Kartlis Tskhovreba

(The Life of Kartli), a collection of Georgian chronicles, compiled in the 12th century and supplemented until the 19th century. It is divided into the Ancient Kartlis Tskhovreba and the New Kartlis Tskhovreba. The former covers Georgian history up to the 14th century; and the latter, from the 14th to the 18th century. Several manuscripts of the Ancient Kartlis Tskhovreba from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries have been preserved. In the 18th century, King Vakhtang VI created a commission of “learned men” under the supervision of Beri Egnatashvili that compiled a history of Georgia from the 14th to the 18th century. A number of other 17th- and 18th-century historical writings dealing with events of the 15th–18th centuries were appended to the collection.

The Kartlis Tskhovreba deals primarily with Georgian political history. Much of its contents has been confirmed by the writings of Greek and Latin authors; by the accounts of Armenian, Arab, and Persian historians; and by archaeological and epigraphical monuments. The Kartlis Tskhovreba contains information concerning the histories of Armenia, Caucasian Albania, and the peoples of the Northern Caucasus. As early as the 12th century, it was translated into Armenian.