Sasanian Iberia

Sasanian Iberia
Province of the Sasanian Empire
255/6 – 299 363-580 580–627
Capital		Armazi Mtskheta Tbilisi
Languages		Georgian (native language) Middle Persian (royal administration and court) Parthian Greek and Syriac (religious)
Government		Fully subordinate monarchy (up to 580), governorate
Historical era		Antiquity
•	Established	255/6
•	Roman conquest	299
•	Sasanian reconquest under Shapur II	363
•	Marzbanate period starts	580
•	Adarnase I declares independence	627
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Iberia Byzantine Empire Principality of Iberia
Today part of		Georgia  Turkey  Russia  Armenia  Azerbaijan
a.	^ Shapur I conquers Iberia in ca. 255/6, and puts the country under the control of a bidaxs. The Sasanian Empire later cedes Iberia to the Romans in 299 after a peace treaty.
b.	^ Shapur II invades Iberia in 363 and installs Aspacures II as his vassal. The Sasanians continue to rule Iberia for decades with two brief interruptions in 482-484 and 502-518. In 580, Hormizd IV decides to abolish the Iberian monarchy.
c.	^ The Kingdom of Iberia is once and for all abolished by Hormizd IV, who appoint a marzban of the country, thus starting the "Marzbanate period" of Iberia. In 591, Khosrow II cedes a large part of Iberia to the Romans, and later briefly regains it in 604 until ca. 624/5. In 627, the Iberian prince Adarnase I rebels against a heavily weakened Sasanian Empire, thus ending Sasanian rule in the country.

Sasanian Iberia (Georgian: სასანური ქართლი sasanuri kartli; known in Middle Persian sources as Wirōzān/Wiručān) refers to the period the Kingdom of Iberia (Kartli, eastern Georgia) was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire. The period includes when it was ruled by Marzbans (governors) appointed by the Sasanid Iranian king, including later through the Principality of Iberia. It furthermore covers up the period up to including the loss of major parts of it during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 to the neighboring Byzantine Empire, just shortly prior to the Muslim conquest of Persia.

The Georgian kingdoms were contested between the Sasanids and the neighboring rivalling Roman-Byzantine Empire ever since the 3rd century. Over the span of the next hundreds of years, both the Byzantines and the Sasanids managed to establish protectorates and vassalships over these regions, although sometimes assuming direct control as well, through the creation of a province. At the few remaining times, the Georgian kings managed to retain their autonomy. Sasanian governance was established for the first time early on in the Sasanian era, during the reign of king Shapur I (r. 240-270). In 284, the Sasanians secured the Iberian throne for an Iranian prince from the House of Mihran, subsequently known by his dynastic name Mirian III. Mirian III became thus the first head of this branch of the Mihranid family in the Kingdom of Iberia, known as the Chosroid dynasty (otherwise known as the Iberian Mihranids, or Mihranids of Iberia), whose members would rule Iberia into the sixth century. In 363, Sasanian suzerainty was restored by king Shapur II (r. 309-379) when he invaded Iberia and installed Aspacures II as his vassal on the Iberian throne.

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