1490-1625 CE
From 1490 to 1625 CE, the Georgians survived by bending without breaking — their kingdom fractured into Kartli, Kakheti, and Imereti, each playing Ottoman against Safavid, Christian faith balanced against Muslim suzerains. Shah Abbas would deport entire populations and devastate Kakheti, yet Georgian princes served at Persian courts, Georgian queens bore Safavid heirs, and the churches of Mtskheta still rang their bells between the catastrophes.