Spery

The name Speri is believed to come from the name of the Saspirov . ^[four] Local tribes named Saspira, as was repeatedly mentioned in the history of Herodotus, according to the most common theory, are Kartvelian ^{[5] [6]} tribes, however, their origin is also attributed to the Scythian people. The ethnic designation of the word "Iberia" comes from the name of the proto-Georgian tribes of Sasper - Speri - Bery - Iberi. ^[7] approximate homeland of the Sassirs was between the Chorokh rivers and the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers . In ancient Georgian sources, the Chorokh river was called the “Speri River”, and the Black Sea was called the “Speri”. ^[eight]

Antiquity

in 12-8 thousand BC e. the region was part of the newly formed Diaoha tribal confederation, ^[9] In 760 BC e. she was annexed to the Kingdom of Colchis , which now turned out to be hostile to Urartu. The Urartian king Sarduri II (764-735) conducted several campaigns against Colchis during 750-741 BC. e., significantly weakening of both, led the attacks of northern tribes. From 720 BC e., Cimmerian invasions from the north destroyed Colchis and significantly influenced local society and culture. In the following centuries, new tribal confederations were formed, the most important of which was Speri (Sasper). ^[7] in the VI-V century, after the expansion of the Achaemenids, Saspiri and Alarodians were included in the 18th Satrapy of Persia, according to Herodotus, Saspiri and Alarodians were dressed as Colchis. ^[ten]

In the 4th-3rd centuries BC e. the region was organized in the province of Iberia, as Strabo notes. after the death of Alexander of Macedon , Mithridates , a Persian aristocrat from Asia Minor, declared himself king of the Pontic kingdom , the kingdom grew in strength, from the II-I century BC. e. The Pontic kingdom conquered the surrounding lands, including part of Lesser Armenia (this political entity was probably a descendant of the Persian 18th satrapy), the other part of Speri was conquered by Great Armenia. After the Roman-Persian wars , the region was conquered by the Roman Empire and incorporated into the provinces of Roman Armenia .

The lands of the Sper region (Sper, Hyspiratis) made up the backbone of the Armenian naharars of Bagratuni , the province (Ashkhara) of Bardzr Hayk ( High Armenia )

.

In the III-IV century AD e. the region remained part of Armenia, and then Armenia was divided between Byzantium and the Sasanian empires , western Armenia, including Speri, was under Byzantine control. The border between Byzantine and Persian Armenia crossed the Chorokh valley somewhere between Ispir and Yusufeli. ^[eleven]

Middle Ages

In the 7th century, it passed into the Arab caliphate . Later, the upper Speri was under Byzantine control and remained part of the Khaldiski Femi region, while the lower Speri remained the base for the Iberian Kurapalatsvo (the principalities of Tao - Klardzheti ) in the fight against the Arab invaders, under nominal dependence on the Byzantine Empire. in 888, the Georgian principalities of Tao-Klarjeti turned into the Georgian Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti . in 1001, after the death of David Kuropalat, Tao , Basiani and Speri inherited the emperor of Byzantium Basil II, these provinces were organized in the theme of Iberia with its capital in Feodosiopol . after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, most of the eastern provinces of Byzantium, including Speri, were conquered by the Seljuks . he was controlled by the Celticids until 1124, ^{[11] the} region was conquered by the Kingdom of Georgia .

In 1203, Rukn al-Din Suleiman II Shah of the Koni Sultanate decided to occupy the southern coast of the Black Sea and Asia Minor . He invaded the kingdom of Georgia with 400,000 Muslim warriors from several Emirates: Erzurum and Sham (Syria) and took control of several southern provinces of Georgia, including Speri. In the same year, having defeated the Battle of Basiani, Georgia managed to expel the Turks and free the region.

The region was conquered in 1242 by the Mongols ; she was returned to the Georgian Kingdom during the reign of George V the brilliant (1314-1346), and remained part of the Kingdom until its collapse, which then passed into the hands of the Atabegov Georgians belonging to Jakeli .

New Age History

The region was conquered in 1502 by the Persians and was probably in 1515 ^[11] , taken from the Ottoman Empire from the ruler of Georgia Samtskhe. ^{[11] The} Ispyr Valley was still almost entirely Christian in the early 16th century. ^{[11] The} region was occupied in 1916 by the Russian Empire during the First World War and returned to the newly formed Turkish Republic in 1918.