The Bagratid Dynasties – Bagratuni in Armenia and Bagrationi in Georgia – were the longest-reigning royal families in the Caucasus (and in Europe), starting as princely houses and attaining to the royal status in both countries in the 9th century. The origins of the Bagratids are disputed though more widely accepted version has it that the both dynasties had common roots, beginning in Armenia and branching later into Georgia. The main Armenian house went extinct by the 12th century, while the Georgian line, in its minor branch, continues to this day as the nominal Royal House of Georgia. The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Ô±Ö€Ö„Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millennium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ... ... The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Ô±Ö€Ö„Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millenium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ... The Entholinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map The Caucasus, a region bordering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands. ...

The Bagratids of Armenia are speculated to have been an offshoot of the Orontid Dynasty, Achaemenid satraps and, later, kings of Armenia (c 400 – c 200 BC). They had their original appanage in Bagrevand in historic north-central Armenia and claimed their descent from a solar deity Angl-Thork, the tutelary god of the Orontids, until their conversion to Christianity. Thereafter, this claim was abandoned in favor of the mythical ancestor of the Armenians, Hayk. Later, under biblical influences, they entertained another, a Hebrew, claim, further elaborated by Moses of Khorene as the well-known myth of their descent from the biblical king-prophet David. This legend, in a modified manner, would later be adopted also by the Georgian Bagratids. The claim is given no credence by modern scholarship, but was accepted in its day and lent prestige to the family. Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly emcompassing some parts of todays Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Bagrevand was a region of the old Armenia c. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recounted in the New Testament. ... Haik is the legendary establisher of the first Armenian nation. ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... Moses of Chorene was an Armenian scholar, who lived in the fifth century. ... David and Goliath by Caravaggio, c. ...

Bagatades, a commander under Tigranes the Great of Armenia and his viceroy in Syria and Cilicia in 83-69 BC, is thought to be the earliest known Bagratid. However, according to Cyril Toumanoff, the first historically chronicled Bagratids appear in 314 AD as the feudatories of Sper in northwestern Armenia (now northeastern Turkey), near the Iberian marchlands. Subsequently they ruled also in Kogovit and Tmoriq. Unlike most hereditary noble families (naxarars) in Armenia they held only strips of land, as opposed to the Mamikonians, who held a unified land territory. Coin of Tigranes II. The Greek inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΤΙΓΡΑΝΟΥ ([coin] of King Tigranes). Tigranes the Greats Empire Tigranes the Great (Armenian: Տիգրան Մեծ) (ruled 95 BCE-55 BCE) (also called Tigranes II and sometimes Tigranes I and also known to be called Tigranes Karapietyan) was a king of Armenia. ... Cilicia as Roman province, 120 AD In Antiquity, Cilicia (Ki-LIK-ya) was a region, and often a political unit, on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ... Prince Cyril Toumanoff (1913 – 1997) was a Russian-born historian and genealogist of Armeno-Georgian descent specialized in the history of Armenia and Georgia. ... Sper was an old district of Armenia c. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Iberia was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC-5th century AD) corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. ... Tmoriq was a region and family of the old Armenia c. ... Armenian medal representing Vartan Mamikonean Mamikonian or Mamikoneans was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th centuruies. ...

Certain, generation by generation, history of the family begins only in the 8th century, when the downfall of the rival clan of the Mamikonians helped the Bagratids to emerge as a major force in the ongoing struggle against Arab rule and would obtain the royal crown towards the end of the 9th century. The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...

It is generally believed, that it was during one of the Bagratid-led anti-Arab rebellions in 772, when one of the sons of Ashot III the Blind, called Vasak fled into Iberia (Georgia). His son, Adarnase, was granted hereditary possessions in Klarjeti and Samtskhe by the Georgian dynast Archil. Adarnase’s son Ashot gained the principate of Iberia and founded the last royal dynasty of Georgia. The Georgian Bagratids, however, forged their own legend, refusing their immediate connection with the Armenian Bagratids and claiming their direct descent from Kind David. Moreover, they regarded the 6th-century prince Guaram as the first Bagrationi ruler. This claim had been given general acceptance for centuries. Though the biblical origin of the Bagratids is now largely discounted, some modern scholars, particularly in Georgia, still consider Guaram as the founder of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty, who had, in their opinion, only remote relation with the Armenian Bagratunis. Events Pope Adrian I succeeds Pope Stephen IV. Adrian I turns to Charlemagne for support against king Desiderius of the Lombards. ... Ashot III the Blind of the Bagratuni dynasty was a presiding prince of Armenia for the Caliph from 732 to 748. ... In Georgian history, Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used to describe the area in what is now the northeastern Turkey (particularly its Artvin province), which includes the historic Georgian provinces of Tao, Klarjeti, Shavsheti (Å avÅ¡at), Kola (Kogh), Artaani (Artahan), Erusheti and also several lesser Georgian-Armenian marchlands. ... Samtskhe-Javakheti is a region in southern Georgia, with Akhaltsikhe as its capital. ... Archil was the king of Caucasian Iberia from 411 to 435 during the Chosroids dynasty. ... Guaram I was a presiding prince and kourapalates of Iberia/Kartli for the Byzantine Emperor from 588 to c. ...

See also

• Bagratuni
• Bagrationi

... The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Արքայական Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millenium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ...

References

• C. Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History.
• R.G. Suny, The Making of the Georgian Nation.
• S. Rapp, Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts .