| Georgian Statehood |
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Hereti (Georgian: ჰერეთი, Herethi) was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.
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The area was inhabited in earliest times by Hers (referred to as Èrs as well), Sujs, Tchilbs, and Lbins. Collectively called Hers (Heretians), these tribes came under the rule of the Iberian kingdom in the 5th century BC.
With its decline, the area was gradually incorporated into the Iberian kingdom forming one of its duchies (saeristavo) in the 5th century and its peoples were eventually assimilated into the Georgians proper. It was when the name Hereti first appeared in the Georgian sources. According to traditional accounts, the name of the province originated from the legendary patriarch Heroes, the son of Thargamos, who founded the city of Hereti (later known as Khoranta) at the Alazani River.
As a reward for the contribution in struggle against the Arab occupants, the Kartlian ruler (erismtavari) Archil gave Hereti to the noble family of Bagrationi in the 740s-750s. After the death of the last Kartlian erismtavaris John and Juansher, the Heretian lords extended their fiefdoms and, in 787, established an independent principality (samtavro) with the capital in Shaki. The principality gained significant strength and prestige by 893 allowing Prince Hamam to be crowned the king. Alarmed by the increasing power of the Heretian kingdom, Kvirike I (892-918), the ruler of the neighbouring Kakhetian principality, allied himself with King Constantine III of Abkhazia and, in 915, campaigned against King Adarnase II Patrikios of Hereti (897-943). The allies occupied and divided the country but for a short time as Adarnase Patrikios soon reconquered what had been lost. A son and successor, Ishkhanik (943-951) ruled together with his mother Dinar, sister of Grand Magister Gurgen IV, Prince of Klarjeti (918-941). Under them, Hereti was forced to recognize the supremacy of the stronger neighbour, Principality of Deilam, ruled by the Salarid dynasty (Iranian Azerbaijan). In 950, Ishkhanik took advantage of the bitter power struggle in the Salarid State, and ceased to pay tribute effectively restoring his independence. It was during his reign, that the Heretians abandoned their Monophysite faith to convert to Georgian Orthodox Chistianity.
The next Heretian ruler, John (Ioane Senekerim, 951-959) added to his kingdom part of the former Albanian kingdom and the eastern Georgian mountainous area Tzanaria. After his death, a local dynasty seems to have ceased to exist, and the kingdom fell under Kvirike II, Chorepiscopus of Kakheti (929-976). The area then was contested between his successor, David (976-1010), and the Georgian king Bagrat III who sought to bring all Georgian lands into a single monarchy. The next Kakhetian ruler, already titled as the king, Kvirike III the Great (1010–1037) finally absorbed Hereti into his “kingdom of Kakhs and Rans” in the 1020s. When the Georgian king David the Builder brought the kingdom under his control in 1104, Hereti became a saeristavo (i.e. a duchy) within the Georgian realm. Georgian rule of Hereti was interrupted by Atabegs of Azerbaijan, Khwarezmid Empire and Ilkhanid rule. After the final disintegration of the unified Georgian monarchy in 1466, Hereti came under the Kakhetian crown. Afterwards the name of the province itself has gradually disappeared from the historic records and public usage due to successively Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, Safavid and Ottoman rules.
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