Bakhtrioni Uprising

Bakhtrioni uprising
Alaverdi Monastery, one of the crucial battlefields during the uprising.
Date September 1659 Location Bakhtrioni fortress, Alaverdi monastery Result Strategically inconclusive * 80,000 Turcomans driven out of eastern Georgia* Persian plans for recolonization thwarted* Kakheti remains under Persian suzerainty
Belligerents
Kingdom of Kakheti aided by Tushetians, Pshavs, Khevsurs	Safavid Empire Turcoman tribes
Commanders and leaders
Bidzina Cholokashvili   Zaal of Aragvi   Shalva of Qsani   Elizbar of Qsani	Shah Abbas II

The Bakhtrioni uprising was a general revolt of the Georgian Kingdom of Kakheti against the political domination of Safavid Persia, in 1659. It is named after the main battle, which took place at the fortress of Bakhtrioni.

The uprising happened during a century of demographic, economic, and political decline of Kakheti. In the first half of the 17th century, Kakhetian king Teimuraz I had time and again struggled to maintain independence, or at least large autonomy, from the Persian Empire. After successfully repelling an expedition sent by Shah Abbas I, Kakheti was invaded once again by the Shah himself in 1616, much of its population massacred or deported. In the following decades, the Persians tried to put Kakheti under control of the more submissive Kingdom of Kartli, led by Georgian prince Rostom, a convert to Islam. When such control had been installed, and Teimuraz had fled to Western Georgia, in the 1650s, in order to repopulate the province and keep an eye on the restive nobles, a policy of colonisation of Kakheti by Qizilbash Turcoman tribes was decided by the Persians.

The forced installation of the Qizilbash was the immediate motive for the uprising. Kakheti had been divided in two administrative regions: the south-eastern part was under the power of the Beylerbey of Karabakh, the rest under that of Nakhichevan. Up to 80 000 Turcomans migrated to Kakheti. They started building a fortress at Bakhtrioni, and transforming the ancient monastery of Alaverdi into one.

The uprising was, as in 1615, inspired by the main noble families remained faithful to Teimuraz I. However, according to Georgian accounts, the mass of the population took part in it, as they were being evicted of their villages and farms by the incomers. The Eristavi Zaal, Duke of Aragvi, one of the main feudal lords in Kakheti, a former supporter of Teimuraz who had made allegiance to Rostom and the Persians in 1648 and thus gained even more power, took the lead of the uprising. Among the leaders were also Bidzina Choloqashvili, Shalva, eristavi of Ksani, and his brother Elizbar Eristvisshvili. Georgian mountain people, such as the Tushs, the Khevsurians and the Pshavs, also joined the rebellion, under the leadership of Zezva Gaprindauli, Nadir Khosharauli, and Gogolauri.

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