Alania
Kingdom of Alania | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Late 9th century Mongol conquests 1240 | | ||||||||
|
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the
According to 10th century historian
Name
The name Alania derives from the
In other sources, they're mentioned as “Ās”. in Russian chronicles and Hungarian sources they're called “Yas”.[11]
History
The Alans (Alani) originated as an
As vassal of Khazaria
Alania was an important buffer state during the
After Leo assumed the imperial title, the land of his mountaineer allies was invaded by
As a result of their united stand against the successive waves of invaders from the south, the Alans of the Caucasus fell under the overlordship of the
Independence and Christianization (late 9th–10th centuries)
In the late 9th century, Alania became independent from the Khazars.[1] In the early 10th century, the Alans fell under the influence of the Byzantine Empire due to King Constantine III of Abkhazia's activities in north Caucasus. He sent an army into Alan territory and, with the Byzantine patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, converted the Alans to Christianity.[16] The conversion is documented in the letters of Patriarch Nicholas Mysticus to the local archbishop, Peter, who was appointed here through King George II of Abkhazia's efforts.[16] Richard Foltz has suggested that only certain elite Alan families were Christianized, the bulk of the population continuing to follow their original pagan traditions.[17]
According to Islamic sources, it describes Alania as a vast country with 1,000 settlements. And the population consisted of both Christians and Pagans, mountaineers and nomads. in the north, the Alans bordered on the Hungarians and the Bulgars. In the east they gave their name to the Daryal gorge, called “Gate of the Alans”.[7]
When
You go to the left from the kingdom of Sarir and, after three days of journey through mountains and meadows, arrive in the kingdom of Al-Lan. Their king is Christian at heart, but all his people are idolaters. Then you travel for ten days among rivers and woods before arriving at a fortress called the "
Gate of the Alans". It stands on the top of a mountain at the foot of which there is a road; high mountains surround it and a thousand men from among its inhabitants guard its walls day and night.[19]
Later history (11th–13th centuries)
After the downfall of Khazaria, the Alan kings frequently allied with the
The Alans and Georgians probably collaborated in the
Mongol conquest and aftermath (13th–14th centuries)
By the early 13th century the kingdom of Alania had factually disintegrated into a large number of autonomous clans and villages ruled by infighting chiefs leading several dozen to several hundred retainers.[24][25] This state of anarchy was described by the Hungarian monk Julian, who in 1236 observed that "there are as many princes as villages, none of whom owes allegiance to another. The war there is incessant, leader against leader, village against village."[26] The Mongols, led by the generals Jebe and Subutai, met the Alans for the first time in 1222 after passing through Shirvan and Daghestan. They were confronted by a Kipchak-Alan alliance, which they defeated by scheming with the Kipchaks. Afterwards, they pushed further west, crushing a Rus alliance at the Kalka river in 1223.[27]
The second Mongol invasion of Alania began in 1239 under
After the invasion the Mongols installed two local vassal princes, called, according to the
Bishop Theodore of Alania described the plight of his metropolis in a lengthy epistolary sermon written during the tenure of
Classic Alania finally came to an end in the late 14th century, when the Turco-Mongol warlord
Known rulers
The nomenclature used by the rulers of Alania is unknown. Where they are mentioned by historical records, they are variously called "lord", "prince", "king", "tsar", and by the Byzantines, exousiokrator. Notably, the Byzantines never referred to other foreign rulers by this title, using arkhon or exousiastes instead.
Non-dynastic/dynasty unknown
- Bazuk - c. late 1st/early 2nd century; allied with the Arsacid kings of Iberia
- Anbazuk/Ambazuk - co-ruled with previous
- Ashkhadar - c. early 4th century; father of Ashkhen, wife of Trdat III of Armenia
- Itaz - waged war against Abkhazia in the early 8th century
Tsarazon/Tsærasantæ dynasty
- Urdur/Urdura/Urdure - c. early 11th century; first known ruler of Alania after independence from the Khazars. He invaded Kakheti around 1029 and died in battle against Kvirike III. According to Vakhushti of Kartli, Kvirike was assassinated by an Alan slave in revenge.
- Durgulel the Great - c. 11th century;[46] son of previous, father or brother of Alda of Alania and Borena of Alania. Byzantine seals refer to him as Gabriel, which may represent a baptismal name. Sometimes considered to be identical with his predecessor.
- Rosmik - c. early 12th century; fought with the Byzantines against the Normans invading Epirus c. 1107/8
- Khuddan - c. 12th century; father of Burdukhan of Alania, wife of George III of Georgia[47]
Bagrationi dynasty
- David - c. 12th century; grandson of Alda of Alania; forced to flee Georgia after his father Demetrius unsuccessfully tried to claim the throne. He and his descendants married into the Tsarazon dynasty and became the rulers of Alania
- Aton - son of previous
- Jadaron - son of previous
- David Soslan - d. 1207; son of previous, married Tamar of Georgia[47]
Non-dynastic/dynasty unknown
- Kachir-Ukule/Kachiruk Ulu (Kachiruk the Senior? Compare with David Ulu) - c. 1237 - last known ruler of the united Alan kingdom. Captured and killed by the Mongols.
- Indiabu - c. 13th century
- Peredjan - c. 1290
Legacy
In the last years of the
Gallery
-
Alanic inscription on a (lost) Christian funeral stele Zelenchuk Inscription
-
Stone cross from theNorth Zelenchusky Churchwith Greek inscription dated to the year 1012/1013
-
Late 19th century copy of a mural from the Central Zelenchuksky Church
-
Late 19th century copy of a mural from the Central Zelenchuksky Church
Notes
- ^ A prominent asud figure was Arughtai, who from 1400 to 1434 acted as a kingmaker in the Northern Yuan dynasty.[37]
References
- ^ a b Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, p. 260.
