Martkop battle

In the spring of 1625, trying to strengthen its power in Kartli , the Persian Shah Abbas I sent his troops there under the command of Karchikh Khan and the shah serving in the service of the Georgian military commander Georgy Saakadze . Apparently, the Shah did not fully trust the latter, since he took his son Paata hostage and assigned George the adviser to the Persian general. Next to George in the Persian army was his other son, Avtandil.

On the advice of George, Karchikh Khan sent a significant part of his troops to different parts of Javakheti, disuniting and weakening the Persian forces. The main forces of the Persians became a camp at Martkopi.

The Georgians owe their success in the battle of training conducted by the commander of Saakadze . According to his plans, the Georgians were supposed to attack the enemy camp earlier than planned; Saakadze and his entourage were to kill the Persian commanders.

At dawn on March 25, the combined Kartli-Kakheti army approached the enemy camp. Hearing the noise, the sentinels of the Persians were alert. All the Persian commanders at that time gathered in the tent of Karchikha Khan, where George was also called. Unexpectedly for the Persians, he attacked Karchikh Khan and with the help of his son killed him, Avtandil also killed the son of Karchikh Khan. Then George and his henchmen killed the stunned Persian commanders. At this time, the Georgians, led by the second commander Zurab Eristavi, attacked a disorganized enemy who was left without leadership. After a fierce and bloody battle throughout the day, the Georgians won a crushing victory.

Description Martkop battles are given in the "Life of Kartli" and the Turkish chronicler of the XVII century Mustafa Naim.

After the battle, the Georgians occupied Tbilisi and ousted the Persians from other regions.

Martkop and Marabdin epochal battles