Akhaltsikhe (Akhiska)

Akhaltsikhe, called Akhiska in Persian and Turkish sources, is a town in Georgia whose name means "New Fortress". ¹

The town lies on the Poskhov river, a left tributary of the upper Kura, and was the centre of the Georgian province of Samtskhe, later called Sa-atabago. It is mentioned among the conquests of Habib b. Maslama under Mu'awiya, in al-Baladhuri. Under the Mongols the local rulers became autonomous and took the title of atabeg; the name Kurkura, found in Persian and Turkish sources, refers to these rulers, several of whom bore the name Kuarkuare. ¹

In 1579 the Ottomans occupied Akhaltsikhe and established Islam and Ottoman customs in the region. From 1625 Turkish pashas administered it. It became an important strategic point and one of the chief Caucasian slave markets. The Russians incorporated the town in 1829, and after the revolution it formed part of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. ¹