The final stand of three hundred highlanders from the Aragvi valley, an epic encounter that happened on 11 September 1795, when Georgia was invaded by Persia.
If you haven’t seen the movie 300, the fictionalised retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, where three hundred Spartans make a final stand against an ambitious Persian invasion, you’ve probably seen the countless “This is Sparta” memes or perhaps photos of jacked men in red cloaks. The Greek stand at Thermopylae is so iconic that, even though it happened more than 2,500 years ago, we still talk about it.
Today’s story is about a modern-day Thermopylae. It is an encounter that, although far more recent, is poorly known. And the parallels are amazingly similar: thee hundred oath-bound, defiant warriors stand to the death against a much much larger Persian army. Although there aren’t any memes or films about this particular sacrifice (yet), it’s definitely a part of history worth remembering.
Let’s get into it then.
It’s 1795 and the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (modern-day Georgia) is in a precarious position. The recently established Iranian Qajar dynasty wants its former territories back.
Due to its location, Georgia is one of those “lucky” countries that has been squished between the raging ambition of opposing empires: Mongolian, Ottoman, Persian and Russian. Fun times. It’s a constant dance of intricate alliances and complex geopolitical strategy to maintain any semblance of autonomy.
