Agha Muhammad Khan >~< The Battle of Krtsanisi (Georgian: კრწანისის ბრძოლა, romanized: k'rts'anisis brdzola, Persian: نبرد کرتسانیسی) was fought between the army of Qajar Iran (Persia) and the Georgian armies of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and Kingdom of Imereti at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi, Georgia, from September 8 to September 11, 1795, as part of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's war in response to King Heraclius II of Georgia’s alliance with the Russian Empire.[12] The battle resulted in the decisive defeat of the Georgians, capture, and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi,[10] as well as the temporary absorption of eastern Georgia into the Iranian empire.[a][b][c][4] In August 1795, Agha Mohammad Khan crossed the Aras river with a 70,000-strong army.[8] This force was divided in three: the left wing was sent in the direction of Erivan, the right one parallel to the Caspian Sea into the Mughan across the lower Aras towards Dagestan and Shirvan, while the Shah headed the centre force himself, advancing towards the fortress of Shusha in the Karabakh Khanate, which he besieged between 8 July and 9 August 1795.[2] His right and left wing forced the Khans of Ganja and Erivan into alliance respectively.[23] Having abandoned the siege of Shusha due to stiff resistance,[24] which was further aided by Georgian crown prince Aleksandre,[8] the Khan of Karabakh, Ibrahim Khan, eventually surrendered to Mohammad Khan after discussions, including the paying of regular tribute and to surrender hostages, though the Qajar forces were still denied entrance to Shusha.[24] Since the main objective was Georgia, Mohammad Khan was willing to have Karabakh secured by this agreement for now, for he and his army subsequently moved further.[24] While at Ganja, having secured Shirvan, he was joined by Javad Khan Qajar and the rest of his right wing contingent.[23] Agha Mohammad Khan, at the same time, marched directly on Tbilisi, with half of the army he crossed the Aras River with, though other estimations mention 40,000[2] instead of 35,000,[8][9][26][7] and attacked the heavily fortified Georgian positions of Heraclius and Solomon on the southwestern limits of the city. Abandoned by several of his nobles, Heraclius II managed to mobilize around 5,000 troops, including some 2,000 auxiliaries from neighbouring Imereti under his king Solomon II, a member of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty and maternal grandson of Heraclius II. The Georgians offered a desperate resistance and succeeded in rolling back a series of Persian attacks on September 9 and 10. After that, it is said that some traitors informed the Persians that the Georgians had no more strength to fight, and the Qajars army cancelled their plan of going back to Persia, which they previously had. Early on September 11, Agha Mohammad Khan personally led an all-out offensive against the Georgians. Amid an artillery duel and a fierce cavalry charge, the Persians managed to cross the Kura River and outflank the decimated Georgian army. Heraclius II attempted to mount a counterattack, but he had to retreat to the last available positions in the outskirts of Tbilisi. By nightfall, the Georgian forces had been exhausted andalmost completely destroyed. The last surviving Georgian artillery briefly held the advancing Persians to allow Heraclius II and his retinue of some 150 men to escape through the city to the mountains. The fighting continued in the streets of Tbilisi and at the fortress of Narikala. In a few hours, Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital, which was completely sacked and its population massacred. Among those killed in the city was the archbishop of Tbilisi, Doistheus.[27] The Persian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off some 15,000 captives.[10][11] The Georgians had lost 4,000 men in the battle, the Iranians 13,000; a third of their total force.[8] #fyp #History #turk #iran #georgia - @qob1d