SOUTH OSSETIA — TIMELINE: 1236-1769
1236. A Mongol invasion of the north Caucasus destroys Alania. The Alans scatter. One group of Alans flees south out of the North Ossetia region in Russia and over the Caucasus Mountains into Georgia.
The Alans in the Caucasus region now constitute three distinct regions: Digor who are primarily Muslim and live in the western regions of today’s North Ossetia; Iron who are primarily Christian and live in the other areas of today’s North Ossetia; and Kudar, also Christian, in Georgia (later, South Ossetia).
1243. Georgia’s Quenn Rusudan signs a peace treaty with the Monguls, which requires Georgia to forgo its client-states, pay tribute to Mongols, and de facto allow the Mongols to rule half the country.
1466. In-fighting and external invasions result in the Kingdom of Georgia being divided into three independent Kingdoms: Imertia in western Georgia, and Kartli, and Kakheti in eastern Georgia, plus five semi-independent principalities. MAP
Over the next three centuries, Georgia is dominated by the Persian and Ottoman Empires.
1724. Georgia’s eastern Kingdom of Kakheti comes under Ottoman rule.
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1744. Iran names the Christian Georgian military commander, Erekle II (also called Heraclius II), as the King of Kakheti.
1762. Erekle II succeeds his father as King of the Georgian Kartli-Kakheti Kingdom. He then extends Georgian rule over various Muslim principalities.
1769. Georgia’s King Erekel II turns to Russia to protect Georgia against attacks by the Ottomans and Persians.