The history ofTbilisi, the capital ofGeorgia, dates back to at least the 5th century AD. Since its foundation by the monarch of Georgia's ancient precursorKingdom of Iberia, Tbilisi has been an important cultural, political and economic center of theCaucasus and served, with intermissions, as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Under theRussian rule, from 1801 to 1917 it was called Tiflis and held the seat of theImperial Viceroy governing both sides of the entire Caucasus.[1]
Tbilisi's proximity to lucrative east–west trade routes often made the city a point of contention between various rival empires, and its location to this day ensures an important transit role.[2] Tbilisi's varied history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix ofmedieval,classical, andSoviet structures.
Legend has it that the present-day territory of Tbilisi was uninhabited and covered by forest as late as 458 AD, the date medieval Georgian chronicles assign to the founding of the city by KingVakhtang I Gorgasali ofIberia (orKartli, present-day eastern Georgia).
Archaeological studies of the region have however revealed that the territory of Tbilisi was settled by humans as early as the4th millennium BC. The earliest written accounts of settlement of the location come from the second half of the 4th century AD, when a fortress was built during KingVaraz-Bakur's reign (ca. 364). Towards the end of the 4th century the fortress fell into the hands of thePersians, but was recaptured by the kings of Kartli by the middle of the 5th century.
According to one accountKing Vakhtang Gorgasali (r. 447-502) went hunting in the heavily wooded region with afalcon. The king's falcon caught apheasant, but both birds fell into a nearbyhot spring and died. King Vakhtang was so impressed with the discovery that he decided to build a city on this location. The nameTbilisi derives from theOld Georgian word "Tpili", meaning warm. The nameTbili orTbilisi ("warm location") therefore was given to the city because of the area's numeroussulfuric hot springs, which are still heavily exploited, notably forpublic baths, in theAbanotubani district. This mythical foundation account is still popular, but archaeological evidence shows that Vakhtang revived, or rebuilt parts of the city (such as Abanotubani, or theMetekhi palace, where his statue now stands) but did not found it.
KingDachi (beginning of the 6th century), the son and successor of Vakhtang Gorgasali, is said to have moved the capital of Iberia fromMtskheta to Tbilisi to obey the will left by his father. During his reign, Dachi also finished the construction of the fortress wall that lined the city's new boundaries. Beginning from the 6th century, Tbilisi started to grow at a steady pace due to the region's favorable location, which placed the city along important trade and travel routes between Europe and Asia.
However, this location was also strategic from the political point of view, and most major regional powers would struggle during the next centuries for its control. In the 6th century,Persia and theByzantine Empire were the main contenders for such hegemony over the Caucasus. In the second half of the 6th century, Tbilisi mostly remained under Sassanid (Persian) control, and the kingdom of Iberia was abolished around 580. In 627,Tbilisi was sacked by the allied Byzantine andKhazar armies.
Around 737, Arab armiesentered the town underMarwan II Ibn-Muhammad. TheArab conquerors established theEmirate of Tbilisi.Arab rule brought a certain order to the region and introduced a more formal and modernized judicial system intoGeorgia, while Tbilisi prospered from the trade with the wholeMiddle East.[3][4] The Arab rule heavily influenced the cultural development of the city. FewGeorgians converted to Islam during this time, but Tbilisi became a mainly Muslim city.
In 764, Tbilisi was once again sacked by theKhazars, while still under Arab control. The emirate became an influential local state, and repeatedly tried to gain independence from the caliphate. In 853, the armies of Arab leaderBugha al-Kabir ("Bugha the Turk" in Georgian sources) invaded Tbilisi in order to bring the emirate back under the control of theAbbasid Caliphate. Arab rule in Tbilisi continued until the second half of the 11th century; military attempts by the newKingdom of Georgia to capture the city were long unsuccessful. The emirate, however, shrank in size, the emirs held less and less power, and the "council of elders" (a local merchant oligarchy) often assumed power in the city.[5] In 1068, the city was once again sacked, only this time by theSeljuk Turks underSultanAlp Arslan.
