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98-406: Western Georgia may refer to: The western part of the country of Georgia Northwest Georgia , a region in the U.S. state of Georgia Southwest Georgia , a region in the U.S. state of Georgia See also [ edit ] West Georgia (disambiguation) Eastern Georgia (disambiguation) Georgia (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

196-547: A pro-Western foreign policy, introducing a series of democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the European Union and NATO . This Western orientation led to worsening relations with Russia , culminating in the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and continued Russian occupation of parts of Georgia . Georgia is a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic . It

294-475: A Georgian monarch. Following his defeat, Qvarvare II takes refuge with Bagrat, the new king of Western Georgia, controlling Imereti. The latter authorizes the fallen prince to use his troops and an army of Imereti and gets Samtskhe back from the hands of George VIII the same year. Back in power in Akhaltsikhe, Qvarqvare decides to take revenge on his vassals who sided with the central royal government during

392-715: A Roman client state for most of its history. In 337, King Mirian III adopted Christianity as the state religion of Iberia, beginning the Christianization of the Western Caucasus region and solidly anchoring it in Rome's sphere of influence by abandoning the ancient Georgian polytheistic religion heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism . However, the Peace of Acilisene in 384 formalized the Sasanian control over

490-599: A dominant regional group in ancient times. The name Sakartvelo ( საქართველო ) consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i ( ქართველ-ი ), specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli , or Iberia as it is known in sources of the Eastern Roman Empire . The official name of the country is Georgia per Article 2 of the Georgian Constitution . In Georgia's two official languages ( Georgian and Abkhaz ),

588-580: A last series of conflicts between the Georgian rulers. Alexander, son of Bagrat then tries to be crowned in Kutaisi as ruler of Western Georgia, but his coronation is boycotted by his vassals, who would refuse to recognize him as heir. Constantine, who reigns in Kartli as Constantine II, then invades Imereti, inflicting serious defeat on Alexander, who loses his crown and is forced to accept simple governance of

686-592: A legacy of great cathedrals, romantic poetry and literature, and the epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin , considered a national epic. David IV suppressed dissent of feudal lords and centralized power in his hands to effectively deal with foreign threats. In 1121, he decisively defeated much larger Turkish armies during the Battle of Didgori and abolished the Emirate of Tbilisi . The 29-year reign of Tamar,

784-734: A major centre for textile goods. Joseph Stalin , an ethnic Georgian, was prominent among the Bolsheviks, ultimately becoming the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death on 5 March 1953. Fellow Georgians such as Lavrentiy Beria and Vsevolod Merkulov likewise held powerful positions in the Soviet government. Stalin's Great Purge between 1936 and 1938 led to thousands of Georgian dissidents, intellectuals, and other presumed threats to Soviet authority being executed or sent to Gulag penal labor camps , severely truncating

882-441: A monastery, leaving the main crown to his eldest son, Vakhtang IV. He reigned for four years, a period marked by the domination of the most powerful nobles. He died without an heir in 1446, leaving the throne to his two younger brothers, who had to share a divided kingdom. Demetrius III, legitimate successor of Vakhtang IV, receives the duchy of Samokalako , while George VIII becomes the king of Kakheti and Kartli, before controlling

980-481: A national revival movement led by Ilia Chavchavadze . This period also brought social and economic change to Georgia, with new social classes emerging: the emancipation of the serfs freed many peasants but did little to alleviate their poverty; the growth of capitalism created an urban working class in Georgia. Both peasants and workers found expression for their discontent through revolts and strikes, culminating in

1078-526: A new defeat on Qvarvqvare during a battle at Lake Paravani , which leads to a final resistance from the prince's guards, who would manage to defeat the royal entourage and by taking George VIII as a hostage. Imprisoned, George VIII remains the king of Georgia but is obliged to recognize the independence of Samtskhe and marry Tamar Jaqeli, daughter of Qvarqvare, despite the fact that he was already married. Bagrat decides to attack Kartli. In 1466, without notable opposition, Bagrat captured Tbilisi and took hostage

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1176-523: A new government. On 9 April 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Council of Georgia declared independence  [ ka ] after a referendum held on 31 March. Georgia was the first non- Baltic republic of the Soviet Union to officially declare independence, with Romania becoming the first country to recognize Georgia in August 1991. On 26 May, Gamsakhurdia

1274-451: A personal union under the energetic king Heraclius II , who succeeded in stabilizing Eastern Georgia to a degree. In 1783, Russia and the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk , which made eastern Georgia a protectorate of Russia, guaranteed its territorial integrity and the continuation of its reigning Bagrationi dynasty in return for prerogatives in

