Egrisi

Georgian Statehood

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Egrisi (Georgian: ეგრისი) known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Lazica and to Persians as Lazistan was an early western Georgian ^[1]kingdom in South Caucasus, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern day Abkhazia. Throughout its existence it was mainly a Byzantine Empire strategic vassal kingdom occasionally coming under the Sassanid Persian rule.

At some point in the early 4th century AD, the Christian Eparchy or bishopric of Pitiunt (Bichvinta in Georgian) was established in this kingdom. In 325 among the participants of the First Council of Nicaea was the Bishop of Pitiunt, Stratophilus. The Bichvinta Cathedral (10th century) is one of oldest monuments of the Georgian Christian architecture constructed by the Georgian King Bagrat III of the Bagrationi Royal House. ^[2] The first Christian king of Egrisi was Gubaz I; in the 5th century, Christianity was made the official religion of Egrisi.

[edit] References

^ David Braund, Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC-AD 562, Oxford University Press, USA (September 8, 1994) p 27
^ W.E.D. Allen, A history of the Georgian people (1932), p. 276