Unknown Georgian Chronicles Recounting the Persian-Byzantine War of 541-562 and the Khazar Capture of Tbilisi in 628

Abstract

While researching the details of the Georgian hagiographic work written around 1058 – The Martyrdom of Davit and Costantine – it became evident that the invasion described therein, followed by the martyrdom of the principals of Argveti, Davit and Costantine, was not actually the invasion of the armies of Marwan the Deaf and the Arabs, despite the attempt of the 11th-century author to portray it as such. But it narrates the history of the Persian-Byzantine War that took place in 541-562. Historian of the second half of the 11th century, Leonti Mroveli, possessed another chronicle describing the same event, different from the one available to the hagiographer. Because the text of The Georgian Chronicles in his possession had already been extended prior to the appearance of the Arabs and the reign of Stephanos II (mid-7th century), he positioned the obtained chronicle immediately after Stephanos II to further continue the narrative. In this way, the sons of Vakhtang Gorgasali, who lived during the Persian-Byzantine War and participated in it, namely Darchil and Mihrdat (also known as Mihr), turned into the sons of Stephanos II, Archil and Mihr. Another piece of information from one more chronicle, which Leonti also inserted, albeit with chronological confusion, is a narrative about Juansher and Ioane, whom he presented as the sons of Archil and actors of the end of the 8th century. In reality, the chronicle tells us about the situation in Kartli in 628–635 – specifically, the capture of Tbilisi by the Khazars in 628 and the history of the representatives of the Revian branch of the Sassanians (Khosrowids) of the Kartli Kingdom, Juansher, and his sister Shushana.