History, having completed almost 300 years' turnover, has returned to the point when the South Caucasus is again becoming a key region of Eurasia in terms of transit communications and geopolitical importance. We are again on the verge of the birth of a new world order, which will consist of a number of old projects, among which the South Caucasus will play a significant role. After Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day war over Armenia and its foreign patrons, the contours of a new project in our region were outlined.

Within the framework of the new (forgotten old) geopolitical project, the role of Georgia as a transit country "opens up" colossal opportunities for the main external political players. Again there is a struggle for control in the Caspian basin and "corridors" (primarily Zangezur) which will open up new opportunities and unblock the region.

Once again, as almost 300 years ago, fateful events take place in and around the Karabakh region (meaning the famous Kurultai of 1736 in the Mugan steppe, which meant the transfer of power in the Safavid Empire to Nadir Shah and a new dynasty - Afsharov, which had every chance to create the most powerful in the world "Superpower" from India and Western China to Europe). And again, Georgia and the Georgian people have the opportunity to “take advantage of the chance” that it had then, but which were “hacked to death” by powerful external geopolitical players.

In general, let's start with the fact that if you "delve into history", then most of the current states have "founding fathers" who do not necessarily belong to the corresponding nation. It is no secret that "state projects that have become" national "are often conceived and implemented by powerful external forces. At a certain stage, the geopolitical players of the "first-level" decide, "Yes, we need to unite such and such people in a single state here and there."

And if to be fair historically, then Nadir Shah Afshar can be called the “patron” at the beginning of the difficult process of rebuilding a unified Georgian state.

Recall that despite the fact that the desire for unity has been among the Georgian people since the collapse of the single Georgian state into separate kingdoms and principalities in the 15th century, external forces, of course, were in no hurry to help these aspirations of the Georgian people. As a result, the history of Georgia in the 16-18 centuries is a history of fragmentation, constant turmoil, and wars, which were part of the "global conflict" of two Muslim empires - the Ottoman and the Safavid. I will note that the Georgian kings of Kartli and Kakheti occupied very high places in the Safavid elite and their kingdoms enjoyed great internal autonomy.

Nevertheless, starting with Shah Abbas I, the rulers of Kartli (and then Kakheti) began to approve the Muslims of the kings-khans from the Bagrationi dynasty.

The collapse of the Safavid empire in the 1720s. turned into long-term turmoil on its territory and the subordination of most of it to the Afghans, whose leaders usurped the Safavid throne, the South Caucasus, and a significant part of the Caspian Sea coast. The talented commander from the Azerbaijani tribe Afshar Nadir Khan, who was solemnly proclaimed shah of Iran at the Kurultai in the Mugan steppe in 1736, was able to revive the empire and cleanse it of its conquerors. The Georgian rulers of Kartli and Kakheti supported Nadir Shah and this led to the high position of the Georgians at his court.

On this Kurultai, a part of the Kyzylbash nobility went "into opposition" to Nadir Shah and objected to the transfer of the Safavid throne to him. This position was especially clearly demonstrated by the Ganja rulers from the influential Qajar clan. As a result, Nadir Shah punished them by taking away part of their possessions and transferring them to more "loyal" khans. As a result, the positions and influence of the Azerbaijani tribe Qajar, from which the khans of Ganja originated in the empire of Nadir Shah, became more "modest".

Nadir Shah showed special favor to the Armenian and Albanian Catholicos, and also elevated them, giving them some kind of autonomy. After all, before him, these Christian communities of Karabakh were completely subordinate to the Muslim governors.

But Nadir Shah had special patronage in relation to the Georgians, moreover, at a key moment in Georgian history - in 1744-1747. Nadir Shah confirmed Teimuraz II as king in Kartli, and his son Irakli II in Kakheti, without demanding that they become Muslims. And this was a case simply "going beyond" the previous policy of gradual Islamization of the Georgian elite by the Safavids.

But Nadir Shah went even further. He increased the possessions of Temuraz II at the expense of territories with a purely Muslim Azerbaijani population. The sultanates of Borchaly, Pambak, Shamshadil, Gazakh were transferred under the authority of Teimuraz II ... According to some historical data, Nadir Shah was going to repair Ganja and Irevan to the Georgian kings as well.

Those. prerequisites were created for the creation of United Great Georgia as a kind of "kingdom in the empire of the Turks-Afshars", with the inclusion of all territories not only inhabited by Georgians but also lands that was for a short time under the influence of the Georgian kings during the heyday under Queen Tamar.

One way or another, but the "rounding off" of the possessions of the Georgian kings led to a sharp strengthening of them in military terms. Indeed, even after the death of Nadir Shah and the collapse of his empire, the same Borchali Azerbaijanis faithfully served the king of Kartli-Kakheti Irakli II, making up his most reliable and combat-ready military units.

The Georgians took the leading roles, and in the "imperial elite" Nadir Shah made them his closest confidants. In particular, Givi Amilakhvari became the commander of the Shah's army (who, to be sure, became a Muslim for this, but after the death of Nadir Shah he returned to Georgia, where he again became Orthodox).

There is also indirect historical evidence that Nadir Shah did not think to limit himself to de facto unification, "rounding of borders" and support for Orthodoxy in Eastern Georgia. Everything went to the fact that the West Georgian state formations, which were dependent on the Ottomans, would be included for the time being in Great Georgia he was creating. In 1740-1741. Nadir Shah intervened in the turmoil in the Imeretian kingdom, demanding that the Akhaltsikhe Pasha (from the Muslim-Muslim Dzhakeli family), who was leaning to his side, return power to Tsar Alexander V.

