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The end
of the 4th century (AD) was marked by the expansion of the kingdom of Lazica
(Egrisi) in the Western area of modern Georgia. The lands of Svanians
and Apshilians were conquered by Lazica and became its provinces. Its
influence went even behind the mountains of the Main Caucasus to the lands of
Abasghians. In its turn Lazica itself remained within the sphere of East
Roman (Byzantine) influence. At that time Greek still served as an official
language of Lazica. After having adopted Christianity, Iberia was also orienting its policy more and
more towards that of the Byzantine Empire.
At least till the end of the 7th century Greek was an official language of Iberia
together with Aramaic. However towards the end of the 4th century the first
documents written in Georgian began to appear.
At this time Armenia was the arena of
permanent wars between East Roman and Persian Empires. As Christians, most
Armenians tended to support Byzantians in their fight against Zoroastrian Persia. The
series of Persian-Byzantine wars (420 -560) resulted in major changes of the
political map in the region and a new demarcation between East Roman Empire
and Persia
by the year 561. The Kingdom of Lazica, most of Iberia
(with its capital in Mtskheta), and at least half of Armenia with
the cities of Theodosiopolis (Erzerum), Mauriciopolis and Varghashapat lost
their independence and fell under East Roman domination. Eastern Armenia
(with the cities of Dvin, Van and Nakhchevan), Eastern Iberia with Tephelis (Tbilisi) and Albania remained under Sassanid
Persia. However, the Byzantines failed to stabilize their Eastern frontier,
and military operations in Transcaucasia
between both empires went on till early 7th century.
During the same period North
Caucasus survived a series of invasions by the Ephtalites (White
Huns) and Magyars, who finally defeated the Alans and colonized some of their
lands. The end of Cuman-Ephtalite invasion was followed by the rise of the
Khazar Empire (400 to about 970). By the beginning of the 7th century the
Khazars - people of mixed Turkic, Aryan and probably Georgian origin -
converted to Judaism. They then conquered all the lands to the North from the
Main Caucasian
Range to the middle course of Dnepr
and Volga rivers.
In the middle of the 7th century most of
Transcaucasia including Armenia,
Iberia and Albania was
conquered by the Arabs. Only Lazica (Western Georgia)
stayed under Byzantine control. The Arabs also attacked North
Caucasus but were defeated by the Khazars. In 653 in an attempt
to gain Armenian support against the Byzantine Empire the Arab caliph granted
a restricted autonomy to all Armenian provinces and empowered an Armenian patrician
(sovereign) to rule the country. Iberian and Albanian Kingdoms
were abolished and reorganized into Emirates.
The end of the 8th/early 9th century saw
the new states risen in Transcaucasia as a result of manipulating between the
Byzantine Empire and the Arabs, and a
relatively successful fight against both superpowers. In 799 the territory of Lazica
separated from Byzantine Empire and was reorganized as the Kingdom of Abkhazia
(or Egris-Abkhazia). In the same year Albania regained its independence
under the new name of Eretia. In 830 a warlord named Ashot Bagration (Arm.
variant - Bagratuni) established in the South of Georgia after several
successful military operations against the Arabs. The Emperor Theophilis of
Byzantine designated him curopalatus (Governor-General) of Georgia.
Finally the Bagration family became practically independent rulers of The
Dominion of Georgia, which by 977 included most of South- and East-Georgian
(Iberian) lands. In 886 another branch of Bagrations (Bagratuni)
re-established Armenian
Kingdom and ruled the
country till 1065. In 1001 the last Governor-General of Georgia Bagrat
Bagration proclaimed himself a king and annexed Abkhazia. In 1010 he
conquered Eretia (Albania).
That was the period of the collapse of Arab power in Transcaucasia.
The only area of direct Arab control by this time was Northern Azerbaijan
(Shirvan) and the tiny enclave around Tbilisi.
By the beginning of the 11th century this
area was invaded by the hordes of Turcic Seljuks who had conquered Persia and all Arabic lands in Asia. By the year 1065 Seljuks conquered the whole of Armenia, and
in 1080 fell the last strongholds of Georgian resistance.
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