CHRISTIANITY IN THE HISTORY OF DERBENT IN SASSANID PERIOD AND THE STAGES OF ITS DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Derbent entered the historical literature as one of the largest Islamic centers in the Caucasus, where Muslim ideology was actively spread by the Arabs from the mid-seventh century. However, early medieval Albanian and Armenian sources show that the first world religion, perceived by the population of Derbent was Christianity. St. Elisha began to preach it in the city Choga (Derbent) in the 60s of the irst century, ordained by Jacob, the first Patriarch of Jerusalem, brother of Jesus Christ. The Church calls this initial phase of Christianisation in Caucasian Albania, including Derbent, the apostolic one. The second stage followed in IV - irst half of V century and was initiated by the Holy Grigoris, the first head of the Albanian Church, who died at the hands of the Maskuts, who lived in the area of Derbent passage. The third stage succeeded in the mid-ifth to mid-sixth century, when Derbent became the main bulwark against the Albanian king Vache II in the attempts of Sassanian Iran to impose zoroastrianism on the people of the Caucasus. Since the 60s of the V century until the middle of the VI century Derbent was the residence of the head of the Albanian Church (Catholicos).