Elishe is venerated by Albanian-Udi tradition as the apostolic founder of Christianity in the Caucasus. According to Movses Dasxurantsi he was a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus who, after Thaddeus' martyrdom, returned to Jerusalem, was ordained by James the brother of the Lord, and travelled through Persia into Albania. At Gis, identified with the village of Kish near Sheki, he raised the first church, called the mother of the churches of the East, and there his relics were later honoured. He stands at the head of the Udi Christian tradition as its first enlightener, long antedating the fourth-century mission from Armenia.