Adurbadagan and Arran (Caucasian Albania) in the Late Sasanian Period

Abstract

The article considers the Sasanian King Khusraw I Anushirwan (Pahlavi: Xusrō I Anōšīrvān) reforms to improve the empire’s military and administrative architecture during the wars with Byzantium and the Turks. The author discusses the establishment of the region or kust-ī Ādurbādagān, which allowed the nomination of Arrān’s general. The author believes that it was a key element in the Sassanian strategy to enforce both central and military power in the defense sensitive Caucasia challenged by the Byzantium and nomads. The reforms pulled Arrān (Albania) to be closer to the Sasanian crown, enforcing the dynastic ties between Sasanian shāhanshāh and Arrānshāh. These reforms facilitated the incorporation of Arranian (Albanian) troops into the Sasanian Army under Ādurbādagān’s general command to shield Ērānšahr from the Khazar’s and Turk’s incursions. The author argues that the reform initiated the projecting of Ādurbādagān’s name, military, and administrative functions in Arrān forming a strong interrelationship between the southern and northern sides of the Araxes as the entire Ādurbādagān šahr. Since Late Antiquity, Ādurbādagān and Arrān became interchangeable names and were in use on the northern bank of the Araxes.

Full text

~ 15 ~
International Journal of History 2023; 5(2): 15-18
E-ISSN: 2706-9117
P-ISSN: 2706-9109
www.historyjournal.net
IJH 2023; 5(2): 15-18
Received: 07-04-2023
Accepted: 13-05-2023
Mahir Khalifa-zadeh
1] Canadian Political Science
Association Suite 204, 260
Dalhousie Street Ottawa, ON
K1N 7E4, Canada
2] Azerbaijan in Global
Context, Media, and Analysis
Center, Suite 1207, 10
Parkway Forest Drive,
Toronto, ON M2J 1L3, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Mahir Khalifa-zadeh
1] Canadian Political Science
Association Suite 204, 260
Dalhousie Street Ottawa, ON
K1N 7E4, Canada
2] Azerbaijan in Global
Context, Media, and Analysis
Center, Suite 1207, 10
Parkway Forest Drive,
Toronto, ON M2J 1L3, Canada
Adurbadagan and Arran (Caucasian Albania) in the
Late Sasanian Period
Mahir Khalifa-zadeh
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/27069109.2023.v5.i2a.220
Abstract
The article considers the Sasanian King Khusraw I Anushirwan (Pahlavi: Xusrō I Anōšīrvān) reforms
to improve the empire’s military and administrative architecture during the wars with Byzantium and
the Turks. The author discusses the establishment of the region or kust-ī Ādurbādagān, which allowed
the nomination of Arrān’s general. The author believes that it was a key element in the Sassanian
strategy to enforce both central and military power in the defense sensitive Caucasia challenged by the
Byzantium and nomads. The reforms pulled Arrān (Albania) to be closer to the Sasanian crown,
enforcing the dynastic ties between Sasanian shāhanshāh and Arrānshāh. These reforms facilitated the
incorporation of Arranian (Albanian) troops into the Sasanian Army under Ādurbādagān’s general
command to shield Ērānšahr from the Khazar’s and Turk’s incursions. The author argues that the
reform initiated the projecting of Ādurbādagān’s name, military, and administrative functions in Arrān
forming a strong interrelationship between the southern and northern sides of the Araxes as the entire
Ādurbādagān šahr. Since Late Antiquity, Ādurbādagān and Arrān became interchangeable names and
were in use on the northern bank of the Araxes.
