Kartlis samepos črdilok'avk'asiuri p'olit'ik'is ist'oriis erti purceli [=] A page from the history of the north Caucasian politics of the kingdom of Kartli

The King of Kartli, Vakhtang I Gorgasali (c. 440-502), is a dominant figure in Georgian history of the second half of the fifth century, although the historical sources related to his life and reign present unresolved enigmas even after more than 150 years of research. The same can be said about his campaign in the northern Caucasus. The purpose of this essay is to summarise our recent findings about this event. Juansher, a Georgian historian of the eight century, describes an invasion of “countless Ossetian armies” into Kartli, during which they “captured Kartli from the source of the Kura river until down to Khunani. They ravaged the valleys, but could not capture the cities, except for Kaspi. So they captured Kaspi and took some slaves”. This account does not square with the information provided by the fifth-century Byzantine historian and politician, Priscus of Panion (c. 410/20 – after 472), which appears in the 8th fragment of his History of Goths. We argue that Juansher’s story of an “Ossetian” invasion of Kartli may have been associated with the Huns’ movement from the northern Caucasus in 460, which is recounted in the History of Vardan and the Armenian War by the seventh-century Armenian historian, Yeghishe, who said that the Persians “opened the Gates of the Alans, gathered an innumerable army of the Huns, fought with the King of Alvans for a year” and destroyed his army. We argue that Vakhtang’s war in the northern Caucasus took place in 466 in response to the Saragur raids in the Transcaucasia. As Priscus says in the 37th fragment of his History, they attacked the Akatirs and other tribes, and then raided Iberia. Shah Peroz (459-484) sent Vakhtang to Kartli on a special mission and with Persian troops to repel the invaders. Vakhtang campaigned in the northern Caucasus that year and prevailed after four months. He profited from this victory, weakening the Huns and adding the Darial Gorge to his domain, which paved the way to end the Sasanian rule in the Caucasus. In doing so, he prevented the Persians from gaining control over one of the main passes from the northern to the southern Caucasus and strenghthened the rear, which helped him to mobilise the allied North Caucasian tribes to resist the Persians.