Umayyad invasion of Georgia
{{Short description|735 invasion}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image = Map of the Caucasus, 740 CE.svg
| caption = Georgia and Caucasus after the invasion.
| conflict = Umayyad invasion of Georgia
| partof = Umayyad expansion
| date = 735–737
| place = Caucasus
| result = Umayyad Caliphate victory
| combatant1 = Principality of Iberia
Principality of Kakheti
Kingdom of Abkhazia
Duchy of Argveti
| combatant2 = Umayyad Caliphate
| commander1 = Archil of Kakheti
Mirian of Kakheti
Leon I of Abkhazia
{{ill|David of Argveti|ka|დავით და კონსტანტინე}}{{KIA}}
{{ill|Constantine of Argveti|ka|დავით და კონსტანტინე}} {{KIA}}
| commander2 = Marwan II
}}
{{History of Georgia}}
The Umayyad invasion of Georgia, known in Georgian historiography as the Invasion of Marwan the Deaf ({{lang-ka|მურვან ყრუს შემოსევა|tr}}) took place from 735 to 737, initiated by last Umayyad
caliph Marwan II against the Principality of Iberia. The goals of the campaign are disputed among historians. The Georgian historiography insists its main purpose was to finally break the stiff Georgian resistance against Arab rule,Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, pg. 199, Tb., 1984 however, the Western historians such as Cyril Toumanoff,Toumanoff, Cyril, "Iberia between Chosroid and Bagratid Rule", in Studies in Christian Caucasian History, Georgetown, 1963, p. 405. Accessible online at {{cite web|url=http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Toumicb/toumicb.html |title=Iberia between Chosroid and Bagratid Rule by Cyril Toumanoff. Eastern Asia Minor, Georgia, Georgian History, Armenia, Armenian History |accessdate=2012-06-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208043427/http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Toumicb/toumicb.html |archivedate=2012-02-08 }} and Ronald Suny,Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition, p. 28. Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|0253209153}} view it as a general campaign directed at both the Byzantine Empire, who exerted its domination over Western Georgia, and the Khazars, whose repeated raids affected not only Iberia (Eastern Georgia) and the whole Caucasus, but had reached Arab lands all the way to Mosul in 730.
Invasion
The invasion was led by Marwan ibn Muhammad, who later became the last Umayyad caliph Marwan II. He first campaigned in Kartli, after which he led his armies westwards and besieged the fortress of Anakopia, where Archil of Kakheti and his brother Mihr, who were assisted by Leon I of Abkhazia, were stationed. The Arabs failed to take the fortress and were forced to retreat. Fearing an onslaught, large numbers of Georgians fled to the mountainous regions. Marwan later invaded Samtskhe, encamped in Odzrkhe and led his forces against the princes of Argveti, Constantine and David, from whom, upon their capture, he demanded unconditional conversion to Islam, which both refused. He tortured and then killed them for their refusal. After that, Marwan took Tshkumi (modern Sukhumi) and Tsikhegoji and again turned to Anakopia. The Arabs could not take the fortress, especially after heavy rains and floods began, and retreated with heavy losses.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}
Legacy
Marwan's cruelty and ruthlessness was epitomized by the fact that the Georgians called him Murvan Qru ("Marwan the Deaf"). After his campaign, most major settlements were utterly ruined and people faced starvation. If Georgian historiography insists that Kartli was devastated by the invasion, Toumanoff, relying on local and Arab sources, claims that most of the damage in the Eastern part of the country was actually the result of the previous Khazar raids, and that the local Georgian prince, Guaram III of Iberia, actually sided with the Arabs in order to repeal the Khazars beyond the Main Caucasian Range.Toumanoff 1963, p. 405, note 54 In any case, the Arab intervention gave them more power over Iberia than they had managed to attain in almost a century of previous conquests. They established the Emirate of Tbilisi to exert direct control over Iberia, even though the Principate of Iberia was not abolished, and the local nobility retained most of its power. Due to civil unrest and the fact that foreign enemies were plaguing the caliphate, it was unable to launch another invasion and, until 786, settled upon receiving irregular tributes from the Georgian local princes.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}