History of the Caucasus

The history of the Caucasus traces the peoples, states, cultures, and shifting borders of the region between the Black and Caspian seas.

Connect

Colchis: An ancient kingdom on the eastern Black Sea coast, associated with Greek accounts of the Argonauts. Its position on the Black Sea connected western Caucasian societies to Mediterranean trade and myth.
Caucasian Albania: An ancient kingdom in the eastern Caucasus, centered broadly in present-day Azerbaijan. Its changing relationship with Armenia, Persia, and Rome exemplifies ancient frontier politics.
Tamar of Georgia: Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, during the kingdom's medieval zenith. Her reign represents the height of Georgian political and cultural influence.
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic: A short-lived federation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in 1918. Its rapid dissolution exposed competing national and territorial claims.
Silk Road: A network of trade routes that connected East Asia with the Middle East and Europe. Routes through the Caucasus linked regional towns to long-distance commerce and diplomacy.
Kingdom of Armenia: A succession of Armenian states that formed a major regional power in antiquity. Armenian kingdoms linked the southern Caucasus to imperial contests between Rome and Persia.
Safavid Iran: An Iranian dynasty that ruled from 1501 to 1736 and made Twelver Shiism the state religion. Safavid power shaped religious and political divisions in the southern and eastern Caucasus.
Shamil: A nineteenth-century Avar religious and military leader who resisted Russian expansion in the North Caucasus. His long resistance became a defining episode in the Caucasian War.
Democratic Republic of Georgia: An independent Georgian state that existed from 1918 until Soviet conquest in 1921. Its brief independence shaped later Georgian national memory and political claims.
Byzantine Empire: The eastern Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople, lasting from late antiquity until 1453. Byzantine diplomacy and warfare repeatedly intersected with Caucasian kingdoms.