Institutional Evolution and Survival Strategies of the Caucasian Albanian Church under the Abbasid Caliphate, the Great Seljuks, and the Ildeguzid Atabegs in the 8th–13th centuries
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22353483 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrey Nikonorov (0000-0003-4651-7913, University of Information Science and Technology St. Paul The Apostle, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 89 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-07 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Christianity in the Middle East (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2587-9316 • E-ISSN: 2949-3234 |
| Publisher | Palama Publishing (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.65324/cme021 |
| OpenAlex | W7163742270 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
This research paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the historical evolution, institutional status, and survival strategies of the Caucasian Albanian Church from the 8th century to the mid-13th century. The chronological framework encompasses a pivotal stage in the region’s transition from Late Antiquity to the High Middle Ages, a period defined by a radical shift in civilizational paradigms and political dominance. The author focuses on the adaptation of Albanian ecclesiastical institutions to the environment of foreign religious rule that emerged following the Arab expansion, the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the subsequent rise of the Turkic emirates and the Great Seljuk Sultanate. The study provides a detailed examination of the legal and political status of the Albanian Catholicosate. Following the decline of the secular power of the Mihranid dynasty, the Church transformed into an autonomous ethno-confessional corporation with the recognized status of dhimmi. Particular attention is paid to the legal and economic foundations of the Church: the author argues that the preservation of monastic latifundia and judicial prerogatives was made possible through the skillful integration of canon law norms into the broader Islamic legal framework. The article reconstructs the administrative geography of the Catholicosate, characterized by a gradual shift of its center of gravity from Islamized lowland centers, such as Barda and Ganja, to the inaccessible highland redoubts of Khachen and Artsakh. This «spatial migration» is viewed as a deliberate strategy for preserving sovereignty and ethno-cultural identity. Special emphasis is placed on the «Golden Age» of the Principality of Khachen under Hasan-Jalal Dawla, a period when the Caucasian Albanian Church reached the apogee of its internal consolidation. The author explores the role of the See of Gandzasar as the supreme judicial and sacred arbiter of the region, capable of acting as a legitimate legal subject in dialogue with the Mongol Ilkhans. The final part of the work examines the intellectual landscape and manuscript culture of the Catholicosate as a repository of historical memory. The study concludes that the institutional resilience of the Church, based on the symbiosis of canon law, monastic economy, and dynastic legitimacy, allowed it to preserve the Albanian cultural code through five centuries of foreign rule, transforming Khachen into the final bastion of ancient Albanian civilization
Corporation · Islam · Middle Ages · Politics · Sovereignty · Byzantine Studies and History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Islamic Studies and History
| Highly cited | No |
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