Bakhtrioni ( ka, ბახტრიონი, bɑχtʼrɪɔnɪ) is a ruined 17th-century fortress in the eastern

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

region of Kakheti, on the left bank of the

Alazani The Alazani ( ka, ალაზანი, az, Qanıx) is a river that flows through the Caucasus. It is the main tributary of the Kura in eastern Georgia, and flows for . Part of its path forms the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, before i ...

river near its confluence with the Ilto. The fortress served as a Safavid Iranian outpost in the 1650s until the rebellious Georgians captured and demolished it. Only insignificant ruins of the Bakhtrioni fortress have survived.

History

The name of the Bakhtrioni fortress derives from the former village Bakhtriani near which it was constructed in the 1650s. It was garrisoned by a

Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, t ...

force left by the Iranian government to reinforce its authority in the area and protect the Turkic nomads transplanted into the Georgian lands. The fortress overlooked a strategic locale, controlling roads to the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

mountains, inhabited by the bellicose Georgian highlanders of

Tusheti Tusheti ( ka, თუშეთი) is a historic region in northeast Georgia. Geography Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan to the north and eas ...

Pshavi Pshavi ( ka, ფშავი) is a small historic region of northern Georgia, nowadays part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti ''mkhare'' ("region"), and lying chiefly among the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains along the Pshavis Aragvi ...

, and

Khevsureti Khevsureti ( Georgian: ხევსურეთი, ''a land of valleys'') is a historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia. They are the branch of Kartvelian ( Georgian) people located along both the northern (Pirikita khevsureti, Georgia ...

.Kurtsikidze, Shorena and Chikovani, Vakhtang (2002)
"Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic Survey"
, pp. 30-31. Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Working Paper Series. In 1659 the Georgian highlanders moved to join the rebellious people of Kakheti in a surprise attack on Bakhtrioni. In the ensuing battle, the entire Qizilbash force was annihilated and the rebels proceeded to capture another Iranian stronghold, that of Alaverdi. These events are widely acclaimed in folk tradition which has preserved the names of the highlander heroes of the battle of Bakhtrioni such as the Tush Zezva Gaprindauli, the Khevsur Nadira Khosharauli, and the Pshav Gogolauri. It also inspired the late 19th-century Georgian poet

Vazha-Pshavela Vazha-Pshavela ( ka, ვაჟა-ფშაველა), simply referred to as Vazha ( ka, ვაჟა) (26 July 1861 – 10 July 1915), is the pen name of the Georgian poet and writer Luka Razikashvili ( ka, ლუკა რაზიკა ...

to write his patriotic epic poem ''Bakhtrioni'' (1892). Gamkrelidze, Ekaterine (ed., 2008), ''Der Dichter Vaza-Psavela. Fünf Essays'', p. 81. Königshausen & Neumann, Streets named after Bakhtrioni are found in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

Akhmeta Akhmeta ( ka, ახმეტა) is a town in Kakheti (Georgia) and is the administrative centre of Akhmeta Municipality. It's situated on the left side of Alazani, close to the Pankisi Gorge. The town is situated at 567m. In 1966, it received th ...

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombo ...

Lagodekhi Lagodekhi ( ka, ლაგოდეხი) is a town, located at the foot of the Greater Caucasus mountains between the rivers Lagodekhiskhevi and Shromiskhevi, in the historical region of Hereti (now part of Kakheti). Lagodekhi has a number of ...

, Kareli, and

Kaspi Kaspi ( ka, კასპი) is a town in central Georgia on the Mtkvari River. It is a center of Kaspi district, one of the four districts in Shida Kartli region. Founded in the early Middle Ages, the town turned into possession of the Amilakhv ...

References

{{Reflist Castles and forts in Georgia (country) Buildings and structures in Kakheti

History

See also

References