The same name is found in the tenth-century Georgian chronicle Conversion of Kartli which mentions the Tselkans, Pkhovelians, Mtiulians and Tchartalians (inhabitants of Chartalis-Khevi River, a tributary of the Aragvi).
According to German scientist Julius Klaproth, the Ossetians called the Mokhevians Tsona, and the region spanning Darial Gorge to Kobi Sona-Sena.
in 1970, Russian historian and caucasologist Nataliya Volkova [ru] recorded the Ossetian name for Kazbek as Sæna (Сæна) in the village of Kobi.
[7] According to the story of eighth-century historian Al-Baladhuri, Yazid ibn Asid marched to the Bāb al-Lān (Gates of Alans) and defeated rebelling Tsanars, afterwards imposing kharaj ('land tax') on them.
Historians Mikhail Artamonov and Aram Ter-Ghevondyan relate this battle and other events to the first period of the reign of Yazid ibn Asid in Arminiya (c. 752 – 754).
[8] According to the story of al-Ya'qubi, Amr ibn Ismail arrived at the request of the ruler of Arminiya and led a 20,000-strong army against Tsanars, killing 16,000 of them in one day and moving to Tbilisi.
[15] According to al-Masudi, the Tsanars "claim to be descended from the Arabs, namely from Nizār b. Maʿadd b. Muḍar, and a branch (fakhdh) of ʿUqayl, settled there since olden times".
[25] Russian historian and caucasologist Nataliya Volkova [ru] dismisses versions precisely attributing Tsanars to Vainakhs, Dagestanis or Georgians due to the lack of direct evidence of the linguistic affiliation.
Based on the ethnic situation in this region in the ancient and early medieval periods, it could be assumed the Tsanars were an Ibero-Caucasian speaking group.
[30] In the ninth and tenth centuries, the centres of Tsanars moved eastwards to the region near Shakki and the passes connecting Kakheti with Dagestan [3]