'''Bidaxsh''' (''bidakhsh'', also spelled '''Pitiakhsh'''; in Roman sources ''Vitaxa'') was a title of Iranian origin attested in various languages from the 1st to the 8th-century.{{sfn|Sundermann|1989|pp=242-244}} It has no identical word in English, but it is similar to a margrave, toparch and marcher lord.{{sfn|Rapp|2014|p=62}} The etymology of the term is disputed, and it has been interpreted as literally meaning "the eye of the king," "second ruler" or "vice king."{{sfn|Sundermann|1989|pp=242-244}} The word was borrowed into Armenian as ''Bdeašx'' (բդեաշխ), and into Georgian as ''Pitiaxshi'' (პიტიახში) and ''Patiaxshi'' (პატიახში).{{sfn|Rapp|2014|page=58}}
The title was prominent in Armenia and Georgia, being used by the military governor of a province, and being the hereditary title of the dynasts of Gugark.{{sfn|Sundermann|1989|pp=242-244}}{{sfn|Aleksidze|2018}} The Armenian sources mention four ''bdeašx''s in the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, who are referred to by different names.{{Sfn|Toumanoff|1963|p=163}} Those four were the ''bdeašx''s of Nor Shirakan (New Siracene), Aghdznik (Arzanene), Tsopk (Sophene), and Gugark (Gogarene).{{Sfn|Toumanoff|1963|p=163}} According to Cyril Toumanoff, the ''bdeašx''s of Armenia likely emerged in connection with the conquests of Tigranes the Great ({{reign|95|55|era=BC}}) as viceroys tasked with protecting the newly conquered border territories.{{Sfn|Toumanoff|1963|p=155}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * {{ODLA|last1=Aleksidze|first1=Nikoloz|title=Pitiakhsh|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-3748}} * {{cite book|last1=Rapp|first1=Stephen H.|title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1472425522|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8VIBQAAQBAJ&q=rapp+inscription+kartir}} * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Bidaxš | last = Sundermann | first = Werner | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bidaxs-title-of-iranian-origin | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 3 | pages = 242–244 | location = | publisher = | year = 1989 | isbn = }} *{{cite book|title=Studies in Christian Caucasian History|last=Toumanoff|first=Cyril|date=1963|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=|pages=}}
== Further reading == * {{cite encyclopedia | title = GEORGIA v. LINGUISTIC CONTACTS WITH IRANIAN LANGUAGES | last = Chkeidze | first = Thea | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/georgia-v- | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 5 | pages = 486–490 | location = | publisher = | year = 2001 |isbn = }}
Category:Positions of authority Category:Sasanian military offices Category:Georgian military ranks of Persian origin Category:Words and phrases originating in Iranian languages