This is atimeline ofGeorgian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Georgia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, seeHistory of Georgia. See also theList of Georgian Kings and Queens.
| Event |
|---|
| Shulaveri: a late Neolithic/Eneolithic culture that existed on the territory of present-day Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Armenian Highlands. The culture is dated to mid-6th or early-5th millennia BC and is thought to be one of the earliest known Neolithic cultures; started in c.6000 BC and lasted until 4000 BC. |
| Event |
|---|
| Trialeti culture. The Trialeti age was a second culture to appear in what is present-day Georgia, after the Shulaveri age and it lasted from 4000 BC to 2200 BC. |
| Event |
|---|
| Kura-Araxes culture. It mostly encompassed, on modern-day territories, the Southern Caucasus (except western Georgia), northwestern Iran, the northeastern Caucasus, eastern Turkey, and as far as Syria. |
| Event |
|---|
| Diauehi. A coalition of tribes, or kingdoms, located in northeasternAnatolia, that was formed in the 12th century BC in the post-Hittite period. It is mentioned in theUrartian inscriptions. It is usually (though not always) identified with Daiaeni of the Yonjalu inscription of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I's third year (1118 BC). Diauehi is a possible locus ofproto-Kartvelian; it has been described as an "important tribal formation of possible proto-Georgians" byRonald Grigor Suny (1994). |
| Event |
|---|
| Colchian culture. Late Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of the western Caucasus, mostly in what is present-day western Georgia. |
| Event |
|---|
| KingSien of Diauehi leads a large tribal coalition of tribes to stallAssyrian advances. He is captured by Assyrians, forcibly submitted to KingTiglath-Pileser I and later released on terms of vassalage. Tribal alliance of 20,000Mushks commanded by 5 kings andKaskian warriors is also defeated by Assyrians in the same year. |
| Event |
|---|
| Despite numerous attempts of its KingUtupurshi of Diauehi to salvage the nation,Diauehi is finally destroyed by the emerging power ofUrartu. It is partitioned betweenUrartu and the entity ofColchis. |
| Event |
|---|
| Cimmerians andScythians invade Georgia and the Caucasus. Kingdom ofColchis develops in this age. Later on, Cimmerians play an influential role in the development of bothIberian and Colchian states. |
| Ancient Greek colonization of theBlack Sea begins. Greeks establish a number of colonies onColchian coast, namely:Phasis,Dioscurias,Pityus,Gyenos and few others. |
| Event |
|---|
| Kingdom ofColchis appears. Described as being "the earliest Georgian formation", it was kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of theGeorgians. The Kingdom of Colchis, which existed from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC is regarded as another Georgian state and the termColchians was used as the collective term for tribes which populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Colchis was populated by Colchians, an earlyLazuri speaking tribe, ancestral to the contemporary Western Georgians, namelySvans andMingrelians, as well as the relatedLazs. |
| Event |
|---|
| Colchians are mentioned in theHistories ofHerodotus alongsidePersians andMedes which undoubtedly points out their significant role as well as famed strength renowned throughout the Ancient World. |
| Event |
|---|
| Kingdom ofIberia, centred in what is present-day eastern Georgia, is founded as an official monarchy by its first kingPharnavaz I of Iberia, after defeatingAzo, his predecessor and usurper to the throne.Pharnabazid dynasty is established. |
| Xenophon, a Greek mercenary and distinguished historical writer of Antiquity, passes through the area later known asPontus.Recordings of his journey prove invaluable to the early Georgian history and ethnography. Xenophon described the following Proto-Georgian tribes:Chalybes,Drilae,Macrones,Mossynoeci,Phasians,Taochi,Tibareni and others. |
| Event |
|---|
| According to traditional accounts,Georgian alphabet is created by the KingPharnavaz I of Iberia for theGeorgian language. |
| Event |
|---|
| Artaxiad dynasty begins reigning in Iberia. |
| Event |
|---|
| Pompey's Georgian campaign.Pompey the Great subjugates Kingdom ofIberia and makes western Georgian Kingdom ofColchis aRoman province. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 30AD | Pharnabazid dynasty is restored to the Iberian throne. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 117-138AD | Kingdom ofIberia reaches its peak with the reign of KingPharasmanes II of Iberia, who manages to install his brotherMithridates on theArmenian throne, who is laterdeposed and replaced by his nephewRhadamistus. The possibility of uniting the two kingdoms is finally shattered byParthian invasion and Rhadamistus is overthrown. | |
| 189AD | Arsacid dynasty of Iberia succeeds thePharnabazids. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 270AD | Anti-Roman uprising inColchis. | |
| 284AD | Chosroid dynasty, a branch of theHouse of Mihran, begins reigning over the Kingdom of Iberia. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 319AD, 326AD or 337AD | KingMirian III of Iberia declaresChristianity in Caucasian Iberia (eastern Georgia) as an official religion. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 482-502AD | Vakhtang I of Iberia fights against growingPersian domination and renewed attempts of forcible conversion ofIberia,Armenia andAlbania toZoroastrianism. | |
| 560s, 570sAD | Khosrow I abolishes the king as a title of the Iberian ruler and incorporates Iberia into hisEmpire. Iberia becomes a mere province. | |
| 580AD | Death ofBacurius, the lastChosroid ruler ofIberia and subsequent abolition of Iberian monarchy byPersians. | |
