Georgians (Kingdom of Iberia / Kingdom of Kartli) became Christian officially in 326 AD. Then in the 8th century great war started with the Muslim world and we fought hundreds of great wars against them for 1000 years, until we became part of Russia in the 19th century. So, from the 8th century to the 19th, Georgia had more than thousand battles with Islamic world. Millions of Georgians were killed during this time, 29 times Tbilisi city (The Capital) was destroyed and people were buried alive or beheaded. several Genocides and ethnic cleansings had a place, also tens of thousands of Georgians were sold as Mamluks (white slaves). Russian Geographer about Georgians: “Europe, and especially Russia, has not yet realized how important historical mission Georgia has fulfilled in the face of European Christianity, through its centuries-long suffering, its devotional battles. The Georgian nation is a truly crusader nation. In a bloody war against the Muslims, this nation has not lost a sword for more than a thousand years, and if the Christian cross had not been embroidered on the clothes of many of them, it would have been embroidered in the heart of every Georgian. Thus, Georgia became a stronghold of Christianity for Europe, receiving the first and most terrible blows. This little ally of Europe has done a great historical service to the security of the continent. In spite of everything, this nation has retained its beauty, language, customs, traditions and of course, faith. The great Islamic states of the East have repeatedly turned their energy and fanaticism to the unshakable chest of little Georgia, and although their claws still reached the Caucasian peoples of northern Caucasus and managed to convert most of them to Islam, the Georgians themselves remained Christians and did not convert to Islam. The crosses of the temples of Christian Georgia were rising higher and higher, hiding in the middle, fortifying themselves stronger in the mountains, but still they continued to shine. “And still the Islamic Golden Crescent remained at the foot of the Georgian temples, but it was always proudly overlooked by the Christian cross.“ “Crusader Nation“ - from the book by Russian geographer Yevgeny Markov - “Essays on the Caucasus“. “If not Tbilisi, there might be standing a mosque in stead of church in Vienna, as Jalal Ad-Dins, Genghis Khans and other Eastern Sultans and Shahs were crashed exactly on Tbilisi Citadel. Tbilisi stood, as European fortress from where enemies of the whole Christianity could only reach Europe weakened and emptied from blood.” Tbilisi has fallen a hundred times and it is amazing !!! Resurrected for the hundredth time! The conquering invaders - the armies of Rome and Byzantium, the Arabs, the Persians and the Turks, the Mongols or any other barbarian tribes - were destroying the capital and it would rise again from the ashes as a buffer that would slow down, weaken the mightiest darts! “This is how Tbilisi fought, this is how it was beaten, even for Vienna, even for Western Europe ... Even after Giorgi Saakadze - this People’s Greatest Duke, under the command of 300 Aragvians, who guarded the gates of Georgia like lions, until they were exalted by the shout of the barbarians - Allahu Akbar! ...“ Karl Hugo Huppert (1902-1982). William Allen about Georgians “There is one interesting element in the character of Georgians - individualistic irresponsibility, which is reminiscent of the national character of the Spaniards and Irish, and which can also be called aesthetic irresponsibility. This people sometimes were under the influence of the foreign powers domination, but they did not take it seriously, and after the decline of that power, they retained their former character. It would not be right to say that they did not oppose such domination. They often had furious resistance, but it was the resistance of a living organism and not a struggle for any idea. The history of Georgia, like that of Spain and Ireland, shows that here the nation was regarded as the highest sanctity and not this or that principle or religion. And if any of these were involved in a religious war, we find that the reason for the struggle for the faith was a national (racial and cultural) interest. In this “aesthetic irresponsibility“ of Georgians lies their national charm. And the secret of their survival as a strictly individualistic nation. “In Georgians, both in the people and in individuals, a well-developed intellect and a clear, curious mind go hand in hand with the immorality and indomitability of primitive man.“ William Edward David Allen (1901-1973) - English historian, Kartvelologist. “History of the Georgian people“;
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