History of Georgia country: Encyclopedia II - History of Georgia country - Ancient and medieval Georgia

History of Georgia country - Ancient and medieval Georgia

The region was settled early by a neolithic culture. In the 1970s, archaeological excavations revealed a number of ancient settlements that included houses with galleries, carbon-dated to the 5th millennium BC in the Imiris-gora region of (Eastern Georgia). These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a characteristic feature being the central pier and chimney. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings and houses of the 'Darbazi' type.

In the chalcolithic era of the fourth and third millennia B.C., Georgia and Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium B.C. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni (4th - 3rd millennium BC), and barrow burials (carbon dated to the 2nd millennium BC) in the province of Trialeti, at Tsalka (Eastern Georgia). Together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture.

The ancient Greeks knew western Georgia as Colchis, and it featured in the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who travelled there in search of the Golden Fleece. The Georgian regions became known as Egrisi in the western coastal plain, and Iberia in the mountainous east, prior to their becoming unified as a client state of the Roman Empire in 66 BC after the campaigns of Pompey. It became one of the first states in the world to convert to Christianity in 317 AD, when King of Iberia Mirian II established it as the official state religion. In 523, Christianity was declared as the official religion in Egrisi (Western Georgia) as well.

Although they were subsequently beset by various invaders, principally Arabs, Mongols, Persians and Turks, the Georgians retained a greater or lesser degree of independence for over 1,000 years. In 1008 all Georgian principalities were united into the unified Kingdom of Georgia (1008-1466) under the Bagrationi dynasty. This dynasty was established by Ashot I the Great in the end of the 8th century. The greatest representatives of this dynasty were David the Builder (David IV Aghmashenebeli) (reigned 1089-1125) and Tamar (1184-1213), both regarded as saints by the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. The Kingdom of Georgia of that time also included Armenia, Azerbaijan and North Caucasian territories; the Empire of Trebizond was created as a satellite state by Tamar. Georgia suffered a lengthy period of decline thereafter, broken up into several kingdoms and principalities and finding itself contested by the Ottoman and Persian empires.

In 1783 Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti (which was devastated by Turkish and Persian invasions ) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Kartl-Kakheti received protection by Russia.

On December 22, 1800 Russian emperor Paul I, by achieving the request of the Georgian king George XII, has signed the Proclamation on the connection of Georgia (Kartl-Kakheti) and Russia. The Proclamation was announced on January 18, 1801.

In 1810, the kingdom of Imereti (Western Georgia) were annexed by the Russian Empire after the suppression of King Solomon II's resistance.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ancient and medieval Georgia", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki