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Chapter 20: The Caucasus, Persia and Sogdia in the 8th century
At the southern edges of the mighty Caucasus, in the areas populated by the Karvelian peoples, the Kingdom of Abkhazia managed to unify the western coastal plains – the realm was predominantly ethnically Kartvelian, yet the tongue there spoken was mainly Mingrelian, quite divergent from the Kartlian variety spoken in the Kura valley further eastwards. There, in the kingdom of Kartli, now free from Persian influences, another variety of Georgian was being cultivated.
View attachment 431356
To the south of Georgia lies the Armenian highland, a mountainous country, which has assumed independence as a kingdom in the past century; it took advantage of the decline of the Ghassanid kingdom in Syria by conquering the city of Amuda and its environs. Yet ruling over a mountainous country is not an easy task, and the regions of Vaspurakan (centered around the city of Van upon the eponymous lake), Syunik and Artsakh assumed independence.
While the Armenians were staunch supporters of the Armenian Apostolic Church in most part, one most not forget to mention the fate of the Paulicians. Those started off as an unorthodox religious movement (or sect) in the Armenian-populated eastern borderlands of the Rhomaic empire. When in 745 Gegnaesius, the former leader of the sect dies, the movement is divided into two parties led by Zacharias and Joseph. The latter attracted a larger number of followers, as well as former Iconoclasts Joseph was succeded by Baanies in 775, while Zacharias was followed by Sergius, who reformed the religion and attracted many new followers, so that the sect spread quickly throughout the highlands of eastern Anatolia. The Rhomaic empire and Armenian kings are looking towards this movement with suspicion, yet no true persecution can be witnessed during the course of the 8th century.
The natural continuation of the Armenian highland towards the east were the Zagros mountains and the northwestern parts of the Iranian plateau. This area had been known in the antiquity under the name Media. After the collapse of the Sassanid empire, the area reasserted its independence. Any notion of central authority in the mountainous areas collpased, as Kurdish and Luri tribal chiefdoms asserted their own authority: and the remaining part of Media, in the flatter parts of the country remained a distinct polity. Hamadan as such accepted a large part of Manichean refugees from Sawad (the remaining Zorastrians from the 7th century either converted to Manicheism, to Christianity or quit to Mihranid Persia already). Zurvanism as such was losing ground due to its rather pessimistic and fatalistic nature. Thus Manicheism gains a new base of support in the urban centers of Media, much to the discontnet of Nestorian clergy. Manicheism gained the higher ground in the region due its cultural proximity – after all, Manicheism developped within the borders of the Sassanid Empire and Mani knew well both content of Zoroastrism and Christendom as well.
The Kurdish peoples living in the western Zagros were continuing their migrations further westwards, into the borderland area between Assyria and Armenia. Living as nomadic herdsmen, they would colonize the high-elevated areas, which were unused by the Aramaic-speaking population. Outside the borders of Assyria, they stuck to their own beliefs, yet within the borders of the kingdom, they were undergoing a process of Christianisation.
Other northwestern Iranic peoples dwellt on the coastal plains of the Caspian Sea. The peoples of Gilan and Mazandaran were very reluctant to give up their independence- and they maintained it throughout the entire century. They were ruled by the Bavandids, who supplanted the previous Dabuyids.
Further westwards lay Aghbania, in the lower Araks and Kura rivers. The native Aghbanians were becoming more and more ingrained by Armenian culture . The Aghbanian language, of Eastern Caucasian provienience adopted many Armenian loanwords, despite being an independent kingdom. The coastal regions, however spoke an Iranian language called Tat, and the Zurvanite heresy of Zoroastrism spread to this area from Media , replacing original Zoroastrism.
The majority of Iranian plateau was however unified under the banners of the Mihranid Persia, which had been protected from the Oghuz kingdom of Khorasan by the Dasht-e-Lut. The Mihranids set on a series of campaigns to restore the glory of Eranshahr – subduing the Baloch peoples in the 730s, conquering Sistan in the 740s before turning their attention to the northeast, to conquer Khorasan.
The realm of Khorasan, ruled by the Nestorian Oghuz Turks benefitted greatly from the Silk Road trade. The incoming Turks, Syriac missionaries altered the local Parthian language to such extent, that the Khorasani language was far too distant from standard Persian, while a good-trained ear would understand Old Parthian as well. Nevertheless, many people of Khorasan proper listened to Manichean missionaries as well : the two religions supplanted the original Zoroastrism in the region to a great degree.
Yet in the 770s, Parthia was conquered by the Mihranids, and most of the Christians from there were expelled. Manicheans were tolerated, Zoroastrianism was encouraged. Old Parthian once more was sponsored.
