The 15th century brought dramatic changes to the geopolitical situation of Georgia, as a new powerful state of the Ottoman Turks emerged in Anatolia. In 1453, they finally captured Constantinople and destroyed the Byzantine Empire. Another Christian power and former Georgian ally, the Empire of Trebizond, fell in 1461 while the Khanate of the Crimea was established as an Ottoman vassal in 1475. Georgia thus found itself surrounded by hostile powers in every direction and was isolated from new international trade routes and direct contacts with European culture. Continuous raids and incursions destroyed the local economy, commerce and crafts fell into decay and some cities disappeared. The separatist tendencies of individual feudal lords increased and the disintegration process accelerated. In Western Georgia, the Kingdom of Imereti waned and the principalities of Odishi, Svaneti, Guria and Abkhazia emerged.

In the late 15th century, the powerful confederations of the Aq-Qoyunlu and Qara-Qoyunlu Turkman tribes launched numerous raids against Georgia that earned their leaders the title of ghazi and enormous wealth. However, internal dissension soon weakened them and the Aq-Qoyunlu were defeated by the Qizilbash led by Ismail Safavid in early 16th century. The new century saw Georgia once again in the precarious middle ground between two powerful enemies, the Ottoman Turks to the west and the Persian Safavids to the east. Shah Ismail I (1501-24), the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Persia, led many raiding expeditions into Georgia in 1510s. His successor Shah Tahmasp I (1524-76) fought four major campaigns against Georgia in 1540-1554 and began the systematic extension of his control over eastern Caucasia. King Luarsab I (1527-1556) of Kartli led local resistance and won an important victory over the Persian army at Garisi in 1556, although he personally died in action. Persian campaigns resulted in the resettlement of a large numbers of Georgians to Persia, whose subsequent role in the Persian army and civil administration led to significant changes in the character of Safavid society.

The Persian-Ottoman struggle for the control of the Caucasus was temporarily interrupted by the Treaty of Amassia in 1555. The peace agreement divided the region between the two rivals, with Kartli, Kakheti, and eastern Samtskhe in the Persian sphere of influence, and western Georgia and western Samtskhe under the Ottomans. Safavids tightened their predominance in eastern Georgia by imposing Persian social and political institutions and appointing Georgian converts to Islam to the leading positions in Kartli and Kakheti. King Simon I attempts to resist proved futile when he was betrayed and captured in 1569. He was released only nine years later when the Persians suffered reverses at the hands of the Ottomans. In 1578, Simon’s energetic actions led to the liberation of key fortresses, including Tbilisi. In 1582, the Georgians routed a large Ottoman army on the Mukhrani Valley and, six years later, King Simon negotiated a peace treaty with the Ottomans, who recognized him as the Christian king of Kartli and pledged not to interfere in his affairs. Simon then turned to his quest of uniting Georgia and campaigned twice in Imereti in 1588-1590. Despite his initial successes, he ultimately failed in this ambition. In 1595, he joined an anti-Ottoman alliance, but was defeated and captured at Nakhiduri in 1600, spending the rest of his life at the Yedikule Kapi prison in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the rulers of Kakheti preferred diplomatic solutions to conflicts and were prepared to make concessions and pay tribute to avoid open confrontation. King Alexander of Kakheti (1476-1511) negotiated with his enemies and often agreed to recognize their supremacy and pay a small tribute, saving his realm from destruction. He became the first Georgian ruler to establish formal diplomatic contacts with the Russian principalities when, in 1483 and 1491, he dispatched two embassies to Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow. In 1563, King Levan of Kakheti (1518-1574) appealed to the Russian rulers to take his kingdom under their protection. Tsar Ivan the Terrible responded by sending a Russian detachment to Georgia, but Levan, pressured by Persia, had to turn these troops back. King Alexander II (1574-1605) also appealed for Russian support against the Persians and the Ottomans. In September 1587, he negotiated the Book of Pledge, forming an alliance between Georgian and Russian kingdoms. However, as the Times of Troubles began in Russia, Georgian principalities could not count on foreign assistance in their struggle for independence.

Western Georgia was also in disarray with local principalities feuding with each other and often assisting the Ottomans in their conquests. Thus, Atabeg Mzechabuk of Samtskhe allowed the Ottoman troops to pass through his realm to attack his rival King Bagrat (1510-1565) of Imereti in 1510. The latter responded with a punitive expedition against Samtskhe in 1535, when he annexed this region to Imereti. Local nobles then invited the Ottomans to drive the Imeretians out of Samtskhe and King Bagrat was defeated in the decisive battle at Sokhoistas in 1545. The Turks began introducing Turkish customs and converting the local population of Samtskhe Saatabago, which soon turned into the Gurjistan vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the Georgian regions of Samtskhe, Adjara and Chaneti remained under Ottoman dominance for the next three centuries.

In the 17th century, Persia emerged as a powerful state under the capable leadership of Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty. Persians successfully engaged the Turks in southern Transcaucasia, gradually replacing the Ottoman yoke with that of Persia. Attempts of Giorgi Saakadze, the great mouravi of Kartli, to unite Georgian forces against foreign threats failed due to the internal feuds of nobility and he was forced to flee to Persia. In 1614-1617, Shah Abbas I launched several campaigns against Kakheti, razing numerous towns, fortresses and monasteries; some 200,000 Georgians were taken into captivity and resettled into Persia, where they helped to develop the local agriculture and industry. Shah Abbas sought to populate the eastern Georgian principalities with the Turkoman tribes and turn them into dependable bulwarks. In 1625, Giorgi Saakadze raised a rebellion in Kartli and annihilated a Persian army in the battle of Martkopi on 25 March. He then quickly captured Tbilisi and campaigned in Kakheti, Ganja-Karabagh and Akhaltsikhe. King Teimuraz I of Kakheti was invited to take the crown of Kartli and, thereby, both principalities were united. Although the Georgians suffered a defeat in the subsequent battle of Marabda in late 1625, Saakadze turned to guerrilla war, eliminating some 12,000 Persians in the Ksani Valley alone. His successful resistance frustrated Shah Abbas’ plans of destroying the Georgian states and setting up Qizilbash khanates on Georgian territory. Failing to win a war, Shah Abbas turned to diplomacy, reviving feuds between the Georgian nobles, which led to a civil war in the fall of 1626.

From 1632 to 1744, the Persian shahs ruled Kartli through Georgian walis or viceroys, who established relative peace and prosperity in the country, especially during the reign of Rostom Khan (1634-1658), who was brought up in Persia, served as qullar-aghasi (commander of the Persian guard) and introduced many Persian manners and tradition to Kartli. He was succeeded by his son Vakhtang (Shah Nawaz I), who continued his father’s Persophile policy. In Kakheti, the Persian policies of settling Qizilbash tribes soon backfired causing the Bakhtrioni rebellion led by Eristavs Shalva and Elizbar of Ksani and Prince Bidzina Choloqashvili in 1659-1660, which drove the Qizilbash tribes out of Kakheti. Meantime, the part played by the Georgians in the political and social life of Persia also increased. Shah Abbas’ successors often owed their thrones to the support of the Georgians ghulams who occupied key military and court positions.

