Reforms of Sasanian king Khusro I and the northern bank of the Araxes – Arrān (Caucasus Albania)

Abstract

The article considers the Sasanian king Khusro I Anushirwan’s reforms to improve the empire’s military and administrative architecture in the northwestern region of Ērānšahr, by creating the kust ī Ādurbādagān. The authors believes that it was a key element in the Sasanian strategy to enforce both central and military power in the defense sensitive Caucasia. The authors argues that the reform initiated the projecting of Ādurbādagān’s name, military, and administrative functions in Arrānšahr forming a strong interrelationship between the southern and northern sides of the Araxes as the entire Ādurbādagānšahr. Since Late Antiquity, Ādurbādagān and Arrān became interchangeable names and were in use on the northern bank of the Araxes.