While Segestan in the lower Helmand valley was conquerred by the Persians, Zabulistan further upstream remains unconquered. While a small degree of Buddhism got entrenched in the area, the ancestors of the Pashtuns continued to practiced a variety of Hinduism called Zunism. The area became also a missionary field of West Syriac Missionaries, loyal to the Syriac Orthodox Church (also known as Jabite) in Zaranj and Aprah
Kabulistan continues to be ruled by a mysterious Turkic dynastic called the Shahis, descended either from the Hunic or Xiongnu conquerors, while its populace practices Buddhism
The mountainous areas in the Hindukush mountains continue to be ruled from Bamyan, despite the fact that the people adopted Buddhism, and is home to imposant monuments
The upper Oxus valley, region previously known as Bactria, became to be known as Tokharistan. While being closely related to Sogdian further northwest , the differing cultural influences were pulling the peoples apart. The area maintained a more provincial character in comparison to the thriving Sogdia : and ultimately its valleys assumed independence , and thus the area was divided into petty Buddhist principalities of Badaxšan, Khutal, Khubadiyan and Saghaniyan, while the parts of south of the Oxus remained united under the Tokharistan.
Sogdia, in the valleys of the middle Oxus and Zaravšan rivers prospered greatly, and Sogdia conquered also the neighbouring oasis-valley of Farghana further east. Sogdian became the primary language of both Nestorian and Manichean religions in the East, and generally becoming the lingua franca of the Silk Road. Sogdia influence spread further east, into the Tarim Basin, for it were Sogdian missionaries, which converted the Uyghur Khaganate to Manicheism in the late 8th century.
Manicheism in the area spread a little faster than Christianity, and Samarqand became a major center of Manicheism to such an extent that the highest ranking cleric of the Manichean in Samarqand openly questioned the authority of the Archegos (Kahna ) in Qtēspōn. Believing that their brethren further west were too lax, the far stricter Manicheans of Central Asia became known as the Denawar, from the Iranic word for believer.
The duplicate presence of Nestorian and Manichean religions, along with Zoroastrianism, resulted in the trio being known as the "three Persian religions" . By the late 8th century, three out of ten of the Sogdian population practised Manichaeism, around a quarter were Nestorian Christians. An additional fifteen percent clung stubbornly to Zorastrism - the remainder being mostly Buddhists, with some Jewish presence as well
However, unlike much of western Europe, the Sogdian state was not organized in a feudal manner, but rather the subordinate cities were ruled by a merchant oligarchy.
View attachment 431357
In the lower Oxus lay a kingdom of Khwarezm, ruled by the Afrighid dynasty. Speaking an eastern Iranian language akin to Sogdian, they used the Sogdian script to write down their language. Their capital was at the city of Kath, and they practiced Zorastrianism until the 770s, when they were converted by Manichean missionaries from the neighbouring realm of Sogdia
View attachment 431356
To the south of Georgia lies the Armenian highland, a mountainous country, which has assumed independence as a kingdom in the past century; it took advantage of the decline of the Ghassanid kingdom in Syria by conquering the city of Amuda and its environs. Yet ruling over a mountainous country is not an easy task, and the regions of Vaspurakan (centered around the city of Van upon the eponymous lake), Syunik and Artsakh assumed independence.
While the Armenians were staunch supporters of the Armenian Apostolic Church in most part, one most not forget to mention the fate of the Paulicians. Those started off as an unorthodox religious movement (or sect) in the Armenian-populated eastern borderlands of the Rhomaic empire. When in 745 Gegnaesius, the former leader of the sect dies, the movement is divided into two parties led by Zacharias and Joseph. The latter attracted a larger number of followers, as well as former Iconoclasts Joseph was succeded by Baanies in 775, while Zacharias was followed by Sergius, who reformed the religion and attracted many new followers, so that the sect spread quickly throughout the highlands of eastern Anatolia. The Rhomaic empire and Armenian kings are looking towards this movement with suspicion, yet no true persecution can be witnessed during the course of the 8th century.
The natural continuation of the Armenian highland towards the east were the Zagros mountains and the northwestern parts of the Iranian plateau. This area had been known in the antiquity under the name Media. After the collapse of the Sassanid empire, the area reasserted its independence. Any notion of central authority in the mountainous areas collpased, as Kurdish and Luri tribal chiefdoms asserted their own authority: and the remaining part of Media, in the flatter parts of the country remained a distinct polity. Hamadan as such accepted a large part of Manichean refugees from Sawad (the remaining Zorastrians from the 7th century either converted to Manicheism, to Christianity or quit to Mihranid Persia already). Zurvanism as such was losing ground due to its rather pessimistic and fatalistic nature. Thus Manicheism gains a new base of support in the urban centers of Media, much to the discontnet of Nestorian clergy. Manicheism gained the higher ground in the region due its cultural proximity – after all, Manicheism developped within the borders of the Sassanid Empire and Mani knew well both content of Zoroastrism and Christendom as well.