In the 18th century, the political situation in Georgia improved relatively. During the reign of King Vakhtang VI (1703-1724) of Kartli, depopulated lands were resettled, irrigation canals and roads repaired and commerce and crafts revived and expanded. In 1709, a printing press - the first in the Transcaucasia - opened in Tbilisi. Three years later, Shota Rustaveli’s epic poem The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin was printed for the first time. The king was assisted in his reforms by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (1658-1725), an outstanding figure in the history of Georgia, whose humanistic ideas left an indelible trace on the Georgian culture. Orbeliani produced the first dictionary of the Georgian language, Sitkvis kona, which still remains relevant today, and authored many didactic fables, including Sibrdzne Sitsruisa and Stsavlani. One of the greatest academic achievements of this period was the establishment of a commission of scholars to collect historical documents and manuscripts. The commission compiled documents on the history of Georgia from the 14th to the 18th century into Akhali Kartlis Tskovreba while Prince Vakhushti Bagration’s Description of Georgia laid foundation for the critical study of Georgian history.

After the Afghan victory at Gulnabad in 1722, the Persian Shah Husayn sought help from King Vakhtang, but in November 1721, the latter negotiated a joint military operation against Persia with Tsar Peter the Great of Russia. The Russian army reached Darband but then returned to Russia, leaving Georgia to face Persian retaliation. The Ottomans, taking advantage of the turmoil in eastern Georgia, also marched into Kartli the same year. The deposed King Vakhtang fled to Russia with a retinue of 1,400 men in August 1724. The same year, the Russo-Turkish Treaty was concluded in Istanbul according to which Russia kept Daghestan and the narrow strip of the Caspian coastline, while Turkey obtained virtually all of Transcaucasia. In 1728, the Ottoman authorities divided Kartli between the Georgian nobles, whose constant feuding made it easy for the Ottomans to control them. The period of Turkish domination (1723-1735), known as Osmaloba in Georgia, resulted in a heavy tax burden on the population and led to a rapid deterioration of the local economy and cultural life.

In 1735, Nadir Khan, a maverick Persian commander, launched his conquest of Transcaucasia and was assisted by some Georgian nobles, among which Prince Teimuraz of Kakheti had the most importance and privileges. Georgian hopes of gaining independence by turning Persia against the Turks were dashed when Nadir, who crowned himself shah in 1736, began establishing a Persian administration in eastern Georgia. Thus, the Osmaloba was replaced by the Qizilbashoba or the Persian yoke. The exorbitant taxes, levied by Nadir Shah, soon provoked an uprising in Kartli and Kakheti, forcing the shah to make concessions. In 1744, he gave the throne of Kakheti to Teimuraz II and that of Kartli to his son Erekle II. On 1 October 1745, the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral held the first Christian coronation of a Georgian king in over a century.

The death of Nadir Shah in 1747 led to a civil war in Persia allowing Kings Teimuraz and Erekle to secure a respite for eastern Georgia. Their reign proved to be one of the more successful periods in the history of Georgia. Both kings conducted numerous expeditions into Transcaucasia and played an important role in the ongoing civil strife in Persia. In 1752, King Erekle routed the Afghan Azad Khan, a rival of the Persian Zand dynasty, near Yerivan and later captured him at Kazakh in 1760. Georgians successfully campaigned in Armenia in 1765, 1770 and 1780 and drove back the annual incursions of the raiding bands from Daghestan. In 1762, after the death of Teimuraz II, Erekle proclaimed himself King of Kartli and Kakheti, thereby uniting eastern Georgia. The reign of King Erekle revived the country, as measures were taken to settle the depopulated areas and restore industry and trade. Erekle strove to introduce Western-style industry in Georgia, inviting specialists from Europe and sending Georgians abroad to master various trades.

In spite of this success, the situation in Georgia remained precarious and Georgian monarchs continued to seek assistance from Russia. King Teimuraz traveled to Russia in 1760, but arrived a few days after the death of the Empress Elizabeth and could not negotiate in the ensuing turmoil at the Romanov court. King Erekle was more successful in his rapprochement with Russia. At the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War in 1769, a Russian force, under the command of General Totleben, arrived in Georgia and a joint Russo-Georgian campaign was planned to seize the Akhaltsikhe vilayet. In 1770, the Russian and Georgian troops besieged the Atskuri fortress but during the fighting Totleben deserted the Georgians on the battlefield and withdrew his troops. Nevertheless, on 20 April 1770, Erekle won a decisive victory over the Turks near Aspindza and, with King Solomon I of Imereti, he besieged the key fortress of Akhalkalaki. The Russo-Turkish Treaty of Küčük-Kaynardja of 1774 brought no territorial change to the lands of Georgia, but the Porte renounced the tribute it collected from Georgia. To prevent any future foreign threats, King Erekle appealed to St. Petersburg for protectorate and the treaty between Georgia and Russia was signed on 24 July, 1783 at Georgievsk. According to this document, the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti recognized the supremacy of the Russian rulers, who, in turn, pledged to safeguard the unity of the kingdom. King Erekle II and his heirs were guaranteed the throne and the Georgian church was allowed to remain independent.

The Russian orientation of Erekle II and the arrival of Russian troops in Georgia alarmed the neighboring powers. The Ottoman Empire sought to have the Treaty of Georgievsk annulled and instigated the devastating incursions of Omar Khan of Avaria in 1785. Two years later, the Porte presented Russia with an ultimatum, demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia and later that year, it declared war. Russia faced a precarious situation, fighting on several fronts against Sweden, Turkey and Poland. In these circumstances, the St. Petersburg court was unable to fulfill the terms of the Treaty of Georgievsk and recalled Russian forces from Georgia.

During this period, the Qajar dynasty had ascended the throne of Persia and Agha Muhammad Khan brought most of the Persian lands under his sway. He demanded from King Erekle II to denounce the Treaty of Georgievsk and recognize Persian suzerainty. Erekle refused the Persian ultimatum, remaining faithful to the alliance with Russia. Nevertheless, the latter did not send any troops to support her ally and left the Georgians alone in the face of Persian aggression. In early fall of 1795, Agha Muhammad Khan attacked eastern Georgia, where King Erekle made a desperate attempt to halt the invaders but managed to rally only some 5,000 men against 35,000 Persians. In a pitched battle at Krtsanisi on 11 September 1795, the Georgian forces were defeated and Tbilisi was taken and pillaged in dreadful fashion. The Persian invasion was followed by the Daghestanian raids that further devastated Kartli-Kakheti. In response to Erekle’s pleas for help, two Russian battalions finally arrived in Georgia in late 1795 and Russia declared war on Persia in March 1796. However, in November, Empress Catherine II died and her son Paul I recalled the Russian troops from Transcaucasia at once. Agha Muhammad Khan set out for Georgia again but was assassinated near Shusha in June 1797.

