Church of Caucasian Albania

The Church of Albania or the Albanian Apostolic Church was an ancient, briefly autocephalous church established in the 5th century.^[1]^[2] In 705, it fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Church as the Catholicosate of Aghvank^[3] centered in Caucasian Albania, a region spanning present-day northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan.^[4]

In medieval times, the Gandzasar monastery served as the See of the Catholicosate of Aghvank of the Armenian Apostolic Church,^[1]^[5] which continued to exist until 1828 (or 1836^[6]) when it was formally abolished by the Russian authorities,^[5] following the forced cession of the last territories in the Caucasus maintained under Iranian Qajar rule per the Treaty of Turkmenchay and the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828).

^ ^a ^b Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993). Looking toward Ararat: Armenia in modern history. Indiana University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-253-20773-9 – via Google Books. ...Karabagh had been in ancient and medieval times part of the kingdom of the Caucasian Albanians. This ethoreligious group, now long extinct, had converted to Christianity in the 4th century and drew close to the Armenian church. Over time its upper classes were effectively Armenized. When the Seljuks invaded Transcaucasia in the 11th century, a process of Islamization began that resulted in the conversion of the peoples of the plain to the east of Karabagh to Islam. These people, the direct ancestors of present-day Azerbaijanis, adopted the Turkic language of their conquerors and adopted the Shi'a branch of Islam dominant in neighboring Iran. The mountains remained largely Christian, and in time the Karabagh Albanians merged with the Armenians. The central seat of the Albanian church at Gandzasar became one of the bishoprics of the Armenian church, and the memory of the once-independent national religion was preserved in the stature of the local primate, who was called Catholicos.
^ (in Russian) Igor Kuznetsov.Udis
^ Hewsen, Robert H. (2001). Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 40, 72, 80.
^ Minorsky, Vladimir (1953). "Caucasica IV". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 15 (3). University of London: 504–529. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00111462. S2CID 246637768.
^ ^a ^b Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Basmajian, Gabriel; Franchuk, Edward S.; Ouzounian, Nourhan (2002). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century. Wayne State University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-8143-3023-4 – via Google Books.
^ Karny, Yo'av (2000). Highlanders: a journey to the Caucasus in quest of memory. Macmillan. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-374-22602-2 – via Google Books.

[Suny-1] Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993). Looking toward Ararat: Armenia in modern history. Indiana University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-253-20773-9 – via Google Books. ...Karabagh had been in ancient and medieval times part of the kingdom of the Caucasian Albanians. This ethoreligious group, now long extinct, had converted to Christianity in the 4th century and drew close to the Armenian church. Over time its upper classes were effectively Armenized. When the Seljuks invaded Transcaucasia in the 11th century, a process of Islamization began that resulted in the conversion of the peoples of the plain to the east of Karabagh to Islam. These people, the direct ancestors of present-day Azerbaijanis, adopted the Turkic language of their conquerors and adopted the Shi'a branch of Islam dominant in neighboring Iran. The mountains remained largely Christian, and in time the Karabagh Albanians merged with the Armenians. The central seat of the Albanian church at Gandzasar became one of the bishoprics of the Armenian church, and the memory of the once-independent national religion was preserved in the stature of the local primate, who was called Catholicos.

[kuznetsov-2] (in Russian) Igor Kuznetsov.Udis

[Atlas-3] Hewsen, Robert H. (2001). Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 40, 72, 80.

[4] Minorsky, Vladimir (1953). "Caucasica IV". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 15 (3). University of London: 504–529. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00111462. S2CID 246637768.

[hacikyan-5] Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Basmajian, Gabriel; Franchuk, Edward S.; Ouzounian, Nourhan (2002). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century. Wayne State University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-8143-3023-4 – via Google Books.

[6] Karny, Yo'av (2000). Highlanders: a journey to the Caucasus in quest of memory. Macmillan. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-374-22602-2 – via Google Books.

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