View source for Klarjeti

{{short description|Historical province of Georgia}}
{{History of Georgia (country)}}

[[File:Meskheti map of VIII-X centuries (en).svg|thumb|Historical Klarjeti in the 8th-10th centuries]]
'''Klarjeti''' ({{lang-ka|კლარჯეთი}} {{IPA|ka|kʼlaɾd͡ʒetʰi|}}) was a province of ancient and medieval [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], which is now part of [[Turkey]]'s [[Artvin Province]]. Klarjeti, the neighboring province of [[Tao (historical region)|Tao]] and several other smaller districts, constituted a larger region with shared history and culture conventionally known as [[Tao-Klarjeti (historical region)|Tao-Klarjeti]].

== Early history ==
Klarjeti, traversed by the [[Çoruh River|Chorokhi]] (Çoruh), stretched from the [[Arsiani Range]] westwards, towards the [[Black Sea]], and was centred in the key fortified trading town of Artanuji (now [[Ardanuç]]). It was bordered by [[Şavşat|Shavsheti]] and [[Nigali valley|Nigali]] on the north, and Tao on the south. The region roughly corresponds to Cholarzene ({{langx|grc|Χολαρζηνή, Καταρζηνή}}) of [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] sources and probably to Kaţarza or Quturza of the earlier [[Urartu|Urartian]] records.<ref name="Toumanoff ">[[Cyril Toumanoff|Toumanoff, Cyril]] (1967). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 442. [[Georgetown University Press]].</ref>

Klarjeti was one of the south-westernmost provinces of the [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Iberia]], which appeared on the [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] political map in the 3rd century BC and was ruled—according to the medieval Georgian chronicles—by the [[Pharnavazid dynasty]]. From the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD, Klarjeti as well as some other neighboring lands were contested between the kingdoms of Iberia and [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]] (Armenians knew Klarjeti as Kļarjk'), and passed to and fro from one state to the other.<ref>[[Elizabeth Redgate|Redgate, Anne Elizabeth]] (2000),''The Armenians'', pp. 73, 79, 101. Wiley-Blackwell, {{ISBN|0-631-22037-2}}</ref> In the 370s division of Iberia between the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] empires, Klarjeti passed to the former, but it is unknown whether as a province or as a vassal. The marriage of the [[Chosroid dynasty|Chosroid]] king [[Vakhtang I of Iberia]] to the Roman princess Helena seems to have enabled the Iberians to regain the province c. 485. Thereafter, Klarjeti remained in the possession of Vakhtang's younger sons and their [[:wikt:romanophile|romanophile]] descendants who formed the house of [[Guaramid dynasty|Guaramids]] and maintained themselves in Klarjeti and [[Javakheti]] until c. 786, when the Guaramid possessions passed to their resurgent cousins from the [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagrationi]] family.<ref name="Suny">[[Ronald Grigor Suny|Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', pp. 25, 29. [[Indiana University Press]], {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}}</ref>

== Duchy of Klarjeti ==
{{Infobox country
|native_name            = კლარჯეთის საერისთავო
|conventional_long_name = Duchy of Klarjeti
|status                 = Duchy
|era                    = [[Early Middle Ages]]
|event_start              = [[Sumbat I of Klarjeti|Sumbat I]] received the province of Klarjeti.
|year_start             = 870
|year_end               = 1008
|event_end              = Disestablished
|p1                     = Bagratid Iberia
|flag_p1                = Flag of Kingdom of Georgia.svg
|s1                     = Kingdom of Georgia
|flag_s1                = Flag of Kingdom of Georgia.svg
|image_flag             = 
|image_map              = 
|image_map_caption      = 
|capital                = [[Ardanuç|Artanuji]]
|common_languages       = [[Georgian Language|Georgian]]
|religion               = [[Eastern Orthodox]] <small>([[Georgian Orthodox Church]])</small>
|currency               = 
|title_leader           = 
|leader1                = 
|year_leader1           = 
|today                  = {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=Countries today|[[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]|[[Turkey]]|}}
}}
[[File:Khandzta.jpg|thumb|left|The monastery of [[Khandzta]], now in ruins]]
The Bagrationi dynasty presided over a period of economic prosperity and cultural revival in the area. The taxes collected at Artanuji were a major factor in the rise of the Bagrationi power. Deserted in an [[Arab rule in Georgia|Arab invasion]], Klarjeti was repopulated and developed into a major centre of [[Christian culture]] aided by a large-scale monastic movement initiated by the Georgian monk [[Gregory of Khandzta]] (759 – 861).<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', passim. Peeters Publishers, {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}</ref>

Around 870, Klarjeti became a hereditary [[fief]]dom of one of the three principal branches of the Georgian Bagrationi rulers. This line—known in the medieval Georgian records as the '''''Sovereigns of Klarjeti''''' (კლარჯნი ხელმწიფენი, ''klarjni khelmts'ip'eni'')—was eventually dispossessed by their cousin [[Bagrat III of Georgia|Bagrat III]], the first king of a unified Georgia, in 1010. Bagrat III granted area to the [[Abuserisdze]] family.

Klarjeti never fully recovered from a series of [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] attacks later in the 11th century and further declined in the [[Mongol invasions of Georgia|Mongol]] and [[Timur's invasions of Georgia|Timur]]'s invasions in the 13th and 14th century. After the partition of the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] in the 15th century, Klarjeti passed to the [[Samtskhe atabegate|princes of Meskheti]] who lost the area to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest in 1551.

=== Rulers of Klarjeti ===
{{Klarjeti Labelled Map|right}}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Prince
!Reign
!Notes
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[Sumbat I of Klarjeti|Sumbat I Mampali]], the Great
| 870–889
|
|-
|[[Bagrat I of Klarjeti|Bagrat I]]
| 889–900
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[David I of Klarjeti|David I]]
| 900–943
|
|-
|[[Sumbat II of Klarjeti|Sumbat II]]
| 943–988
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|[[David II of Klarjeti|David II]]
| 988–992/993
|
|-
|[[Sumbat III of Klarjeti|Sumbat III]]
| 992/993–1011
|co ruler: [[Gurgen of Klarjeti|Gurgen]]
|-
|[[Abuserisdze|John Abuser]]
|1011–1030
|
|-
|[[Abuserisdze|Abuser I Abuserisdze]]
|1046/1047
|
|-
|[[Abuserisdze|Grigol Abuserisdze]]
|1047–1070
|
|-
|[[Abuserisdze|Abuser II Abuserisdze]]
|–
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Subregions of Tao-Klarjeti}}
{{Duchies of the Kingdom of Georgia}}
{{coord|41|11|00|N|41|49|05|E|dim:300km|display=title}}

[[Category:Geography of Turkey]]
[[Category:Tao-Klarjeti]]
[[Category:Bagratid Iberia]]
[[Category:Former provinces of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Duchies of the Kingdom of Georgia]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]
[[Category:Geography of the Middle East]]