User:HistoryofIran/Mihranids of Caucasian Albania

The Mihranids of Gugark were an Iranian princely dynasty, which ruled the Armeno-Iberian frontier region of Gugark from c. 330 to the 8th-century.

History
In the 5th-century, the ruling Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania was deposed by the Sasanian Empire of Iran, who transformed Albania into a province governed by a marzban (margrave). During the reign of the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) Khosrow I ((r. 531 – 579)), privileges were once again granted to local dynasties, which included the former ethno-political dominions that had been under Albanian rule. Many local leaders where thus elevated to the status of shah on the condition that they acknowledged the authority of the shahanshah.

In c. 600, a branch of the Mihranid family from Gardman established their control over Albania. Before their rise to power, they had massacred most of the members of the ancient Aranshahik family, which was the first known ruling dynasty of Albania. Only a certain Zarmihr, who was related to the Mihranids through marriage, was spared. This event demonstrates that the Aranshahik still carried some authority to a certain degree.

The Mihranids claimed descent from the Sasanians, but were in reality a branch of the House of Mihran, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran.

List of bidaxshes
Based on available sources, the modern historian Cyril Toumanoff has deduced a list of the ruling Mihranid bidaxshes of Gugark, albeit it remains incomplete.