Egrisi
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Egrisi (Georgian: ეგრისი) is a medieval Georgian name for the region and kingdom in the western part of modern-day Georgia, known to the Byzantine authors as Lazica and to Persians as Lazistan after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.[1]
The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern day Abkhazia. Throughout its existence it was mainly a Byzantine 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 first Christian king of Egrisi was Gubaz I; in the 5th century, Christianity was made the official religion of Egrisi. Later, the nobility and clergy of Egrisi switched from the Hellenic ecclesiastic tradition to the Georgian; and Georgian became the language of culture and education. The Bichvinta Cathedral is one of oldest monuments of the Georgian Christian architecture constructed by the Georgian King Bagrat III of the Bagrationi Royal House in the late 10th century.[2] It was under Bagrat III, that Egrisi unified with the eastern Georgian lands of Iberia-Kartli to form a united Kingdom of Georgia.
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