Gabras
Gabras or Gavras (Greek: Γαβρᾶς) feminine form Gabraina (Γάβραινα), is the name of an important Byzantine aristocratic family which became especially prominent in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as the semi-independent and quasi-hereditary rulers of Chaldia.
[3][note 3] More likely interpretations include Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer's opinion that the name was derived from the Aramaic-Syriac formula "g-b-r", indicating "hero" or "man" and Konstantinos Amantos's suggestion that the name is a corruption/hypocoristic of the name "Gabriel" (lit.
[3] Historian Anthony Bryer considers that the name is a cognate of the Arabic kafir, Persian gabr or Turkish gavur, terms meaning "infidel" or "unbeliever", which is appropriate for the Christian–Muslim borderlands where the Gabrades first appear.
Gabras ruled Chaldia as a virtually independent ruler, and until his death in battle in 1098, he fought with success against the Danishmend Turks and the Georgians.
[11][12] Another member of the family, Constantine Gabras, whose exact relation to Theodore is unknown, was also appointed doux of Chaldia by John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143) c. 1119.
[11][13] His exploits also formed part of an extensive oral tradition in the Pontus, but the so-called "Song of Gabras", written down c. 1900, has been shown to be a modern work drawing from other medieval sources.
Already before the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the renegade Frankish mercenary Robert Crispin had made the fortress of Koloneia the centre of a separate domain, and was succeeded in 1073 by Roussel de Bailleul.
[15] Thus, when Theodore Gabras appeared at Trebizond in 1075 and again in 1081, he was seen as a native leader for the Pontic Greeks of the coastlands, and his regime relied on local forces, i.e. the old thematic levies of the province.
Some of the Gabrades of this period were peasants who adopted the surname of their masters, and most of the family members attested in government service were lowly officials.
[23] In the Palaiologan period, the sebastos Christopher Gabras died as a monk c. 1264/5; Manuel Doukas Komnenos Gavras is attested as benefactor of a monastery in 1300/1; other members of the family are occasionally mentioned in legal documents, epigrams or correspondence as active in Constantinople and Macedonian cities like Serres or Veroia.
[24][25][26] The most famous of the Palaiologan-era Gabrades, however, is Michael Gabras, sakellarios (treasurer) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and "the most prolific of all Byzantine letter writers" (A. Bryer), whose correspondence spans the period 1305–1341 and includes most of the major political and literary figures of his day.
This family ruled the small Principality of Theodoro, which was founded in the mid-14th century in the southwestern Crimea (in the area of "Gothia") and survived until conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1475.
Alexander and his family were taken captive to Constantinople, where the prince was beheaded, his son was forcibly converted to Islam, and his wife and daughters became part of the Sultan's harem.
[38] The last notable members of the family are mentioned in Constantinople during the early centuries of the Ottoman Empire, as with Michael or Mozalos Gabras, active ca.
In the Black Sea Region of Turkey, People whose surnames are Kavraz directly comes from Gabras family with no definitive evidence.
