The Mihranids were an Iranian family which ruled several regions of

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of

Sasanian Persian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

descent but were of

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Mede ...

n origin.Encyclopedia Iranica. M. L. Chaumont. Albania.
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History

The dynasty was founded when a certain Mihran, a distant relative of Sasanian, settled in the region of Gardman in

Utik Utik ( hy, Ուտիք, also known as Uti, Utiq, or Outi) was a historic province of the Kingdom of Armenia. It was ceded to Caucasian Albania following the partition of Armenia between Sassanid Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire in 387 AD. Mo ...

. He was probably a member of a branch of the Mihranid family which was listed among the

Seven Great Houses of Iran The Seven Great Houses of Iran, also known as the seven Parthian clans, were seven feudal aristocracies of Parthian origin, who were allied with the Sasanian court. The Parthian clans all claimed ancestry from Achaemenid Persians. The seven Great ...

, and whose two other lines ruled

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a la ...

(

Chosroid Dynasty The Chosroid dynasty (a Latinization of ''Khosro anni'', ka, ხოსრო ��ანები), also known as the Iberian Mihranids, were a dynasty of the kings and later the presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia from the 4 ...

) and Gogarene/ Gugark. The most prominent representatives of the family in the 7th century were Varaz Grigor, his son Javanshir, and Varaz-Tiridates I. Mihranids assumed a Persian title of Arranshahs (i.e.

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

s of Arran, Persian name of Albania). The family's rule came to an end after the assassination of Varaz-Tiridates II by

Nerseh Pilippean Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and T ...

in 822–23. Subsequently Sahl Smbatean, a descendant of the aforementioned Arranshahik (Eṙanšahik) family, assumed the title of ArranshahMinorsky, Vladimir. ''Caucasica IV''. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 15, No. 3. (1953), pp. 504-529. and ruled significant part of Caucasian Albania.

Mihranids of Gogarene

* Peroz (330–361) * Unknown (361–394) * Bakur I (394–400) * Arshusha I (400–430) * Bakur II (430–455) * Arshusha II (455–470) * Varsken (470–482) * Arshusha III (482–540) * Arshusha IV (540–608) * Vahram-Arshusha V (608–627) * Arshusha VI (???–748)

Mihranids of Gardman

* Peroz (330–361) * Khurs (361–430) * Barzabod (430–440) * Varaz-Bakur (440–450) * Mihr (450–480) * Armayel (480–510) *

Vard I Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

(510–540) *

Vardan I Vardan ( hy, Վարդան; Vartan in Western Armenian transliteration, pronounced in both Eastern and Western Armenian), Varden ( ka, ვარდენ) in Georgian, is an Armenian name of Middle Persian origin (from Mid. Pers. Wardā), popula ...

(540–570) *

Vard II Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

(570–600)

Mihranids of Caucasian Albania

* Varaz Grigor (628–636) * Javanshir (636–680) * Varaz-Tiridates I (680–705) ** Shiruye (699–704, usurper) *

Vardan II Vardan II (d. 711) - was the Mihranid king of Caucasian Albania from 705 to 711 (together with brother Gagik I).{{Cite book , last=Toumanoff , first=Cyrille , title=Les dynasties de la Caucasie chrétienne de l'Antiquité jusqu'au xixe siècle : T ...

(705–740) * Narseh-Dzndak (740–770) * Gagikh (770–790) *

Stephanos I Stephanos or Stefanos, in Greek , is a masculine given name derived from the Greek word (''stéphanos''), meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", from the verb (''stéphein''), "to encircle, to wreathe". In Ancien ...

(790–821) * Varaz-Tiridates II (821–822)

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite book , title = The Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia , year = 1969 , publisher = Fordham University Press , last = Toumanoff , first = Cyril , pages = 1–33 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SShdygAACAAJ Medieval history of the Caucasus 4th century in Iran Ancient history of the Caucasus