Caucasian Albania

Caucasian Albania (or Aghbania) was an ancient state that covered what is now southern Dagestan and most of today's Azerbaijan of the Caucasus. For most of its history, the Caucasian Albania was a part of the Persian Empire. Caucasian Albanians were one of the Ibero-Caucasian peoples, ancient and indigenous population of modern southern Dagestan and Azerbaijan. Already in ancient times they were heavily mixed with the Persian people who settled in the area during the Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid periods. This region should not be confused with modern Albania and Albanians (Shqiptarë), who are a separate people from the Balkans and only share the name coincidentally.

Ancient tribes of the Caucasian Albania were: Hers, Gargars, Gels, Caspians, Uties, etc.

The kingdom of Caucasian Albania (Aghbania) was founded in the 3rd century BC.

In the 7th century AD the kingdom was abolished by the Arabs.

Since the 8th century the Caucasian Albania existed as principalities of Aranshahs and Khachen, along with Iranic and Arabic principalities: the Principality of Shedadians, the Principality of Shirvan, the Principality of Derbent, etc.

One of main regions of the Caucasian Albania, Hereti, was a part of Georgia (Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia) since the end of the 7th century. For centuries the region was a part of Persia. Since 1921 the part of Hereti, now districts of Kakhi, Belakani and Zakatala, is a part of Azerbaijan.

According to Moses Kalankaytuk, the Albanian alphabet was invented by Mesrob Mashdots, an Armenian monk, theologian and linguist (see Moses Kalankaytuk, "The History of Aluank", I, 27 and III, 24).

Another Armenian historian, Koriun, in his book "The Life of Mashtots", provided more historical details: "Then there came and visited them an elderly man, an Albanian named Benjamin. And he [Mesrop] 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." (see Koriun, Ch. 16).

The Albanian alphabet was discovered by Georgian scholar, Professor Ilia Abuladze in 1937. The alphabet was found in the manuscript No 7117, the Armenian language manual of XV c. This manual presents different alphabets for comparison: Armenian, Greek, Latin, Syrian, Georgian, Coptic, and Albanian among them. The Albanian alphabet was titled: "Aluanic girn e" (Albanic letters). Abuladze made an assumption that this alphabet was based on the Georgian letters.

Caucasian Albania was one of the first countries where Christianity was adopted from the end of the 4th century, when the Albanian Church was formed.

As a result of the expansion of Seljuks (Turks) on the territory of modern Azerbaijan in the 11th century indigenous Albanian population was assimilated. Albanians played a significant role in today's Azeris' ethnogenesis.

The Udi language spoken by 8000 people in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia is thought to be the last remnant of language spoken in Caucasian Albania.

See also Arran

External links

• About the Caucasian Albania
• About the Caucasian Albania (section 10)

Literature

• Movses Kalankatuatsi. "The History of Aluank". Translated from Old Armenian (Grabar) by Sh.V.Smbatian, Yerevan, 1984 (In Russian).
• Koriun, "The Life of Mashtots", translated from Old Armenian (Grabar) by Bedros Norehad (in English)
• Movses Kalankatuatsi. "History of Albania". Translated by L. Davlianidze-Tatishvili, Tbilisi, 1985 (In Georgian)
• Ilia Abuladze. "About the discovery of the alphabet of the Caucasian Albanians". - "Bulletin of the Institute of Language, History and Material Culture (ENIMK)", Vol. 4, Ch. I, Tbilisi, 1938.