deran,[1] and afterwards caused him to be put to death at Sheeraz. When Abbass was no more, the Georgians again attempted to throw off the Persian yoke; but the general of Shah Sefi defeated them in several engagements, reduced the country to its former condition, and built the fortress of Gori to overawe Tiflis.
That city, the capital of Georgia, lies at the foot of a mountain, and is built at the present day, on both sides of the river Kur. Up to a late period, Tiflis was surrounded by strong and handsome walls, excepting on the side on which it was bounded by the stream. On the south it was commanded by a large fort placed on the slope of a mountain, into which only Persians were admitted. This fort was erected in the year 1576,[2] at a time when Georgia was in the possession of the Turks, who in like manner built nearly all the fortresses which exist in the principality. The Persian authority was never so firmly established over this country as to enable that government to act independently of the wishes of the Georgians. We read that, under the Persian domination, wine and the flesh of the forbidden animal were openly sold in the streets, and that not a single mosque was to be found in the city of Tiflis. Within the walls of the fortress the conquerors ventured to erect a small place of worship, where the Moslem might bow their heads towards the Keblah. The Georgians could not penetrate into the fort, and the mosque was therefore finished; but when the muezzin dared to ascend the minaret and with a loud voice to summon all men to prayer, the indignation of the Christians was roused, and from without they hurled such a shower of stones at the turret of the
