Emirate of Tbilisi

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Caucasus region around 850 AD, the emirate Tbilisi in the center in brown.

The Emirate of Tbilisi ( Georgian თბილისის საამირო , Arabic إمارة تفليسي Imarāt Tiflisi ) existed from 736 to 1080 (nominally up to 1122) and included what is now eastern Georgia . It was founded by the Arabs during their invasion of Georgia and was an important base of Muslim rule in the Caucasus . In 1122 King Dawit IV smashedthe emirate and made Tbilisi its capital, which it has remained to this day.

history

The Arabs first appeared in Iberia in 645 . But it was not until 735 that they were able to bring most of the country under their control. That year, Marwan II took Tbilisi and the neighboring country and installed an Arab emir there. This emir was appointed by the caliph in Baghdad or occasionally by the Muslim wali of Armenia . During the Arab rule, Tbilisi ( al-Tefelis ) became a trading center between the Islamic world and Northern Europe. In addition, Tbilisi served as a key position for the Arabs and as a buffer zone against Byzantium and the Khazars . Over time, the majority of Tbilisi residents became Muslims, but Islamic influence was limited to the city, while the surrounding areas remained predominantly Christian. The emirs of Rustavi and Dmanissi were considered subordinates of the Emir of Tbilisi .

Tbilisi was a large city with a double city wall and three city gates. It lay on both sides of the Kura River and was connected by a pontoon bridge. The city had hot springs and houses that, to the surprise of the Arabs, were built of pine. In the first half of the 9th century, Tbilisi was the largest city in the Caucasus after Derbent with at least 50,000 inhabitants .

After the Erismtawari was ousted from Iberia in 807, the emir was the sole ruler of the country and the state of Iberia ceased to exist. When the caliphate weakened after the destruction of Baghdad in 813, the secessionist tendencies among the Arab emirs in the distant provinces increased; Tao-Klardschetien , which had split off from the emirate under Ashot I , was also able to conquer Inner Cartilia after Ashot's death however was recaptured. Under the Emir Is'hak bin Ismail (833-853), the emirate was so strong that it was able to hold its own against the Bagratids and the caliph, but again lost Inner Cartlia to Tao-Klardschetien. He refused to pay the annual tribute to Baghdad and declared himself independent from the caliph. The caliph al-Mutawakkil sent a punitive expedition under Bugha al-Kabir al-Sharabi, also known as Bugha the Turk , against Tbilisi in 853 . He conquered Tbilisi, burned it down and beheaded the Emir Is'hak. The Caliphate did not rebuild the city to its former size and splendor, and Muslim prestige and authority declined in the region. At the end of the 9th century, Armenia was able to conquer the southern part of Lower Cartridge from the emirate. After the Arab emir Abul-Kasim had moved through Georgia from 908 to 914, the emirate briefly controlled the Inner Cartilia again until it lost it to Egrisi-Abkhazia .

In the early 1020s, the Georgian kings began an expansionist policy against the emirs, so that Tbilisi came under Georgian control several times. The emirate shrank to Tbilisi and the surrounding area. But the Seljuk invasion of the Caucasus in the 1070s and 1080s halted the Georgian advance and diverted Georgians' attention from the emirate. The emirs were replaced from 1080 by older merchants and traders who took over the administration of the city and were called the ancients of Tbilisi (Tbileli berebi). Dawit IV defeated the Seljuks in the Battle of the Didgori and thus sealed the fate of the emirate that was finally taken by the Georgians in 1122.

gallery

  • The emirate shortly after it was founded in 750

  • The emirate in 850

  • The emirate towards the end of its existence in 1060

Emirs

Shuabid emirs of Tbilisi

  • Ismail bin Shuab (first known emir, ruled until 813)
  • Mohammed bin Atab (813-829)
  • Ali bin Shuab (829-833)
  • Is'hak bin Ismail bin Shuab (833–853)

Shaybanid emirs of Tbilisi

  • Mohammed bin Khalil (853-870)
  • Isa bin asch-Sheikh asch-Shayban (870–876)
  • Ibrahim (876-878)
  • Gabuloc (878-880)

Jaffarid emirs of Tbilisi

  • Jaffar I bin Ali (880-914)
  • Mansur bin Jaffar (914–952)
  • Jaffar II. Bin Mansur (952–981)
  • Ali bin Jaffar (981-1032)
  • Jaffar III. bin Ali (1032-1046)
  • Mansur bin Jaffar (1046-1054)
  • Abu'l-Haija bin Jaffar (1054-1062) (last known emir)

See also

literature

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Fähnrich : History of Georgia from the beginnings to Mongol rule. Shaker, Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-86111-683-9 , p. 107 f.
  2. ↑ Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia from the beginnings to Mongol rule. Shaker, Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-86111-683-9 , p. 100 ff.
  3. ↑ a b Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia from its beginnings to Mongol rule. Shaker, Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-86111-683-9 , p. 122 ff.