1372-449: A result of incessant Ottoman–Persian Wars and deportations, the population of Georgia dwindled to 784,700 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century. Eastern Georgia , composed of the regions of Kartli and Kakheti , had been under Iranian suzerainty since the Peace of Amasya signed with neighboring rivalling Ottoman Turkey ( Safavid Georgia ). With the death of Nader Shah in 1747, both kingdoms broke free and were reunified through

1470-460: A series of reforms were launched to strengthen the country's military and economic capabilities, as well as to reorient its foreign policy westwards. The new government's efforts to reassert Georgian authority in the southwestern autonomous republic of Adjara led to a major crisis in 2004. Triarchy and collapse of the Kingdom of Georgia The fragmentation of the unified realm started in

1568-483: A token of thanks, Kakheber II receives the territories of Adjara and Lazeti . In 1465, George VIII decided to engage in a new invasion of Samtskhe to restore unity. Having the military advantage over the prince, he offers Qvarqvare II a peace negotiation, guaranteeing the survival of the Jaqeli family in exchange for the return of rebel territories within the kingdom. Following the prince's refusal, George VIII inflicts

1666-436: Is a developing country with a very high Human Development Index and an emerging market economy . Sweeping economic reforms since 2003 have resulted in one of the freest business climates in the world, greater economic freedom and transparency , and among the fastest rates of GDP growth . In 2018, Georgia became the second country in the world to legalize cannabis , and the first former socialist state to do so. Georgia

1764-700: Is a member of numerous international organizations, including the Council of Europe , Eurocontrol , BSEC , GUAM , Energy Community . As part of the Association Trio , Georgia is a candidate for membership in the European Union . Ancient Greeks ( Strabo , Herodotus , Plutarch , Homer , etc.) and Romans ( Titus Livius , Tacitus , etc.) referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians ( Iberoi , Ἰβηροι in some Greek sources). The first mention of

1862-579: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Georgia (country) Georgia ( Georgian : საქართველო , romanized : sakartvelo , IPA: [sakʰartʰʷelo] ) is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and West Asia . It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to

1960-630: The Umm Leisun inscription found in the Old City of Jerusalem . The medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos , a great-grandson of Japheth who medieval chroniclers believed to have been the root of the local name of their kingdom. However, scholars agree that the word Kartli is derived from the Karts , a proto-Kartvelian tribe that emerged as

2058-790: The 6th millennium BC , especially in Western Georgia, while the Mtkvari basin became stably populated in the 5th millennium BC , as evidenced with the rise of various cultures closely associated with the Fertile Crescent , including the Trialetian Mesolithic , the Shulaveri–Shomu culture , and the Leyla-Tepe culture . Archaeological findings show that settlements in modern-day Georgia were responsible for

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2156-639: The Argonauts . Archaeological evidence points to a wealthy kingdom in Colchis as early as the 14th century BC and an extensive trade network with Greek colonies on the eastern Black Sea shore (such as Dioscurias and Phasis ), though, the entire region would be annexed first by Pontus and then by the Roman Republic in the first century BC. Eastern Georgia remained a decentralized mosaic of various clans (ruled by individual mamasakhlisi ) until

2254-586: The Byzantine Empire , the seat of Orthodox Christianity since the 4th century. This isolated Georgia from the western world and the kingdom became the only Christian country in the Near East, which prompted the Georgian royalty and nobility to unite temporarily in order to incite the powers of Western Europe to embark on a new crusade. This effort quickly fizzled out, as the Europeans refused to see

2352-681: The Caucasus and benefiting from the Black Sea ecosystem, the region seems to have served as a refugium throughout the Pleistocene , while the first continuous primitive settlements date back to the Middle Paleolithic , close to 200,000 years ago. During the Upper Paleolithic , settlements developed mostly in Western Georgia, in the valleys of the Rioni and Qvirila rivers. Signs of agriculture date back to at least

2450-773: The High Middle Ages under the reigns of King David IV and Queen Tamar . Beginning in the 15th century, the kingdom declined and disintegrated under pressure from various regional powers, including the Mongols , the Ottoman Empire , and Persia , before being gradually annexed into the Russian Empire starting in 1801. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Georgia briefly emerged as an independent republic under German protection , but

2548-554: The Kingdom of Imereti sent ambassadors to the Russian royal court, with Russia returning the favor in 1651. In the presence of these ambassadors, Alexander III of Imereti swore an oath of allegiance to Tsar Alexis of Russia on behalf of Imereti. Subsequent rulers also sought assistance from Pope Innocent XII but without success. The rulers of regions that remained partly autonomous organized rebellions on various occasions. As