The Kurdish peoples living in the western Zagros were continuing their migrations further westwards, into the borderland area between Assyria and Armenia. Living as nomadic herdsmen, they would colonize the high-elevated areas, which were unused by the Aramaic-speaking population. Outside the borders of Assyria, they stuck to their own beliefs, yet within the borders of the kingdom, they were undergoing a process of Christianisation.
Other northwestern Iranic peoples dwellt on the coastal plains of the Caspian Sea. The peoples of Gilan and Mazandaran were very reluctant to give up their independence- and they maintained it throughout the entire century. They were ruled by the Bavandids, who supplanted the previous Dabuyids.
Further westwards lay Aghbania, in the lower Araks and Kura rivers. The native Aghbanians were becoming more and more ingrained by Armenian culture . The Aghbanian language, of Eastern Caucasian provienience adopted many Armenian loanwords, despite being an independent kingdom. The coastal regions, however spoke an Iranian language called Tat, and the Zurvanite heresy of Zoroastrism spread to this area from Media , replacing original Zoroastrism.
The majority of Iranian plateau was however unified under the banners of the Mihranid Persia, which had been protected from the Oghuz kingdom of Khorasan by the Dasht-e-Lut. The Mihranids set on a series of campaigns to restore the glory of Eranshahr – subduing the Baloch peoples in the 730s, conquering Sistan in the 740s before turning their attention to the northeast, to conquer Khorasan.
The realm of Khorasan, ruled by the Nestorian Oghuz Turks benefitted greatly from the Silk Road trade. The incoming Turks, Syriac missionaries altered the local Parthian language to such extent, that the Khorasani language was far too distant from standard Persian, while a good-trained ear would understand Old Parthian as well. Nevertheless, many people of Khorasan proper listened to Manichean missionaries as well : the two religions supplanted the original Zoroastrism in the region to a great degree.
Yet in the 770s, Parthia was conquered by the Mihranids, and most of the Christians from there were expelled. Manicheans were tolerated, Zoroastrianism was encouraged. Old Parthian once more was sponsored.
While Segestan in the lower Helmand valley was conquerred by the Persians, Zabulistan further upstream remains unconquered. While a small degree of Buddhism got entrenched in the area, the ancestors of the Pashtuns continued to practiced a variety of Hinduism called Zunism. The area became also a missionary field of West Syriac Missionaries, loyal to the Syriac Orthodox Church (also known as Jabite) in Zaranj and Aprah
Kabulistan continues to be ruled by a mysterious Turkic dynastic called the Shahis, descended either from the Hunic or Xiongnu conquerors, while its populace practices Buddhism
The mountainous areas in the Hindukush mountains continue to be ruled from Bamyan, despite the fact that the people adopted Buddhism, and is home to imposant monuments
The upper Oxus valley, region previously known as Bactria, became to be known as Tokharistan. While being closely related to Sogdian further northwest , the differing cultural influences were pulling the peoples apart. The area maintained a more provincial character in comparison to the thriving Sogdia : and ultimately its valleys assumed independence , and thus the area was divided into petty Buddhist principalities of Badaxšan, Khutal, Khubadiyan and Saghaniyan, while the parts of south of the Oxus remained united under the Tokharistan.
Sogdia, in the valleys of the middle Oxus and Zaravšan rivers prospered greatly, and Sogdia conquered also the neighbouring oasis-valley of Farghana further east. Sogdian became the primary language of both Nestorian and Manichean religions in the East, and generally becoming the lingua franca of the Silk Road. Sogdia influence spread further east, into the Tarim Basin, for it were Sogdian missionaries, which converted the Uyghur Khaganate to Manicheism in the late 8th century.
Manicheism in the area spread a little faster than Christianity, and Samarqand became a major center of Manicheism to such an extent that the highest ranking cleric of the Manichean in Samarqand openly questioned the authority of the Archegos (Kahna ) in Qtēspōn. Believing that their brethren further west were too lax, the far stricter Manicheans of Central Asia became known as the Denawar, from the Iranic word for believer.
The duplicate presence of Nestorian and Manichean religions, along with Zoroastrianism, resulted in the trio being known as the "three Persian religions" . By the late 8th century, three out of ten of the Sogdian population practised Manichaeism, around a quarter were Nestorian Christians. An additional fifteen percent clung stubbornly to Zorastrism - the remainder being mostly Buddhists, with some Jewish presence as well
However, unlike much of western Europe, the Sogdian state was not organized in a feudal manner, but rather the subordinate cities were ruled by a merchant oligarchy.
View attachment 431357
In the lower Oxus lay a kingdom of Khwarezm, ruled by the Afrighid dynasty. Speaking an eastern Iranian language akin to Sogdian, they used the Sogdian script to write down their language. Their capital was at the city of Kath, and they practiced Zorastrianism until the 770s, when they were converted by Manichean missionaries from the neighbouring realm of Sogdia
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.3k