Facing
New Conquerors:
Ottoman
And Persian Empires
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.
