The ''Divan of the Abkhazian Kings'' ( ka, აფხაზთა მეფეთა დივანი, tr, which is often translated as the ''Chronicles of the Abkhazian Kings'') is a short medieval document composed in

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

in the late 10th or early 11th century. It has come down to us as a 15th-century copy. The text was first studied and published by the

scholar

Ekvtime Takaishvili Ekvtime Takaishvili (also spelled Taqaishvili) () (January 5, 1862 – February 21, 1953) was a Georgian historian, archaeologist and public benefactor. Born in the village of Likhauri in the western Georgian province of Guria to a local noblema ...

. It has also been translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. It is usually attributed to the first king of all-Georgia, Bagrat III, who began his reign as the Abkhazian king in 978. Somewhat of a manifesto, this document may have been issued by Bagrat, a representative of the new dynasty of the Bagrationi, in support of his rights to the Abkhazian throne. The ''Divan'' lists 22 successive rulers from Anos to Bagrat, and styles each of them as “king” (Georgian: ''mepe'') (though until the mid-780s they functioned as the

archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

s under the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

authority). The text does provide the information about the family relationships among these rulers as well as the duration of the last 11 kings’ reigns, but lacks chronology. The two kings of the Shavliani clan (878–887) are omitted probably because they were regarded as usurpers. The dates and achievements of the most of the early Abkhazian rulers remain conjectural. The names below are given in original transliteration. The dates are as per Prince

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

and other modern scholars. *Anos (ანოს) (c. 510–530) *Ghozar (ღოზარ) (c. 530–550) *Istvine (ისტვინე) (c. 550–580) *Phinictios (ფინიქტიოს) (c. 580–610) *Barnucius (ბარნუკ) (c. 610–640) *Demetrius I (დემეტრე) (c. 640–660) *Theodosius I (თეოდოს) (c. 660–680) *Constantine I (კონსტანტინე) (c. 680–710) *Theodor (თეოდორ) (c. 710–730) *Constantine II (კონსტანტინე) (c. 730–745) * Leon I (ლეონ) (c. 745–767) * Leon II (ლეონ) (c. 767–811) *

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...

(თეოდოს) (c. 811–837) * Demetrius II (დემეტრე) (c. 837–872) *

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria ( fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

(გიორგი) (c. 872–878) * Bagrat I (ბაგრატ) (c. 887–898) * Constantine III (კონსტანტინე) (c. 898–916) *

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

(გიორგი) (c. 916–960) * Leon III (ლეონ) (c. 960–969) * Demetrius III (დემეტრე) (c. 969–976) *

Theodosius III Theodosius III ( el, Θεοδόσιος, Theodósios) was Byzantine emperor from May 715 to 25 March 717. Before rising to power and seizing the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine na ...

(თეოდოსი) (c. 976–978) * Bagrat III (ბაგრატი) (978–1014)

References

*S. H. Rapp, ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', Peeters Bvba (September 25, 2003) {{ISBN, 90-429-1318-5 pages 144, 230-237, 481-484 Georgian chronicles Kings of Abkhazia 10th-century history books King lists

See also

References