Draft:Battle of Gochouri

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Battle of Gochouri
Part of War of the Kingdom of Imereti (1623-1658) [fr]

Levan II Dadiani and George III of Imereti
DateDecember 9, 1623
Location
Gochouri
Result Mingrelian victory
Belligerents
Principality of Mingrelia Kingdom of Imereti
Commanders and leaders
Levan II Dadiani George III
Strength
Large Unknown

The Battle of Gochouri was fought in in December 9, 1623 between the armies of the Mingrelian Prince Levan II Dadiani and the Imeretian King George III, near Gochouri.

Battle[edit]

Levan II Dadiani raised a large army in a few months and managed to assemble troops from Guria, Mingrelia and Abkhazia, but also from the mountainous region of Svaneti and the distant Muslim province of Jiketi, by the Black Sea.[1] The princes, who control the entire maritime coast, impose an economic blockade on the kingdom, leading to a famine which affects Kutaisi, the royal capital.[2] Meanwhile, the high noble Paata Tsulukidze, a close ally of King George III, betrayed his overlord and joined Mingrelia, where he became the vizier of Levan II.[2]

To put an end to this rebellion, King George III in turn gathered his troops and launched an offensive against Levan in winter 1623. On December 9, the troops clashed near the village of Gochouri, where the royal forces were defeated.[3] Following his defeat, George III returned to his capital, while many Imeretians soldiers were taken hostage by the rebels until a ransom was paid by the king.[4] While a common practice amongst the Mongols and Seljuks, Levan was the first to in the Caucausus to extensively take hostages for ransom, making raiding a profitable venture[5][6] and was reintroduced on Georgian battlefields as a lucrative practice, a practice that would be used during the 17th century.[2]

Aftermath[edit]

Shortly after the victory of Mingrelia, Levan II Dadiani continued his military expansion by confronting his western allies, the Abkhazians. He accuses his wife, Tamunia Sharvashidze, of adultery with his vizier Paata Tsulukidze and has her nose and ears cut off, before sending Tsolukidze under the supervision of the Prince of Guria.[2] With his army, Dadiani escorted Tamunia into Abkhazia and devastated the territories of his father-in-law, while imprisoning his two sons.[2]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Asatiani, Nodar (2008). Საქართველოს ისტორია II [History of Georgia, Volume 2] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press. ISBN 978-9941-13-004-5.
  • Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires, a History of Georgia. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78023-070-2.
  • Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of a Georgian Nation (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.