The death of King Erekle on 23 January 1798 was a turning point in the history of eastern Georgia. His successor, King Giorgi XII, proved to be a feeble and incompetent ruler and dynastic intrigues undermined the crown. In September 1801, following the death of King Giorgi and in complete breach of the Treaty of Georgievsk, Emperor Alexander of Russia unilaterally abolished the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli-Kakheti and had them annexed to the empire as gubernias (province). The Bagrationi royal family was detained and exiled, and the autocephaly of the Georgian church abolished.

Western Georgia remained under the Ottoman influence throughout the 17th-18th century and Georgian rulers incessantly sought ways to reduce foreign encroachments. In 1703, a large Ottoman army occupied Imereti, Guria and Mingrelia but subsequent turmoil in the Ottoman empire helped the Georgian to drive them back. However, Ottoman garrisons remained in strategic places and along the coastline. In 1738, King Alexander V of Imereti unsuccessfully tried to gain military support from Russia. As the royal authority declined, grand nobles (tavadis) gained in power and their incessant intrigues and struggles only weakened western Georgian principalities. In 1752, Solomon I ascended the Imeretian throne. Surrounding himself with lesser tavadis and aznaurs, he sought to curb the power of great nobles and drive the Ottoman forces out of western Georgia. On 14 December 1757, he gained a decisive victory over the Ottoman army at Khresili, and the following year, he negotiated a military alliance with Kartli-Kakheti. In 1759, he prohibited the slave trade, perpetuated by many nobles, and ruthlessly persecuted any disobedient elements.

Solomon’s far-reaching policies soon produced results and led to a temporary peace with the Ottoman Empire in 1767. The following year, the Imeretian king appealed to Russia for help against the Turks. Although a Russian detachment under General Gotlib Totleben arrived in Imereti in late 1769, the Russian involvement produced no result by the time they left three years later. In 1770s, the united forces of Imereti and Mingrelia repelled several Ottoman invasions and celebrated victories at the Chkherimela River (1774) and Rukhi (1779). Solomon I’s death in 1784 led to a struggle for the crown that continued for five years and destabilized western Georgia. The new Imeretian king, Solomon II, faced serious problems both within his realm and from abroad. Great nobles continued to defy his authority and Solomon II’s attempts to extend his power to the rest of western Georgia only antagonized the powerful rulers of Mingrelia and Guria. In 1803-1809, the western Georgian principalities were annexed to the Russian Empire while the kingdom of Imereti was taken by force of arms in 1810, when the last Bagration ruler, King Solomon II, was forced into exile in the Ottoman Empire. The remaining principalities had no other choice but to enter the empire to preserve some vestiges of autonomy, with Guria until 1828, Mingrelia until 1857, Svaneti until 1858 and Abkhazia until 1864.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

Georgia’s golden age ended in the early 13th century with the arrival of the Mongol hordes led by Chenghiz Khan. Following their conquest of China and southeastern Asian states, the Mongols attacked Khwarazm in Central Asia. Chenghiz Khan then dispatched a Mongolian corps on a reconnaissance mission to the east. The Georgian army under King Giorgi IV Lasha, the son of Queen Tamar, suffered a defeat but it had no immediate effect because the Mongols quickly left Georgia and moved across the Caucasus Mountains. More significant in its consequences was the arrival of Prince Jalal al-Din, the son of the last ruler of Khwarazm, who was defeated by the Mongols and now led his Khwarasmian army to Transcaucasia.

The Kingdom of Georgia itself was torn by internal dissent and was unprepared for such an ordeal. The struggle between the nobility and the crown increased. In 1222, King Giorgi appointed his sister Rusudan as a co-regent and died later that year. Queen Rusudan (1223-1245) proved a less capable ruler and domestic discord intensified on the eve of foreign invasion. In 1225, at the head of an army of some 200,000 Turkmens and various mercenaries, Jalal al-Din invaded Georgia and defeated the 70,000 strong Georgian-Armenian army commanded by Ivane Mkhargrdzeli at Garhni in November 1225. This was followed by the capture of Tbilisi, where a frightful massacre of tens of thousands of Christians ensued. Jalal al-Din continued devastating Georgian and Armenian regions until 1230, when the Mongols finally defeated him. His continuous raids and devastations brought not only mass destruction of human life and property, but also famine and pestilence which seriously weakened Georgia and left it without any resources to defend itself from attackers at the very moment when it was needed the most.

In 1235-1236, Mongol forces, unlike their first raid in 1221, appeared with the sole purpose of conquest and occupation and easily overran the already devastated principalities of Armenia and Georgia. Queen Rusudan fled to the security of western Georgia, while the nobles secluded themselves in their fortresses. The Mongol conquest of eastern Georgia continued until 1242, when Georgian rulers finally gave in and accepted the Mongol yoke. The Mongols initially kept the Georgian monarchy and local administration intact but imposed monetary taxes and military duty. Following the death of Queen Rusudan in 1245, they reorganized the administrative division of Georgia and the neighboring countries. The south Caucasia formed a single administrative unit composed of five vilayets, with Georgia constituting the first or Gurjistani (Georgian) vilayet of eight tumans or districts, each required to provide 10,000 soldiers.

The Georgian aristocracy was discontented with the foreign oppression, but a conspiracy organized at Kokhtastavi had failed. The situation was further worsened by the lack of strong leadership because two candidates – the sons of King Lasha-Giorgi and Queen Rususan, both named David – claimed their rights to the Georgian throne. The Mongols took advantage of this circumstance to weaken Georgian opposition and recognized both candidates, appointing David, the son of King Giorgi IV, as ulu or senior and David, the son of Queen Rusudan, as narin or junior ruler.

After the accession of the Great Khan Mongke (1251-39), a thorough census was made of all parts of the empire in 1252-57 and Georgia was ordered to provide one soldier per nine souls for a total of 90,000 soldiers. New taxes were imposed on agriculture and industry. The establishment of the Mongol Il-Khanid state in 1256 brought another change to Georgia. Georgians were obliged to participate in military ventures of the Il-Khans on a regular basis, providing a specified number of troops. Georgian, and Armenian contingents fought in all the major Mongol campaigns in Syria, Iraq and Palestine from 1256 onward, distinguishing themselves during the assault on Baghdad in 1258 and in the campaigns against the Mamluks in 1259-1260s. This forced participation resulted in the deaths of thousands of Georgians and their absence from Georgia, where they were needed to protect their families and native land from persistent raids.

Heavy taxation and the burden of military service naturally led to disgruntlement and rebellion. Several uprisings, led by both Georgian kings, occurred between 1259 and 1261, but the Mongols suppressed all of them; King David Narin fled the persecution to western Georgia, where he established an independent kingdom, splitting the Georgian realm in half. Simultaneously, Georgia became a theater of war between the Il-Khans and yet another Mongol state, the Golden Horde, centered in the lower Volga. In 1265, Berke Khan (1257-66) of the Golden Horde invaded Georgia and ravaged the Iori and Mtkvari valleys as the Georgian troops fought for the Il-Khans against him.