| 588AD | After the abolition of the monarchy bySassanid Empire,Principate of Iberia is established withGuaram I of Iberia as its first ruler. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 526-532AD | Iberian War | |
| 541-562AD | Lazic War |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 627AD | Third Perso-Turkic War -Tbilisi, capital of thePrincipate of Iberia, whose rulerStephen I of Iberia is an ally of theKhosrau II, is sacked by the combined forces ofTurks andByzantines. | |
| 654AD | First entry of Arabs into Georgian lands. Principate of Iberia, unable to resist the invaders on its own,surrenders and accepts the terms of vassalage. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 735-737AD | Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| AD |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1000AD | Bagrat III of Georgia foundsKingdom of Georgia |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1040AD | Seljuk Turks invade Georgia. | |
| 1071AD | Byzantine-Georgian armies are defeated bySeljuk Turks at theBattle of Manzikert. | |
| 1089AD | At the age 16 KingDavid IV of Georgia inherits the throne and organizes the army to combat the Seljuk invaders. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1121AD | At theBattle of Didgori Seljuks are defeated by theGeorgians.Tbilisi and other Georgian lands go back to Georgia. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1204AD | QueenTamar of Georgia conquers Black Sea coast ofByzantine Empire andEmpire of Trebizond is created. She puts there as emperor her own relative Prince Alexios Komnenos. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| AD |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1400AD | Timur invades Georgia, destroying most of the towns in western Georgia. Around 60,000 survivors were taken back to theTimurid Empire as slaves. | |
| 1463 | Self-declared King ofImeretiBagrat VI defeatsGeorge VIII forces in theBattle of Chikhori and ensures his power. | |
| 1483 | Self-declaredAtabeg ofSamtskheQvarqvare II Jaqeli assaults royal forces and defeats them in theBattle of Aradeti, therefore ensuring his power.Kingdom of Georgia finally collapses. | |
| 1490 | Governors ofKartli finally recognizes dissolution ofKingdom of Georgia. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| AD |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| AD |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| July 24, 1783AD | theTreaty of Georgievsk is signed between the Kingdom ofKartli-Kakheti and theRussian Empire, making Kartli-Kakheti aprotectorate of Russia. | |
| 1795AD | Agha Mohammed Khan invades Georgia,capturing and sackingTbilisi. Eastern Georgia briefly re-occupied by the Iranians. | |
| 1798AD | Civil war breaks out withinKartli following the death ofErekle II over the succession to the throne ofKartli, eventually taken byGeorge XII. | |
| 1799AD | Russians enter Tbilisi. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January 8, 1801AD | TsarPaul I of Russia signs a decree on incorporatingKartli-Kakheti intoRussia, confirmed byAlexander I on 12 September the same year. | |
| 1810 | Russian Army invades and annexesKingdom of Imereti. | |
| 18 July 1811 | Autocephaly ofGeorgian Orthodox Church was quashed on order of the Tsar. | |
| 24 October 1813AD | Treaty of Gulistan signed betweenQajar Iran and the Russian Empire, ending the Russo-Iranian War of 1804–1813. Eastern Georgia officially ceded by the Iranians to Russia. | |
| 9 September 1829 | David Gurieli was proclaimed deposed by the Russian authorities andPrincipality of Guria was directly annexed byRussian Empire. | |
| 1858 | Principality of Svaneti was abolished by the Russian authorities and was converted into a district ofRussian Empire. | |
| 1864 | Principality of Abkhazia was abolished and incorporated in the Russian Empire, whereas PrinceMikhail Shervashidze was forced to reject his rights and resettle inVoronezh. | |
| 1867 | Niko Dadiani was deposed andPrincipality of Mingrelia was abolished and incorporated in theRussian Empire. | |
| 13 July 1878 | Treaty of Berlin was signed in the aftermath of theRusso-Turkish War. The Ottomans were forced to cedeAdjara to the expandingRussian Empire. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 22 April | Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic established. |
| 1918 | 28 May | Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic disestablished. |
| 1918 | 26 May | Democratic Republic of Georgia established. |
| 1921 | 25 February | Democratic Republic of Georgia annexed by theBolshevik forces of theSoviet Union, following an invasion which begin 14 days earlier on the 11th. |
| 1978 | 14 April | A wave of demonstrations were held in Tbilisi to protest adoptinga new constitution of the Soviet Georgia, no longer declaringGeorgian to be the solestate language. Protests resulted in retaining the previous status of the Georgian language. |
| 9 April 1989 | Soviet forces dispersedemonstrations in Tbilisi, leaving 21 civilians killed. | |
| 9 April 1991 | Georgia declares independence from theSoviet Union, finalized on 25 December the same year. | |
| May 1991 | Zviad Gamsakhurdia elected as the first President of Georgia. | |
| 1991-1992 | Zviad Gamsakhurdia overthrowed by the military junta. | |
| 1991-1993 | Georgian Civil War | |
| 1991-1992 | South Ossetia War. | |
| 1992-1993 | War in Abkhazia. | |
| November 1995 | Eduard Shevardnadze elected as the President of Georgia. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| November 2003 | TheRose Revolution resulted in overthrow of incumbent PresidentEduard Shevardnadze. | |
| January 2004 | Mikheil Saakashvili elected as the new President of Georgia. | |
| May 2004 | TheAdjara Revolution restored semi-independent region under control of thecentral government of Georgia. | |
| August 2008 | Russo-Georgian War. | |
| October 2012 | Georgian Dream defeats theUnited National Movement party of incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili in theparliamentary election. |
