Battle of Krtsanisi The Battle of Krtsanisi was fought between Qajars and Georgian armies at the place of Krtsanisi near Tbilisi , Georgia , from September 8 to September 11 , 1795 , as part of Qajar Emperor Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ' s war in response to King Heraclius II of Georgia ’ s alliance with the Russian Empire . The battle resulted in the defeat of Georgians and complete destruction of their capital Tbilisi . Background . Eastern Georgia , composed of the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti , had been under intermittent Iranian suzerainty since 1555 . However , with the death of Nader Shah in 1747 , both kingdoms broke free of Iranian control and were reunited in personal union under the rule of the energetic king Heraclius II ( Erekle ) in 1762 . In 1783 , Heraclius placed his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk . A limited Russian contingent of two infantry battalions with four artillery pieces arrived in Tbilisi in 1784 , but was withdrawn , despite the frantic protests of the Georgians , in 1787 . Despite being left on his devices , Heraclius still cherished a dream of establishing , with Russian protection , a strong and united monarchy , into which the western Georgian Kingdom of Imereti and the lost provinces under Ottoman rule would all eventually be drawn . The consequences of these events came a few years later , when a new dynasty , the Qajars , emerged victorious in the protracted power struggle in Persia . Their head , Agha Mohammad Khan , resolved to bring the Caucasus once more under the Persian orbit . Finding an interval of peace amid their own quarrels , the Persians demanded Heraclius II to renounce the treaty with Russia in return for peace and the security of his kingdom . Heraclius appealed then to his theoretical protector , Empress Catherine II of Russia , but he was not listened , leaving Georgia to fend off the Persian threat alone . Nevertheless , Heraclius II still rejected the Khan ’ s ultimatum . Persian Invasion . In August 1795 , Agha Mohammad Khan led his 35 , 000 - strong army into the Caucasus , forcing the Khans of Ganja and Erivan into alliance . Having abandoned the siege of Shusha in the Karabakh Khanate , Agha Mohammad Khan marched directly on Tbilisi , and attacked the heavily fortified Georgian positions on the southwestern limits of the city . Abandoned by several of his nobles , Heraclius II managed to mobilize around 5 , 000 troops , including some 2 , 000 auxiliaries from neighbouring Imereti under its King Solomon II , a member of the Georgian Bagrationi Dynasty and thus distantly related to Heraclius II . The Georgians offered a desperate resistance and succeeded in rolling back a series of Persian attacks on September 9 and 10 . After that , it is said that some traitors informed the Persians that the Georgians had no more strength to fight and the Qajars army cancelled their plan of going back to Persia , which they previously had . Early on September 11 , Agha Mohammad Khan personally led an all - out offensive against the Georgians . Amid an artillery duel and a fierce cavalry charge , the Persians managed to cross the Kura River and outflanked the decimated Georgian army . Heraclius II attempted to mount a counterattack , but he had to retreat to the last available positions in the outskirts of Tbilisi . By nightfall , the Georgian forces had been exhausted and almost completely destroyed . The last surviving Georgian artillery briefly held the advancing Persians to allow Heraclius II and his retinue of some 150 men to escape through the city to the mountains . The fighting continued in the streets of Tbilisi and at the fortress of Narikala . In a few hours , Agha Mohammad Khan was in full control of the Georgian capital which was completely sacked and its population massacred . The Persian army marched back laden with spoil and carrying off some 15 , 000 captives . Aftermath . On his return , Agha Mohammad was crowned Shah in 1796 . Heraclius II returned to Tbilisi to rebuild the city , but the destruction of his capital was a death blow to his hopes and projects . To restore Russian prestige , Catherine II declared war on Persia and sent an army under Valerian Zubov to the Qajar possessions on April of that year , but the new Tsar Paul I , who succeeded Catherine in November , shortly recalled it . Agha Mohammad Shah was later assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798 . The next three years were a time of muddle and confusion , and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom , with its capital half in ruins , was easily absorbed by Russia in 1801 .