摘要
The present paper is an attempt to identify the terms ＂Tsanars＂ and ＂Sanars＂. The issue remains one of the controversial issues in the scholarly literature. Due to different interpretations of the same sources, scholars come to different conclusions concerning the proper derivation of the terms, the ethnic affinity of Tsanars, their location or migration, and the priority of the evidence in the sources. Since the divergence in conclusions is caused by differing interpretations of the information preserved in Greek, Georgian, Armenian, and Arabic sources, the author of the present paper traces all the relative evidence of existing sources as well as the comments made by their publishers and researchers. The supposition about the Chechen origin of Tsanars, as well as their migration from western or southern Georgia eastward, is critically examined. The author comes to a conclusion concerning the derivation of the terms from the Greek language and submits arguments for priority of the Georgian sources. Proceeding from the sources, the author thinks that the term Tsanars designated a conterminous population, settled along the northern border of Georgia named by the Greeks in the early centuries.
