From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Utik (Armenian: Ուտիք also known as Uti, Utiq, or Outi, or Otena in Latin sources) was a historic province of the Kingdom of Armenia and Caucasian Albania. Most of the region is located within present-day Azerbaijan immediately west of the Kura River while a part of it lies within the Tavush province of present-day Armenia.

According to Anania Shirakatsi's Ashkharatsuyts ("Geography" 7th c. AD), Utik was the 12th among the 15 provinces of the Kingdom of Armenia. It was populated by Utis^[1][2] and consisted of 8 cantons (gavars): Aranrot, Tri, Rotparsyan, Aghve, Tuskstak (Tavush), Gardman, Shakashen, and Uti Arandznak. The province was bounded by the Kura River from north-east, river Arax from south-east, and by the province of Artsakh from the west.^[3]

Greco-Roman historians of 2nd c. BC - 2nd c AD state that Utik was a province of Armenia, with the Kura River separating Armenia and Albania.^[4][5][6] But the Armenian-Albanian boundary along the river Kura, confirmed by Greco-Roman sources, was often overrun by armies of both countries.^[7]

According to Strabo, Armenia, which in the 6th c. BC had covered a large portion of Asia,^[8] had lost some of its lands by the 2nd c. BC.^[9] Around 190 BC, under the king Artashes I, Armenia regained its southeastern, southern, and western provinces (Vaspurakan and Paytakaran from Media, Acilisene from Cataonia, and Taron from Syria). Some have suggested that Utik was among the provinces conquered by Artashes I at this time,^[10] though Strabo doesn't list Utik among Artashes' conquests.^[11]

After the area between the Kura and Arax rivers (including Utik) passed to Albania in 387 AD, medieval Armenian historians (5th-7th cc. A.D.) referred to it as the "Albanian plain." According to their chronicles, in the 2nd c. BC Armenian king Vagharshak established the principality of Albania as part of the Kingdom of Armenia, subjugating the "savage tribes" south of the Caucasus mountains, and appointing as its governor an Armenian nobleman by the name of Aran, who descended from the Armenian patriarch Hayk and was from the Armenian princely family of Sisakan. According to this account, members of the Sisakan family inherited Utik as well as the rest of the plain between the Arax and Kura rivers, which was later named "Albanian plain" by the Sisakan princes (the entire area under Aran's governorship was named Aghuank (Albania) after the Sisakan nobles, who had fine (in Armenian--aghu) values).^[12][13]

In 370's, after the Albanian king Urnayr had invaded Utik, Armenian sparapet Mushegh Mamikonyan defeated the Albanians, restoring the frontier back to the river Kura.^[14] In 387 A.D. the Sassanid Empire extended the boundaries of the marzpanate of Albania to include Utik, which was taken away from the Kingdom of Armenia.^[15] Subsequently, medieval Armenian historians often referred to the area as the "Albanian plain."

Starting with the 13th century, the area covered by Utik and Artsakh was called Karabakh.

The population of ancient Utik is subject to dispute. The consensus among Armenian historians is that in ancient times the area, as well as the rest of Armenia, was inhabited by Armenians.^[16] According to Strabo, in Armenia, which at the time included Utik, everyone spoke the same language,^[17] while the tribes of Caucasian Albania spoke "twenty-six languages".^[18] Early Armenian chronicles (5th c. AD) state that the local princes of Utik descended from the Armenian noble family of Sisakan.^[19] On the other hand, some modern researchers have suggested that some of Albanian tribes lived in Utik, and were later Armenianized,^[20] and that the province received its name from the Caucasian tribe of Udis.^[21] Ancient Greco-Roman writers placed Udis beyond Utik, north of the Kura River.^[22] Some researchers suggest that Udis later moved to the area of Utik, giving the province its name, while being completely Armenianized by the 6th century AD.^[23] The connection of Udis to Caucasian Albanians is uncertain as well. Some suggest that Udis were originally an Iranian tribe, who settled next to the tribes of Albania and in time acquired a local Caucasian language.^[24] Others propose that modern Udis descended from one of the 26 tribes of Albania.^[25]

v • d • e

Historical regions of Armenia

The traditional 15 provinces of Historic Armenia:

1. Upper Armenia • 2. Sophene • 3. Aghdznik • 4. Turuberan • 5. Moxoene • 6. Corduene • 7. Parskahayk •
8. Vaspurakan • 9. Syunik • 10. Artsakh • 11. Paytakaran • 12. Utik • 13. Gugark • 14. Tayk • 15. Ayrarat

Other historical regions of Armenia:

Karin • Taron • Commagene • Armenian Mesopotamia • Norshirakan • Lesser Armenia • Cilicia • Mardali