View source for Emirate of Tbilisi

{{Short description|Muslim outpost in the Caucasus}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name = {{lang|ar|إمارة تفليسي}}<br/>''Imārat Tiflisi'' {{in lang|ar}} <br>თბილისის საამირო<br>''Tbilisis saamiro'' {{in lang|ka}}
|conventional_long_name = Emirate of Tbilisi
|common_name = Tbilisi
|capital = [[Tbilisi|al-Tefelis]]
|government_type = [[principality|Emirate]]
|year_start = 736
|year_end = 1122
|event_start =
|event_end = [[Siege of Tbilisi (1122)|Siege of Tbilisi]]
|p1 = Principality of Iberia
|s1 = Kingdom of Georgia
|common_languages = [[Classical Arabic]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]]
|religion         = [[Sunni Islam]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image_map = Caucasus_1060_map_en.svg
|image_map_caption = Emirate of Tbilisi in 1060.
|today        = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
}}
{{History of Georgia (country)}}
{{Historical Arab states and dynasties}}
The '''Emirate of Tbilisi''' ({{lang-ka|თბილისის საამირო}} ''{{transl|ka|Tbilisis saamiro}}'', {{langx|ar|إمارة تفليسي}} ''{{transl|ar|Imārat Tiflisi}}'') was a [[Islam|Muslim]] emirate in [[Transcaucasia]]. The '''Emirs of Tbilisi''' ruled over the parts of today's eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] from their base in the city of [[Tbilisi]], from 736 to 1080 (nominally to 1122). Established by the [[Arabs]] during their rule of Georgian lands, the [[emirate]] was an important outpost of the [[Muslim]] rule in the [[Caucasus]] until [[Siege of Tbilisi (1122)|recaptured]] by the [[Georgians]] under King [[David IV of Georgia|David IV]] in 1122.
[[File:Map of the Caucasus, 740 CE.svg|thumb|250px|left|Georgia and the Caucasus around 740, just after the emirate was established.]]
== History ==
{{See also|Arab rule in Georgia|History of Tbilisi}}
The [[Arabs]] first appeared in Georgia, namely in [[Kartli]] ([[Principality of Iberia|Iberia]]) in 645. It was not, however, until 735, when they succeeded in establishing their firm control over a large portion of the country. In that year, [[Marwan II]] [[Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia|took hold]] of Tbilisi and much of the neighbouring lands and installed there an Arab [[emir]], who was to be confirmed by the [[Caliph]] or, occasionally, by the ''[[ostikan]]'' of ''[[Arminiya|Armīniya]]''.
During the [[Arab rule in Georgia|Arab period]], Tbilisi (''al-Tefelis'') grew into a center of trade between the [[Islamic world]] and [[northern Europe]]. Beyond that, it functioned as a key Arab outpost and a buffer province facing the [[Byzantine empire|Byzantine]] and [[Khazar]] dominions. Over time, Tbilisi became largely [[Muslim]], but the [[Muslim culture|Muslim influences]] were strictly confined to the city itself, while the environs remained largely [[Christianity|Christian]].