The death of King David Ulu set in motion the nominal partition of Georgia into several principalities. King David Narin already claimed royal authority in western Georgia. The Mongols appointed David Ulu’s son Demetre II (1270-1289) as the king of eastern Georgia, but they also carved out the region of Samtskhe (in southwestern Georgia) and placed it under the direct control of the Il-Khans. In 1289, when Arghun Khan crushed a plot against him, he summoned King Demetre II, who had been wrongly implicated in the conspiracy. To avert destruction of his native land that was imminent if he refused, King Demetre rejected suggestions to flee to western Georgia and appeared in front of the khan, who had him tortured and executed on 12 March 1289. Such devotion to the national cause earned the king the title of tavdadebuli (self-sacrificing).

In the first half of the 14th century, King Giorgi V Brtskinvale (the Resplendent) (1314-1346) pursued a shrewd and flexible policy aimed at throwing off the Mongol yoke and restoring the Georgian kingdom. He established close relations with the Mongol khans and succeeded in acquiring authority to personally collect taxes on their behalf. Using Mongol force to his advantage, he suppressed defiant feudal lords and restored royal authority in western Georgia in 1329 and in Samtskhe five years later. He took advantage of the civil war in the Il-Khanate, where several khans were overthrown between 1335 and 1344, and drove the last remaining Mongol troops out of Georgia.

The respite from the foreign invasion proved to be brief. Barely recovering after the horror of the Black Death, Georgia was subjected to one of the most dreadful invasions yet as the Mongol warlord Timur (Tamerlane) began carving out his empire and invaded Georgia eight times in 1386-87, 1394-96 and 1399-1403. During the first Timurid invasion of 1386-87, Tbilisi was sacked and King Bagrat V (1360-1393) captured. The country had hardly recovered when Timur returned in 1394 and devastated central Kartli, despite efforts of the new King Giorgi VII (1393-1407). Two years later, King Georgi VII helped the neighboring Armenians and earned the wrath of Timur, who began the systematic destruction of southern Georgia in 1399. Tens of thousands of Georgians and Armenians were pressed into slavery and some Georgian regions were completely depopulated. However, the Georgians continued their struggle and King Giorgi VII refused to submit. Following his victory over the rising Ottoman state in 1402, Timur returned to Georgia again in 1403, spreading death and destruction to the already desolate countryside. Later that year, peace was finally signed between King Giorgi VII and Timur, removing the Mongolian warlord from Georgia for the last time.

Timur’s campaigns in Georgia wrought destruction on an unprecedented scale. Major cities lay in ruins and tens of thousands of Georgians were massacred or taken into captivity; incalculable losses were inflicted on property and livestock, while society was in disarray and the royal authority weakened. The burden of rebuilding the country fell on the shoulders of King Alexander I (1412-1442). He overcame the initial opposition of the powerful lords of Dadiani, Jakeli and Sharvashidze in 1412-1415, revived many towns and repaired monasteries and churches, including the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and the Ruisi Monastery. In 1425, he established a temporary tax that remained in force for the next 15 years and helped to fund the rebuilding process. To increase the population of his realm, he encouraged the immigration of the Armenians, who enjoyed trading privileges in Georgia. He reorganized the Georgian Orthodox Church and provided large subsidies to repair and maintain Georgian monasteries in the Holy Land. King Alexander also pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at recovering the lost territories, expanding his sphere of influence into southern Armenia by 1435. However, his most crucial mistake was in appointing his sons to principal positions in the kingdom. These crown princes soon gained too much power and became surrounded by feuding factions of nobles who intrigued for the ultimate prize of placing their candidate on the throne. The last king of the united Kingdom of Georgia, Giorgi VIII (1446-1466), faced successive uprisings of powerful lords, most notable among them Atabeg Kvarkvare of Samtskhe and Eristavi Bagrat of Imereti, who defeated the royal armies at Chikhori (1463) and the Paravani Lake (1465). The last battle was particularly consequential because King Giorgi VIII himself was captured, an event that accelerated the breaking up of the united kingdom into separate principalities. Thus, by late 15th century, Georgia was split yet again into the three kingdoms of Kartli, Imereti and Kakheti and the independent Samtskhe Saatabago.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

Seljuk dominance persisted unchecked for almost a decade as the country continued to be devastated by the enemy invasions, internal dissent and natural disasters. King Giorgi II failed to rise to the occasion and the people needed a strong and energetic ruler to lead the struggle. In 1089, a bloodless coup forced the king to abdicate in favor of his 16-year-old son David. The new king faced the daunting challenge of defeating powerful enemy and rebuilding a devastated country. Despite his young age, Kind David IV proved to be a capable statesman and military commander. In 1089-1100, he organized small detachments to harass and destroy isolated Seljuk troops and began resettlement of desolate regions. In 1092, he ceased the payment of annual tribute to the Seljuk sultan and, over the next 10 years, he gradually liberated most of eastern Georgia. King David reformed the Georgian Orthodox Church and strengthened the royal authority throughout the kingdom. In 1110-1117, he continued his conquests throughout southern Transcaucasia, defeating the Seljuk invasions in 1105, 1110 and 1116. To strengthen his army, King David launched a major military reform in 1118 – 1120 and resettled some 40,000 Qipchak families (approx. 200,000 men) from the northern Caucasus steppes to Kartli; recruiting one soldier per each family, David raised a 45,000-men strong standing Qipchak army in addition to Georgian feudal troops. The new army provided the king with a much needed force to fight both external threats and internal discontent of powerful lords.

Starting in 1120, King David began a more aggressive policy of expansion. He established contact with the Crusaders in the Holy Land and there is evidence that the two sides tried to coordinate their actions against the Muslims. In 1121, he achieved his greatest victory as the Georgian army routed a massive Muslim coalition in the Didgori Valley, near Tbilisi, on 12 August. The battle is widely known as “dzlevai sakvirveli” (incredible victory) in Georgia and is considered an apogee of Georgian military history. Following his triumph, King David captured Tbilisi, the last Muslim enclave remaining from the Arab occupation, in 1122 and declared it the capital of the Kingdom of Georgia. In 1123-1124, Georgian armies were victorious in neighboring territories of Armenia, Shirwan and northern Caucasus, greatly expanding the Georgian sphere of influence. By the time of King David’s death on 24 January 1125, Georgia became one of the most powerful states in all of the Near East. King David’s successful campaigns inspired the Georgian people and gave them confidence in their own strength. The country enjoyed a revival in agriculture and industry as well as in literature and arts. For his contributions, King David was hailed as aghmashenebeli (reviver, [re]builder) and canonized as a saint.

The reign of King David ushered in the “Golden Age” of Georgian history, which in many ways was facilitated by the Crusaders, whose successful campaigns in Palestine diverted the Muslim resources and enabled Georgia to open a victorious campaign in the north. During the reign of King Demetre I (1125-1156), Georgia continued to dominate southern Caucasia and contiguous territories. Georgian kings established a close relation with the neighboring states though many dynastic marriages. One of King David Aghmashenebeli’s daughters, Kata, was married the Byzantine prince Alexius Bryennius-Comnenus, the son of the famous Anna Comnena, while the other, Tamar, became the wife of Shirwan Shah Akhsitan (Aghsartan). Later, King Demetre secured an alliance with the Kievan Rus through the marriage of his daughter with Prince Izyaslav II of Kiev.

