Adarnase II ( ka, ადარნასე II), of the

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 ...

, was a presiding prince of

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 in southwestern Europe, defi ...

(

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) from c. 650 to 684/5. He is presumably the Iberian '' patricius'' mentioned in the 660s letter of Anastasius Apocrisarius pertaining to the

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Maximus the Confessor Maximus the Confessor ( el, Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής), also spelt Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his ear ...

, and the prince Nerses whose revolt against

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

is reported by the

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n chronicler Hovannes Draskhanakertsi. The name Adarnase derives from

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

''Ādurnarsēh'', with the second component of the word (''Nase'') being the Georgian attestation of the Middle Persian name ''Narseh'', which ultimately derives from Avestan ''nairyō.saŋya-''. The Middle Persian name ''Narseh'' also exists in Georgian as ''Nerse''. The name ''Ādurnarsēh'' appears in the

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...

as ''Atrnerseh''. Adarnase succeeded his father Stephen II and ruled as a vassal of the

Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

. In 681/2, however, he joined the Armenian and Albanian princes in a general uprising against the Arab hegemony. He held off the Arab attacks for three years – until the

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

entered the fight. Adarnase/Nerses was killed, and the Arabs installed Guaram II of the rival

Guaramid Dynasty The Guaramid dynasty or Guaramiani ( ka, გუარამიანი)The dynastic name "Guaramids" is a modern designation introduced by Professor Cyril Toumanoff based on Prince Vakhushti's reference to the dynasty as ''Guaramiani''. It is not u ...

in Iberia.

Suny, Ronald Grigor Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg In ...

(1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', pp. 26-27. Indiana University Press, The exterior stone plaque of the church of the Holy Cross at Mtskheta, Georgia, mentions the principal builders of this church: Stephanos the ''patricius'', Demetrius the ''

hypatos ''Hypatos'' ( gr, ὕπατος; plural: , ''hypatoi'') and the variant ''apo hypatōn'' (, "former ''hypatos''", literally: "from among the consuls") was a Byzantine court dignity, originally the Greek translation of Latin ''consul'' (the litera ...

'', and Adarnase the ''hypatos'' who have traditionally been equated by the Georgian scholars with Stephen I, son of Guaram; Demetre, brother of Stephen I and Adarnase I. However, an opinion expressed by Professor

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, ...

disagrees with this view by identifying these individuals with Stephen II, Demetre (brother of Stephen I), and Adarnase II, respectively.Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 344. Peeters Bvba . He had a son,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

References

680s deaths Year of birth unknown Princes of Iberia 7th-century monarchs in Asia Patricii Chosroid dynasty Monarchs killed in action {{Georgia-royal-stub