Articles
Sul and Chola: two place names on the opposite sides of the Caspian Sea in the sixth–seventh centuries CE
Farda Asadov
Vostok/Oriens '2017, №1
Sasanian fortifications in the North-Eastern borderland of the Caucasian Albania with nomadic peoples have been known in historical records written in Armenian language under the name of Chola pass, Chola gates, and Chola fortress. There is an agreement among scholars that the Armenian Chola used to be transliterated in early Arab sources as Sul . The presented article argues for the identity of Sul in the Caucasus with the geographic and ethnic name Sul reported by early Arab historical works and geographers concerning the South-Eastern Caspian littoral province Gorgan (Jurjan). Scrupulous analysis of data from Arab sources and finds of archaeological excavations of Derbent fortifications enable to assert strengthening of Sul fortress as a part of the Derbent defense system construction under Khosrow I Anushirvan (531–579) as well as resettlement of a group of Turkic nobility from Gorgan to the newly constructed fortress to safeguard the Sasanian borders in the Caucasus.
Keywords: Chola, Sul, Derbent, Khosrow Anushirvan, Gorgan, Caucasian Albania
Pages: С. 57–69
