Battle of Khresili

Battle of Khresili
The general representation of the positions.
Date December 14, 1757 Location Near Khresili Result Decisive Georgian victory[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Imereti	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Solomon I of Imereti Papuna Tsereteli Khutunia Shervashidze  † Katsia Dadiani Beri Tsulukidze Beso Lortkipanidze Kaikhosro Agiashvili Giorgi Abashidze Zurab Mikeladze Archil Batonishvili	Ali Pasha Gola Pasha  † Kemkha Pasha  † Levan Abashidze Rostom, Duke of Racha Pasha of Poti Pasha of Qutaisi Barons of Tsutskvati, Baghdati and Shorapani.
Strength
11 000 main troops 5 000 additional forces Total: 16,000 men[2]	30 000 Turkish army 15 000 soldiers garrisoned in Imereti 10 000 Georgian rebels Total: 55,000 men[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	c. 38,000–45,000

The Battle of Khresili (Georgian: ხრესილის ბრძოლა) was fought in 1757, between the armies of the Kingdom of Imereti and the Ottoman Empire. The king of Imereti Solomon I defeated the Turkish army. The battle took place on the 14th of December, 1757. Solomon I was trying to establish a strong monarchy and unify western Georgia. His actions stained the relations between the Georgian King and Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, in particular, wanted to stop Solomon's struggle against slavery. The Ottomans were in an alliance with rebellious Georgian nobles, one such example was Levan Abashidze, who was fighting against the King of Imereti. Abashidze arrived in Akhaltsikhe and led an Ottoman army to the Kingdom of Imereti. Solomon enticed them into a strategically adroit place near Khresili and decisively defeated them.^[3]

Background

In the 17th century, western Georgia was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman garrisons were dispatched to Tsutskvati, Poti and Shorapani fortresses. 12,000 slaves were sold in the Ottoman Empire every year from Mengrelia alone. Realizing that Georgia was facing the threat of heavy depopulation, the King of Imereti, Solomon I prohibited slavery, opposing turncoat Lords and wanted independence from the Ottoman Empire. Sultan sent Gola Pasha with a large army to punish Solomon I and re-establish Ottoman rule over the Kingdom of Imereti.

Purpose

The Ottomans wanted to destroy Solomon I and his supporters, and to finally conquer western Georgia The aim of the Georgians was to clear Imereti of Turks.

Battle

Early in the morning, the Georgians started the attack. King Solomon himself reached Ali Pasha and killed him. Ottomans became confused after death of their leader. The Georgians decisively defeated the Ottoman army.

References

1. Šotʻa Mesxia, An Outline of Georgian History, (Tbilisi University Press, 1968), 32.
2. Javakhishvili, Book 2, p. 127
3. Iobashvili g. Georgian Soviet History; tome 11, page 508, Tbilisi., 1987..

Coordinates: 46°38′08″N 32°37′01″E / 46.635417°N 32.616867°E