2646-725: The Mushki , Laz , and Byzeres . Some historians have suggested that the collapse of the Hittite world in the Late Bronze Age led to an expansion of the influence of these tribes to the Mediterranean Sea , notably with the Kingdom of Tabal . The classical period saw the rise of a number of Georgian states, including Colchis in western Georgia, where Greek mythology located the Golden Fleece sought after by

2744-574: The Revolution of 1905 . Their cause was championed by the socialist Mensheviks , who became the dominant political force in Georgia in the final years of Russian rule. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established with Nikolay Chkheidze acting as its president. The federation consisted of three nations: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. As

2842-539: The Timurid and Turkoman invasions would result severe political divisions within Georgia that would speed up the fragmentation of the kingdom. At the dawn of the second half of the 15th century, the Kingdom of Georgia was the most powerful state in the Caucasus after the renaissance observed under the reign of King Alexander I the Great . However, the kingdom suffered greatly after the first Mongol invasion and from

2940-659: The Treaty of Moscow . But the recognition proved to be of little value, as the Red Army invaded Georgia in 1921 and formally annexed it into the Soviet Union in 1922. In February 1921, during the Russian Civil War , the Red Army advanced into Georgia and brought the local Bolsheviks to power. The Georgian army was defeated, and the Social Democratic government fled the country. On 25 February 1921 ,

3038-665: The brutal suppression by Soviet forces of a large peaceful demonstration held in Tbilisi on 4–9 April 1989 proved to be a pivotal event in discrediting the continuation of Soviet rule over the country. In October 1990, the first multi-party elections were held in Soviet Georgia, which were the first multi-party elections in the entire Soviet Union, in which the opposition groups were registered as formal political parties. The Round Table—Free Georgia coalition led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia secured victory in this election and formed

Western Georgia - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-510: The early Middle Ages . The Roman–Persian Wars plunged the region into chaos, with both Persia and Constantinople supporting various warring factions in the Caucasus ; however, the Byzantine Empire was able to establish control over Georgian territories by the end of the 6th century, ruling Iberia indirectly through a local Kouropalates . In 645, the Arabs invaded southeastern Georgia, starting an extended period of Muslim domination in

3234-645: The 11th century, the nascent Georgian kingdom experienced geopolitical and internal difficulties, with various noble factions opposed to the centralization of the Georgian state. They were often backed by the Byzantine Empire, which feared a dominion of the Caucasus region by the Bagrationi dynasty, and in some instances fueled internal conflict through aristocratic families seeking more power. However, ties between Byzantium and Georgia were normalized when

3332-475: The 13th century during the Mongol invasions that resulted in the establishment of de facto independent Kingdom of Western Georgia led by King David VI Narin and his successors, even though several reunifications would take place that will bring back monarchy united in fold. Nevertheless, the reunification came up to be ephemeral as the fragmentation would escalate through dynastic triarchy. Championed under

3430-530: The 1930s. The 1918 Georgian–Armenian War , which erupted over parts of disputed provinces between Armenia and Georgia populated mostly by Armenians, ended because of British intervention. In 1918–1919, Georgian general Giorgi Mazniashvili led an attack against the White Army led by Moiseev and Denikin to claim the Black Sea coastline from Tuapse to Sochi and Adler for independent Georgia. In 1920 Soviet Russia recognized Georgia's independence with

3528-523: The 4th century BC when it was conquered by Alexander the Great , eventually leading to the creation of the Kingdom of Iberia under the protectorate of the Seleucid Empire , an early example of advanced state organization under one king and an aristocratic hierarchy. Various wars with the Roman Empire , Parthia , and Armenia made Iberia regularly change its allegiance, though it remained

3626-666: The Bagrationi. Dynastic conflicts eventually weakened Abkhazia in the second half of the 10th century while in Tao-Klarjeti, Prince David III used his influence within Byzantine Anatolia to empower the Bagrationi. Bagrat III, heir of the Bagrationi dynasty, successively became King of Abkhazia (978), Prince of Tao-Klarjeti ( 1000 ), and King of the Iberians (1008), allowing him to unify most Georgian feudal states and be crowned in 1010 as King of Georgia . For much of

3724-460: The Brilliant (r. 1299–1302), known for reuniting eastern and western Georgia and restoring the country's previous strength and Christian culture. After his death, local rulers fought for their independence from central Georgian rule, until the total disintegration of the kingdom in the 15th century. Georgia was further weakened by several disastrous invasions by Timur . Invasions continued, giving