Under King Giorgi III (1156-1184), a new wave of Georgian expansion was initiated as Georgian armies seized the Armenian capital of Ani in 1161 and conquered Shirwan in 1167. However, internal dissent among the nobles grew as the king aged, especially after it became apparent that he would be succeeded by his daughter Tamar. In 1177, the nobles rose in rebellion but were suppressed. The following year, King Giorgi III ceded the throne to his daughter Tamar, but remained coregnant until his death in 1184. Powerful lords took advantage of the king’s passing to reassert themselves. Queen Tamar was forced to agree to the second coronation that emphasized the role of the nobility in investing her with royal power. The nobility then demanded the establishment of the karavi, a political body with legislative and judicial power. Tamar’s refusal to satisfy these demands brought the Georgian monarchy to the verge of a civil war that was averted through negotiations. In the end, royal authority was significantly limited and the responsibilities of the royal council, dominated by the nobles, expanded.

Despite internal dissent, Georgia remained a powerful kingdom and enjoyed major successes in its foreign policy. In 1195, a large Muslim coalition was crushed in the battle at Shamkhor, and another one at Basian in 1203. The Georgians annexed Arran and Duin in 1203, and, in 1209, their armies captured the Emirate of Kars while the mighty Armen-Shahs, the emirs of Erzurum and Erzinjan as well as the north Caucasian tribes became the vassals. Georgian influence also extended to the southern coastline of the Black Sea, populated by a large Georgian-speaking population. The Empire of Trebizond, a Georgian vassal state, was established here in 1204 and soon turned into a major trading emporium surviving for over 250 years. Georgians then carried war into Azerbaijan and northern Persia in 1208-1210. These victories brought Georgia to the summit of its power and glory, establishing a pan-Caucasian Georgian empire stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian and from the Caucasus Mountains to the Lake Van.

The rise of Georgia as a great power was accompanied by an expansion of its religious and cultural presence throughout Asia Minor. Centralized royal power facilitated the growth of cities and towns and development of trade and crafts. A sophisticated irrigation system in Samgori and the Alazani valleys covered some 53,000 hectares of land. Changes in agricultural technology led to the development of a large “Georgian plough,” which improved cultivation of land and increased productivity. Tbilisi, with a population of up to 100,000, became a center of regional and international trade, with one of the routes of the famous Silk Road, linking China, Central Asia and the West, passing through it. The period also witnessed a renaissance of Georgian sciences and art. Georgian craftsmen, especially Beshken and Beka Opizari, gained fame for their unique goldsmith works. Numerous scholarly and literary works (Amiran-Darejaniani, Abdulmesia, Tamariani, etc.) were produced both within Georgia and abroad, while the art of illumination of manuscripts and miniature painting reached its zenith. Georgian architecture rose to a new level and is well represented in the Gelati Cathedral, the domed church at Tighva, the churches of Ikorta and Betania and the rock-carved monastic complexes of David Gareja and Vardzia. Georgian monasteries were also constructed and flourished throughout the Holy Land and Antioch, including the Gethsemane, Golgotha, Karpana and the Holy Cross monasteries in Jerusalem, the Mangana and Trianflios in Constantinople, the Alexandrian in Kilikia, the Petritsoni in Bulgaria, St. Athanasios and the Iviron on Mt. Athos and others. Georgian philosophers and scholars - Giorgi Atoneli, Eprem Mtsire (Epraim the Letter), Giorgi Mtsire (the Lesser), Arsen Ikaltoeli and others - enjoyed international eminence. Finally, Shota Rustaveli’s epic poem Vepkhistkaosani (The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin) remains the greatest cultural achievement of this age.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

In the late seventh century, a new political and military power appeared on the international scene. United by a powerful religious message, Arab tribes proved to be a force to be reckoned with as they overrun the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire and Sasanid Persia and carved out their own domain. The first Arab raiding parties appeared in Georgia in 642-643 but, following the conquest of Armenia in 652, Arabs arrived in force. In 654, the Arab commander Habib ibn-Maslam negotiated a treaty of protection (datsvis sigeli) with Erismtavari Stefanoz II, who agreed to pay a jizya or protection tax levied on non-Muslim nations. Two years later, Iberian authorities took advantage of the internal dissension in the Caliphate to cease paying tribute. However, Arabs soon returned with a vengeance and began a systematic conquest of eastern Georgia in the 680s. In 685, the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate agreed to share the tribute from Armenia and Kartli but the local population rose in rebellion in 686 and Erismtavari Nerseh of Kartli defeated the Arab forces in Armenia. Yet, in 697, the ruler of Egrisi, Sergi Barnukis-dze invited Arabs to western Georgia to help him fight the Byzantine forces; Arabs occupied the capital city of Tsikhegoji and other key fortresses but failed to firmly establish themselves in the region and soon withdrew.

Unlike western Georgia, Kartli remained under Arab domination and, starting in 704-705, Arabic coins were minted in Tbilisi. The Arabs treated Armenia and Georgia as a single frontier province and subjected it to heavy tributes. Discontented with new taxes and alien authorities, the local population rose in rebellions and the struggle against the Arabs soon assumed a popular character. In 681-682, Adarnase II of Kartli and Prince Grigor Mamikonian of Armenia held off the Arabs, but eventually perished in this struggle. In 689, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II forced the Arabs to cede Georgia and recognized Guaram II (684-693) as curopalates of Kartli. In 693, the Arabs recovered their possessions in Kartli and Armenia and the vicious circle of fighting began anew.

In the early eighth century, Iberians and Armenians organized several unsuccessful revolts against the Arabs. In 735, the Arab commander Marwan ibn-Muhammad led another punitive expedition into Kartli, sacking Tbilisi and capturing the fortresses of Tsikhegoji and Sukhumi in western Georgia. He left such devastation and desolation in his wake that his nickname Murwan Qru (Murwan the Deaf, i.e. deaf to pleas) still survives in popular tradition. A new Arab emirate led by the amir of Tbilisi was established in Kartli. In addition to jizya and kharaj (tax on land) taxes, Georgians were forced to provide troops for the Arab armies and a labor force for various projects. Conversion to Islam was widely encouraged and Christianity persecuted, producing many Christian martyrs, including Abo Tbileli, Princes David and Constantine of Argveti. As the Arab dominance intensified, the Georgian and Armenian forces often united under the banner of Christianity. The amirs of Tbilisi eventually became powerful enough to defy the Abbasid caliphs for decades. The caliphs finally tried to restore their authority in Georgia and, in 853, a large Arab army led by Bogha al-Kabir (Bugha Turki) ravaged Kartli and sacked Tbilisi on 5 August. However, in 914, another Arab expedition under command of Abu al-Kasim failed in subduing Kartli and proved to be the last such attempt on the part of the Caliphate. With the Abbasid Caliphate gradually declining, several semi-independent principalities emerged on the territory of Georgia. The Kingdom of Abkhazia covered most of western Georgia, the Bishopric of Kakheti and Principality of Hereti rose in the east and Tao Klarjeti dominion in the southwest.

