Gugark
Gugark was the 13th province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It now comprises parts of northern Armenia, northeast Turkey, and southwest Georgia.
History
In ancient Urartian inscriptions dating to 785 BC, the territory of Gugark is referred to as Zabaha, which is known today as Javakheti. In the beginning of IV century BC, the territory was under Caucasian Iberia, but during Artaxias I's reign it was conquered. During the reign of the Artaxiad and Arshakuni kings of Armenia, Gugark was ruled by one of the kingdom's four bdeashkhs. The bdeashkh of Gugark was responsible for protecting the state's northern border. During the 4th century, the region was ruled by members of a branch of the House of Mihran. In 387, Armenia was partitioned between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires and Gugark, with the exception of the canton of Tashir, was annexed to Caucasian Iberia. The ruler of the region around 425 was Arshusha. In 652, the Armenian prince Theodore Rshtuni was allowed by the Arabs to unite Gugark with his realms.In the following centuries, Gugark and its cantons fell under the sway of several rulers. In the 8th century, it became a part of Emirate of Tbilisi. In the middle of the 9th century, it was taken by the Georgian Bagrationis, while the Armenian Bagratunis took over its eastern cantons.
Inhabitants
believed that Gugark was, ethnically, a mixed Armenian-Georgian region. This view is supported by Anatoly Novoseltsev. The The Cambridge Ancient History also considers Gugark a region where two peoples, Armenians and Georgians, mingled.Cantons
- Dzoropor
- Tsobopor
- Treghk
- Artahan
- Javakhk
- Upper Javakhk
- Tashir
- Kangark
- Kagharjk
- Nigal
- Mrugh
- Mrit
- Shavshet
- Koghbopor
- Kvishapor
- Boghnopor
- Tashran
- Manglyats
- Ashotsk
List of ''bdeashkhs''
| Name | Reign |
| Peroz | 330–361? |
| Bakur I | after 394–430 |
| Arshusha I | after 430–? |
| Bakur II | mid 5th-century |
| Arshusha II | ?–470 |
| Varsken | 470–482 |
| Arshusha III | 482–after 540/1 |
| Arshusha IV | ca. first decade of the 7th-century |
| Vahram-Arshusha V | late 620s |
| Arshusha VI | mid 8th-century |