Ottoman invasion of Western Georgia | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A portion of the 1724 French map, focused on western Georgia | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire |
Kingdom of Imereti Principality of Mingrelia Principality of Guria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Mustafa II Ahmed III Köse Halil Pasha Ishak I Jaqeli |
George VI of Imereti Giorgi IV Dadiani Mamia III Gurieli |
The 1703 Ottoman invasion of western Georgia was a military expedition undertaken by the Ottoman Empire against the tributary states in western Georgia—Imereti, Guria, and Mingrelia. This considerable military deployment, ostensibly to settle a power struggle in Imereti in favor of the sultan's candidate, portended a change in Ottoman policy in the fluid frontier region in the Caucasus and aimed at consolidating the imperial authority among the restive Georgian subjects. The costly war contributed to the fall of Sultan Mustafa II, having incited a mutiny of the disaffected troops at Constantinople. The new Ottoman government curtailed the campaign and effected withdrawal from much of western Georgia's interior. The Turks held the Black Sea coastline and several fortresses close to the littoral.