Arab rule in Georgia

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Arab rule in Georgia, natively known as Araboba (Georgian: არაბობა), refers to the period in the history of Georgia when parts of what is now Georgia came under Arab rule, starting with the first Arab incursions in the mid-7th century until the final defeat of the Emirate of Tbilisi at the hands of King David IV in 1122. Compared with other regions which endured Muslim conquests, Georgia's culture, and even political structure was not much affected by the Arab presence, as the people kept their faith, the nobles their fiefdoms, and the foreign rulers mostly insisted on the payment of tribute, which they could not always enforce. Still, repeated invasions and military campaigns by the Arabs devastated Georgia on many occasions, and the Caliphs retained suzerainty over significant parts of the country and exerted influence over the internal power dynamics during most of the period.

The history of Arab rule in Georgia can be divided into three main periods: from the first appearance of Arab armies around 645 until the establishment of the Emirate of Tbilisi in 736. Those years saw the progressive installation of political control over the Georgian lands by the Umayyad Caliphate; from 736 until 853, when the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad destroyed Tbilisi to quell a rebellion by the local emir, ending a period of domination of all Eastern Georgia by the Emirate; from 853 until the 2nd half of the 11th century, when the Great Seljuq Empire replaced the Arabs as the main force in the Middle East. Before that, the power of the emirate of Tbilisi had already declined in favor of independent Georgian states. Tbilisi remained, however, under Arab rule until 1122.