Keywords: Sasanian, Adurbadagan, Arran, Caucasian Albania, Azerbaijan, Iran
Introduction
The Parthian and later Sasanian empires engaged in the centuries-long wars with Rome and
Byzantium, respectively. The intense rivalry between the two great empires shaped the
history and politics of that period, as the Greco-Persian wars did during early Antiquity. The
permanent struggle with Byzantium to dominate the Near East prompted the Sassanids to
rethink and redesign the empire’s architecture to improve its military might and
administrative stability. This strategic perception was realized not only because of the war
with the Byzantines but also for the devastating invaders’ incursions deep into Ērānšahr from
the Darband pass in Caucasia. The Sasanians were involved in permanent struggle on two
key fronts: in the northwest with the Byzantium empire and in the north with the Turks and
Khazars in the Caucasus. This political and military reality forced the Sassanids to re-
discover and re-evaluate the strategical importance of Arrān or Arrānšahr (Caucasus
Albania), located in the north side of the Araz river.
In the 5th-6th centuries CE, Sasanian kings Kawād I (488-96, 499-531) and his son Xusrō I
Anōšīrvān (531-579) [1] launched a fortification’ improvement program [2] around the whole
empire. They also initiated administrative reforms to upgrade the empire’s defense, military,
and power architectures [3]. Parallelly, the reforms were aimed at strengthening the
Zoroastrian religion in the lands challenged by the Christian Orthodox Byzantium.
In the Seleucid and Parthian eras, the province of Āturpātākān (Pahlavi: Ādurbādagān)
played a central role as a stronghold against the spread of the Greek and Roman pantheons in
Ērānšahr. Moreover, it is highly likely that Āturpātākān was the place where the prophet
Zarathustra was born, and the Holy Avesta was kept in the sacred fire Ātur (Old Persian) or
Ādur Gušnasp (Middle Persian/Pahlavi) temple (now Takht-e Solayman) [4].
Thus, in the Sasanian era, Ādurbādagān became the religious center of the empire preserving
and expanding Zoroaster’s faith. The chief Median sacred fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp was
established sometime in the Parthian period on a hill nearby Āturpātākān’s capital Ganzak.
The Sasanians proclaimed Zoroastrianism as the imperial religion and Ādurbādagān
occupied the role of the empire’s religious core, holding the cathedral temple Ādur Gušnasp

International Journal of History https://www.historyjournal.net
~ 16 ~
as the imperial sacred fire of the highest grade. Ādur
Gušnasp continued to burn until the 11th century [5].
Ādur Gušnasp - an Ataš Bahrām (Parthian: Ātaš-i- Wahram
or Pahlavi: Ādur Bahrām - “fires of Victory,” Zoroastrian
name of God of War and Victory) was the Zoroastrian most
sacred or “cathedral” fire of the highest grade established in
the late Achaemenid or Parthian era in Ādurbādagān. The
temple was linked to the warrior class (arteshtar) to which
the Sasanian dynasty belonged itself. Since the reign of
King Bahram V (420-438 CE), all Sasanian kings after
coronation pilgrimage to the temple providing royal gifts
and celebrated Nowruz (No Ruz) [6].
During the late Sasanian period, shāhanshāh Xusrō I
Anōšīrvān launched the military and administrative reforms
[7] and accelerated the building of fortifications in the
empire’s defense-sensitive areas, particularly in Caucasus
Albania. The reform was designed to strengthen the
empire’s military operational and defense capacity
following the establishment of four quarters or regions
(kust) reported to the assigned trustworthy general
(spāhbed) for each region [8].
King Xusrō I abolished the one-person command of Ērān-
Spāhbed [9, 10], (iṣbahbadh al-bilād, Artēštārān sālār, the
office of the marshal or general of all Iranian forces) [11] and
replaced it with four generals reporting directly to
shāhanshāh. As a result of the reform, the kust-ī
Ādurbādagān (quadrant or region of Ādurbādagān) was
established holding Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed (general) [12]
and, as will be indicated later, Ādurbādagān’s āmārgar
(financial or administrative officer) as well [13].
