Shah İsmails expedetion to Georgia

Shah Ismail's Georgia campaigns; It is known as the Qizilbash marches to the territory of present-day Georgia during the reign of the Safavid Shah Ismail I (1501-1524).

expedetion of Georgia
Date 1501-1524 Location Georgia Result Safavid victory
Belligerents
Safavid Empire	Kartli Georgia Kingdom of Imereti Kingdom of Kakheti Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ismail I	Levan Davud bey Kızıl Ahmet oğlu  †

Ground

Shah Ismail, who defeated the Shirvanshahs in the Battle of Chabani in 1500, captured Baku and Shamakhi, defeated Akkoyunlu Elvend Mirza in the Battle of Sharur in 1501, entered Tabriz and declared himself Shah. After this, the Safavid state rapidly expanded its territory and turned into an empire.

The first Safavid ruler, Shah Ismail (1501-1524), made the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti his vassals in the early 1510s. At the time, however, he was focused on consolidating his rule in the region of modern Iran, so he did not bother to further strengthen his authority there. He made expeditions to Georgia many times, and his expedition in 1518 especially attracted attention. As a result of this campaign, he again made Georgian rulers vassals, and in 1522 a garrison of the Qizilbash army was settled in Tiflis. However, the creation of a system of judges appointed by the true Safavids occurred during the reign of his son and successor, Tahmasb I.

Qızılbash expedetions

Seeing the tense relations with the Ottoman sultan, Shah Ismail decided to strengthen his authority in Georgia in order to improve his position in the future struggle. The situation in Georgia was also favorable for this, because there were several principalities at war with each other.The Georgians themselves created the official pretext for the Qizilbash to attack there. Thus, the Meskheti Tsar IV Kvarkvare (1516-1535) was defeated by the ruler of Imereti and took refuge in Ismail's camp in Nakhichevan. In return for the requested help, Ismail sent a part of the Qizilbash army under the command of Div Sultan Rumlu to Georgia. As a result of the campaign, the army of Imereti was defeated and sought help from the Ottoman army. Qizilbash regained the throne. In the next few years, the ruler of Imereti, who returned from the Ottoman Empire with a Turkish army, began to plunder the Qizilbash's possessions again. In the battle that took place in Dabil, the Qizilbash defeated the Ottoman army, the Ottoman commander was killed, and the ruler of Imereti managed to escape to the mountains and save his life. The third Georgian march of the Qizilbash took place in 1521 under the command of Rumlu Div Sultan. This expedition was a response to the attack of the Kakheti king on Sheki. Rumlu Div Sultan crossed the rivers Ganikh (Alazan) and Gabirri (Iori) and attacked the fortresses of Zayam and Garam. Lavand Khan, seeing that he could not win, came to the presence of Rumlu Div Sultan. Together with him, other rulers of Georgia - Kvarkvare, Davud bey and the ruler of Imereti - acted in this way. Together with Div Sultan, they came to Shah Ismail, who was wintering in Nakhchivan. Here the Georgian tsars undertook to pay the Safavids an annual tribute and returned to their possessions.

Shortly before the death of Shah Ismail, he was in the vicinity of Sheki and Georgia, hunting with the Qizilbash and the nobles of Sheki. On the way back from here, Shah Ismail was informed that Lavand, the ruler of Kakheti, had attacked Sheki with a large army and the Shekis were defeated. Enraged by this, Shah Ismail wanted to march on Lavand, but his illness and death prevented his plan.

Result

As a result of these marches, the groundwork was created for the establishment of Kızılbaş sovereignty in today's Georgian territory. Although Shah Ismail was interested in expanding his power to more southern lands until the Battle of Chaldiran, the strategic importance of Georgia in the fight against the Ottomans increased in his eyes after the defeat in the Battle of Chaldiran. After that, Kızılbaş expeditions were organized regularly to Georgia. However, the strengthening of Qizilbash sovereignty in today's Georgian territory took place during the reign of Tahmasb I.