Tbilisi, formerly Tiflis, capital of the republic of Georgia, on the Mtkvari (Kura) River at its dissection of the Trialeti (Trialetsky) and Kartli (Kartliysky, or Kartalinian) ranges. Founded in 458 (in some sources, 455), when the capital of the Georgian kingdom was transferred there from Mtskheta, the city had a strategic position, controlling the route between western and eastern Transcaucasia. It was often captured and sacked and knew many masters: the Persians in the 6th century, the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs in the 7th. In 1122 David IV (the Builder) of Georgia captured Tbilisi and restored it as a