The establishment of the kust-ī Ādurbādagān holding the
specially assigned general was designed to improve the
empire’s military and defense capabilities strengthening the
central power of the shāhanshāh and Zoroaster’s faith in the
lands contested by Christian Byzantium, particularly in
Caucasia. The Sassanids considered the kust-ī Ādurbādagān
to be the most important region for its military potential and
strategic location as well as for its logistical closeness to the
empire’s core – Ādurbādagān province – a power, military,
and Zoroastrian center [14].
However, the closeness of the war zones to the key
Ādurbādagān province, holding the principal and foremost
fire Ādur Gušnasp, made the province vulnerable, which
needed to be secured by strengthening its defense. Thus, the
security of the empire’s core regions of Media and
Azerbaijan had to be guaranteed and both Sasanian and
Zoroastrian influence were to be projected far afield from
Ādurbādagān [15]. The Sassanians were focused to ensure the
safety Ādurbādagān, as the Zoroastrian core, from the
ideological and religious contamination generated by
Christian Byzantium and infiltrating from Caucasia. The
Sassanids addressed this challenge by establishing the kust-ī
Ādurbādagān holding the centralized office of the supreme
military command (isbahbadh) of Azerbaijan with specially
assigned Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed covering Ādurbādagān
itself and the surrounding lands of Arrān (Albania) and
Armin (Arminyaya or Armenia) [16, 17].
It should be noted that the Byzantines, the Sasanian
archenemies, acknowledged the imperial, military, and
religious values of Ādurbādagān province. In 623, the
Byzantian emperor Heraclius, during the last Byzantine-
Sassanian war of 602-628CE, occupied Ādurbādagān and
sacked out the fire temple Ādur Gušnasp, aiming to crush
the Sassanids’ will and power to fight [18, 19].
Thus, the kust-ī Ādurbādagān included the province of
Ādurbādagān (a power and religious center of the empire)
and all adjoining lands in the north and west from the Araz
River up to the Khazar lands in the Caspian Sea. The
establishment of the kust Ādurbādagān allowed for the re-
design of the Sassanian military and power architecture in
this part of the empire. It initiated the Ādurbādagān
province’s military command (spāhbed) and administrative
functions such as the office of tax/revenue (āmārgar) to the
north from the Araz River up to the Darband fortress in
Caucasia. The recently discovered Sasanian kust-ī
Ādurbādagān spāhbed seal in Azar Goshnasp (now Takht-e
Solayman) [20] and the Pahlavi official inscriptions on the
Darband fortress walls (now Derbent) confirm the extension
of šahr (region or country in Pahlavi) Ādurbādagān to the
Caucasus [21].
The Sasanian reforms’ strategy was pragmatic and effective,
allowing an increase in the empire’s capacity to fight its
enemies. It strengthened the empire’s defense and military
capabilities by incorporating Arranian (Albanian) troops
into the Sasanian Imperial army under Ādurbādagān’s
spāhbed command. The projection of Ādurbādagān’s
military and administrative functions to the north from the
Araxes was of a paramount significance to the Sassanids,
enforcing both the central shāhanshāh’s power and
Zoroaster’s faith in Albania challenged by the Orthodox
Byzantium (Caucasus Albania was re-baptized into
Nestorian Orthodox Christianity at the beginning of the 7th
CE). Generally, this strategy increased the gravity of the
Zoroastrian religion and the importance of the province
Ādurbādagān, cementing the Sasanian power and
Zoroaster’s faith (as the unique imperial religion) on the
northern bank of the Araxes (under the entire Ādurbādagān
šahr umbrella) [22], where the military and religious rivalry
with the Orthodox Byzantium were in the stages of war.
Indeed, the sign of the Moon, as a key Zoroastrian symbol
that was exposed on top of the principal Sassanian fire
temple Ādur Gušnasp in Ādurbādagān, was indicated as the
moon-chariot on Arrānshāh Aswagen’s state seal [23].
