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| Regions of Georgia |
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| Kartli |
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Kartli is the largest and most populated
province of Eastern Georgia. It includes the Georgian capital, Tbilisi,
and two other major cities, Gori and Rustavi. It is bordered by the
mountain-range of the Greater Caucasus to the north, by the province of
Kakheti to the east, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the south, by Turkey
and the Samtskhe-Javakheti region to the south-west and by the province
of Imereti to the west.In the
3rd century BC the ancient Eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli, also
known as Iberia, was established here. Its king declared Christianity as
the official religion of Kartli in 337 AD. In the early Middle Ages,
Kartli lost its political importance because of the struggle between the
King and strong feudal rulers, as well as the aggression of the strong
Persian Kingdom. Even so, in a way, it remained Georgia's leader because
of the independence of its Church and culture from Byzantine influence.
Kartli was part of the united Georgian Kingdom in the central Middle
Ages. (Georgia was united at the beginning of the 11th century, but
Tbilisi, Kartli's main city, was not liberated until 1122. Immediately
afterwards, the Georgian capital moved from Kutaisi to Tbilisi.) After
the disintegration of the united Kingdom in the 15th century, Kartli
became an independent Kingdom, which suffered from frequent Persian
invasions. In 1762, the Kingdom of Kartli was united with the
neighboring Kingdom of Kakheti. This Kingdom too was soon weakened by
the Persian aggression. In 1801 the Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti was annexed
to the Russian Empire. |
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