Divan of the Abkhazian Kings

The Divan of the Abkhazian Kings (Georgian: აფხაზთა მეფეთა დივანი, Ap’xazta mep’eta divani, which is often translated as the Chronicles of the Abkhazian Kings) is a short medieval document composed in Georgian in the late 10th or early 11th century. It has come down to us in a 15th-century version. The text was first studied and published by the Georgian scholar Ekvtime Takaishvili. It has also been translated into English and Russian.

It is usually attributed to the first king of all-Georgia, Bagrat III, who began his reign as the Abkhazian king in 978. Somewhat of a manifesto-style, this document may have been issued by Bagrat, a representative of the new dynasty of the Bagrationi, in support of his rights to the Abkhazian throne.

The Divan lists 22 successive rulers from Anos to Bagrat, and styles each of them as “king” (Georgian: mepe) (though until the mid-780s they functioned as the archons under the Byzantine authority). The text does provide the information about the family relationships among these rulers as well as the duration of the last 11 kings’ reigns, but lacks chronology. The two kings of the Shavliani clan (878–887) are omitted probably because they were regarded as usurpers. The dates and achievements of the most of the early Abkhazian rulers remain conjectural.

The names below are given in original transliteration. The dates are as per Prince Cyril Toumanoff and other modern scholars.

References

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