Next, the establishment of Ādurbādagān’s command
(isbahbadh) under a specially assigned general [24] increased
the effectiveness of military operations up to the Darband
fortress on the frontier with the Turks and Khazars in
Caucasia. Despite Darband, at the time, being within the
semi-independent or vassal Arrān country (Arrān šahr), the
Sassanids maintained huge military garrisons under the
direct supervision of Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed. They strongly
believed that Arraninan (Albanian) forces alone were not
sufficient to shield the invaders’ incursions via the Darband
passage deep into Ērānšahr.
The Sasanian kings and kings of Arrān improved Darband’s
fortifications by constructing double walls and the Narin
Gala citadel on a hill. The fortified defense line was erected
to protect a narrow passage between the Caucasus
Mountains and the Caspian Sea, blocking the invasion of
Turks and Khazars.
It is noteworthy that Azerbaijani and Dagestani scholars
translated many Pahlavi inscriptions on the Darband walls.
One of the inscriptions confirms Darband’s subordination to
šahr Ādurbādagān’s āmārgār (tax or revenue officer). The
Pahlavi Darband’s wall inscription “en ud az en abarbar
Darius-i Ādurbādagān āmārgār” was translated as: “This
and higher than this made by Dariush, Ādurbādagān’s
revenue/tax collector [25].”
It can be assumed that the Darband walls’ Pahlavi
Ādurbādagān inscription and the Sasanian garrisons [26]

International Journal of History https://www.historyjournal.net
~ 17 ~
presence in Arrān’s fortresses (Darband, Torpakh kala or
Saharestan Yazdagerd, Beshbarmag, in the Gilgilchay
Defense Wall) [27] under Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed command
as well as the kust-ī Ādurbādagān marzpān (administrative
officer) location in Ardebil (at the time Ādurbādagān’s
capital city) clearly confirm the projecting of the province
Ādurbādagān political, military and administrative functions
to the north over the Araxes to Arran forming the entire
Ādurbādagān šahr [28].
It is not surprising that Ādurbādagān’s name, military and
administrative functions were projected onto Arrān
(Albania). The local Arranian (Albanian) nobility was close
to the Sasanian crown. Since the rein of Arrānshāh Urnayn
(350-375), one can speak of the establishment of close
dynastic ties with the shāhanshāh’s family. Thus, King
Urnayn was married to the daughter of shāhanshāh Šāpur II
(309-379) and Arrānshah Aswahen (415-440) was the son
of the sister of Šāpur III (383-388) and the husband of the
daughter of shāhanshāh Yazdagird II (439-457). Arranshah
Vache II (440-462) was the son of the sister of shāhanshāh
Hormizd (457-459) and Peroz (459-484) [29].
Undoubtedly, the close family ties between the Sasanian
Kings and the Kings of Arran were a key element in the
Sasanian strategy to enforce central and military power as
well as Zoroaster’s faith which were eroded by the
Orthodox Byzantium in strategically important Arrānšahr.
One can state that Arrānshāh and his court were close to the
Sasanian, using Pahlavi as the official language.
Following shāhanshāh Xusrō I Anōšīrvān’s reform, one can
assume that it facilitated the integration of Arranian
(Albanian) troops into the Sasanian army under the
command of Adurbadagan‘s spāhbed. Although Caucasus
Albania [30] was an independent (from time to time) or semi-
independent state, the defense was under Ādurbādagān’s
spāhbed command. During the late Sasanian period, the
commander was the famous Iranian military and political
hero – spāhbed Rostam Farrokhzad of Ādurbādagān.
General and Prince of Ādurbādagān Rostam Farrokhzad was
a member of the Pahlav clan of Ispahbudhan family (House)
- one of the Seven Great (wuzurgān) Houses of the Sasanian
Empire claiming its descent to the Arsacids of Parthia.
