User:Kober/sandbox/Kakhetian rebellion 1812

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The Kakhetian rebellion was an insurrection against the

. 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

, 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

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.