Georgia
گرجستانThe Caucasian kingdom that lived beside Iran for two thousand years and retold the Shahnameh in Georgian.
For centuries the Georgian kingdoms lived beside, and often under, Iranian empires, from the Achaemenids and Sasanians to the Safavids and Qajars. Tbilisi, by tradition founded in the fifth century by King Vakhtang Gorgasali, still has its district of sulphur bathhouses, Abanotubani.
Persian literature shaped Georgian letters: the Shahnameh was retold in Georgian versions such as the Rostomiani, and Persian romance runs through Shota Rustaveli's twelfth-century epic, The Knight in the Panther's Skin.
Cities and towns
Tbilisiتفلیس
The capital, called Tiflis in Persian
Kutaisiکوتائیسی
The old capital of western Georgia
Telaviتلاوی
The town of the Kakheti vineyards
Landmarksبناها و نشانهها
Narikala
قلعه ناریقلاThe fortress above old Tbilisi
Georgia through time
Iranian historySeljuks, Mongols and Ilkhanidsسلجوقیان، مغولان و ایلخانان
Turkic and then Mongol conquerors took Iran in turn. The Seljuks built mosques and colleges; the Mongols brought catastrophe, then, as the Ilkhanids, became patrons of history-writing and art.
- David the Builder recaptures Tbilisi
- Explosion severely damages Narikala