Battle of Krtsanisi
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Krtsanisi was fought between Persian and Georgian
armies at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi
, Georgia
, from September 8 to September 11, 1795, as part of the war intended by the Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar as a reprisal for King Heraclius II of Georgia’s alliance with the Russian Empire
. The battle resulted in the defeat of Georgians and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi.
, composed of the kingdoms of Kartli
and Kakheti
, had been under the Persian suzerainty since 1555. However, with the death of Nader Shah
in 1747, both kingdoms broke free of the Persian control and were reunified through a personal union under the energetic king Heraclius II (Erekle) in 1762. In 1783, Heraclius placed his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk
. A limited Russian contingent of two infantry battalions with four artillery pieces arrived in Tbilisi in 1784, but was withdrawn, despite the frantic protests from the Georgians, in 1787. Despite being left on his devices, Heraclius still cherished a dream of establishing, with Russian protection, a strong and united monarchy, into which the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti
and the lost provinces under Ottoman
rule would all eventually be drawn.
The consequence of these events was seen in a few years later, when a new dynasty, that of the Qajars
, emerged victorious in a protracted power struggle in Persia. Its head, the eunuch
Agha Mohammad Khan, resolved to bring the Caucasus
once more into a Persian orbit. Finding an interval of quiet amid their own quarrels, the Persians now demanded from Heraclius of Georgia to renounce the treaty with Russia in return for peace and security. In vain did Heraclius send appeals to the Empress Catherine II of Russia
at St. Petersburg. The promise of protection was not fulfilled, but Heraclius rejected the khan’s ultimatum.
Later in August, Agha Mohammad Khan led his 35,000-strong army into the Caucasus, forcing the khans of Ganja
and Erivan
into alliance. Having abandoned the siege of Shusha
in the Karabakh Khanate
, the khan marched directly on Tbilisi, and attacked the heavily fortified Georgian positions on the southwestern approaches to the city. Abandoned by several of his nobles, Heraclius managed to mobilize around 5,000 troops, including some 2,000 auxiliaries from Imereti under the king Solomon II
. The Georgians offered a desperate resistance and succeeding in rolling back a series of Persian attacks on September 9 and 10. Early on September 11, Agha Mohammad Khan personally led an all-out offensive against the Georgians. Amid an artillery duel and a fierce cavalry charge, the Persians managed to cross the Kura River
and outflanked the decimating Georgian army. Heraclius attempted to mount a counterattack, but he had eventually to retreat to the last available positions at the outskirt of Tbilisi. By the nightfall, the Georgian forces had been exhausted and almost completely destroyed. The last surviving Georgian artillerists briefly held the advancing Persians to allow Heraclius and his retinue of some 150 men to escape through the city to the mountains. The fighting continued in the streets of Tbilisi and at the fortress of Narikala
. In a few hours, Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital which was completely sacked and its population massacred. The Persian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off some 15,000 captives.
in 1796. Heraclius II returned to Tbilisi to rebuild the city, but the destruction of his capital was a death blow to his hopes and projects. To restore Russian prestige, Catherine II declared war on Persia
and sent an army under Valerian Zubov
in the Qajar possessions, but her successor Paul I
shortly recalled it. Agha Mohammad Shah was assassinated while preparing a new expedition against Georgia in 1797, and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798. The next three years were a time of muddle and confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily absorbed by Russia in 1801.
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia was a medieval monarchy established in AD 978 by Bagrat III.It flourished during the 11th and 12th centuries, the so-called "golden age" of the history of Georgia. It fell to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by 1327...
armies at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, from September 8 to September 11, 1795, as part of the war intended by the Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar as a reprisal for King Heraclius II of Georgia’s alliance with the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The battle resulted in the defeat of Georgians and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi.
Background
Eastern GeorgiaEastern Georgia
Eastern Georgia commonly refers to the eastern part of the nation of Georgia, which in historic times included the kingdom of Iberia in the Caucasus. The present-day term refers to the territory of Georgia which lies to the east and south of the Likhi and Meskheti Ranges, but excludes the region...
, composed of the kingdoms of Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
and Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
, had been under the Persian suzerainty since 1555. However, with the death of Nader Shah
Nader Shah
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...
in 1747, both kingdoms broke free of the Persian control and were reunified through a personal union under the energetic king Heraclius II (Erekle) in 1762. In 1783, Heraclius placed his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk
Treaty of Georgievsk
The Treaty of Georgievsk was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti on July 24, 1783. The treaty established Georgia as a protectorate of Russia, which guaranteed Georgia's territorial integrity and the continuation of its reigning...
