Brief History of Georgia

Golden Lion Figurine, 3rd millennium BCE

Golden Cup, 700 BCE
Trialeti Culture

Antient times

Georgia – the land of the Golden Fleece. The king of Colchis, Aeëtes, Medea, and the journey of the Argonauts to Colchis aboard the ship "Argo" is a well-known myth in Greek mythology.

Human life in the territory of Georgia dates back to the earliest stages of human society's development. Archaeological evidence in Georgia reveals material culture from the Stone Age, starting with the early Paleolithic period. The Paleolithic era in Georgia marks the first historical period of the Stone Age, from the use of stone tools to the advent of agriculture approximately in the 10th millennium BCE. To date, more than 400 Paleolithic sites have been discovered and studied in Georgia.

In Georgia, as in other parts of the Caucasus, a highly developed Eneolithic culture spread. At the turn of the 4th–3rd millennium BCE, the transition to the Bronze Age occurred. Agricultural culture reached a high level. In the Late Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE), metallurgy flourished, characterized by diversity in forms and exceptional craftsmanship in production and artistry. From 2100–750 BCE, Georgian tribes faced invasions by the Hittites, Medes, proto-Persians, and others.

The Georgian alphabet is one of the 14 unique alphabets in the world. According to tradition, the Georgian alphabet was created by King Pharnavaz I in the 4th century BCE.

XII–VIII centuries BCE saw the formation of Diaohi and Colchis, the first Georgian state formations. IV–III centuries BCE marked the development of the Kartli (Iberian) Kingdom. Early writing systems began to spread, including Aramaic, Greek, and eventually the Georgian script. Excavations uncovered monuments of Georgia's highly developed culture during the antique period, featuring rich burials with unique artisan craftworks.

According to tradition, Iberia, with its capital in Mtskheta, was founded around 300 BCE by King Pharnavaz I, the progenitor of the Pharnavazid dynasty. One legend also credits him with the creation of the Georgian script.

Between 653 and 333 BCE, the territory of Georgia faced frequent invasions by the Medes, later the Persian Empire, and, in the late 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great's army passed through. However, neither Colchis nor Iberia became part of Alexander’s empire or any of the Hellenistic kingdoms that formed after its collapse. Despite this, Greek culture significantly influenced Georgia.

In the 6th century BCE, Jews, persecuted by Nebuchadnezzar, began to settle in Iberia. They brought the mantle of Prophet Elijah, a great relic of the Old Testament, which was kept in the Synagogue in Mtskheta.

In 65 BCE, Roman troops under Pompey, who was waging war against the Kingdom of Pontus and Armenia, invaded Iberia but eventually retreated. Pompey’s Bridge still remains visible in shallow waters today.

As the Iberian Kingdom strengthened in the 1st century BCE, Rome made unsuccessful attempts to conquer Georgia. Over time, Georgia found itself at the center of the struggle between Rome and Persia for influence in the Middle East. Only in the 2nd century CE, during the reign of Pharasmanes II, did Iberia achieve full independence. King Pharasmanes II the Brave (116–132 CE) was an ally of the Roman Empire. Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius highly valued the alliance with Iberia and invited the king to Rome, where he erected an equestrian statue in his honor.

The Adoption of Christianity

King Mirian III

Statue of St King Vakhtang Gorgasali

Georgia is one of the world's oldest Christian countries. The Georgian people embraced the teachings of Christ in the 1st century. According to tradition, a divine lot assigned the Virgin Mary the task of preaching Christ's faith in Georgia, marking the country as chosen by the Virgin Mary, its patroness. Following Christ's will, the Virgin remained in Jerusalem, while the apostles Andrew the First-Called, Simon the Zealot, and Matthias (who replaced Judas Iscariot by lot) traveled to Georgia to spread Christianity. Apostle Andrew brought the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary with him. The apostles came to a country that housed great relics of the Old Testament, such as the **Mantle of the Prophet Elijah** (a cloak made of sheep or goat skin), brought by Jews fleeing Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century BCE, as well as the most sacred relic of Christianity—the **Seamless Robe of Jesus Christ**. This robe, brought to the Georgian capital of Kartli, Mtskheta, by Georgian Jews led by Elioz after the Crucifixion, was preserved by the Jewish community there. Before adopting Christianity, Georgia practiced Mithraism and Zoroastrianism. Under King Mirian III, Christianity became the state religion of Kartli (Iberia) in 327 CE. The conversion to the new faith is traditionally linked to **Saint Nino**. At the end of the 5th century, King Vakhtang I Gorgasali conducted several military campaigns against Persia. By the early 6th century, Tbilisi became the capital of Kartli.

