Battle of Tashiskari

The Battle of Tashiskari (ტაშისკარის ბრძოლა) was fought between the Georgians and the Ottomans at the village of Tashiskari on June 16, 1609. The Georgians, led by Giorgi Saakadze won a victory over the Ottomans.

Background
When Shah Abbas I succeeded in driving the Ottoman armies out of eastern Georgia, leaving a Persian force in Tbilisi, he confirmed Luarsab as king of Kartli. The Ottomans attempted to remove Luarsab, sending a large army of Crimean Tatars to Georgia. In June 1609, their army invaded Kartli, sacked and looted several villages, captured part of the population and quickly approached Manglis. The Ottomans tried to cut the village from here To Tskhireti (Shida Kartli), where King Luarsab II lived. Teudore Keteli tricked the enemy and took him in another direction for which he was tortured and beheaded.

Battle
In the meantime, the Georgians gathered an army and under the command of Giorgi Saakadze and Zaza Tsitsishvili, at the village of Nyabi (now Kaspi municipality), at the Shcherti swamp, they turned back the enemy. Returning to Gori, they found a bridge over Mtkvari river. Then they turned towards Akhaltsikhe. near the village Brbona river. They crossed Mtkvari and camped near the village of Tashiskar (now Khashuri Municipality). The army of Georgians crossed the river Mtkvari near the village of Akhaldaba (present-day Borjomi municipality) and cut off the opponent's way to Akhaltsikhe. At the military meeting, Giorgi Saakadze's plan was accepted and he was assigned the command. The Georgian army suddenly attacked the enemy at dawn and almost completely destroyed them, only a small part managed to escape. Georgians were left with a lot of booty and prisoners. Giorgi Saakadze especially distinguished himself in this battle.