| Native Name: | Գուգարք |
| Common Name: | Gugark |
| Subdivision: | Province |
| Nation: | the ancient kingdom of Armenia |
| Year Start: | 189 BC |
| Year End: | 13th century |
| Capital: | Ardahan |
| Event Start: | Artaxias I declaring himself independent |
| Today: |  Armenia Turkey |
Gugark (Armenian: [[wikt:Գուգարք|Գուգարք]], Latin: Gogarene, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Γογαρινή) was the 13th province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It now comprises parts of northern Armenia, northeast Turkey, and southwest Georgia.[1]
Etymologically, Gugark in Armenian language denotes land of Gugars. word "Gugar" being a root and suffix -k meaning "land of".
In ancient Urartian inscriptions dating to 785 BC, the territory of Gugark is referred to as Zabaha, which is known today as Javakheti (Javakhk in Armenian).[2] In the beginning of IV century BC, (302BC) the territory was under Caucasian Iberia, but during Artaxias I's reign it was conquered.[3] During the reign of the Artaxiad and Arshakuni kings of Armenia, Gugark was ruled by one of the kingdom's four bdeashkhs. The bdeashkh of Gugark was responsible for protecting the state's northern border. During the 4th century, the region was ruled by members of a branch of the House of Mihran.[4] In 387, Armenia was partitioned between the Byzantine and Sassanid empires and Gugark, with the exception of the canton of Tashir, was annexed to Caucasian Iberia. The ruler of the region around 425 was Arshusha. In 652, the Armenian prince Theodore Rshtuni was allowed by the Arabs to unite Gugark with his realms. In the following centuries, Gugark and its cantons fell under the sway of several rulers. In the 8th century, it became a part of Emirate of Tbilisi. In the middle of the 9th century, it was taken by the Georgian Bagrationis, while the Armenian Bagratunis took over its eastern cantons.
Armenian catholicos and historian Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi says in his history that the majority of this region was Armenian people with minority of Iberian people. Also an Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi mentions Arshusha V, bdeashkh of the Iberians.
Based on available sources, Cyril Toumanoff deduced an incomplete list of the ruling Mihranid bdeashkhs of Gugark.[5]
| Name | Reign | |
|---|---|---|
| Peroz | 330–361? | |
| Bakur I | after 394–430 | |
| Arshusha I | after 430–? | |
| Bakur II | mid 5th-century | |
| Arshusha II | ?–470 | |
| Varsken | 470–482 | |
| Arshusha III | 482–after 540/1 | |
| Arshusha IV | ca. first decade of the 7th-century | |
| Vahram-Arshusha V | late 620s | |
| Arshusha VI | mid 8th-century |