abolish the monarchy, without much resistance from the Iberian aristocracy. Dispossessed of the crown, heirs of Vakhtang I remained in their mountain fortresses – the senior Chosroid branch in the province of Kakheti, and the minor one, the Guaramids, in Klarjeti and Javakheti. A member of the latter branch, Guaram I (r. 588–590), revolted, in 588, from the Sassanid rule and pledged his loyalty the Byzantine emperor Maurice, being bestowed with the high Byzantine dignity of curopalates. He succeeded in restoring the autonomy of Iberia in the form of a presiding principate, a rearrangement that was accepted by Iran in the peace of 591, which divided Iberia between Byzantium and Iran at Tbilisi. Guaram's son and successor, Stephanus I (r. 590–627), transferred his allegiance to the Sassanids and reunited Iberia, eventually drawing a vigorous response from the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610–641), who, in alliance with the Khazars, campaigned in Iberia and captured Tbilisi after an uneasy siege in 627. Heraclius I had Stephanus flayed alive and gave his office to the pro-Byzantine Chosroid prince Adarnase I of Kakheti (r. 627–637/42).

Reinstated by Heraclius, the Chosroid dynasty were persistent in their pro-Byzantine line, but Stephanus II (637/642–c. 650) was forced to recognize himself a tributary to the Arab Caliphate which would eventually become a dominant regional power. Following the death of Adarnase II (r. c. 650–684), the rival Guaramid branch, with Guaram II (684–c. 693), regained power, and the elder Chosroid branch again withdrew into their appanages in Kakheti, where it produced a notable member, Archil, a saint of the Georgian Orthodox Church, martyred at the hands of the Arabs in 786. Upon Archil’s death, his elder son Iovane (died c. 799) evacuated to the Byzantine-dominated region of Egrisi (Lazica) in western Georgia, while his younger son Juansher (r. 786–c. 807) remained in Kakheti and married Latavri, daughter of Prince Adarnase of Erusheti-Artani, the forefather of the Georgian Bagratid dynasty.

The main Chosroid branch outlived its younger Guaramid line, extinct since 786, by two decades. With Juansher’s death in c. 807, it too died out. The Chosroid possessions in Kakheti were taken over by the local noble families who formed a succession of chorepiscopi down to the 11th century, while the Guaramid estates passed to their relatives from the Bagratid dynasty.

List of the Chosroid rulers

Kings of Iberia

• Mirian III, 284–361
  • Rev, co-king 345–361
• Sauromaces II, 361–363, diarch 370–378
• Aspacures II, 363–365
• Mihrdat III, 365–380, diarch 370–378
• Aspacures III, 380–394
• Trdat, 394–406
• Pharasmanes IV, 406–409
• Mihrdat IV, 409–411
• Archil, 411–435
• Mihrdat V, 435–447
• Vakhtang I, 447–522
• Dachi, 522–534
• Bacurius II, 534–547
• Pharasmanes V, 547–561
• Pharasmanes VI, 561–?
• Bacurius III, ?–580

Princes of Kakheti and Presiding Princes of Iberia

• Adarnase I, Prince of Kakheti, c. 580–637; Presiding Prince of Iberia, 627–637
• Stephen II, Prince of Kakheti and Presiding Prince of Iberia, 637–c. 650
• Adarnase II, Prince of Kakheti and Presiding Prince of Iberia, c. 650–684
• Stephen, Prince of Kakheti, 685–736
• Mirian, Prince of Kakheti, 736–741
• Archil “the Martyr”, Prince of Kakheti, 736–786
• John, Prince of Kakheti, 786–790
• Juansher, Prince of Kakheti, 786–807