The Unification of Georgia

St. King David IV Bagrationi

After the weakening of the Caliphate in the 9th century, a new state emerged in southwestern Georgia under Ashot I Kuropalates of the Bagrationi dynasty, who expelled the Arabs from these regions. By the 9th to early 10th centuries, the Arabs were finally driven out of the South Caucasus, and later Byzantium was also forced to retreat from the region. Bagrat III (975–1014) of the Bagrationi dynasty became the first king of a united Georgia. The second half of the 11th century was marked by constant Seljuk invasions. In 1071, the Seljuks defeated the combined Byzantine, Armenian, and Georgian armies at the Battle of Manzikert, and by 1081, most of Georgia had been conquered by the Seljuks.

The Golden Age

St. Queen Tamar, fresco from the Kintsvisi Monastery, 13th century.

The 11th–12th centuries marked the peak of political power, economic prosperity, and cultural flourishing of feudal Georgia. King David IV the Builder established a regular army capable of repelling Seljuk attacks and managed to reclaim almost all Georgian lands. On August 12, 1121, King David defeated the coalition army of the Seljuks at the Battle of Didgori, after which he captured Tbilisi and moved Georgia's capital there (this victory day is still celebrated in Georgia). Queen Tamar's reign (1184–1213) represents the pinnacle of Georgia's influence throughout its history. After the fall of Constantinople in 1204, Georgia briefly became the strongest Christian state in the entire Eastern Black Sea region. Mongol Invasion In the 1220s, the Mongols swept through Asia Minor and the South Caucasus, suppressing the resistance of Georgian and Armenian forces. Most of Georgia, along with all of Armenia and central Anatolia, fell under Mongol rule. Georgia was forced to engage in a constant struggle for independence. Between 1386 and 1403, Georgia suffered eight invasions by Tamerlane, which devastated the country's economy and brought it closer to fragmentation.

Struggle Against Ottoman empire (Turkey) and Iran (Persia)

King Erekle II

In the 15th century, the Georgian Kingdom became an isolated Christian country surrounded by the Muslim world. Most of its neighbors ceased to exist after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, extending their influence over the entire Black Sea region. Georgia maintained its connection to the Christian world primarily through contacts with Genoese colonies in Crimea. As a result, Georgia experienced economic and political decline. Formal recognition of vassalage to Turkey or Iran often required conversion to Islam. The emergence of Christian Russia in the north was perceived as an opportunity to escape this predicament. In the early 18th century, King Vakhtang VI of Kartli introduced a new set of laws and sought to improve the country's economy. During his reign in 1709, printing in the Georgian language began.