. A limited Russian contingent of two infantry battalions with four artillery pieces arrived in Tbilisi in 1784, but was withdrawn, despite the frantic protests from the Georgians, in 1787. Despite being left on his devices, Heraclius still cherished a dream of establishing, with Russian protection, a strong and united monarchy, into which the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti
Kingdom of Imereti
The Kingdom of Imereti was established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagration when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Imereti was considered a separate kingdom within the Kingdom of Georgia, to which a cadet branch of the Bagration royal family held...
and the lost provinces under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule would all eventually be drawn.
The consequence of these events was seen in a few years later, when a new dynasty, that of the Qajars
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
, emerged victorious in a protracted power struggle in Persia. Its head, the eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
Agha Mohammad Khan, resolved to bring the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
once more into a Persian orbit. Finding an interval of quiet amid their own quarrels, the Persians now demanded from Heraclius of Georgia to renounce the treaty with Russia in return for peace and security. In vain did Heraclius send appeals to the Empress Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
at St. Petersburg. The promise of protection was not fulfilled, but Heraclius rejected the khan’s ultimatum.
The Persian invasion
Ganja Khanate
The Ganja khanate was a Muslim principality mostly under the dominion of Persia that existed in the territory of Azerbaijan in 1747-1805. The principality was ruled by the dynasty of Ziyadoglu , which had ruled Ganja as governors under Nadir Shah and was of Qajar extraction...
and Erivan
Erivan Khanate
The Khanate of Erivan , was an administrative territory that was established Safavid Persia in the early 17th century. It covered an area of roughly 7,500 square miles, and corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, most of the Iğdır Province of present-day Turkey, and the Sharur and...
into alliance. Having abandoned the siege of Shusha
Shusha
Shusha , also known as Shushi is a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus. It has been under the control of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since its capture in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh War...
in the Karabakh Khanate
Karabakh khanate
The Karabakh khanate was a semi-independent khanate on the territories of modern Azerbaijan and Armenia established in about 1750 under Persian suzerainty in Karabakh and adjacent areas. The Karabakh khanate existed until 1805, when the Russian Empire gained control over it from Persia...
, the khan marched directly on Tbilisi, and attacked the heavily fortified Georgian positions on the southwestern approaches to the city. Abandoned by several of his nobles, Heraclius managed to mobilize around 5,000 troops, including some 2,000 auxiliaries from Imereti under the king Solomon II
Solomon II of Imereti
Solomon II , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was the last King of Imereti from 1789 to 1790 and from 1792 until his deposition by the Imperial Russian government in 1810....
. The Georgians offered a desperate resistance and succeeding in rolling back a series of Persian attacks on September 9 and 10. Early on September 11, Agha Mohammad Khan personally led an all-out offensive against the Georgians. Amid an artillery duel and a fierce cavalry charge, the Persians managed to cross the Kura River
Kura River
Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...
and outflanked the decimating Georgian army. Heraclius attempted to mount a counterattack, but he had eventually to retreat to the last available positions at the outskirt of Tbilisi. By the nightfall, the Georgian forces had been exhausted and almost completely destroyed. The last surviving Georgian artillerists briefly held the advancing Persians to allow Heraclius and his retinue of some 150 men to escape through the city to the mountains. The fighting continued in the streets of Tbilisi and at the fortress of Narikala
Narikala
Narikala is an ancient fortress overlooking Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and the Kura River. The fortress consists of two walled sections on a steep hill between the sulphur baths and the botanical gardens of Tbilisi. On the lower court there is the recently restored St Nicholas church.The...
. In a few hours, Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital which was completely sacked and its population massacred. The Persian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off some 15,000 captives.
Aftermath
On his return, Agha Mohammad was crowned shahShah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
in 1796. Heraclius II returned to Tbilisi to rebuild the city, but the destruction of his capital was a death blow to his hopes and projects. To restore Russian prestige, Catherine II declared war on Persia
Persian Expedition of 1796
The Persian Expedition of Catherine the Great, alongside the Persian Expedition of Peter the Great, was one of the Russo-Persian Wars of the 18th century which did not entail any lasting consequences for either belligerent....
and sent an army under Valerian Zubov
Valerian Zubov
Count Valerian Aleksandrovich Zubov was a Russian general who led the Persian Expedition of 1796. His siblings included Platon Zubov and Olga Zherebtsova....
in the Qajar possessions, but her successor Paul I
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
shortly recalled it. Agha Mohammad Shah was assassinated while preparing a new expedition against Georgia in 1797, and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798. The next three years were a time of muddle and confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily absorbed by Russia in 1801.