Georgian Community

Tbilisi is mentioned in Georgian annals for the first time in connection with the events occurred in the IV century C.E. At that time it was already a powerful fortress which played an important defensive role in the struggle of the Georgian kingdom against foreign invaders, the Persians in particular.

 

The foundation of the city has come down to us as legend. One day King Vakhtang Gorgasali was hunting with his retinue in impenetrable woods whitchj at that time covered the slopes of the Mtkvari (Kura) Valley. While pursuing his game the king lost sight of the rest of the hunters. Suddenly a pheasant came flying out of bushes. The king hit him with an arrow.When he dismounted and wanted to pick up his bag he found that the pheasants had fallen into a hot spring and was cooked. The retinue found its ruler immersed in thought by a hot spring. King Vakhtang announced that a town would be built there and the he would name it TBILISI, "City of Warm Springs" in Georgian.

 

Tbilisi was repeatedly invaded all through the many centuries of its history. In the 730s the town passed into the hands of the Arabs who ruled in Transcaucasia for several centuries. Despite intervention and destruction, Tbilisi was in the XII-XIII centuries one of the populous and economically well developed towns of the Middle East. During the subsequent epoch, however, Tbilisi gradually fell into decay. This was caused by the constant invasions of enemy hordes and the break-up of the united Georgian state. It is estimated, that during this epoch Tbilisi was captured and razed to the ground more than 80 time ! The last time the city was subjected to a destructive attack of the Persian Shah Agha Mohammed Khan in 1795.

 

A peaceful era of development in the history of Tbilisi started at the turn of the XIX century. Though Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire, the repressive Russian regime brought political and ecnomical stability to the country. The construction of the Transcaucasian Railway provided for the city a convenient egress to the most important land and sea communications; a number of industrial enterprises were put into operation; trade and handicraft rapidly increased. Considerable changes occurred in the cultural life of the city; the network of the schools expanded, newspapers and magazine began to be published and thatres opened. (Unfortunately, thess changes were accompanied by a repressive policy of Russification of the local population.) The population of the city substantially increased and by 1897 numbered almost 200,000 men.

 

Another major period in the history of Tbilisi began with the Independence of Georgia in 1918. Though the sovereign country lived for only three years, Tbilisi prospered and achieved a new level. Tbilisi State University was established in 1918 and many new enterprises put into operation. Yet, these developments were checked by the annexation of Georgia by the Soviet Russia in 1921.