Tbilisi was a large city with a strong double wall pierced by three gates. It lay on both banks of the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]], and the two parts were connected by a bridge of boats. The contemporary geographers especially mention its thermal springs, which supplied the baths with constant hot waters. On the river were water-mills. The houses were primarily built, to the surprise of contemporary Arab travelers, of pine wood. In the first half of the ninth century, Tbilisi is said to have been the second largest, after [[Derbend]], a city in the [[Caucasus]], with its at least 50,000 inhabitants and thriving commerce.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} Several intellectuals born or living in Tbilisi, bearing the [[Nisba (onomastics)|nisba]] [[al-Tiflisi]] were known across the Muslim world.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Japaridze|first1=Gocha|title=მუსლიმი მოღვაწეები ათ-თიფლისის ნისბით VIII–XIV საუკუნეებში|journal=Matsne|date=1989|volume=4|pages=77–88|trans-title=Muslim figures with the nisba al-Tiflisi in the 8th to the 14th centuries|language=ka}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Japaridze|first1=Gocha|title=მუსლიმი მოღვაწეები ათ-თიფლისის ნისბით VIII–XIV საუკუნეებში|journal=Matsne|date=1990|volume=1|pages=65–78|trans-title=Muslim figures with the nisba al-Tiflisi in the 8th to the 14th centuries|language=ka}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Margarian|first1=Hayrapet|last2=Asatrian|first2=Garnik|title=The Muslim Community of Tiflis (8th-19th Centuries)|journal=Iran and the Caucasus|date=1 April 2004|volume=8|issue=1|pages=29–52|doi=10.1163/1573384042002966}}</ref>
The [[Abbasid Caliphate]] weakened after the [[Fourth Fitna|Abbasid civil war]] in the 810s, and caliphal power was challenged by secessionist tendencies among peripheral rulers, including those of Tbilisi. At the same time, the emirate became a target of the resurgent Georgian [[Bagrationi dynasty]] who were expanding their territory from [[Principality of Tao-Klarjeti|Tao-Klarjeti]] across Georgian lands. The Emirate of Tbilisi grew in relative strength under [[Ishaq ibn Isma'il]] (833–853), who was powerful enough to quell the energies of the Georgian princes and to contend with the Abbasid authority in the region. He withheld his annual payment of tribute to Baghdad, and declared his independence from the Caliph. To suppress the rebellion, in 853 Caliph [[al-Mutawakkil]] dispatched a [[punitive expedition]] led by [[Bugha al-Kabir]] (also known as Bugha the Turk) who burned Tbilisi to the ground and had Ishaq decapitated, putting an end to the city's chance to become the center of an independent Islamic state in the Caucasus. The Abbasids chose not to rebuild the city extensively, and as a result the Muslim prestige and authority in the region began to wane.
===Unsuccessful Georgian attempts to capture Tbilisi===
====Capture of Jafar by Liparit Baghvashi and Ivane Abazasdze====
In 1032, the [[Eristavi]] of [[Duchy of Kldekari|Kldekari]] and [[Kartli]], [[Liparit IV of Kldekari|Liparit Baghvashi]] and [[Ivane Abazasdze]] lured [[Emir]] Jafar of [[Tbilisi]] from the city and captured him. It seems that the emir could not have imagined such a development of events, because he went to the meeting with the Georgian nobility without any doubts, especially since he and [[Bagrat IV of Georgia|Bagrat IV]] marched on [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]] with joint forces. He probably spent five years in captivity. It is difficult to say why the [[Georgians]] did not manage to organize the capture of the city that was left without an ruler. [[Ivane Javakhishvili]] pointed out that after the capture of the fortress of [[Birtvisi Fortress|Birtvisi]], the king took pity on Emir and again confirmed him as the ruler of Tbilisi, According to Kopaliani, Bagrat came under the influence of Liparit and Ivane's opponent feudal lords, who saw the threat of strengthening Baghvashi in taking over the city, therefore he refused to capture Tbilisi. One way or another, the Emirate of Tbilisi remained an independent entity.
====Siege of Tbilisi (1038-1040)====
Although one year after the release of Jafar, the Georgians under the leadership of Liparit tried to capture Tbilisi. Historians believe that Liparit convinced the king of the need to capture Tbilisi and called for another campaign. The army that entered Tbilisi blocked all roads to cut off the city from the outside world. A siege circle was formed around Tbilisi. The population was gripped by terrible hunger. The people of Tbilisi were going to give up over the city to the king, and the Emir was thinking about escaping quietly, but suddenly, after a two-year siege, Bagrat offered a truce to Jafar, and the Georgian troops immediately left Tbilisi. This issue has also become the cause of dispute among historians. Ivane Javakhishvili, based on the preserved information of [[Ibn al-Athir]], connects this hasty decision of the king with the entry of the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuks]] into Armenia and Azerbaijan, while [[Mariam Lortkipanidze|M. Lortkipanidze]] again blames the princes who are opposed to Liparit for the failure of the attempt to capture Tbilisi, although he also does not rule out the influence of the Seljuk campaigns on the king.