Of the emerging Georgian principalities, Tao (known as Tao-Klarjeti in Georgian sources) proved to be the most important by far. Ruled by the Bagration (Bagrationi) princely family, Tao gradually expanded its sphere of influence. In the second half of the 10th century, during the rule of one of its greatest princes, David Curopalates, Tao turned into a large and powerful principality, whose borders reached Lake Van. The growth and consolidation of this realm contributed to closer cultural and economic ties with other kingdoms and principalities. The might of the new Georgian principality was clearly demonstrated in 979, when the Byzantine Emperor Basil, facing a large rebellion, appealed for help to David Curopalates. A Georgian expeditionary corps under Tornike Eristavi defeated the insurgents and restored authority to the emperor. Throughout his reign, David Curopalates pursued his great design of the political unification of Georgia. Supported by Ioane Marushisdze, a powerful eristavi of Kartli, he succeeded in having his grandson Bagrat placed on the throne of Kartli in 975 and of Abkhazia in 978. Following David’s death in 1001, King Bagrat III inherited Tao and later annexed Kakheti and Hereti in 1008-1010, thereby uniting eastern and western Georgia into a single state with a capital in Kutaisi. The united kingdom of Georgia was born.

The rise of the Georgian kingdom worried the Byzantine Empire. In the 1000s, its Emperor Basil II, despite Georgian military aid in 979, occupied Tao and the Georgian-Byzantine disputes over this region soon escalated into a war. King Giorgi I (1014-1027) initially defeated the imperial army but, once the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria was completed in 1018, Emperor Basil II diverted his resources against Georgia. In 1021-1022, his forces defeated King Giorgi I and his Armenian allies and occupied the provinces of Tao, Artaan and Javakheti. The new Georgian King Bagrat IV (1027-1072) continued the war but faced powerful opposition of feudal lords who refused to recognize his suzerainty and joined the Byzantine army in 1028; the lords of Kakheti and Hereti were particularly defiant and broke away from the Georgian kingdom. The Georgian-Byzantine war eventually ended in 1029 after the Georgian Queen Mariam visited Constantinople and negotiated a peace treaty with Emperor Romanus III. Bagrat IV then turned to internal problems subduing rebellious feudal lords, including the mighty Eristavis Rati and Liparit Baghvash of Kldekari. Bagrat was preparing for another campaign against the lords of Kakheti and Hereti when a more serious threat thwarted his plans.

In the early 11th century, the Seljuk tribes began massive migration to the Asia Minor and the Caucasus. After founding the Seljuk Sultanate in 1055, they expanded their sphere of influence to Iran, Iraq and Syria. In 1064, the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan led a successful incursion into the southern regions of Georgia and, four years later, he ravaged eastern Georgia, even reaching Imereti in the west. In 1071, the Seljuk victory over the Byzantine army at the crucial battle of Manzikert opened the way for their systematic conquest of the Caucasus. In 1080, the so-called didi turkoba (‘the Great Turkish Troubles’) period began in Georgia when the Turkish tribes arrived in large numbers to settle on Georgian lands and turned the occupied territory into pastures, undermining the local agriculture and economy. King Giorgi II (1072-1089) was forced to recognize their supremacy and paid tribute to the Seljuk sultan.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

In the fourth century BCE, Georgian principalities found themselves involved in the whirlwind of Alexander the Great’s campaign in the east. There is no historical evidence that Alexander or his generals campaigned in the Caucasus, but Georgian chronicles describe ‘Greek’ troops reaching Iberia/Kartli, which they occupied and placed under the governorship of Azo (Azon). Greek authorities proved to be harsh and uncompromising which caused the local population to rebel. According to Georgian historical tradition, young Parnavaz, a nephew of the last ruler of Iberia who was assassinated by the Greeks, contacted Eristavi Quji of Egrisi and, with his support, launched a successful rebellion against Azo. Parnavaz, who married the daughter of Quji, thus controlled both the eastern and western Georgian principalities. He founded the Parnavazid dynasty and divided the kingdom into seven regions under governorship of eristavis and established Shida Kartli as a special region ruled by a spaspet. Despite the lack of tangible proof, King Parnavaz is often credited with the spreading of the Georgian alphabet throughout the kingdom and introducing the cult of Armazi and the goddess of fertility Zadeni. Archaeological evidence revealed the Iberian capital of Mtskheta as an advanced city with its own acropolis, baths and other amenities.

Under later Parnavazid kings, the kingdoms of Iberia and Colchis/Egrisis found themselves facing major change in the balance of power in Asia Minor. In 190 BCE, the Seleucid Empire fell to the Romans while the weakened Persia was unable to prevent the rise of the powerful Armenian kingdom under Artashes (Artaxias). Armenian rulers greatly expanded their territory that also incorporated some Georgian regions. After the death of King Parnajom of Iberia, the Armenian king Arshak took over his throne, establishing an Armenian hegemony over eastern Georgia. In the first century, Armenia reached its zenith under King Tigran II the Great, who allied himself to his father-in-law Mithradates Eupator of Pontus (111-63 BCE) against Rome. Western Georgians were also allied with Pontus, where Georgian tribes (Laz/Chan, Colchians, Chalybes, etc) constituted a large part of the population and served in the armies of King Mithradates in Greece and Asia Minor. In 65 BCE, the Roman General Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus defeated Pontus and marched against Iberia, where King Artag was forced to recognize Roman sovereignty, sending lavish gifts of gold and his children as hostages. Meanwhile, Pompeius crossed the mountains into Colchis, where he campaigned in search of the mythical Golden Fleece and chained titan Prometheus. Thus, Colchis-Egrisi and Kartli-Iberia were recognized as client states of Rome. The wealth and might of these principalities were attested by famous Greek scholar Strabo, who described eastern and western Georgian lands in his Geography.

Roman power was never firm in eastern Georgia, which remained under the Persian sphere of influence for the greater part of its existence. In 37-36 BCE, Iberians refused to participate in Emperor Marc Antony’s campaigns against Parthia and a large anti-Roman rebellion began in 36. The punitive expedition of Publius Canidus Crassus was the last Roman effort to conquer eastern Georgia. However, the western Georgian principality of Colchis/Egrisi remained under direct Roman administration and struggled for its independence. In 69 CE, a powerful insurrection, led by a former slave Anicetus, succeeded in temporarily driving the Romans out of Colchis but was later defeated. By the second century, several principalities (Lazica, Abasgia, etc.) emerged in western Georgia and recognized the sovereignty of Rome.

In the first-second centuries CE, the Kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) emerged as a relatively strong state as its rulers took advantage of the struggle between Rome and Parthia. King Parsman (Pharasmenes) actively interfered in the affairs of the neighboring Armenian kingdom, placing his brother Mithradates (35-51 CE) on the Armenian throne in the mid-first century, and skillfully maneuvering between the powerful empires of Rome and Parthia. The Iberian presence in Armenia weakened after the Treaty of Rhandeia of 63 CE between Rome and Parthia allotted the privilege of nomination to the Parthian Arsacids and the right of investiture to the emperor of Rome. The Roman emperors sought to gain the support of the kings of Kartli (Iberia) against the Parthians. Emperor Vespasian (69-79) had a wall erected in Mtskheta with inscription that King Mithridates (Mihrdat) of Kartli (Iberia) was “the friend of the Caesars” and the ruler “of the Roman-loving Iberians.” Another King Parsman (mid-second century) openly defied Rome and refused to pay homage to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138) during the latter’s visit of Roman provinces in Asia Minor, although the Roman emperor presented him with a war elephant and 500 troops. With the help of the Alans, Parsman attacked the Roman and Parthian vassal states in Albania, Armenia and Cappadocia. Under Hadrian’s successor, Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), the relations between the Roman Empire and Kartli (Iberia) significantly improved and King Parsman, accompanied by a large retinue, visited Rome where he received a royal welcome; according to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, he was given the special privilege of offering a sacrifice on the Capitol and having his equestrian statue placed in the Temple of Bellona.

