Utuphursi
King of Diaokhi
King of Diaokhi
Reign9th-8th century BCE
PredecessorUnknown
(previous known ruler Asya)
SuccessorUnknown
(last known ruler)

Utuphursi is the last known ruler of the kingdom of Diaokhi, a confederation of proto-Georgian tribes. His reign spanned over three decades during which he faced the expansionist policy of neighboring Urartu. He fought several battles against kings Menua and Argishti I in the first half of the 8th century BCE. His reign is documented through Urartian texts.

Biography

Utuphursi is the last known ruler of the Kingdom of Diaokhi, a confederation of tribes in northeastern Anatolia.[1] He reigned in the end of the 9th century and the early 8th century BCE[2] over dozens of proto-Georgian tribes controlling territories from Anatolia to Colchis, from his capital Sasilu (close to the modern Turkish town of Tortum).[3]

Early on, he had to face his powerful southern neighbor, Urartu, whose king Menua (810-786 BCE) led an expansionist policy toward the South Caucasus and saw Diaokhi as the region's center.[4] Menua captured Sasilu after a battle but Utuphursi took refuge in the northeast of the kingdom. Menua continued his campaign, capturing several fortresses and the city of Zua on his way.[5]

Utuphursi was forced to accept his defeat after the fall of his last stronghold, Utu. He recognized himself as a vassal of Urartu and was made to pay an annual tribute of gold and silver, in return for the freeing of Diaokhian prisoners captured during the invasion.[2]

Revolt

Utuphursi's loyalty toward Urartu remained flimsy (Menua himself calls the kingdom a "troubling subject").[5] Using Menua's death in 786 BCE, he proclaimed his independence by refusing to pay tribute to his successor, Argishti I (786-764 BCE), who launched a campaign against him in 785 BCE.[6] Utuphursi was quickly defeated after the capture of his new capital Zua and agreed once again to Urartu's domination over his kingdom. Argishti I had his victory inscribed over a building in Zua.[7]

A few years later, while Urartu was busy with wars against Assyria, Utuphursi decided to once again revolt. Argishti I returned to Diaokhi and burned down Zua, though keeping Utuphursi on the throne.[8]

In 768 BCE, Utuphursi launched a third revolt but was once again defeated by Argishti I,[9] who chose to annex the southern territories of Diaokhi.[10] Urartu build a series of fortresses on its border with Diaokhi as part of a strategy to rapidly respond to any further challenge to his power.[11] Argishti I would die four years later, and Utuphursi disappeared from historical sources. Diaokhi's final collapse at the hands of a Colchis-Urartu alliance took place either at the end of his reign or shortly after his death.[1]

Bibliography

  • Asatiani, Nodar; Bendianashvili, Alexandre (1997). Histoire de la Géorgie. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7384-6186-7.
  • Asatiani, Nodar; Janelidze, Otar (2009). History of Georgia. Tbilisi: Publishing House Petite. ISBN 978-9941-9063-6-7.
  • Chkhartishvili, Mariam (2014). Ქართული წყაროთმცოდნეობა [Georgian studies of ancient sources] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Universali.
  • Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35579-9.
  • Asatiani, Nodar (2001). Საქართველოს ისტორია [History of Georgia] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Sakartvelos Matsne.
  • Melikishvili, Giorgi (1970). Სამხრეთ-დასავლეთ საქართველოს მოსახლეობის უძველესი გაერთიანებები. საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები. ტ 1 [Ancient associations of the population of South-West Georgia. Essays on the history of Georgia. Volume 1] (in Georgian). Tbilisi.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Kavtaradze, Giorgi Leon (2002). An Attempt to Interpret some Anatolian and Caucasian Ethnonyms of the Classical Sources. Tbilisi: Tbilisi State University.

References

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