- ^ "ALANS". Encyclopædia Iranica. Bibliotheca Persica Press. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ Waldman & Mason 2006, pp. 12–14, 572–573
- ^ West 2009, pp. 619–621
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
The Alani who remained under the rule of the Huns are said to be ancestors of the modern Ossetes of the Caucasus. .
- ^ "OSSETIC LANGUAGE i. History and description". Encyclopædia Iranica. Bibliotheca Persica Press. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ a b "ALANS". Encyclopædia Iranica. Bibliotheca Persica Press. Retrieved 16 May 2015
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, pp. 186, 260.
- ^ Benveniste 1973, p. 300.
- ^ Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 213.
- ^ "ALANS". Encyclopædia Iranica. Bibliotheca Persica Press. Retrieved 16 May 2015
- ^ a b Bailey, Harold Walter. Alans. Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition. Accessed on August 20, 2007.
- ^ Alemany 2000, pp. 200–204.
- ISBN 0812211286.
- ISBN 0801412218.
- ^ ISBN 978-1780230306.
- ^ Richard Foltz The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus, London: Bloomsbury, 2021, pp. 44-50.
- ^ Al-Mas'udi notes that the Alanian king married a sister of the king of Sarir.
- ^ Quoted in Alemany, p. 260.
- ^ Alemany 2000, p. 7.
- ^ Kuznetsov, X-II.
- ^ Kuznetsov, X-I.
- ^ Beletsky & Vinogradov 2011, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022a, p. 214.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022b, p. 58, 59.
- ^ a b Latham-Sparkle 2022a, p. 220.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022a, p. 216.
- ^ a b Latham-Sparkle 2022b, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022a, p. 221.
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, pp. 198–200.
- ^ Alemany 2000, pp. 408–410.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022a, pp. 221–222.
- ^ a b Foltz 2022, p. 51.
- ^ Latham-Sparkle 2022a, p. 222.
- ^ Baumer 2016, p. 223.
- ^ Toepel 2012, p. 311.
- ^ Tsai 2017, p. 27.
- ^ Foltz 2022, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, p. 196.
- ^ W. W. Rockhill: The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55, as narrated by himself, with two accounts of the earlier journey of John of Pian de Carpine. tr. from the Latin and ed., with an introductory notice, by William Woodville Rockhill (London: Hakluyt Society, 1900). Acc. to: http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rubruck.html. Chaps. IX and XXII.
- ^ Foltz 2022, p. 163.
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, pp. 237–240.
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, p. 237.
- ^ Kouznetsov & Lebedynsky 2005, p. 243.
- ^ Foltz 2022, p. 83.
- ^ Кузнецов В.А.: Алания в X-XIII вв., page 30
- ^ a b Кузнецов В.А.: Алания в X-XIII вв., page 33
- ^ Shnirelman, Victor (2006). The Politics of a Name: Between Consolidation and Separation in the Northern Caucasus. Acta Slavica Iaponica 23, pp. 37-49.
Sources
- Alemany, Agustí (2000). Sources on the Alans: a critical compilation. Brill. ISBN 9789004114425.
- Baumer, Christoph (2016). The History of Central Asia. The Age of Islam and the Mongols. Tauris.
- Beletsky, D.; Vinogradov, A. (2011). Nizhniy Arkhyz i Senty - drevneyshiye khramy Rossii. Problemy khristianskogo iskusstva Alanii i Severo-Zapadnogo Kavkaza (in Russian). Mockba.
- ISBN 978-0870242502.
- ISBN 9780755618453.
- Kuznetsov V. A. Ocherki istorii alan. Vladikavkaz, 1992.
- Kouznetsov, Vladimir; Lebedynsky, Iaroslav (2005). Les Alains. Cavaliers des steppes, seigneurs du Caucase. I-XV siecles apr. J.-C. ISBN 2877722953.
- Latham-Sparkle, John (2022a). "The Mongol Conquest of Caucasia". In Timothy May & Michael Hope (ed.). The Mongol World. Routledge. pp. 213–226.
- Latham-Sparkle, John (2022b). "Treason and Sovereignty in the Medieval Caucasus". Chronos. 3: 50–64.
- ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
- Pletneva, Svetlana. Ot kochevii k gorodam. Moscow, 1967.
- Toepel, Alexander (2012). "Ein Brief Johannes' XXII. an den koreanischen König". Scrinium. 7–8: 307–313.
- Tsai, Wei-chieh (2017). "Northern Yuan (1368–1634)". In Timoty May (ed.). The Mongol Empire. A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC–CLIO. pp. 26–29.
- Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. ISBN 1438129181. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- West, Barbara A. (January 1, 2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. ISBN 978-1438119137. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
Further reading
- Isaenko, Anatoly; Jessee, W. Scott (2015). "Georgian-Alan (Ossetian) Dynastic And Military Ties In The Medieval Period" (PDF). Medieval Perspectives. 30: 117–126.
- Jessee, W. Scott; Isaenko, Anatoly. "The Military Effectiveness of Alan Mercenaries in Byzantium, 1301–1306". Journal of Medieval Military History. 11: 107–132.
- Lubotsky, Alexander (2015). Alanic Marginal Notes in a Greek Liturgical Manuscript. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
- Sauer, Eberhard (2015). "Northern outpost of the Caliphate: Maintaining military forces in a hostile environment (the Dariali Gorge in the Central Caucasus in Georgia)" (PDF). Antiquity. 89 (346): 885–904. S2CID 162726445.
- Shepard, J (2006). "Closer Encounters with the Byzantine World. The Rus at the Straits of Kerch". In Kathryn L. Reyerson (ed.). Pre-Modern Russia and its World. Essays in Honor of Thomas S. Noonan. Harrassowitz. pp. 15–78.