The first ancient kingdom that had a control of this territory was Urartu, when it was called Biani. One of the versions of the name Pasinler - it is derived from the ancient tribe called
Phasians (Phazians). The name of this tribe seems to have survived in latter-day regional toponyms –
Armenian
Passen,
Greek Phasiane,
Georgian
Basiani, and
Turkish Pasin. Based upon pottery finds, Pasinler was part of the
Kingdom of Urartu during the
Iron Age. The territory of Basean belonged to Greater Armenia from 4th century BC to 5th century AD and was part of an Armenian province - Ayrarat. According to the Armenian chronicler Movses Khorenatsi (5th century), this land was the family estate of the Armenian Ordun dynasty, established by Armenian King Vagharshak, who ruled in 117 - 138/140 AD. In the story of the Armenian chronicler Favstos Buzand (5th century), the thief of the Orduni clan attacked the power of King Khosrov III, seizing and destroying the royal house, as a result of which the princes of the Orduni clan were executed by order of Khosrov. Their ancestral lands, located in the area of Basean, with all their bounds, were given to the bishop of Basean, a native of Ordor. After AD 428 this land became part of Sasanian Armenia, right up to the Arab invasions in 7th-9th centuries. In 9th century Basean became part of
Bagratid Armenia. In the 10th century, the border between the Byzantine Empire and expanding early Georgian Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti ran along the
Aras river, therefore part of northern Basean/Basiani became a domain of the
Georgian Bagratids. In 1001, after the death of David Kuropalates, Basean/Basiani was acquired by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, who annexed the Armenian lands (Tayk/Tao, Basean/Basiani), previously subdued by King David Kuropalates. and organised them into the
theme of Iberia with the capital at
Theodosiopolis. However, after the formation of the Georgian Kingdom,
Bagrat’s son
George I inherited a longstanding claim to David's succession. While Basil was preoccupied with his Bulgarian campaigns, George gained momentum to invade Tayk/Tao and Basean/Basiani in 1014, which sparked his unsuccessful Byzantine-Georgian wars. Despite the territorial losses to Basil II, many of the territories ceded to the empire were overrun by the Seljuk Turks in the 1070s and 1080s, but were then retaken by the Georgian King
David IV. In the 13th century, at
Battle of Basian, thevGeorgians defeated the army of the
Rum Sultanate. The province was part of the united
Kingdom of Georgia as an ordinary duchy until 1545, when Basiani was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans made Hasankale the centre of a sanjak and entirely rebuilt the citadel. They also built several mosques such as Ulucami (1554 repaired in 1836), Sivasli (1388 rebuild in 1912) Yeni (16th century rebuild in 1810) and baths. ==Composition==