Tbilisi Emirate

a feudal possession in Georgia ruled by Muslim emirs.

In the 730’s, after conquering Eastern Georgia, the Arabs appointed their own ruler, or emir, whose residence was in the city of Tbilisi. At first, the emir ruled over all of Eastern Georgia, but the size of the emirate was reduced as a result of the struggle of the Georgian people. By the early ninth century, the emir controlled only Kartli, and by the 11th century, only the city of Tbilisi and the surrounding region.

The emirs won independence from the caliph in the 830’s and retained it until the end of the 11th century. In the ninth and tenth centuries the Tbilisi Emirate participated in the struggle between the early feudal Georgian states for the unification of all the Georgian lands. In 1122 the city of Tbilisi was conquered by the Georgian troops of King David the Builder, and Tbilisi became the capital of united Georgia.