- Guaramid Dynasty
The Guaramid Dynasty [The dynastic name "Guaramids" is a modern designation introduced by Professor
Cyril Toumanoff . It is not universally accepted among the Georgian historians, but is commonly used in theEnglish-language literature.] was the younger branch of the Chosroid royal house of Iberia (Kartli , eastern Georgia). They ruled Iberia as presiding princes (erismtavari ) in the periods of 588-627, 684-748, and 779/780-786, three with the dignity ofcuropalates bestowed by the Byzantine imperial court. The dynasty was founded by Guaram I (r. 588-c. 590) who was a grandson of the Chosroid king Vakhtang I Gorgasali and his Byzantine consort Helene. The principate ofKlarjeti andJavakheti was hereditary in this line. The Guaramids were related through marriage with the leading princely houses of Georgia – the Chosroids, Nersianids, and the Bagratids. In the latter case, the marriage of Guaram III (r. 779/780-786)’s daughter with the fugitiveBagratuni prince Vasak produced the new Bagrationi dynasty, which would later become the last and the most long-lasting ruling family of Georgia. The extinction of Guaramid line by the late 8th century allowed their Bagratid cousins to gather their inheritance in the former Guaramid estates once they themselves had come to power.The tenth-century Georgian chronicler
Sumbat Davitis-Dze in his "History of the Bagratids" erroneously (or purposefully) identified the Guaramids as essentially Bagratid who allegedly came from theHoly Land to settle in the Georgian and Armenian lands.Presiding Princes of Iberia from the Guaramid Dynasty
*Guaram I (588-c. 590)
*Stephanus I (c. 590-627)
*Guaram II (684-c. 693)
*Guaram III (c. 693-c. 748)
*Stephanus III (779/780-786)References
*Toumanoff, Cyril. Introduction to Christian Caucasian History, II: States and Dynasties of the Formative Period. "Traditio" 17 (1961).
*Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), "Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts." Peeters Bvba ISBN 90-429-1318-5
*Rapp, Stephen H., Sumbat Davitis-dze and the Vocabulary of Political Authority in the Era of Georgian Unification. "Journal of the American Oriental Society", Vol. 120, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec., 2000), pp. 570-576.
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