Böri Shad (fl. c. 627) (, böri šad, , "Wolf governor") was a Turkic prince or general who fought the Persians south of the Caucasus during the
Third Perso-Turkic War. In this war the
Western Turkic Khaganate was allied with Byzantium against Persia during the
last great Byzantine-Persian war before the Arab conquests.
He was an appointed head of a provincial principality in the far western North Caucasus periphery of the
Western Turkic Khaganate. A succession of princes, or
shads, occupied that position. The principality of ''Böri Shad'' originated in 558 CE, when Kara-Churin (later named
Tardu or Tardush), a brother of the ruling kagan, campaigned in Ural and Volga regions, but the lands he captured were given to his junior brother
Turksanf and his cousin Buri-khan. From 576 through 583 CE, Tardu fought with the
Byzantines, but, instead of himself, he appointed as head of the campaign his cousin Böri Shad, whose possessions were in the North Caucasus.
According to
Movses Kagankatvatsi, Böri Shad was a 7th-century
Göktürk prince and an ''
ishad'' or general in the army of the
Western Turkic Khaganate. He was the son of
Bagha Shad, who may have been the ''
yabgu'' or prince of the
Khazars
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...
. (anachronistic since the Khazars were not yet a separate polity.) Böri Shad's uncle was
Tong Yabghu Khagan, the khagan of the Western
Göktürks
The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...
.
[Christian 283.]
Böri Shad was probably commander of the Khazar forces during the
Third Perso-Turkic War in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
in 627–629. Under Böri Shad's command the Khazars sacked many cities in
Caucasian Albania
Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus, mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...
and attempted to establish a firm foothold in
Transcaucasia.
Following Tung Yabghu's instructions, Böri Shad suggested to the Persian satrap of Aghvania and to
Catholicos Viro that they should acknowledge the Khagan as their overlord. The governor refused to pay homage to the Turks and fled to Persia. The Catholicos was also hesitant.
After the Turks started to plunder the cities, Viro escaped to the mountainous region of
Artsakh, where the Turks managed to track him down. When asked to capitulate, the Catholicos summoned princes and potentates from across the country and asked them whether the Albanians should resist the invaders. It was decided that resistance was futile.
Viro personally brought the message of obedience and allegiance to Böri Shad, whose army encamped in the vicinity of
Partav. The ''shad'' reproached Viro for his delays: "Why did you procrastinate with your visit? If only you were more expeditious, your country would have been spared the calamities brought about by my troops".
After paying homage to Böri Shad, the Catholicos asked him to free the Albanian prisoners. Böri Shad dispatched his bailiffs to search the tents. They found many young men hiding among the treasure and cattle and set them free.
In April 630 Böri Shad took advantage of dynastic disorders in the
Sassanid Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
and dispatched
Chorpan Tarkhan to conquer
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
.
[Gumile]
online
/ref> Although the campaign was successful, Böri Shad had to flee to Central Asia after learning about the murder of Tong Yabghu later that year.
Notes
References
* Artamonov, Mikhail. ''Istoriya Khazar''. Leningrad, 1962.
* Christian, David. ''A History of Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia.'' Blackwell, 1999.
* Golden, Peter Benjamin. ''Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples.'' Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1992.
* Gumilev, Lev. ''The Gokturks'', 1st ed. Moscow: Nauka, 1967.
*Pletneva, Svetlana
Svetlana Alexandrovna Pletneva (also spelled Pletnyeva and Pletnyova; , ; 1 April 1926, Kirov, Kirov Oblast, Vyatka – 20 November 2008, Moscow) was a Russian archaeologist and historian. Like Lev Gumilev, she was a student of Mikhail Illari ...
. ''Khazary'', 2nd ed. Moscow: Nauka, 1986.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bori Shad
Göktürk people
Ashina house of the Turkic Empire
7th-century Asian people