Nachoragan was a commander in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

recorded in the

Lazic War The Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgia (country), Georgian region of Lazica. The ...

by the Byzantine historians. He succeeded

Mihr-Mihroe Mihr-Mihroe (died 555), in Middle Persian either ''Mihr-Mihrōē'' Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater, Routledge & Kegan Paul Volume 6, Parts 1-3, page 281a or ''Mihrmāh-rōy''; in Byzantine sources Mermeroes (), was a 6th-century ...

as the commander of the operations in

Lazica The Kingdom of Lazica (; ; ), sometimes called Lazian Empire, was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman era, Georgia in the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colc ...

after the latter's death. As he took the command, the political situation favored the Sasanians, as the assassination of the Lazic king Gubazes by Byzantine generals had alienated the Lazi. Nachoragan relieved the

Siege of Onoguris The siege of Onoguris occurred in 554 or 555 AD during the Lazic War between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. The Byzantine generals led by Martin needed to score a quick victory on the battlefield to redress their assassination of ...

and subsequently destroyed the Byzantine base at

Archaeopolis Nokalakevi ( ka, ნოქალაქევი) also known as Archaeopolis (, "Old City") and Tsikhegoji (in Georgian "Fortress of Kuji") and according to some sources "Djikha Kvinji" in Mingrelian, is a village and archaeological site in the ...

. In the spring of 556 AD, Nachoragan began a new invasion by attacking Nesus with 60,000 men, where

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

and Justin were positioned. After the rejection of his peace proposals by Martin, Nachoragan besieged Phasis, but was heavily defeated. He then retreated to Kutais, left the command of the Sasanians in Lazica to his subordinate Vaphrizes shortly after, and retired to winter quarters in

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

. The Greek name ''Nachoragan'' () recorded by the Byzantine historians probably represents not a name but the

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

title ''naxwaragān'' or ''naxwārakān/naxwāragān''. It corresponds to the Syriac nkwrgn (, "governor") and the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

title ''

nakharar ''Nakharar'' ( ''naxarar'', from Parthian ''naxvadār'' "holder of the primacy") was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility. ''Nakharar'' system Medieval Armenia was divided into l ...

'', both of which are borrowed from

Middle Iranian The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian language ...

languages.

References

{{Reflist 6th-century Iranian people Generals of Khosrow I People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Lazic War