3822-662: The Caucasus, and extended over large parts of present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northern Iran, and used the vacuum of power left by the Fourth Crusade to create the Empire of Trebizond as a Georgian vassal state. The revival of the Kingdom of Georgia was set back after Tbilisi was captured and destroyed by the Khwarezmian leader Jalal ad-Din in 1226, followed by devastating invasions by Mongol ruler Genghis Khan . The Mongols were expelled by George V

3920-523: The Georgian clergy with priests from Greece or Antioch. This split is only temporary and a severe response from the Catholicosate of Georgia forces Qvarqvare II to renounce these ambitions. Modern historiography partially ignores the origins of the rebellion in western Georgia which marked the start of the Civil War. According to historians Nodar Asatiani, Kalistrat Salia and Donald Rayfield ,

4018-617: The Georgian royal Bagrationi dynasty , as well as the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church . Pyotr Bagration , one of the descendants of the abolished house of Bagrationi, later joined the Russian army and became a prominent general in the Napoleonic wars. On 22 December 1800, Tsar Paul I of Russia , at the alleged request of the Georgian King George XII , signed the proclamation on

Western Georgia - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-432: The Iberians in 888 , restoring the monarchy abolished three centuries prior. In Western Georgia, the Kingdom of Abkhazia benefited from the weakening of Byzantium in the region to unify various tribes and become one of the most powerful states of the Caucasus in the 8th century. In the 9th-10th centuries, Abkhazia grew its influence through several military campaigns and came to control much of Iberia and competing with

4214-604: The Ottomans advanced into the Caucasian territories of the crumbling Russian Empire, Georgia declared independence on 26 May 1918. The Menshevik Social Democratic Party of Georgia won the parliamentary election and its leader, Noe Zhordania , became prime minister. Despite the Soviet takeover, Zhordania was recognized as the legitimate head of the Georgian Government by France, UK, Belgium, and Poland through

4312-421: The Ottomans as a threat. Georgia had allies no more and found itself all alone surrounded by the powerful Muslim states. The decline in international trade, the disappearance of the kingdom's cultural allies and the growing threats in the Caucasus only sow poverty and desolation across Georgia, providing an ideal context for nobles wishing to gain more power from the central royal government. In order to protect

4410-470: The Ottomans. This alliance fails to prevent the fall of the last Byzantine stronghold, Empire of Trebizond , in 1461, and Uzun Hasan would prove himself to be a dangerous ally by organizing a military raid against Samtskhe itself killing Orthodox priests, devastating some villages and defeating troops of King George VIII. Despite the failure of this alliance, relations between Tbilisi and Samtskhe are not reestablished. The Duchy of Samokalako , which supports

4508-533: The Red Army entered Tbilisi and established a government of workers' and peasants' soviets with Filipp Makharadze as acting head of state. Georgia was incorporated into what would soon become the Soviet Union . Soviet rule was firmly established only after local insurrections were defeated. Georgia would remain an unindustrialized periphery of the USSR until the first five-year plan (1928–1932), when it became

4606-408: The Soviet Union, contributing to the nation's consolidation. 1978 Georgian demonstrations saw the return of mass anti-Soviet protests, but this time government backed down. Throughout the remainder of the Soviet period, Georgia's economy continued to grow and experience significant improvement, though it increasingly exhibited blatant corruption and alienation of the government from the people. With

4704-563: The allegiance of many petty nobles, including in Kartli, the region around the royal capital of Tbilisi. In 1462 (or 1463 ), George VIII and his royal forces crossed the mountains of the Likhi range and invaded Imerethi to restore the royal authority in the kingdom. Qvarqvare II would lead a military legion in Imereti but would remain strategically out of the conflict. George VIII and his army would clash with rebel forces commanded by Bagrat, near

4802-449: The anti-Ottoman coalition, is suppressed by the central government, which is the starting point of the military conflict. However, according to French historian Marie-Félicité Brosset and Prince Vakhushti of Kartli , the revolt that began in 1462 had a hidden origin. He imputes it to Qvarqvare II, close to George VIII, but who takes advantage of the royal ambitions of the young Duke Bagrat to advance his projects. Bagrat, ruling Imereti in

4900-434: The beginning of perestroika in 1986, the Georgian Soviet leadership proved so incapable of handling the changes that most Georgians, including rank and file communists, concluded that the only way forward was a break from the existing Soviet system. Starting in 1988, mass protests erupted in Georgia in favor of independence, led by Georgian nationalists such as Merab Kostava and Zviad Gamsakhurdia . The following year,