===Capture of Tbilisi by David the Builder===
====Siege of Tbilisi (1122)====
{{main|Siege of Tbilisi (1122)}}
From the 12th century, [[David IV of Georgia|David IV]] started a fight to expel the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuks]] from [[South Caucasus|Transcaucasia]], the march on [[Tbilisi]] was part of this fight. In 1122, the king was able to [[Siege of Tbilisi (1122)|capture Tbilisi]]. As the city was not surrendered without a fight, the king took it by storm and brutally assaulted the city's rulers and brutally massacred the [[Muslims|Muslim]] population. Nevertheless, David's heartbreak soon subsided and he granted the people of Tbilisi many concessions: he released them from the tax of that year and, at the request of the Muslims, he ordered that no one in their area should slaughter a [[pig]]. The king granted Muslims the right to freely pray. The king also granted tax benefits to Muslims: [[Georgians]] paid five [[Dinar|dinars]] a year, [[Jews]] - four, and Muslims - three dinars. The king promised the Muslims, Jews, and [[Armenians]] of Tbilisi to live safely in the city and to keep their faith intact, so that they could freely continue their peaceful trade activities. The capital of [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]] was moved from [[Kutaisi]] to Tbilisi. The city soon became the economic and cultural center of the country. With this, the Emirate of Tbilisi ended its approximately 400-year existence.
== Legacy ==
The office of [[emir]] — ''amira'' or ''[[amirtamira]]'' — now an appointed Georgian royal official — survived in Tbilisi, as well as other big cities of Georgia, into the 18th century, being substituted by the office of ''[[mouravi]]''.
== Rulers ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Emir
!Reign
!Dynasty
!Notes
|- style="background:#fff;"
|1. [[Ismail ibn Shuab|Isma'il b. Shuab]]
|(until 813)
|Shuabids
|
|-
|2. Mohammed I b. Atab
|813 – 829
|Shuabids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|3. [[Ali ibn Shuab al-Tiflis|Ali I b. Shuab]]
|829 – 833
|Shuabids
|
|-
|4. [[Ishaq ibn Isma'il|Ishaq b. Isma'il b. Shuab]]
|833 – 853
|Shuabids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|5. Muhammad II b. Khalil
|853 – 870
|Shaybanids
|
|-
|6. Isa b. al-Shaykh al-Shayban
|870 – 876
|Shaybanids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|7. Ibrahim
|876 – 878
|Shaybanids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|8. Gabuloc
|878 – 880
|Shaybanids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|9. Jafar I b. Ali
|880 – 914
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|10. Mansur I b. Jafar
|914 – 952
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|11. Jafar II b. Mansur
|952 – 981
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|12. Ali II b. Jafar
|981 – 1032
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|13. Jafar III b. Ali
|1032 – 1046
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|14. Mansur II b. Jafar
|1046 – 1054
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#fff;"
|15. Abu'l-Hayja b. Jafar
|1054 – 1062
|Jafarids
|
|- style="background:#FFFF00;"
|
|1062 – 1068
|
|[[City council]]
|- style="background:#fff;"
|16. Fadlun of [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]]
|1068 – 1080
|Jafarids
|appointed by [[Alp Arslan]]
|- style="background:#FFFF00;"
|
|1080 – 1122
|
|[[City council]]
|- style="background:#fff;"
|
|
|
|[[Siege of Tbilisi (1122)|annexed]] to [[Kingdom of Georgia]]
|}
== Sources ==
*[[William Edward David Allen|Allen, WED]] (1932), ''A History of the Georgian People'', K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co,
*[[Vladimir Minorsky|Minorsky, V]].,  [https://web.archive.org/web/20051216125515/http://www1.encislam.brill.nl/data/EncIslam/S3/SIM-7543.html ''Tiflis''] in [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]
*Suny RG (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'' (2nd Edition), Bloomington and Indianapolis, {{ISBN|0-253-35579-6}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Paghava |first1=Irakli |last2=Turkia |first2=Severiane |title=A Unique Coin of Abū al-Hayjā, Ja'farid Emir of Tiflīs |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2012 |volume=172 |pages=205–212|jstor=42678938}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=1827 ''Tiflis dirhams''] at [http://www.zeno.ru Zeno.ru – Oriental Coins Database]
{{Historical states of Georgia |state=collapsed}}
{{Georgia (country) topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emirate Of Tbilisi}}
[[Category:Former emirates|Tbilisi]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Islam in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:1122 disestablishments]]
[[Category:736 establishments]]
[[Category:History of Tbilisi]]
[[Category:History of the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1121]]