İspir, Turkey

History

İspir is known from the 3rd millennium BC. The ancient kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi (2nd millennium BC) was located in the upper reaches of the rivers Euphrates and Chorokh, and included Sper. The name Sper is thought by some to be derived from Saspers, or Sasperi, the name Sper with a Georgian prefix of place Sa-, which evolved into the term Iberian.

The illustrious dynasty of the Bagrationi originated in the most ancient Georgian district – Speri (today İspir). Through their farsighted, flexible policies, the Bagrationi achieved great influence from the sixth through eighth centuries. One of their branches moved out to Armenia, the other to Georgian Kingdom of Iberia, and both won for themselves the dominant position among the other rulers of Transcaucasia.

In the 4th-3rd centuries BC Sper was organized into a province of the Iberian Kingdom as noted by Strabo. Alexander the Great sent one of his generals Menon to conquer Sper, but Menon and his forces were defeated and killed. The region was then a part of Upper Armenia (Armenian: Բարձր Հայք, Bardzr Hayk'), a province of Greater Armenia, since the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. After this, Sper was an Armenian Bagratid domain in the 4th - 6th centuries, the territory of which also comprised the Bayburt plain until that was lost to the Byzantines (perhaps in 387).

From the History section of İspir on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.