The fortunes of Kartli changed with the rise of the Sassanid kingdom in Persia in the third century CE, when the Iberian kings were forced to recognize the Sasanid supremacy; the Sasanid rulers appointed their viceroys (pitiaxæ/vitaxae) to keep watch on Georgian lands. The office of pitiaxæ eventually became hereditary in the ruling house of Lower Kartli, thus inaugurating the Kartli pitiaxæat, which brought an extensive territory under Sasanid control. In the third century, the Roman Empire briefly regained Kartli under Emperor Aurelian (270-275) but lost it a decade later. The Persians placed their candidate Mirian (Meribanes, 284-361) on the throne of eastern Georgia. Mirian’s reign proved decisive since he became the first Georgian ruler to adopt Christianity.

The rise and spread of Christianity, which continued for several centuries, had a profound effect on the Georgian principalities. Georgian tradition holds that two members of the Jewish community of Mtskheta were present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and brought back a number of holy relics, including Christ’s chiton that was buried near Mtskheta. The Christian tradition also claims the allotment of the “Iberian” lands to Virgin Mary, who is, thus, considered the main protector and intercessor of Georgia. Georgian Orthodox Church credits the introduction of Christianity to Apostles Andrew the First Called, Simon the Canaanite, Mathias, Bartholomew and Thaddeus, who preached in western and southwestern Georgia in the first century.

The Sasanid Empire and its Zoroastrian religion had a firm hold in eastern Georgia and delayed the spread of Christianity for another three centuries. In the early fourth century, Saint Nino of Cappadocia preached the Christian message in Iberia and succeeded in persuading King Mirian and his consort, Queen Nana, to proclaim it a state religion in Eastern Georgia around 337; although technically marking the start of conversion only in Iberia, this event is now considered as the official conversion of all of Georgia. However, Christianity was already well established in western Georgia and Bishop Stratophilus of Bichvinta had attended the first Ecumenical Council held in Nicea in 325. Sixty years later, western Georgian bishops were joined by Bishop Pantophilus of Kartli at the second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381. The Georgian Orthodox Church was initially under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic See of Antioch, but became autocephalous (independent) in 466 when the Bishop of Mtskheta was elevated to the rank of Catholicos of Kartli. Another important development took place in the sixth century, when Georgian church leaders rejected Monophysitism (Armenia accepted it in 506 and the split with the Georgian church was complete by 607) and supported the Chalcedonian creed, drawing Georgia closer to the Byzantine Empire, and later to the Christian Europe, and further from SasanianPersia, that was more tolerant of the Monophysites.

Conversion to Christianity had long-lasting consequences for Georgia. Situated at the crossroads of the West and the East, Georgia now took political orientation towards the West/Europe and firmly tied its future and culture to Western civilization. The introduction of Christianity stimulated a vigorous development of arts and letters. Although pre-Christian Georgian literature seems to have been destroyed in the process, Georgia underwent a cultural transformation. Monasticism flourished and many important religious works were translated into Georgian. One of the earliest surviving examples of Georgian original hagiographic literature re the fifth century Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik and Life of Saint Nino. The widespread construction of churches promoted rapid improvement in architecture and gradually a unique cruciform style of church architecture was developed, evident in the basilica-type churches of Bolnisi and Urbnisi (fifth century) and the cruciform domed Jvari Church (late sixth century).

Christianity in Georgia was put to severe tests from the very beginning. Sasanian Persia promoted the teachings of Zoroaster and helped spread Mazdaism throughout eastern Georgia. Shah Yazdegerd II (438-457), convinced that a single religion would enhance the unity of his empire, endeavored to convert Georgians to Mazdaism and dispatched Zoroastrian magi to Kartli to take charge of the conversion. Many Georgian nobles submitted, but their commitment to the new faith proved shallow. Efforts to convert the common people were less successful since Christianity appeared to have struck deep roots among them.

In the fifth-sixth centuries, Christian Kartli (Iberia) struggled against Persian domination. This period produced King Vakhtang Gorgasali (452-502), one of the most colorful personalities in the history of Georgia. The son of King Mihrdat V, he was nicknamed Gorgasali (“wolf headed,” from the Persian Gorg-a-sar) because of the shape of his helmet. Married to a Persian princess, he extended his authority to the Byzantium-held Egrisi (Lazica) and Abasgia, subdued the warlike tribes of Alans (Oss, Ossetes) and secured the autocephalous status for the Georgian Orthodox Church. Married to an Iranian princess, Vakhtang participated in the Persian campaigns against the Byzantine Empire between 455 and 458 but later grew irritated with the Persian interference in his affairs. In 482, he, in alliance with the Armenians, led an uprising against Persia, but internal dissension and the failure to secure help from Byzantine Emperor Justinian doomed the rebellion; Georgia was ravaged by the Persian punitive expeditions in 483 and 484. In 502, Vakhtang led another uprising that proved to be more successful. The Georgians defeated Shah Kavad’s army on the Samgori Plains in Kartli, but King Vakhtang himself was mortally injured when one of his renegade servants betrayed him and wounded him through an armpit defect of his armor. One of his lasting legacies was the transferring of the capital from Mtskheta to the nearby small fortress of Tbilisi.

The death of King Vakhtang seriously weakened Kartli (Iberia) and exposed it to Persian encroachment. In 523, King Gurgen rose in rebellion but was defeated; Kartli was occupied and the Iberian monarchy was later abolished. Persian officials introduced heavy taxation and Mazdaizing policies. Having subdued Kartli, Persia moved into Western Georgia, where it clashed with the Byzantine Empire. In the mid-520s, King Tsate of Lazica broke his alliance with Persia and supported the Byzantine rulers, who deployed their forces at Tskhisdziri (Petra). The rulers of Egrisi/Lazica tried to use the hostility between Byzantium and Persia to their own advantage, but the war devastated western Georgia. Persia invaded Lazica several times but the alliance between the rulers of Lazica and Constantinople endured. However, in 554, King Gubaz of Egrisi was assassinated by Byzantine officials on the Khobistskali River. In response, the dismayed population of Egrisi summoned a national assembly, where two notables, Aietes and Phartazes, gave their famed speeches on whether to continue supporting Byzantium or turn to Persia. In the end, Egrisi sided with the Byzantine Empire, feeling cultural and religious affinity with it. By 562, the joint efforts of Egrisi and Byzantium culminated in the expulsion of Persia from western Georgia. Lazica became a province of the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine-Persian rivalry had serious consequences for Iberia. Sasanid rulers held eastern Georgian under their suzerainty while local princes led by mamasakhlisi (prince-regent) of Kartli/Iberia) ran the government. When the Byzantine Emperor Maurice attacked Persia in 582, Georgian nobles supported him in hopes of restoring the kingdom of Iberia. Iberian autonomy was restored in 588, but Emperor Maurice appointed a curopalates (presiding prince) instead of a king. The first curopalates, Guaram (588-602) and his heirs were caught between the warring Persia and Byzantium. In 591, Constantinople and the Sasanid Empire agreed to divide Iberia between them, with Tbilisi remaining in Persian hands and Mtskheta, the old capital, under Byzantine control. In the early seventh century, the truce between Byzantium and Persia collapsed and Erismtavari Stepanoz I of Iberia (ca. 590-627) succeeded in reuniting the eastern Georgian territories. As the war between the Byzantine and Sasanid empires continued, Georgian principalities were often turned into battlegrounds. In 627-628, the campaigns of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius ensured Byzantine predominance in western Georgia and significantly weakened Iberia/Kartli, exposing it to the arrival of the new conqueror.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801

