Aghwank Aghvank Aluank Caucasian Albania | |
|---|---|
| 2nd century BC–8th century AD | |
 Map of Aghwank | |
| Capital | Partaw (Presently known as Barda) |
| Common languages | Aghwan |
| Religion | Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Paganism |
| Historical era | Antiquity |
• Established | 2nd century BC |
• Disestablished | 8th century AD |
| Today part of | Azerbaijan Artsakh Russia Georgia Armenia |
Aghwank is the Armenian and Udi endonym for the historical country of Caucasian Albania. In Armenian it is written Աղվանք.
History edit
Aghwank was establised in the 2nd century BC. Many empires, like the Romans, Parthians, and Sassanids have ruled over Aghwank. King Urnayr in the 4th century AD went to Armenia and officially made Christianity the state religion of Aghwank. Islam later took over in the 7th/8th centuries AD and Aghwank, under the Sasanian Emipire, was disestablished. The inhabitants of Aghwank were either converted to Islam or Armenised.
Name edit
The original endonym of Aghwank is unknown, as most countries around them called the country different names and never wrote down the original name. In Ancient Greek it is called Ἀλβανία and in Latin it is called Albanía. The name Caucasian Albania was made using the exonym Albania and adding Caucasian to it, because it has no connection to Balkan Albania.
Present edit
The land that the Aghwans inhabited is now under Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Armenia, Russia and Georgia. The claimed descendants of the Aghwans are the Udi people who live in Russia and Azerbaijan. The language of Aghwank, known as Aghwan, Caucasian Albanian, or Old Udi, in an extinct Northeast Caucasian language which is sometimes classified as the early form of the Udi language. It is part of the East Samur group, of the Samur group, of the Lezgic group, of the Northeast Caucasian languages.