At the same time, the King of Arrān Varaz Grigor (628-
637), a Zoroastrian name that may have been Gadvsnasp
before his second baptizing into Dyophysite Orthodox
Nestorian Christianity, was adopted as the title of
Arranshah. He was a member of the wuzurgān Mehrān
family (a Pahlav noble- family, separated or branch of the
Ispahbudhan House). Moreover, Arrānshāh Varaz Grigor
was related to the Sasanian shāhanshāh Xusrō I Anōšīrvān
or even “being himself a noble of the family of Ardashir I”
and Prince Javanshir (Juansher) of the Caucasus Albania
(Arrān) was a son of Varaz Grigor. The Pahlav House of
Mehrān held high-ranking positions in the Sasanian
hierarchy and occupied high command over the frontline in
the north, leading the negotiations with the Khaqan of Turks
[31].
Notably, the famous Sasanian general Rostam Farrokhzad
of Ādurbādagān escorted and introduced Prince Javanshir to
the last Sasanian King Yazdagird III (632-651) in
Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital. In 16-19 November 636, in
the famous Battle of al-Qadisiyyah between the Sasanians
and Muslim Arabs, Prince Javanshir was the commander
(spāhbed) of the Arranian (Albanian) troops, which were
part of the Sasanian Imperial Army under the command of
spāhbed Rostam Farrokhzad of Ādurbādagān. For his
gallantry at al-Qadisiyyah, Javanshir was rewarded with
villages as well as military and court insignia [32].
In 637, Javanshir with 3000-4000 troops, helped arrange
King Yazdagird III’s evacuation from the Sasanian capital
Ctesiphon sieged by Muslims. Sasanian King Yazdagird III
awarded Javanshir two golden spears and shields and
acknowledged his bravery, awarding a flag – the Standard
of Jamshid (Derafsh-e Kavian) which was the highest honor
for loyalty and bravery [33]. Before the final defeat of the
Sassanian army in the Battle of Nahavand in 642, Javanshir
arrived in Ādurbādagān. One can assume that he planned to
resume command of the Sassanian Ādurbādagān military in
the wake of Rostam’s death and because of Yazdagird’s
strong will to collect a new army in Media to fight the
Arabs. However, Rostam’s brother Farrukhzad was assigned
Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed and Javanshir fled back to the
Albanian capital Partaw (now Barda) [34].
There was confirmed evidence that after the collapse of the
Sasanian Empire, Muslim Arabs offered to Arrānshāh
Javanshir to become the ruler of the entire Ādurbādagān
šahr, but he refused it for obscure reasons. Soon after,
Javanshir was killed during Christian service at Partaw’s
Albanian church [35].
Conclusion
In the 5th-6th century, the Sassanids, particularly King
Xusrō I Anōšīrvān, implemented reforms aimed at
improving the empire’s architecture to lead a long-lasting
rivalry with the Orthodox Byzantium to dominate the Near
Est. The devastating incursions of the Turks and Khazars
via Darband pass in Caucasia as well as Arsacids Armenians
turned towards the Byzantium prompting the Sassanids to
re-evaluate and recognize the strategic and military
importance of Arran (Caucasus albania) located on the
north bank of the Araxes.
Sasanian King Xusrō I Anōšīrvān established the region or
kust-ī Ādurbādagān, holding Ādurbādagān’s general
(spāhbed) command covering all lands in the north and
northwest of the Araz River. Including Arrān (Arrānšahr).
The Sasanian strategy aimed to strengthen both the central
power and Zoroaster’s faith as unique imperial religion
eroded by Christian Byzantium in Caucasia. The
establishment of the kust-i Adurbadagan spahbed allowed
the incorporation of Arranian (Albanian) troops into the
Sassanian Imperial Army under Ādurbādagān’s general
command containing the Byzantines and Turks, as well as
enforcing the defense of the empire’s power and the
religious core province of Ādurbādagān holding the
cathedral fire temple Ādur Gušnasp.
The reform pulled Arrānšahr closer to the Sasanian crown
supported by the establishment of dynastic or family ties
between the families of shāhanshāh and Arrānshah. The
recently discovered Arrānshah Aswahen’s state seal clearly
confirms the closeness of Arranian (Albanian) nobility to
the Sasanian crown using Pahlavi as the official court
language.
