Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns

Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns Part of Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618) Date 1614-1617 Location Kartli, Tbilisi, Kakheti Result Decisive Safavid victory Territorial changes Tblisi recaptured and sacked. Uprising staged by Luarsab II and Teimuraz I supressed Kartli and Kakheti firmly brought under the Iranian sway. Mass deportations of Georgians Belligerents Safavid Empire Kingdom of Kartli Kingdom of Kakheti Commanders and leaders Shah Abbas I Giorgi Saakadze (Mūrāv-Beg) Ganj Ali Khan Luarsab II   Teimuraz I Casualties and losses Not reported In Capture of Tbilisi: 70,000 Ottoman warriors and Georgian people were killed.[1] 130,000[2] - 200,000[3][4] Georgian captives moved to mainland Persia.

Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns refers to the four campaigns Safavid king Abbas I led between 1614-1617,^[3] in his East Georgian vassal kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–18). The campaigns were initiated as a response to the shown disobedience and subsquent staged rebellion by Abbas' formerly most loyal Georgian ghulams, namely Luarsab II of Kartli and Teimuraz I of Kahketi (Tahmuras Khan). After the complete devastation of Tblisi, the quelling of the uprising and the deportation of between 130,000 - 200,000 Georgian captives to mainland Iran, Kakheti and Kartli were decisively brought under the Iranian sway.

Background

In 1612, Shah Abbas I was informed that Teimuraz I of Kakheti with a couple of Christian citizens assaulted the Karabakh governor and killed him. Shah Abbas decided to confront him but Teimuraz I fled to Georgia towards Ahmed I, in order to shelter from Safavid forces. This event brought an end to the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha.

Massacre and capture of Tbilisi

In 1616, Shah Abbas I dispatched his troops to Georgia. He aimed to suppress the Georgian revolt in Tbilisi, however the Safavid soldiers met heavy resistance by the citizens of Tbilisi. Enraged, Shah Abbas ordered a massacre of the public. A large number of Georgian soldiers and people were killed.

These deportations also marked another stage in the Safavid policy of resettling huge amounts of Georgians and other ethnic Caucasian groups such as the Circassians and Armenians, to Persia.

See also

• Treaty of Nasuh Pasha
• Treaty of Serav
• List of conflicts in the Middle East

References

1. History of Iranian-Georgian Relations, Savory, II, pp. 1081-83
2. Eskandar Beg, pp. 900-901, tr. Savory, II, p. 1116
3. Mikaberidze 2015, p. 31.
4. Malekšāh Ḥosayn, p. 509

Sources

• Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who became an Iranian Legend. London, UK: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-989-8. LCCN 2009464064.
• Matthee, Rudi (2011). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–371. ISBN 0857731815.
• Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia (e ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442241466.
• Parizi, Mohammad-Ebrahim Bastani (2000). "GANJ-ʿALĪ KHAN". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 3. pp. 284–285.
• Ghafouri Ali History of the Iran's battles, from the Medes up to today 2009 ISBN 9789644237386.
• Asadollah Matoufi 4000 years history of Iran army, Persian title: Tārīkh-i chahār hazār sālah-i artish-i Īrān 2003 ISBN 9646820034.
• Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid period". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Timurid and Safavid periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 189–351. ISBN 9780521200943.