Kartlien

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Coordinates: 41 ° 16 ′ 0 ″  N , 44 ° 30 ′ 10 ″  E

Part of Historical Kartli (Inner, Lower and Upper) in modern international borders of Georgia.svg

Kartlien ( Georgian ქართლი Kartli ) is a historical region of Georgia . It includes the present Georgian administrative regions of Lower Kartli (Kwemo Kartli) , Mzcheta-Mtianeti , Inner Kartli (Schida Kartli) , Tbilisi and thus also South Ossetia .

history

Antiquity

In antiquity, parts of Kartlien belonged to the periphery of the Urartian Empire and the Persian Empire . From the 6th century BC BC it belonged to the eastern Georgian state of Iberia . This was 66 BC. BC Roman client state . From the 3rd century on, Iberia was repeatedly involved in the wars between Rome and Persia , which is why Kartlien also changed sovereignty several times. Most recently it was a Byzantine vassal with all of Iberia before it was conquered by the Arabs .

Arab conquest and independence

Iberia became an Arab vassal in the middle of the 7th century. Although it was able to regain its independence for a short time and was controversial between Byzantium and the Arabs, it was never able to free itself from the supremacy of the caliphate for a long time, as the Arabs often undertook military expeditions to Georgia. The Khazars also invaded the Caucasus several times. In 764 they conquered Tbilisi.

The Erismtawari in Tbilisi, who was supposed to exercise central power , became weaker and weaker due to the Emir of Tbilisi appointed by the Arabs and the constant incursions that strengthened the princes. So Kakheti and Heretia slowly broke away from the state. Around 900 Inner Kartlien was ruled by Kakheti, but after the Arab emir Abul-Kasim moved through Georgia from 908, the office of Erismtawari was abolished and Tao-Klardschetien was also dissolved under Ashot I, the latter also conquered Inner Kartli, after his death it went but back to the emirate.

From the 40s of the 9th century, the emirate's striving for independence from the Arabs intensified. In doing so, it was again supported by some principalities, especially Kakheti. In this way Inner Kartlien was able to break away completely from the emirate, otherwise it did not pose a military threat to Kakheti. Other states opposed Kartli, so Tao-Klardschetien could claim Inner Kartli for themselves after a war on the side of the caliphate in 842. It fell to Egrisi-Abkhazia in the 860s. At the end of the 9th century Armenia conquered Niederkartlien, after the subsequent war between Egrisi-Abkhazia, Armenia and Tao-Klardschetien Inner Kartlien became independent for about 10 years until 904. Then it became Abkhaz again. After the campaign of Abul-Kassim from 908 to 914 it again belonged to the emirate of Tbilisi. Soon after his departure, the Abkhazians advanced again to Kartlien, but had to withdraw because of disputes over the throne after the death of King Constantine and Tao-Klardschetien then controlled the country. In 924 Inner Kartlien was again occupied by the Abkhazians.

Association of Georgia

In the second half of the 10th century, the struggle for Kartlien, which was important as the heartland for the unification of Georgia, intensified again. Therefore, the Eristawi of Inner Kartlien, Ioane Maruschisde, asked the king of Tao Dawit III. To occupy Inner Kartlien or to transfer it to his son Bagrat III. Thereupon that occupied Inner Kartlien and Bagrat III. became King of Kartlien and soon afterwards King of the United Kingdom of Georgia .

The emirate was then more and more constricted by the surrounding Christian states. Tbilisi had not lost its importance as a trading center and was militarily inferior to all of its neighbors. In 1068 the Armenians, Kakheti, Seljuks and the emirate allied against the Georgian kingdom. After a failed military campaign of their united army to western Georgia, they withdrew via Kartlien. The Seljuk military leader withdrew their property from the emir and handed it over to Fadlon, the ruler of Gadlon . Bagrat IV then marched against Tbilisi, defeated Fadlon and reinstated the emir, who then became his vassal. Most of the Seljuks were thus kept out of Georgia.

After several military defeats, however, every year after 1080 the Turks came to Georgia to graze and plunder their cattle, including Kartlien. Even after the Georgian king surrendered in 1083, the Turks continued to plunder through the country. The economy and administration largely collapsed. The emirate regained more independence, but lost Niederkartlien to the Seljuks. The situation only improved with King Dawit IV. By exploiting the weakness of the Seljuks after the first crusade, he was able to completely recapture Inner Cartilia. In 1110 the Georgians succeeded in conquering large parts of the Emirate of Tbilisi, except for the eastern Lower Cartlia. From 1115 to 1125 the rest of Kartliens could also be united with the Kingdom of Georgia.

Mongol conquest

After the Mongols surprisingly moved south from the Volga in the winter of 1220, they touched Georgia for the first time and defeated an army of 10,000 men, but did not stay any longer. In 1221 they advanced to Tbilisi, but did not stay in Georgia again, but in 1226 Tbilisi fell to the Khoresmians , who took it again after being reconquered in 1227. In 1231 the Mongols invaded Georgia again and also conquered Kartlien. From 1386 to 1402 Kartlien belonged to the Central Asian Empire of Timur Lang .

Independence and Russian annexation

Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Kartlien

In the 15th century Kartlien became independent again. It often suffered from Persian invasions in the following period . That did not change after the union with Kakheti in 1762. In 1795 the Persians invaded Georgia under Shah Aga Mohammed Khan (Georgian Agha Mahmad Chan Irakli ). After the Battle of Krtsanisi, he conquered Kartlien and dragged 22,000 people into slavery.

In 1783, with the Treaty of Georgievsk , Kartlien-Kakheti placed itself under the suzerainty and protection of the Russian Empire . 1801 Kartlien-Kakhetien was annexed by decree of the tsar and his royal house, a line of the Georgian Bagratids , was dethroned. It became part of the Tbilisi Governorate ( Russian Tiflisskaja Gubernija ).

20th century

From 1918 to 1921 Kartlien belonged to the Democratic Republic of Georgia , from 1922 to 1936 to the Transcaucasian SFSR and from 1936 to 1991 of the Georgian SSR 1936-1991. Since 1991 it has been part of the state of Georgia .

literature

  • David Marshall Lang: The last years of the Georgian monarchy. 1658-1832. Columbia University Press, New York NY 1957 ( Studies of the Russian Institute of Columbia University ).
  • Constantine B. Lerner (Ed.): The wellspring of Georgian historiography. The early medieval historical chronicle The conversion of K'art'li and The life of St. Nino. Bennett & Bloom, London 2004, ISBN 1-898948-65-8 .
  • Roin Metreveli: David the Builder . = Davit 'Aġmašenebeli. = David Stroitel '. Gamomc'emloba Ganat'leba, Tbilisi 1990, ISBN 5-505-01428-3 (Georgian, Russian, English, German, French).
  • Gertrud Pätsch (Ed.): The life of Kartlis. A Chronicle from Georgia 300–1200. Dietrich, Leipzig 1985 (330).
  • Ronald Grigor Suny: The Making of the Georgian Nation. IB Tauris Publishers, London 1989, ISBN 1-85043-120-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia from its beginnings to Mongol rule . Shaker Verlag , Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-86111-683-9 .
  2. a b c Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia from the beginnings to Mongol rule . Shaker Verlag , Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-86111-683-9 , p. 122 ff.