Bazaleti | |
|---|---|
  Bazaleti Map highlighting the historical region ofBazaleti Show map of Mtskheta-Mtianeti Bazaleti Bazaleti (Georgia) Show map of Georgia | |
| Coordinates:42°04′N44°40′E / 42.067°N 44.667°E /42.067; 44.667 | |
| Country |  Georgia |
| Mkhare | Mtskheta-Mtianeti |
Bazaleti (Georgian:ბაზალეთი) is a historical area in easternGeorgia, located around the modern-day town ofDusheti (Mtskheta-Mtianetiregion), where a village and alake called Bazaleti can be found.
Bazaleti lay on the right bank of theAragvi river, being the south-westernmost in a chain of districts in the Aragvi valley. It stretched from south of the castle ofAnanuri in the north to the vicinities ofMukhrani in the south, with the area of roughly 525 km2,[1] fertile in grain,barley, andmillet.
The first human settlements in the area called Bazaleti plateau date back to theStone Age. Bazaleti is first mentioned—as being plundered by theCaucasian tribe ofDzurdzuk—in the early medievalGeorgian account of the reign ofMirvan, the second king in the traditional royal list ofKartli (Iberia), whose rule can be relegated to the 2nd century BC.[2] Bazaleti is also mentioned in the 7th-centuryArmenian geography attributed toAnanias of Shirak.[1] The 9th-centuryMuslim authoral-Baladhuri reports the Arab conquest of Bazaleti (Bāzalīt).[3]
A century later, in the middle of the 10th century, Bazaleti and the adjoining strategic areas between the riversKsani and Aragvi were contested between the rulers ofAbasgia andKakheti.[2] In the last years of the 13th century, Bazaleti was overrun by theMongols who foughtDavid VIII of Georgia. With the emergence of theDuchy of Aragvi, Bazaleti became one of its principal districts.
