User:Kober/sandbox/Kakhetian rebellion 1812

The Kakhetian rebellion was an insurrection against the Imperial Russian government in the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti which continued intermittently throughout 1812. The conflict began in January 1812 as the culmination of the Kakhetian villagers' discontent at the excesses of Russian bureaucracy and military, which was quickly channeled by the members of the former royal house of Georgia, dispossessed by the Russians of their power in 1801, into a struggle for restoration of the Georgian monarchy. The rebellion coincided with the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and Napoleon's invasion of Russia and posed a significant threat to the Russian communications in the eastern Caucasus. By December 1812, the Russian military restored control of Kakheti and imposed repressive measures in the province.

First phase

The rebellion was provoked by levies imposed by the Russian government and the burden of maintaining the troops stationed in the villages of Kakheti. The first overt public disturbances took place on 31 January 1812 in the village of Akhmeta, whose people drove away the Russian tax-collectors. On 2 February, the villagers of Akhmeta, indignant at the government's threat to use force, took up arms and destroyed a small local Russian garrison.

The flame of the rebellion quickly spread to the rest of Kakheti and the Russian army units scattered throughout the province came under attack. Within days, the Russian garrison of Telav, the principal town of Kakheti, was put under siege, and that of Signakh, of 70 troops, was cut to pieces by the insurgents, the commandant Major Geyne being tortured to death. The beleaguered commander of the Russian troops in Kakheti, Major General Portnyagin, saved by the arrival of reinforcements from Tiflis, abandoned his headquarters at Sagarejo and on 8 February withdrew to Tiflis, where he, in the absence of Marquis Paulucci, the Russian commander-in-chief in Georgia, at the Persian frontlines, took command of the defense of the city against the rebel threat.

Within less than two weeks after the first shots were fired, all of Russian garrisons and posts in Kakheti were destroyed, expelled, or put under siege. The Kakhetians invited Prince Gregory, a grandson of the late king George XII, to be crowned as king. The rebel leaders called for all Georgians to throw off the Russian regime and for the neighboring Ossetians and Lesgians to join the insurrection. They also sent emissaries to the exiled Georgian prince Alexander Mirza in Erivan, the Persian crown prince Abbas Mirza in Tabriz, and the Ottoman governor Sherif Pasha in Akhaltsikh. The mountainous communities of eastern Georgia quickly responded to the appeal and attacked the Russians at Ananuri and Gartiskari.

On 11 February 1812, the Russian troops began to mount a counteroffensive and poured into Kakheti. On 13 February, Lieutenant-Colonel Ushakov stormed the rebel positions at Dushet and delivered the besieged garrison of Ananuri on the next day. On 19 February, Colonel Tikhanovsky defeated the rebels at Khashmi. By 20 February, the Georgian Military Road was unblocked and the villages nearest to Tiflis were reconquered by the Russians. On 21 February, Marquis Paulucci hurried to Tiflis, reprimanding Portnyagin for his retreat from Kakheti, and took control of counter-insurgency efforts. After a series of clashes, the Sighnakh district was brought back under the Russian rule by 30 February. Paulucci then advanced to Telav, defeating the main rebel contingent at Chumlaki on March 1–2 and forcing Prince Gregory into flight to the Lesgians. On 3 March, a deputation from the nobility of Telav offered their submission to Paulucci. By 5 March, the mountainous district of Tioneti was brought under control by Lt.-Col. Ushakov. On the next day, Prince Gregory crossed back into Kakheti and surrendered to Paulucci. On 10 March, Col. Tikhanovsky burned the rebellious village of Artani, thereby ending the main Russian counter-insurgency operations in Kakheti.

Second and third phases

The uneasy calm established by the Russian bayonets did not last long and, in April 1812, Paulucci's successor Nikolay Rtishchev, faced a renewed revolt. The rebels sent emissaries to bring Prince Alexander Mirza, a half-brother of the late king George XII, from his Persian exile to Kakheti, but General Stahl was able to pacify Signakh and restored Telav to a Russian control on 19 May.

In September 1812, Prince Alexander crossed into Georgia with the retinue of 100 and appeared in Tioneti, reigniting the rebellion. The Russian commander in Kakheti, Lieutenant General Dimitri Orbeliani dispatched colonels Tikhanovsky and Pechersky to the Aragvi and Alazani valleys, respectively, to squeeze Alexander in Tioneti and himself headed to coordinate the operation on 17 September. Alexander was able to escape and Orbeiani chased him fruitlessly, crossing the Alazani to and froth several times, until the two finally met on the battlefield at Shilda, near Signakh, on 23 October.