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''Encyclopedia Iranica, Vol. VI, Fasc. 1.'' Thodarson, pp. 41-42
Colchis first came within the Iranian orbit in the Median period (ca. 850-550 b.c.e.). Beginning in the 8th century b.c.e. it suffered heavily in successive Cimmerian and Scythian invasions. The presence of such invaders is attested by burials and characteristic arrowheads excavated at various 7th-century b.c.e. sites in the region, which apparently served as a base for further incursions to the south and west (Camb. Hist. Iran II, pp. 91-97). Scattered Scythian colonies may have survived in Colchis and adjacent regions for some generations and are possibly reflected in tribal names. A tribe called Skythēnoí (Skythinoí) living in the Akampsis (Čoruh) valley is mentioned by Xenophon (Anabasis 4.7.18) and later authors (see Pauly-Wissowa, II/2, pp. 946-47, s.v. Scythini). According to an alternative theory, however, the name is a Greek approximation to Zan *škvit- < Kartvelian *švid-, Georgian švid-, Laz šk(v)it- “seven”; a tribe called Heptakōmētai is located by Strabo (12.3.18) in the same region (see Vogt).
In the first half of the 1st century b.c.e. King Mithradates of Pontus subjugated Colchis (Reinach, pp. 206-410; Maksimova, pp. 169-285). After his death (in 63 b.c.e.) the country became a Roman protectorate (Lang, pp. 81-82; Allen, pp. 43-45). In the 3rd-4th centuries c.e. Colchis was for some time under Bosporan (Sarmatian) rule. At the end of this period a new kingdom emerged in western Georgia, encompassing Colchis and part of Pontus. It was called by the Greeks Laziká after the leading tribe (Gk. Lazoí, Lázai; first mentioned in the 1st century c.e. in Pliny, Naturalis Historia 6.12). Christianity was adopted as the state religion in 523 (Lang, p. 99). During the 6th century the Sasanians waged incessant warfare against Byzantium for control of Laziká, claiming that it had belonged to the Achaemenids and thus was theirs by right (Allen, chap. 6; Camb. Hist. Iran III/1, pp. 505-36). The kingdom, later called Abazgia (Abkhazia), lasted until the 12th century, when it was united with Iberia under the rule of the Bagratid dynasty (q.v., 884-1045; Allen, chs. 7-8; Lang, ch. 5).
Because of the geographical position of Colchis and its orientation toward the Black Sea and the west, Persian influence was less profound than in Iberia and Armenia and was limited primarily to the upper classes. Iranian proper names were fashionable among local rulers (Andronik’ašvili, pp. 569-71 and passim; Wesendonk, pp. 1-10 and passim). Although Mazdaism gained some importance, especially in the Sasanian period, as is attested by fire temples and other Mazdean remains (Wesendonk, pp. 71-77; Allen, pp. 42-45) (...)
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