4998-447: The conduct of Georgian foreign affairs. Despite its commitment to defend Georgia, Russia rendered no assistance when the Iranians invaded in 1795, capturing and sacking Tbilisi and massacring its inhabitants. Although Russia initiated a punitive campaign against Persia in 1796, the Russian Imperial authorities subsequently violated key promises of the Georgievsk Treaty and in 1801 proceeded to annex eastern Georgia, while abolishing

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5096-446: The core central Georgian region of Kartli , recorded from the 9th century, and in extended usage referring to the entire medieval Kingdom of Georgia prior to the 13th century. The Georgian circumfix sa -X- o is a standard geographic construction designating 'the area where X dwell', where X is an ethnonym . The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi ( ქართველები , i.e. 'Kartvelians'), first attested in

5194-530: The country is named საქართველო ( Sakartvelo ) and Қырҭтәыла ( Kərttʷʼəla ) respectively. Prior to the adoption of the Constitution in 1995 and following the dissolution of the USSR , the country was commonly called the "Republic of Georgia" and occasionally it still is. Several languages continue to use the Russian variant of the country's name, Gruzia , which the Georgian authorities have sought to replace through diplomatic campaigns. Since 2006, Israel, Japan, and South Korea legally changed their appellation of

5292-426: The country to variants of the English Georgia . In 2020, Lithuania became the first country in the world to adopt Sakartvelas in all official communications. The oldest traces of archaic humans in what is now Georgia date from approximately 1.8 million years ago in the form of the Dmanisi hominins , a subspecies of Homo erectus representing the oldest-known fossils of hominins in Eurasia . Buffered by

5390-418: The eastern province of Kakheti. In 1467, George received the submission of the local nobles and proclaimed the independence of the Kingdom of Kakheti , dividing Georgia into two independent kingdoms. The chaotic situation in Georgian politics is greatly aggravated by a ceasefire offer between Bagrat VI and Prince Constantine , who proclaims himself King of Georgia. The cease-fire, allows Constantine to become

5488-428: The empire. The principality of Guria was abolished and incorporated into the Empire in 1829, while Svaneti was gradually annexed in 1858. Mingrelia , although a Russian protectorate since 1803, was not absorbed until 1867. Russian rule offered the Georgians security from external threats, but it was also often heavy-handed and insensitive. By the late 19th century, discontent with the Russian authorities grew into

5586-475: The entire Caucasus, though Christian rulers of Iberia sought to rebel at times, leading to devastating wars in the 5–6th centuries, most famously under the rule of King Vakhtang Gorgasali who expanded Iberia to its largest historical extent by capturing all of western Georgia and building a new capital in Tbilisi . In 580, the Sasanian Empire abolished the Kingdom of Iberia, leading to the disintegration of its constituent territories into various feudal regions by

5684-463: The entire kingdom after the death of Demetrius in 1453. The Principality of Samtskhe , ruled by the House of Jaqeli , was the first to officially leave the Georgian union when Qvarqvare II came to power in 1451. The latter proclaimed the religious independence of his state by confiscating the buildings of the Patriarchate of Georgia , prohibiting any mention of the Georgian king and patriarch in churches under his jurisdiction and replaces members of

5782-439: The first female ruler of Georgia, is considered the most successful in Georgian history. Tamar was given the title "king of kings" and succeeded in neutralizing her opposition, while embarking on an energetic foreign policy aided by the downfall of the rival powers of the Seljuks and Byzantium. Supported by a powerful military élite, Tamar was able to build on the successes of her predecessors to consolidate an empire that dominated

5880-476: The first signs of disagreement between King George VIII and his vassals appear in the early 1460s, when Qvarqvare II of Samtskhe decides to raise a coalition against the Ottomans, a state whose power has grown since the fall of Constantinople, but was too far from central Georgia to worry the crown of Tbilisi. Qvarqvare chooses to ally himself with Uzun Hasan , ruler of the Turkoman federation Aq Qoyunlu and occasional enemy of George VIII, to defend himself against

5978-401: The first use of fibers, possibly for clothing, more than 34,000 years ago, the first cases of viticulture ( 7th millennium BC ), and the first signs of gold mining ( 3rd millennium BC ). The Kura-Araxes , Trialeti , and Colchian cultures coincided with the development of proto-Kartvelian tribes that may have come from Anatolia during the expansion of the Hittite Empire , including