Georgia Under Russian Rule

During the reign of King Erekle II of Kartli and Kakheti (1762–1798), the united Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti significantly strengthened, gaining influence in the South Caucasus. The Turks were expelled from the country, Georgian culture was revived, and printing emerged as an essential cultural endeavor. Enlightenment became one of the leading directions in public thought. Erekle turned to Russia for protection against Iran and Turkey. Empress Catherine II, engaged in war with Turkey, was interested in an ally. In 1783, Russia and Georgia signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, establishing Russian protection over the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in exchange for military defense. However, in 1787, during another Russo-Turkish war, Russian troops withdrew from Georgia, leaving it defenseless. In 1795, Iranian Shah Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar invaded Georgia and devastated Tbilisi after the Battle of Krtsanisi. On December 22, 1800, Emperor Paul I signed a manifesto annexing Georgia to Russia. In May 1802, General Karl Knorring deposed the Georgian claimant to the throne, David, and established Ivan Lazarev's government in Tbilisi. On July 28, Abbas Mirza faced a crushing defeat, and the Persian army fled the borders of Georgia in disarray. Between 1803 and 1878, remaining Georgian territories were annexed to Russia as a result of Russo-Turkish wars. The 19th century was marked by national liberation aspirations among Georgian nobility and intelligentsia. By 1900, the Transcaucasian railway was integrated into the Russian railway network. In the early 20th century, the labor movement and Marxist propaganda began to develop. In January 1905, a revolution began, and unrest quickly spread to Georgia. Resistance to Tsarist authorities was finally suppressed by force in January 1906 following the arrival of troops commanded by General Alihanov. In August 1914, Russia entered the war against Germany, mobilizing 200,000 Georgians to the front. In 1917, after failures on the battlefield, the February Revolution took place, and a desire for Georgian independence began to spread among the population.

Georgian Democratic Republic

Georgia's Parliament, 1918

After the October Revolution of 1917, Georgia declared independence. In the parliamentary elections, the Social Democrats led by Noe Jordania won. In May 1920, Noe Jordania's Menshevik government signed a peace treaty with Soviet Russia.

USSR

Red Army in Tbilisi, 1921

In February 1921, the 11th Red Army treacherously invaded Georgia. The Georgian Democratic Republic was abolished, and Soviet rule was established in Georgia, making it one of the union republics of the USSR. Between 1922 and 1924, uprisings against Soviet rule occurred, demanding the restoration of Georgia's independence. During Soviet rule, Georgia underwent industrialization and agricultural collectivization, creating entirely new industries. During World War II, several national Georgian divisions were formed, participating in the Battle of the Caucasus and the liberation of the Taman Peninsula and Crimea. Approximately 700,000 people from Georgia (one-fifth of the republic's population) took part in the war, with 400,000 of them losing their lives.

Independent Georgia

On October 28, 1990, Georgia held its first multi-party parliamentary elections in the USSR, where national-political organizations achieved a convincing victory. As a result of the elections, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia was formed, led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia (a renowned writer, scholar, doctor of philological sciences, dissident, public and political figure, and head of the Helsinki Group). On May 26, 1991, presidential elections were held, and Zviad Gamsakhurdia emerged victorious. On December 21, 1991, a bloody armed rebellion began, supported by armed formations of "Mkhedrioni." On January 6, 1992, the president and members of the government were forced to leave Georgia. The junta brutally suppressed the Georgian population, resulting in the deaths of several thousand citizens. In March 1992, Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, was chosen as the chairman of the State Council of Georgia—the governing body created by the victorious opposition.

Rose Revolution

Severe economic conditions, human rights violations, rampant corruption, and the falsification of parliamentary election results on November 2, 2003, led to the so-called Rose Revolution from November 21–23, 2003, and the resignation of Shevardnadze. As a result of repeated presidential elections on January 4, 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili, one of the leaders of the Rose Revolution, was elected President of Georgia. On August 1, 2008, the escalation of Georgian-South Ossetian relations led to an armed conflict between Russia and Georgia. On August 16, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a plan for the peaceful resolution of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. Prior to this, the document was signed by the leaders of the unrecognized states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The signing of this document by the conflicting parties officially marked the end of military actions.

Georgian Dream

Bidzina Ivanishvili

During Mikheil Saakashvili's presidency, extensive reconstruction of buildings and roads began. Economic growth followed, but his strict governance and suppression of opposition led to public discontent, culminating in mass protests. After the 2012 elections, the Georgian Dream party and other opposition parties, led by Russian-Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, came to power. In 2023, Georgia achieved the status of a candidate country for the EU.

Currently, Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation, GUAM, and more. The Georgian government aims to resolve and develop political and economic relations with Russia.