Bakhtrioni uprising

Bakhtrioni uprising

Alaverdi Monastery, one of the crucial battlefields during the uprising.
DateSeptember 1659
Location
Result Inconclusive, see aftermath[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Kakheti aided by Tushetians, Pshavs, Khevsurs Safavid Empire
Turcoman tribes
Commanders and leaders
Bidzina Cholokashvili  Executed
Zaal of Aragvi  Executed
Shalva of Ksani  Executed
Elizbar of Ksani  Executed
Shah Abbas II
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown 80,000 Turcomans killed or expelled from Kakheti
Teimuraz I and his wife Khorashan. A sketch from the album of the contemporaneous Roman Catholic missionary Cristoforo Castelli.

The Bakhtrioni uprising (Georgian: ბახტრიონის აჯანყება) was a general revolt in the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kakheti against the political domination of Safavid Persia, in 1659.[2] It was named after the main battle, which took place at the fortress of Bakhtrioni.

  1. ^ [1] I. Javakhishvili, Essays of Georgian History, Part IV, Soviet Georgia Publishing, Tbilisi 1970, pg 230-233.
  2. ^ Hitchins, Keith (2001). "GEORGIA ii. History of Iranian-Georgian Relations". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 4. pp. 464–470. In order to end resistance in Kakheti once and for all, the shah revived ʿAbbās I's plan to populate the country with Turkmen nomads, a measure that incited a general uprising of nobles in 1659. Although they halted the settlement of Turkmens, they failed to shake Persian control of their country (Berdzenishvili et al., I, pp. 369-72).