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6076-407: The incorporation of Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) within the Russian Empire, which was finalized by a decree on 8 January 1801, and confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on 12 September 1801. The Bagrationi royal family was deported from the kingdom. The Georgian envoy in Saint Petersburg reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice-chancellor, Prince Kurakin. In May 1801, under

6174-461: The invasion and, with the blessing of Bagrat, forms an alliance with Prince Kakhaber II of Guria. Supported by mercenaries from Imereti and Guria, Qvarqvare II crosses Samtskhe and the northern province of Klarjeti , forcing the submission of the fortresses of these regions. While some nobles swear allegiance to the prince, many are executed and others go into exile, including Zaza Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili , who becomes advisor to King George VIII. As

6272-588: The kingdom no time for restoration, with both Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans constantly raiding its southern provinces. The Kingdom of Georgia collapsed into anarchy by 1466 and fragmented into three independent kingdoms and five semi-independent principalities . Neighboring large empires subsequently exploited the internal division of the weakened country, and beginning in the 16th century, various Ottoman and Iranian forces subjugated western and eastern regions of Georgia, respectively. This pushed local Georgian rulers to seek closer ties with Russia. In 1649,

6370-432: The kingdoms of Kartli , Kakheti , Imereti and the principality of Samtskhe . Following the decision of royal darbazi, Constantine II negotiated peace treaties in 1491 with Alexander I of Kakheti , Qvarqvare II and Alexander II of Imereti . Georgia officially collapsed and became a nation of three kingdoms and one major principality, a situation that continued until the early 19th century, eventually being annexed by

6468-471: The land'). These centuries-old explanations for the word Georgia / Georgians are now mostly rejected by the scholarly community, who point to the Persian word gurğ / gurğān ( گرگ , ' wolf ' ) as the likely root of the word. Under this hypothesis, the same Persian root was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. The native name is Sakartvelo ( საქართველო ; 'land of Kartvelians '), derived from

6566-415: The majority Georgian populations, erupted into widespread inter-ethnic violence and wars. Supported by Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia achieved de facto independence from Georgia, with Georgia retaining control only in small areas of the disputed territories. Eduard Shevardnadze (Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1991) was named as the head of Georgia's new government in March 1992 and

6664-456: The massacres and destruction organized by the warlord Timur in the 1400s. Moreover, unlike the geopolitical situation of the Georgian Golden Age of the 13th century, the powers bordering Georgia strengthened, posing a far greater threat. In particular, the Turkoman tribes would unite to found the Qara Qoyunlu , a confederative empire that would sack Georgia from the 1410s. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks of Anatolia took Constantinople , ending

6762-522: The mountain regions of Racha and Lechkhumi . During this time, George VIII confronts Constantine II in Kartli, before being defeated thanks to the military support of Samtskhe. He died in 1476 and was replaced by his son, Alexander I of Kakheti . The latter makes no claim to the "all-Georgian" crown and negotiates borders with Tbilisi, sparing his kingdom from a possible invasion by Constantine II; he embarked on an independent foreign policy, sending embassies to Grand Duchy of Moscow . The collapse of

6860-421: The name Georgia is in Italian on the mappa mundi of Pietro Vesconte dated 1320. At the early stage of its appearance in the Latin world, the name was often spelled Jorgia . Lore-based theories were given by traveler Jacques de Vitry , who explained the name's origin by the popularity of St. George among Georgians, while Jean Chardin thought that Georgia came from the Greek γεωργός ('tiller of

6958-454: The name of the king since 1455, was a Bagrationi royal prince and a close cousin of George VIII, would surprise the king by his revolt. Bagrat, reinforced by the support of Samtskhe, allied with the powerful Liparit I of Mingrelia and Mamia II of Guria , as well as the rulers of Abkhazia and Svaneti. Thanks to this military aid, Bagrat would succeed in conquering the royal fortresses of George VIII across western Georgia and in receiving

7056-715: The nation's cultural and intellectual life. During World War II , Germany led an Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 with the aim of conquering all territory up to the Ural Mountains . As the initial operation stalled, the Axis launched the Fall Blau offensive in 1942 to take control of strategic Caucasian oil fields and munitions factories; ultimately, Axis troops were stopped before reaching Georgian borders. Over 700,000 Georgians—constituting about 20 percent of

7154-507: The new Catholicos of western Georgia would extend beyond the Kingdom of Imereti to the principalities of Guria, Mingrelia, Svaneti and Abkhazia until its annexation by the Russian Empire. In 1490, King Constantine II faced one of the biggest decisions in Georgian history. He invited the darbazi , the royal council charged since the 13th century with assisting the Georgian sovereign during important decisions. The council, made up of

