Who Hides under the Name “Šahrbarāz, Malik al-Bāb” by aṭ-Ṭabarī under 22 A.H. (642/3 A.D.)?

Abstract The author introduces into the scientific literature a little-known treaty between the Arab-Muslim authorities and the Christian principalities south of the Caucasus, cited by the “father of Muslim historiography”, aṭ-Ṭabarī (839–923), under the year 22 A.H. (642/3). The document analyzed in this article was addressed to the inhabitants of Armīnīya (i.e., Armenia, Albania, and Iberia), specifically to the “malik al-Bāb” (King of Derbent), named Šahrbarāz, “whose origins were from the house of Šahrbarāz”. This refers to a Persian military commander who gained fame during the last war with the Romans (603–628), in which he conquered Syria and Palestine, including the city of Jerusalem. The author argues that by al-Bāb, aṭ-Ṭabarī was referring to the entire region of Arrān (Albania-Ałowankʿ) and identifies this malik with Varaz-Grigor, a vassal of Emperor Heraclius (610–641) who founded the principality of Ałowankʿ in 629. Varaz-Grigor belonged to the House of Mihrān, one of the Seven Great Houses of Ērānšahr, like the Persian commander Šahrbarāz. Though of Zoroastrian descent, after his baptism, he received the Christian name Grigor (Gregory).