Shi‘a Islam in the Caucasus: the Ismail Mosque
https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2025-18-2-263-273
Abstract
The article examines the history of the oldest Safavid mosque of Shah Ismail I (1501–1524) in Tbilisi and the attempt to transform the religious landscape of Georgia.
The aim of the research is to reconstruct information about the Shi‘a mosque built in 1522, which became a symbol of the political presence of the Safavids (1501–1722).
Analyzing the circumstances of the construction of this monument helps better understand the strategic goals of the dynasty aimed at strengthening their positions through religious institutions. The study was conducted based on primary sources including Georgian and Persian historiography: “Kartlis Tskhovreba”; “Description of the Kingdom of Georgia” by Vakhushti of Kartli; “Tarikh-i alamara-yi Ismail” (“The Chronicle of Ismail – the Adornment of the Universe”) by an anonymous author; “Tarikh-i jahanara” (“The Chronicle of the World-Adorning One”) by the qadi Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ghaff ari; “Ahsan at-tawarikh” (“The Best of the Chronicles”) by Hasan Beg Rumlu; as well as travelogues by French travelers Jean Chardin and Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, among others. The loss of this historical landmark during the Soviet period makes the study of its past even more valuable and contributes to preserve the memory of the Iranian heritage in Georgia.
About the Author
M. L. Khabelova
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Meggi L. Khabelova, Postgraduate student
Institute of Asian and African Studies; Middle East History Department
Moscow
References
1. Kartlis Tskhovreba [The chronicles of Georgia]. Kaukhchishvili S.G. (ed.) Vol. II. Tbilisi: Sabchota Sakartvelo Publ.; 1959. 707 p. (In Georgian)
2. Bagrationi V. Istoriya tsarstva Gruzinskogo [Description of the Kingdom of Georgia]. Nakashidze N.T. (ed.). Tbilisi: Metsniereba Publ.; 1976. 339 p. (In Russian)
3. Sarwar G. History of the Shah Ismail Safawi. Aligarh: Muslim University; 1939. 127 р.
4. Chardin J. Voyages de Monsieur le chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient. T. I. Amsterdam: Jean-Louis de Lorme; 1711. 279 p. (In French)
5. Tournefort J.A. Voyage into the Levant: Perform'd by Command of the Late French King. Vol. III. Publ. by D. Midwinter, R. Ware, C. Rivington et al. Ed. in English. London, 1741. 364 p.
6. Ioseliani P.I. Opisanie drevnostey goroda Tifl isa [Description of the antiquities of the city of Tiflis]. Tiflis: The Publishing House of the General Administration of the Governor of the Caucasus; 1866. 314 p. (In Russian)
7. Kutsia K.K. Sepianta Iranisa da aghmosavlet sakartvelos urtiertobis religiuri aspekti [The Religious Aspect in Relations between the Safavids of Iran and Eastern Georgia]. Dedicatio: Istoriko-filologicheskie izyskaniya [Dedicatio: Historical-philological researches]. Tbilisi: Tbilisi State University Publishing House; 2001, pp. 350–378. (In Georgian)
8. Orbeliani P. Ambavni Kartlisani [Histories of Kartli]. Tsagareishvili E.V. (text, notes, dictionary and indexes). Tbilisi: Metsniereba Publ.; 1981. 284 p. (In Georgian)
9. Beridze T. Mecheti Shiitebisa [Mosque of Shiites]. Entsiklopediya Tbilisi [The Encyclopedia Tbilisi]. Saqvarelidze A.P. (ed.). Tbilisi: The main scientific editorial staff of the I. Abashidze Encyclopedia of Georgia; 2002, Р. 670. (In Georgian)
10. Güldenstädt J.A. Puteshestvie po Kavkazu v 1770–1773 gg. [Travel in the Caucasus in 1770–1773]. Shafranovskaja T.K. (tr.). Saint Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publ.; 2002. 512 p. (In Russian)
11. Tiflis i ego okrestnosti [Tiflis and its environs]. Tiflis: Typographic Office of the Chancery of the Chief Administrator of Civil Affairs in the Caucasus; 1890. 112 p. (In Russian)
12. Asatrian G., Margarian H. The Muslim Community of Tiflis (8<sup>th</sup>–19<sup>th</sup> Centuries). Iran and the Caucasus. 2004;8(1):29–52. DOI: 10.1163/1573384042002966
13. Kavkaz. Gazeta politicheskaya i literaturnaya [Caucasus. Political and literary newspaper]. Tiflis: Typography of the Office of the Chief Civil Servant in the Caucasus; 13 January 1884. 4 p. (In Russian)
14. Umanets S.I. Na beregakh Kury (K stoletiyu prisoedineniya Gruzii k Rossii) [On the banks of the Kura (On the centenary of Georgia's accession to Russia); Mosques in Tiflis]. Istoricheskiy vestnik. Istoriko-literaturnyy zhurnal [Historical herald: historical and literary magazine]. 1901;LXXXIII:282–295. (In Russian)
15. Berzhe A.P. Kavkaz v arkheologicheskom otnoshenii [The Caucasus in Archaeological Respect]. Tiflis: Typography of the Chief Administration of the Viceroy of the Caucasus; 1874. 91 p. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Khabelova M.L. Shi‘a Islam in the Caucasus: the Ismail Mosque. Minbar. Islamic Studies. 2025;18(2):263-273. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2025-18-2-263-273
Views:
49
Email this article 