7252-481: The north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast. Georgia covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi). It has a population of 3.7 million, of which over a third live in the capital and largest city , Tbilisi . Georgians , who are native to the region, constitute a majority of the country's population and are its titular nation . Georgia has been inhabited since prehistory , hosting

7350-404: The official heir of Bagrat VI in Kartli, while western Georgia is promised to Prince Alexander , son of Bagrat. This agreement only slightly eased the conflict and military clashes resumed between the two kings in the 1470s. At the end of this decade, Bagrat VI managed to decisively defeat Constantine with the help of reinforcements from Mingrelia and Guria. In 1478 Bagrat VI dies, inaugurating

7448-546: The oversight of General Carl Heinrich von Knorring, Imperial Russia transferred power in eastern Georgia to the government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lazarev . The Georgian nobility did not accept the decree until 12 April 1802, when Knorring assembled the nobility at the Sioni Cathedral and forced them to take an oath on the Imperial Crown of Russia . Those who disagreed were temporarily arrested. In

7546-577: The patriarch of the Georgian Church, David IV. The latter agrees to recognize the domination of the Imeretian sovereign. Bagrat is then crowned as Bagrat VI, king of all Georgia. Samtskhe was not very happy with this new unity and, the same year, Qvarqvare II frees the former king George VIII from his prison, in order to sow chaos in the kingdom. George VIII received the leadership of a militia which crossed central Georgia and established itself in

7644-418: The population—fought in the Red Army to repel the invaders and advance towards Berlin; an estimated 350,000 were killed. After Stalin's death , Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union and implemented a policy of de-Stalinization . Khrushchev's purges were met with riots in Tbilisi that had to be dispersed by military force. This violent turn of events that compromised Georgian loyalty to

7742-549: The power of the central government over the provinces of the kingdom, King Alexander I designated in 1433 his three sons, Demetrius , Vakhtang and George , as co-kings , drawing inspiration from the ancient Byzantine tradition of naming the heirs to the imperial throne as co-emperors. Together, these co-kings would share the governance of the kingdom while Demetrius would take charge of Western Georgia, and his brother George would rule Kakheti. However, this arrangement did not last long. In 1442, Alexander I abdicated and retired to

7840-589: The region; this also led to the establishment of several feudal states seeking independence from each other, such as the Emirate of Tbilisi and the Principality of Kakheti . Western Georgia remained mostly a Byzantine protectorate, especially following the Lazic War . The lack of a central government in Georgia allowed the rise of the Bagrationi dynasty in the early 9th century. Consolidating lands in

7938-477: The reign of King George VIII , it continued under Bagrat VI and Constantine II and included the entire country, with clashes all around the realm. The dynastic war began in the 1460s following the separatist pushes of the Principality of Samtskhe , leading to a series of conflicts between the central Kartli -based government of Tbilisi and royal contenders in Imereti and Kakheti . For three decades, Georgia

8036-483: The reigns of David IV (r. 1089–1125) and his great-granddaughter Tamar (r. 1184–1213) has been widely termed as the Georgian Golden Age . This early Georgian renaissance, which preceded its Western European analog, was characterized by impressive military victories, territorial expansion, and a cultural renaissance in architecture, literature, philosophy and the sciences. The Golden Age of Georgia left

8134-445: The rest of the unified Georgian monarchy. The Dukes of Mingrelia, Guria, Abkhazia and Svaneti, who attended the coronation, would pledge allegiance to a new monarch, who would elevate these dukes into Mtavari princes and exempting them from any fiscal obligation. This would transform Western Georgia into a federation of principalities which will only weaken through the centuries. Jaqeli family of Samtskhe would benefit greatly from

8232-427: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Western Georgia . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Georgia&oldid=1177521104 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

8330-486: The southwestern region of Tao-Klarjeti , Prince Ashot I (813–830) used infighting between Arab governors to expand his influence to Iberia and was recognized as Presiding Prince of Iberia by both the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. Though Ashot's descendants formed competing princely lines, Adarnase IV managed to unify most Georgian lands (except for Kakheti and Abkhazia) and was crowned King of

8428-608: The summer of 1805, Russian troops on the Askerani River near Zagam defeated the Iranian army during the 1804–13 Russo-Persian War and saved Tbilisi from reconquest now that it was officially part of the Imperial territories. Russian suzerainty over eastern Georgia was officially finalized with Iran in 1813 following the Treaty of Gulistan . Following the annexation of eastern Georgia, the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti

