Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi

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Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi

The Hundred Thousand Martyrs are saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church who were killed in 1226 after the Khwarazmian sultan Jalal al-Din captured Tbilisi. A 14th‑century Georgian chronicle says about 100,000 Christians were killed for not renouncing their faith.

Context and what happened
- Jalal al-Din had first defeated Georgia in 1225 at the Battle of Garni. In 1226 he marched on Tbilisi, and the city’s defenders fought bravely.
- On March 9, 1226, Jalal’s army entered Tbilisi. The city was looted and many Christians were killed for refusing to convert to Islam.
- The chronicle says the dome of the Sioni Cathedral was torn down and replaced with a throne for Jalal. Icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary were taken to the bridge over the Mtkvari so people could be made to step on them; those who refused to desecrate the icons were killed.
- Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi and Muslim writers such as Ibn al-Athir and Nasawi record similar killings and the pressure to convert.

Numbers and memory
- The Georgian source gives the toll as 100,000, but exact figures are debated and descriptions vary.
- The event is remembered as the Hundred Thousand Martyrs.

Places associated
- Metekhi Bridge and the nearby Metekhi Church in Old Tbilisi are linked to these killings.

Commemoration
- The Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the martyrs on October 31 (old-style calendar), which is November 13 on the modern calendar.