Thus, the Sassanids reorganized the empire’s architecture,
expanding Ādurbādagān’s military and administrative
functions to Arrānšahr to form the entire Ādurbādagān šahr
on both sides of the Araz River to contain the Byzantium
and Turks. It was a turning point to project Ādurbādagān’s
name and functions in the northern bank of Araxes,
particularly on Arrān. The establishment of the kust-ī
Ādurbādagān with specially assigned Adurbadagan’s
general strengthened both Sasanian power and
Zoroastrianism up to Darband fortress in Caucasia forming

International Journal of History https://www.historyjournal.net
~ 18 ~
entire Adurbadagan šahr on both sides of the Araxes.
Finally, since Late Antiquity, particularly as a result of the
reforms of the Sasanian King Xusrō I Anōšīrvān, names
Arrān and Ādurbādagān became interchangeable in the
north bank of the Araxes, facilitating of the strengthening of
the empire’s central military, administrative and religious
power to contain Byzantium. The following historical
developments demonstrate that term Arrān (Albania) lost its
political functions, surviving as a geographical or
toponymical term. However, Ādurbādagān evolved into the
Turkified form of Azerbaijan.
References
1. Maksymiuk K. The Parthian nobility in Xusrō I
Anōšīrvān court, Elites in the Ancient World, eds. D.
Okoń, P. Briks, Szczecin. 2015;(2):189-198.
2. Daryaee T. Sasanian Persia, The Rise and Fall of an
Empire, London/New York, 2008, 196.
3. Farrokh K, Reza G, Karamian H. Military Architecture
and the Four-Spāhbed System for Defense of the
Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). Historia i Swiat,
2021;10:117-151.
4. Ghodrat-Dizaji M. Administrative Geography of the
Early Sasanian Period: The Case of Ādurbādagān. Iran:
Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies.
2007;45:87-96.
5. Boyce M. ĀDUR GUŠNASP, Encyclopædia Iranica,
I/5, 475-476, https://www.iranicaonline.org 28
February 2014
6. Yamamoto Y. The Zoroastrian Temple Cult of Fire in
Archaeology and Literature, Orient. 1981;17:67-104.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.17.67
7. Rubin Z. The Reforms of Khusro Anushiwan, ed. A.
Cameron, The Byzantine and early Islamic Near East 3,
Pricenton, 1995, 227-298.
8. Gyselen R. The Four Generals of the Sasanian Empire:
Some Sigillographic Evidence, Istituto Italiano per
l’Africa e l’Oriente, Conferenze 14, Roma, 2001, 53.
https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.34354
9. Daryaee T, Safdari K. Spāhbed Bullae: The Barakat
Collection, e-Sasanica. 2010;12:1-15.
10. Maksymiuk K. The Pahlav-Mihrani family faithful
allies of Xusto I Anoshirvan, Metamorvozi Istorii.
2015;6:163-179.
11. Ghodrat-Dizaji M. Ādurbādagān during the Late
Sasanian Period: A Study in Administrative Geography,
Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies.
2010;48:69-80.
https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2010.11864774
12. Farrokh K, Reza G, Karamian H. Military Architecture
and the Four-Spāhbed System for Defense of the
Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). Historia i Swiat.
2021;10:117-151.
https://doi.org/10.34739/his.2021.10.05
13. Kasumova S. K tolkovaniyu sredne-persidskikh
nadpiseĭ iz Derbenta (On the interpretation of the
Middle Persian inscriptions from Darband), VDI. 1979,
113-126.
14. Ghodrat-Dizaji M. Administrative Geography of The
Early Sasanian Period: Case of Ādurbādagān, Iran:
Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies.