8526-461: The top clergy of the Georgian Orthodox Church , six royal ministers and representatives of the largest ducal and noble Georgian families, was a legislative body headed by the king. The unanimous decision of the Darbazi of 1490 was then to accept the official division of the kingdom of Georgia, a kingdom unified 482 years earlier by Bagrat III of Georgia , into three kingdoms and one principality:

8624-425: The two countries faced a new common enemy, the rising Seljuk Empire in the 1060s. Following the decisive Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Constantinople started to retreat from eastern Anatolia and entrusted Georgia with its administration, placing Georgia at the forefront of Turkish in the 1080s. The Kingdom of Georgia reached its zenith in the 12th to early 13th centuries. This period during

8722-549: The unified royal institution impacted the administration of the Georgian Orthodox Church . Samtskhe under Qvarqvare II Jaqeli and Mzetchabuk Jaqeli actively fought for separation from its Church. Weakening of the church in the Southern Georgian lands would result gradual Islamization of the Meskhetians . In Western Georgia, King Bagrat mildly supported the separation as well. The spiritual jurisdiction of

8820-486: The village of Chhikhori, east of Kutaisi . Bagrat would win a decisive battle, forcing George VIII to return to Kartli. While Kutaisi, the regional capital, remains temporarily under the control of George VIII, Bagrat would eventually take the city and at the Gelati Monastery he would be crowned as King of Imereti and assume the title of Bagrat II, officially separating the regions west of Likhi Range from

8918-428: The war between the western and eastern halves of the Georgian kingdom and would form a large autonomy, under the rule of Qvarqvare II . He would even begin to take the title of Mepe (მეფე, i.e. "king") and launched his own series of coins with a manufacturing workshop based in his capital, Akhaltsikhe . King George VIII would invade Samtskhe in 1463 and succeed in defeating Qvarqvare, all his vassal nobles siding with

9016-409: The world's earliest known sites of winemaking , gold mining, and textiles. The classical era saw the emergence of several kingdoms, such as Colchis and Iberia , that formed the nucleus of the modern Georgian state. In the early fourth century, Georgians officially adopted Christianity , which contributed to the unification into the Kingdom of Georgia . Georgia reached its Golden Age during

9114-624: Was invaded and annexed by the Red Army in 1921, becoming one of the Republics of the Soviet Union . In the 1980s, an independence movement grew quickly, leading to Georgia's secession from the Soviet Union in April 1991. For much of the subsequent decade , the country endured economic crises, political instability , and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia . Following the peaceful Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued

9212-449: Was annexed by Tsar Alexander I. The last Imeretian king and the last Georgian Bagrationi ruler, Solomon II , died in exile in 1815, after attempts to rally people against Russia and to enlist foreign support against the latter, had been in vain. From 1803 to 1878, as a result of numerous Russian wars now against Ottoman Turkey , several of Georgia's previously lost territories – such as Adjara – were recovered, and also incorporated into

9310-537: Was deposed by the Rose Revolution , after Georgian opposition and international monitors asserted that 2 November parliamentary elections were marred by fraud. The revolution was led by Mikheil Saakashvili , Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze , former members and leaders of Shevardnadze's ruling party. Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as President of Georgia in 2004. Following the Rose Revolution,

9408-596: Was elected as head of state in that year's elections , later as president in 1995 . During the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) , roughly 230,000 to 250,000 Georgians were expelled from Abkhazia by Abkhaz separatists and North Caucasian militants (including Chechens). Around 23,000 Georgians fled South Ossetia. By 1994, Georgia was facing a severe economic crisis, with bread rations and shortages of electricity, water and heat. In 2003, Shevardnadze (who won re-election in 2000)

9506-602: Was elected president in the first presidential election with 86.5% of the vote on a turnout of over 83%. Gamsakhurdia was soon deposed in a bloody coup d'état , from 22 December 1991 to 6 January 1992. The coup was instigated by part of the National Guard and a paramilitary organization called " Mkhedrioni " ("horsemen"). The country then became embroiled in a bitter civil war , which lasted until December 1993. Simmering disputes within two regions of Georgia; Abkhazia and South Ossetia , between local separatists and

9604-459: Was impoverished and weakened. In 1490, a peace was concluded following the formal division of the unified kingdom of Georgia into three independent kingdoms, thus ending a monarchy that had existed since 1008 . The conflict took place during the major geopolitical changes in the Near East , including the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the rise of the Ottoman Empire . Simultaneously,

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