Battle of Aspindza

Battle of Aspindza
Date 20 April 1770 Location Aspindza, Georgia Result Georgian victory[1]
Belligerents
Kartl-Kakheti	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Erekle II	Gola Pasha †
Strength
3000	9500[2]
Casualties and losses
100	4500+[2]

The Battle of Aspindza (Georgian: ასპინძის ბრძოლა) was fought on 20 April 1770 between the Georgians, led by king of Kartli-Kakheti Erekle II, and the Ottoman Empire.[3] The Georgians won a victory over the Turks.[4]

Battle

The Georgian king asked Russian general Totleben for aid in the battle of Aspindza; in return, Erekle would do his best to cultivate good relations with Russia. General Totleben agreed to help. As soon as the small army of Erekle and large army of Totleben were about to meet and merge, Totleben and his army changed course and returned to Russia. Totleben's plan was to let the Ottoman Empire completely destroy the Kartli-Kakhetian army along with the king. Russia, then, could easily incorporate the kingdom into the country.

Nevertheless, Erekle, along with his outnumbered army, defeated the Ottoman Turks.

The battle is the subject of the patriotic ode "On the Battle of Aspindza" by Besiki.[5]

References

1. Donald Rayfield, Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, (Reaktion Books Ltd., 2012), 243.
2. Alexander Mikaberidze, Historical Dictionary of Georgia, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), 148-149.
3. Mesxia, Šotʻa (1968). An outline of Georgian history. Tbilisi University Press. p. 31. OCLC 292912.
4. Allen, William Edward David (1971). A history of the Georgian people: from the beginning down to the Russian conquest in the nineteenth century. Taylor & Francis. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-7100-6959-7.
5. Kveselava, M. (2002). Anthology of Georgian Poetry. The Minerva Group. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-89875-672-2.

Further reading

• Gogebashvili, Jacob (1937). "The Battle of Aspindza". Georgica (4–5): 293–305. OCLC 1586281.