Georgians are believed to derive from indigenous inhabitants of the Caucasus. Historical and archeological evidence indicates that humans inhabited this region since primordial times. The oldest traces of human habitation, dating back 1.77 million years, were found near Dmanisi, in eastern Georgia, and provided tantalizing insights into the development of homo erectus. In the later periods, humans settled in the Trancaucasian region more frequently and ancient stations were found throughout the country, notably at Yashtkhva, Rukhi, Katskhi and Lashebalta. During the Mousterian period (100,000 to 35,000 years ago), the human population grew on the Black Sea coast and in the Rioni-Kvirila basin, where archeologists found traces of human habitation in the Jruchi, Sagvarjile and Chakhati caves. Late Paleolithic period stations were unearthed at Devis Khvreli and Sakazhia, and the discoveries from the Neolithic era were made at Anaseuli, Gurianta, Khutsubani, Odishi, Kistriki, Zemo Alvani, etc.


Rise of Societies And States

Between ca. 11000 and 9000 BCE, hunters and gatherers established permanent settlements in Southern Caucasia. In the Chalcolithic period (ca. 6400–3800 BCE), Shulaveri-Shomu culture flourished using obsidian for tools, raising animals and growing crops, including grapes. The fourth and third millennia BCE saw gradual development of agriculture and cattle breeding. From ca. 4000 to 2200 BCE, the Kura-Araxes (Early Transcaucasian) culture pervaded Southern Caucasia and the Armenian Plateau, producing distinctive handmade pottery with burnished black exteriors and red interiors, portable andirons of clay and new kinds of bronze tools and weapons. It gradually broke up but survived in some places until as late as ca. 1500 BCE. In the Bronze Age, several highly developed cultures developed on the territory of Georgia that are represented in the large barrows in Trialeti (ca.2200-1500) which produced four-wheeled wooden carriages, precious goblets and silverware.

At the end of the third millennium, the Hittites established their state in eastern Anatolia and had considerable influence on the neighboring proto-Georgian tribes. Two major cultures existed on the territory of Georgia, the Western Georgian, also known as Colchian (Kolkhuri) and the Eastern Georgian or Iberian. There was also a number of proto-Georgian tribes in Asia Minor which had close interaction with major powers of the ancient Near East, especially with the Hittites and Assyria. Assyrian inscriptions from the 11th century BCE describe proto-Georgian tribes of Kashkai, Mushki and Tubal that lived in eastern Anatolia. Georgian tribes of the early Bronze Age were well known for their sophisticated metallurgy. The Bible makes mention of Thubals/Tubalcain as one of the pioneers in metalworking.

The increasing sophistication of these early Georgian cultures led to the emergence of the tribal confederations of Diauchi (Diauehi, Daiaeni, Tao) and Colchis (Kolkha) at the end of the second millennium BCE in southwestern and western Georgia respectively. Diaochi was engaged in a war with the powerful kingdoms of Assyria and Urartu and the inscriptions of the Urartu kings Menua (ruled 810-786 BCE) and Argishti (786-764) reveal the wealth and power of this early confederation. In his Odyssey, Homer mentions King Aietes and his mighty kingdom of Colchis while Apollonius of Rhodes, in his Argonautica of the third century BCE, left a detailed account of the legendary expedition of Argonauts to seize the famed Golden Fleece.

In the mid-eighth century BCE, the Diaochi confederation was destroyed and part of its territory was annexed by the neighboring Colchis, which now found itself facing the hostile Urartu. The Urartian King Sardur II (764-735) led several campaigns against Colchis around 750-741 BCE, significantly weakening and exposing it to the attacks of northern tribes. By 720 BCE, the Cimmerian incursions from the north destroyed Colchis and significantly affected local society and culture. Some Georgian tribes were scattered into remote regions of south Caucasia and others found themselves subjected by the Medes and Persians. In the subsequent century, new tribal confederations were established, the most important of them being Speri (Sasperi) in the upper reaches of the Chorokhi River and the new kingdom of Colchis, known as Egrisi, in Western Georgia. Egrisi enjoyed close relations with the newly established Greek colonies - Phasis (in the vicinity of present-day Poti), Gyenos (Ochamchire), Dioscurias (Sukhumi), Anakopia (Akhali Atoni) and Pitius (Bichvinta) - on the Black Sea coast and the Greek sources provide fascinating insights into ancient Western Georgian society. Excavations at Vani, Dablagomi and Sairkhe in western Georgia revealed a sophisticated and urbanized society which struck its own silver coins known as the Colchian white (kolkhuri tetri) that were widely circulated in the Transcaucasia.

By the seventh century BCE, the Georgian principalities were affected by the rise of powerful Median and later Persian kingdoms. Herodotus informs us that the proto-Georgian tribes of Tibarenes, Mossinikoi, Macrones, Moschi, and others made up the 18th and 19th satrapies of the Achaemenid Persia. While most Persian subjects paid taxes, Colchians were exempt from them but delivered a tribute of 200 girls and boys every five years. The Greek and Persian presence in the Transcaucasia exposed Georgian societies to thriving commerce, economic and commercial ties with other regions and considerably affected the socio-economic development of the region. The period saw the consolidation of Eastern Georgia (Iberia) and the migration of some Georgian tribes, the most important of them being Moschi/Meskhi from the Asia Minor, which settled in the central Kartli and founded the future Iberian capital of Mtskheta (city of Meskhi). By the time the famous Greek general Xenophon marched with his 10,000 soldiers through Asia Minor in 401-400 BCE, the Colchians and other proto-Georgian tribes had freed themselves from the Persians. Xenophon’s Anabasis described in detail the tribes of Chalybes, Taochi, Phasians, Mossynoeci and others the Greeks encountered. These proto-Georgians lived in communal societies and often warred with one another.


Historical Dictionary of Georgia
by Alexander Mikaberidze (Author)
Series: Historical Dictionaries of Europe (Book 50)
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0810855809
ISBN-10: 0810855801