2007;45:87-93.
https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2007.11864720
15. Howard-Johnston J. The Late Sasanian Army, in: Late
Antiquity: Eastern Perspectives ed. Teresa Bernheimer
and Adam Silverstein, Warminster: The Gibb Memorial
Trust, 2012, 87-127.
16. Ghodrat-Dizaji M. Disintegration of Sasanian
Hegemony over Northern Iran (AD 623-643), Iranica
Antiqua. 2011;46:315-329.
17. Kasumova S. New Findings Middle Persian
Inscriptions in Derbent, Vestnik Istorii. 1988;1:88-95.
18. Maksymiuk K. Destruction of the Ādur Gušnasp temple
in Ādurbādagān as a revenge for abduction of the Holy
Cross from Jerusalem in the context of the letters of
Heraclius, Matamorfozii istorii. 2017;9:109-125.
19. Poursharriati P. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian
Empire: Sasanian-Parthian Empire Confederacy and the
Arab Conquest of Iran, London/New York, 2006, 552.
20. Gyselen R. Sasanian Seals and Sealings in the A.
Saeedi Collection, Acta Iranica, Peeters, 2007, 407.
21. Alizadeh K. Borderland Projects of Sasanian Empire:
Intersection of Domestic and Foreign Policies, Journal
of Ancient History. 2014;2:93-115.
https://doi.org/10.1515/jah-2014-0015
22. Kasumova S, Gadjiev M. Middle Persian Inscriptions
of Derbent, the 6-th c. AD, Moscow, Vosticnaya
Literatura, 2006, 128.
23. Gadjiyev M. A Seal of Āhzwahēn, King of Caucasian
Albania, Journal of Ancient History. 2003;1:102-119.
24. Farrokh K, Karamian H, Maksymiuk K. A Synopsis of
Sasanian Military Organization and Combat Units,
Siedlce University, Tehran, 2018, 160.
25. Kasumova S. K tolkovaniyu sredne-persidskikh
nadpiseĭ iz Derbenta (On the interpretation of the
Middle Persian inscriptions from Darband), VDI.
1979;1:113-126.
26. Daryaee T. If these Walls Could Speak The Barrier of
Alexander, Wall of Darband and Other Defensive
Moats, Borders: Itineraries on the Edges of Iran,
Venice. 2016, 79-88.
27. Aliyev A, Gdajiyev M, Gaithner G, Kohl Ph,
Magomedov R and Aliev I. Gilgilchay Long Defensive
Wall: New Investigations, Ancient East and West.
2006;5(1-2):143-177.
28. Gadjiev M. Armenia and the land of Mazkurt (3rd-5th
Centuries AD): Written Sources and Archaeological
Data, ELECTRUM. 2021, 28207-119. Doi:
10.4467/20800909EL.21.014.13372
29. Maksymiuk K. The Pahlav-Mehrān family faithful
allies of Xusrō I Anōšīrvān, Metamorvozi Istorii.
2015;6:163-179.
30. Bosworth C. ARRĀN, Encyclopædia Iranica, II/5, 520-
522, https://www.iranicaonline.org 30 December 2012
31. Gadjiev M. The Role and Place of Middle Persian
Language and Writing in Caucasus Albania, Vostok
(Oriens). 2021;5:59-70.
32. Dowsett CJ. Moses Dasxuranc’i’s History of the
Caucasus Albanians, London: Oxford University Press.
1961, 252.
33. Khalifa-Zadeh M, Khalifazadeh L. Sasanian
Adurbadagan and Modern Azerbaijan: Historical Roots
and Development, Advances in Historical Studies.
2023;12(2):63-75. DOI: 10.4236/ahs.2023.122005
34. Zardabli I. The History of Azerbaijan: From Ancient
Times to The Present Day, United Kingdom: Lulu Pres,
2014, 600.
35. Hoyland R. FROM ALBANIA TO ARRĀN: The East
Caucasus between the Ancient and Islamic Worlds (ca.
330 BCE–1000 CE), Gorgias Press LLC, 2020, 406.