In 1122, after heavy fighting with theSeljuks that involved at least 60,000Georgians and up to 300,000Turks, the troops of the King of GeorgiaDavid the Builder stormed Tbilisi. After thebattles for Tbilisi concluded with David's victory, he moved his residence fromKutaisi (Western Georgia) to Tbilisi, making it the capital of a unified Georgian State and thus inaugurating theGeorgian Golden Age.[6] From 12–13th centuries, Tbilisi became a dominant regional power with a thriving economy (with well-developed trade and skilled labour) and a well-established social system/structure. By the end of the 12th century, the population of Tbilisi had reached 100,000. The city also became an important literary and a cultural center not only for Georgia but for theEastern Orthodox world of the time. DuringQueen Tamar's reign,Shota Rustaveli worked in Tbilisi while writing his legendary epic poem,The Knight in the Panther's Skin. This period is often referred to as theGeorgian Golden Age[7] or the GeorgianRenaissance[8]
Tbilisi'sGolden Age did not last for more than a century. In 1236, after suffering crushing defeats to theMongols, Georgia came underMongol domination. The nation itself maintained a form of semi-independence and did not lose its statehood, but Tbilisi was strongly influenced by the Mongols for the next century both politically and culturally. In the 1320s, the Mongols were forcefully expelled from Georgia and Tbilisi became the capital of an independent Georgian state once again. An outbreak of theplague struck the city in 1366.[9]
From the late 14th until the end of the 18th century, Tbilisi came under the rule of various foreign invaders once again and on several occasions was completely burnt to the ground. In 1386, Tbilisi wasinvaded by the armies ofTamerlane (Timur). In 1444, the city was invaded and destroyed byJahan Shah (theShah of the town ofTabriz inPersia). From 1477 to 1478 the city was held by theAk Koyunlu tribesmen ofUzun Hassan.
As early as the 1510s, Tbilisi,Kartli andKakheti, were made vassal territories ofSafavid Iran.[10] In 1522, Tbilisi was garrisoned for the first time by a large Safavid force.[11][12] Following the death of king (shah)Ismail I (r. 1501-1524), kingDavid X of Kartli expelled the Iranians. During this period, many parts of Tbilisi were reconstructed and rebuilt. The four campaigns of kingTahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) resulted in the reoccupation of Kartli and Kakheti, and a Safavid force was permanently stationed in Tbilisi from 1551 onwards.[11][13] With the 1555Treaty of Amasya, and more firmly from 1614 to 1747, with brief intermissions, Tbilisi was an important city under Iranian rule, and it functioned as a seat of the Iranian vassal kings of Kartli whom the shah conferred with the title ofvali. A wall was built around the city in 1675 byShah Suleiman I.[14] Under the later rules ofTeimuraz II andErekle II, Tbilisi became a vibrant political and cultural center free of foreign rule, but the city wascaptured and devastated in 1795 by the IranianQajar rulerAgha Mohammad Khan, who sought to re-establish Iran's traditional suzerainty over the region.[15][16][17]
At this point, believing that his Georgian territories of Kartli-Kakheti could not hold up against Iran and its resubjugation alone, Erekle sought the help ofRussia, which led to a more complete loss of independence than had been the case in the past centuries, but also to the progressive transformation of Tbilisi into a European city.
In 1801, after the Georgian kingdom ofKartli-Kakheti of which Tbilisi was the capital was annexed by theRussian Empire,Iran officially lost control over the city and the wider Georgian lands it had been ruling for centuries.[18]Under Russian rule, the city subsequently became the center of theTbilisi Governorate (Gubernia). From the beginning of the 19th century Tbilisi started to grow economically and politically. New buildings, mainly of European style, were erected throughout the town. New roads and railroads were built to connect Tbilisi to other important cities inRussia and other parts ofTranscaucasia such asBatumi,Poti,Baku, andYerevan. By the 1850s Tbilisi once again emerged as a major trade and a cultural center. The likes ofIlia Chavchavadze,Akaki Tsereteli,Mirza Fatali Akhundzade,Iakob Gogebashvili,Alexander Griboedov and many other statesmen, poets, and artists all found their home in Tbilisi. The city was visited on numerous occasions by and was the object of affection ofAlexander Pushkin,Leo Tolstoy,Mikhail Lermontov, theRomanov Family and others. The main new artery built under Russian administration was Golovin Avenue (present-dayRustaveli Avenue), on which theViceroys of the Caucasus established their residence.
Throughout the century, the political, economic and cultural role of Tbilisi with its ethnic, confessional and cultural diversity was significant not only for Georgia but for the whole Caucasus. Hence, Tbilisi took on a different look. It acquired different architectural monuments and the attributes of an international city, as well as its own urban folklore and language, and the specificTbilisuri (literally, belonging to Tbilisi) culture.
