ARCHEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS WITH KUFIC INSCRIPTIONS FOUND IN GEORGIA (THE 8th-11th CENTURIES)
Authors: Tchanishvili Evgeni 
Published: December 2024

From the first appearance of Arab armies in the mid-7th century the
progressive installation of political control over the Georgian lands was started by the
Umayyad Caliphate. After the formation of the Emirate of Tbilisi in the early Abbasid
period, the city grew into a center of trade between the Islamic world and Europe. Tbilisi
functioned as a key Arab outpost and a buffer province facing the Byzantine Empire and
Khazar dominions.
During the Umayyad and Abbasid Periods in Georgia Islamic administration was
established with its law, art, currency and also the Arabic (Kufic) script, which was the
main language of the Caliphate.
During the reign of Caliph abd al-Malik, Arabs began to expand the Islamic domains.
From the beginning of VIII century Arabs had a continuous struggle for Transcaucasia
with the Khazars who acted either independently or together with the Byzantines. During
that period the commander Jarah, who was sent after the Khazars defeat, entered Kartli
and renewed the “Certificate of Protection”1. He burdened local population with taxes.
Around 730 two factors led to a change in Umayyad policy towards Georgia. First in
that year the Khazars managed to invade Northwest Iran and went all the way to Mosul
before being defeated. The tributary buffer states of the Caucasus had not been able to
prevent that invasion. Furthermore local Christian rulers, such as Guaram III of Iberia
still kept contact with Byzantium and hoped for its intervention. The Empire however
was weak and Arab raids could reach Constantinople making Byzantines less of a
menace than the Khazars. In 732 – 733 Caliph Hisham Ibn al-Malik (724-743) appointed Marwan Ibn Muhammad governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the task of waging
war against the Khazars and subduing Georgia.
The campaign that followed was devastating for Georgia. Marwan did not only
invade Kartli as his predecessors had done, but also led his armies after the retreating
Georgian princes into the western half of the country from Samtskhe to Abkhazia where
they were eventually stopped.
After the final conquering of Kartli, the Arabs put their governors – Amirs at the
head of the country. The residence of Amir was in Tbilisi. Amir was a military, the rulers
of the country and the supreme judge.
Amir had a large staff of Arab officials: Shurta (chief of police), Muhtasib
(observance of religious and household rules, market surveillance and public welfare) etc.
In the 8th century the Muslim population increased in Tbilisi which created its own
mosques in the city. And the state of Amir was maintained by the local population.
The arrival of the Abbasids in the country was reflected accordingly. They increased
the tax both on their own Muslims and non Muslims in the conquered territory. The
tribute of the Arabs was imposed on all layers of the population, although it was most
acutely reflected in the lower layer. Georgians had no respite from the Khazars either. In
764 they invaded Transcaucasia from through Derbent and conquered Kartli.
From 833 the emirate regained power over Georgian lands, imposing its authority
over many princes and forcing the Bagrationi to pay tribute. Emboldened by those
successes the emirs stopped recognizing the higher authority of the Caliphate. In 853
Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (847-861) sent the Turkish general Bugha al-Kabir with an army
against the Caucasian rebels. The Abbasid army sacked and burned Tbilisi and executed
the emir1. Many Georgian nobles were captured during the invasion. The decision the
Abbasids took of not rebuilding the city extensively would considerably weaken their
economic and cultural influence in Georgia and allowed the Bagrationi to become the
major power in the country facilitating its further unification.
After the 853 expedition the Arab rule over Georgia was never again as strong. The
emirate of Tbilisi had not been abolished but the Caliphs would not allow its power to
grow again. Another vassal of the Caliphate Yusuf Ibn Abi’l – Saj, emir of Azerbaijan
led in 914 the last Arab attempt to restore their domination over the Caucasus. The Sajid
invasion of Georgia as it is known was however a failure although it devastated Georgian
lands and allowed the Bagratids to restore the alliance with Byzantium, which they had
earlier neglected in favour of Caliphs.
From that moment the Arabs stopped playing a significant role in the history of
Georgia and the progressive unification of the country under the Bagrationi proceeded
without any interference on their part. Only Tbilisi and its surrounding was still ruled by
an emir whose relations with the Caliphate were now tenuous at best.
During the 11th century, the wealthy citizens of the city gained much power as a
council of elders and kept the emirate alive mostly as a way to avoid taxation from the
Georgian kings. The Georgian king Barat IV (1027-1072 took the city three times (in
1046, in 1049 and in 1062), but could not keep it under his rule. By the 1060s the Great
1 Ishaq b. Isma’il b. shuab al-Tiflisi also known as Sahak in Georgian sources was the emir of Tbilisi
between 833 and 853.
Reconstructing the Past: Journal of Historical Studies
Volume 2 Number 4 November 2024
56
Seljuk Empire, led by Alp Arslan (1063-1072) a Turk lad replaced the Arabs as the main
Muslim menace facing Georgia. The Seljuks appointed a new emir in Tbilisi but after his
death in 1080 the city was again ruled by its local elders. In 1121 David IV the Builder
(1089-1125) king of Georgia defeated the Seljuks ar the battle of Didgori1. Allowing him
to enter Tbilisi next year and putting an end to almost 500 years of Arab presence in
Georgia. Tbilisi lost its autonomy and become the royal caital, but its inhabitants long
remained predominantly Muslim.
Our goal is to describe those archeological artifacts with Kufic inscriptions that
people used in their daily life. Also, some important conclusions can be drawn from those
artifacts and writings. The establishment of the Arab administration in the territory of
Eastern Georgia led to the establishment of a new trade system, which implied the
introduction of a new currency and new trade weight standards.
Also, active trade included such items for daily use as jewelry, writing materials,
items for commercial purpose… many of them have Arabic inscriptions, the study of
which provides us with additional historical and economic information about daily life
during Arab rule in Georgia.