In fact, Nadir Shah had a "plan for the unification of Georgia" and he consistently implemented it. But why did he need it?

The fact is that, while creating the land empire, Nadir Shah perfectly understood the importance of sea communications. It is no coincidence that not only on the shores of the Persian Gulf, he laid shipyards, but on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Gilan and Baku, with the help of the Englishman Elton who had passed to him, he began to build a full-fledged fleet that would dominate this basin.

A century later, European historiography slandered Nadir Shah, an outstanding military leader, and statesman. They portray him as a kind of "tyrant" and "bloodthirsty maniac", focus on executions and repressions, and forget that Nadir Shah very often shows mercy and generosity to enemies. And in Russian historiography (where the "political order" is clearly fulfilled to oppose the non-Turkic peoples of Dagestan to the Turks), for some reason, they emphasize the temporary "local failures" of Nadir Shah in his confrontation with the Ottoman Empire in Mountainous Dagestan (calling them the "defeat" of Nadir Shah and "The victory of the Dagestanis", among whom there were many supporters of Nadir Shah).

At the same time, historians often forget that all the successes of the Ottomans and their supporters in Dagestan were "crossed out" by the outstanding victories of Nadir Shah in 1745 at Mosul and Kars. After which the subordination of Dagestan and its inclusion in the Afshars Empire (if Nadir Shah remained alive) became only a matter of time.

The tolerance of Nadir Shah and his benevolence towards Christians is a topic for a separate study. In Russia, historians, describing the "harshness of Nadir Shah", for some reason forgot that after conquering Bukhara and Khiva, Nadir Shah not only freed all the Russian prisoners who were there but also provided them with money, food, and security so that they could return to their homeland without hindrance. ... That is, the tendentiousness of both European and Russian historiography towards Nadir Shah is evident.

So, events began to develop rapidly. The 1743 year. In the Caspian, the construction of the first warships is in full swing, designed to ensure the hegemony of Nadir Shah in the basin of this sea. And in the same year, he begins another large-scale war with the powerful Ottoman Empire, which has just defeated the Austrian Empire, recapturing significant possessions from it in the Balkan Peninsula and “neutralizing” Russia, preventing it from “breaking through” into the Black Sea basin. The war was preceded by repeated diplomatic attempts by Nadir Shah to formalize an alliance with the Ottomans and the "great reconciliation" of all Muslims - Sunnis and Shiites, for which Nadir Shah demanded that the Sultan and Muslim spiritual leaders of the Ottoman Empire recognize the Shiites as "equal" with four doctrines (mahzabs) adopted by the Sunnis ... But the sultan refused. In addition, the political strengthening of the Afshars' state worried Istanbul very much. The conflict was inevitable.

Nadir Shah understood very well that along with the dominant Muslim millet (the Ottoman Sultan was the caliph of all Muslims) in the Ottoman Empire, the Orthodox or Ruman millet is of great importance, uniting all Orthodox subjects of the Sultan from the Ottoman dynasty as the legitimate heir of the Roman (Romanian) emperor. It is not for nothing that the very first title of the Ottoman ruler was "Caesari Rum" (Roman, Byzantine Caesar), with which he designated his patronage to Christians and his success in the inheritance of the East Roman project.

It was also important for Nadir Shah to show the Orthodox of the Ottoman Empire that under his leadership they would have more privileges and opportunities than under any sovereign. Nadir Shah also wanted to show this to the Orthodox of the Russian state, the rulers who, starting with Peter the Great, were clearly "overdone" with secularization and "Europeanization", accompanying this with the total dominance of the same Protestant Germans.

Nadir Shah was also a supporter of moderate secularism (separation of religion from the government), as well as equality of the rights of Christians and Jews with Muslims. But, at the same time, he perfectly understood that in no case should the religious feelings of people be hurt.

Considering the grandiose plans of Nadir Shah, it becomes understandable and logical such an unexpected "elevation" of his Orthodox Georgians, which in fact was very well thought out and took place just after the start of a large-scale war with the Ottomans.

In 1744, by order of Nadir Shah, Teimuraz II, the king of Kakheti, his son and the closest associate of Nadir Shah in his Indian campaign, Irakli II, became the king of Kartli. In fact, the unification of Eastern Georgia is taking place. And the culmination of the power of Nadir Shah was in 1745 the victory of his son Nasrullah Mirza over the Ottomans at Mosul and then the victory of Nadir Shah at Kars. These were brilliant victories over almost twice the superior forces of the Ottomans.

It turns out that the "way to the West" and to the Black Sea basin in 1745 was opened for Nadir Shah. The Ottomans, after crushing defeats at Mosul and Kars, did not have the strength to resist its expansion. Passing under the patronage of Nadir Shah within the framework of the "great Georgia" he created, the Imeretian kingdom and the Gurian, Megrelian, Abkhazian and Svanetian principalities, as well as the Akhaltsikhe Pasha, became a "matter of technology."

But the last "breakthrough" in the creation of "Great Georgia" as an integral part of the "Great Turkic-Georgian state" Nadir Shah failed to make. Since against such plans, all the then external geopolitical players and their agents within the Afshars empire unified situationally.

To be continued