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After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the city served as a location of theTranscaucasus interim government which established, in the spring of 1918, the short-lived independentTranscaucasian Federation with the capital in Tbilisi. It was here, in the former Caucasus Vice royal Palace, where the independence of three Transcaucasian nations – Georgia,Armenia andAzerbaijan – was declared on 26 to 28 May 1918. Since then, Tbilisi functioned as the capital of theDemocratic Republic of Georgia until 25 February 1921. From 1918 to 1919 the city was also a home to theGerman andBritish military headquarters consecutively.
Under the national government, Tbilisi turned into the first Caucasian University City after theTbilisi State University was founded in 1918, a long-time dream of the Georgians banned by theImperial Russian authorities for several decades[citation needed]. On 25 February 1921, theBolshevist Russian11th Red Army entered Tbilisi after bitter fighting at the outskirts of the city and declared Soviet rule.
In 1921, theRed Armyinvaded theDemocratic Republic of Georgia from Russia, and aBolshevik regime was installed in Tbilisi. Between 1922 and 1936, Tbilisi was the seat of theTranscaucasian SFSR, which regrouped the three Caucasian republics. After its dissolution, Tbilisi remained the capital city of theGeorgian Soviet Socialist Republic until 1991. In 1936, the official Russian name of the city was changed fromTiflis to Tbilisi, which led to a progressive change of name for the city in most foreign languages.
During Soviet rule, Tbilisi's population grew significantly, the city became more industrialized and came to be one of the most important political, social, and cultural centers of theSoviet Union along withMoscow,Kiev, andLeningrad. Stalinist buildings such as the currentParliament of Georgia were built on the main avenues, but most ancient neighborhoods retained their character. Many religious buildings were destroyed during anti-religious campaigns, such as theVank Cathedral. With the expansion of the city came new places for culture and entertainment, on the model of other Soviet metropolises:Vake Park was inaugurated in 1946, theSports Palace in 1961. New standardized residential areas (typicalmicrodistricts) were built from the 1960s:Gldani, Varketili, etc. To link them all with the old city center, aMetro system was developed, which opened in phases from 1966.
In the 1970s and the 1980s the old part of the city was considerably reconstructed.Shota Kavlashvili, the architect who planned the reconstruction, wanted to make the center look like in the 19th century. The reconstruction started from the side of Baratashvili Avenue, where some residential buildings were demolished to uncover the 18th century city wall.[19]
Tbilisi witnessed mass anti-Soviet demonstrations in 1956 (inprotest against the anti-Stalin policies ofNikita Khrushchev), 1978 (indefense of theGeorgian language) and 1989 (theApril 9 tragedy). Both 1956 and 1989 demonstrations were repressed in a bloody way by the authorities, leading to dozens of deaths.
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Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Tbilisi has experienced periods of significant instability and turmoil. After a briefcivil war which the city endured for two weeks from December 1991 – January 1992 (when pro-Gamsakhurdia and Opposition forces clashed with each other), Tbilisi became the scene of frequent armed confrontations between variousmafia clans and illegal business entrepreneurs. Even during theEdvard Shevardnadze era (1993–2003), crime and corruption became rampant at most levels of society. Many segments of society became impoverished due to a lack of employment which was caused by the crumblingeconomy. Average citizens of Tbilisi started to become increasingly disillusioned with the existing quality of life in the city (and in the nation in general). Mass protests took place in November 2003 afterfalsified parliamentary elections forced more than 100,000 people into the streets and concluded with theRose Revolution. Since 2003, Tbilisi has experienced considerably more stability, decreasing crime rates, improving economy, and a booming tourist industry similar to (if not more than) what the city experienced during the Soviet times.[citation needed]
As a multicultural city, Tbilisi is home to more than 100ethnic groups. Around 89% of the population consists of ethnicGeorgians, with significant populations of other ethnic groups such asArmenians,Russians, andAzeris. Along with the above-mentioned groups, Tbilisi is home to other ethnic groups includingOssetians,Abkhazians,Ukrainians,Greeks,Germans,Jews,Estonians,Kurds (Yazidi and Muslim),Assyrians, and others.
More than 95% of the residents of Tbilisi practice forms of Christianity (the most predominant of which is theGeorgian Orthodox Church). TheRussian Orthodox Church, which is inFull communion with the Georgian, and theArmenian Apostolic Church have significant following within the city as well. A large minority of the population (around 4%) practicesIslam (mainlyShia Islam). About 2% of Tbilisi's population practicesJudaism, there is alsoRoman Catholic church andYazidism (Sultan Ezid Temple).
Tbilisi has been historically known forreligious tolerance.[citation needed] This is especially evident in the city's Old Town, where a mosque, synagogue, andEastern and Oriental Orthodox churches can be found less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) from each other.
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