Dusheti first appears in Georgian written records in 1215. In the 17th century, it served as a residence of the local mountainous lords – the dukes of Aragvi – whose defiance to the Georgian crown more than once led to invasions and devastation of the town by the royal troops. After the abolition of the duchy of Aragvi in the 1740s, Dusheti passed to the crown but significantly declined. In 1801, the Russians took over and granted Dusheti a town status. Next year, it became the center of Dushetsky Uyezd. The town and its environs were a scene of disturbances during the Russian Revolution of 1905, the peasants’ revolt in 1918, and an armed clash during the 1924 August Uprising against the Soviet rule. Dusheti was a center of agriculture and light industry during the Soviet era, but suffered an economic decline and population decrease in the years following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Nowadays, most people work in service industries (banking, education, auto-repair, and retail) as well as subsistence farming. The town is also known for its "khinkali", a meat-filled dumpling very popular in Georgia.