Editing Tbilisi (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Tbilisi|Timeline of Tbilisi}}
[[File:La plus ancienne église de la ville - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|[[Anchiskhati Basilica]], a 6th century monument, is the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi]]

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*{{flagicon image|Kartli_-_drosha_jvari.svg|size=23px}} [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Iberia]] 450s–530s
*{{flagicon image|Derafsh_Kaviani_flag_of_the_late_Sassanid_Empire.svg|size=23px}}[[Sasanian Iberia|Sasanian Empire (Sasanian Iberia)]] 530s–570s
*{{flagicon image|Kartli_-_drosha_jvari.svg|size=23px}} [[Principality of Iberia]] 570s–730s
*{{noflag}}[[Emirate of Tbilisi]] 730s–1122
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Kingdom_of_Georgia.svg|size=23px}} [[Kingdom of Georgia]] 1122–1490
*{{flagicon image|Coat_of_arms_of_Kartli_Georgia1.png|size=23px}} [[Kingdom of Kartli]] 1490–1762
*[[File:Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti.svg|25px]] [[Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti]] 1762–1801
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg|size=23px}} [[Russian Empire]] 1801–1917	
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg|size=23px}} [[Russian Republic]] 1917
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg|size=23px}} [[Transcaucasian Commissariat]] 1917–1918
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Transcaucasian Federation.svg|size=23px}} [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]] 1918	
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_Georgia_(1918–1921,_4-5).svg|size=23px}} [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] 1918–1921		
*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Georgian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1921–1922).svg|size=23px}} [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]] 1921–1922
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union|size=23px}} [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] 1922–1991
*{{flag|Georgia}} 1991–present}}
}}

===Early history===
Archaeologists discovered evidence of continuous habitation of the Tbilisi suburb of Dighomi since the early Bronze Age, and stone artifacts dating to the Paleolithic age.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geoarchencyclopedia.ge/ArcheologyEncyclopedia/WebPage/Articles/II-I-East/TreliLB/English/ArticleEngl.html|title=ArticleEngl|website=geoarchencyclopedia.ge|access-date=2019-04-16|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215182805/http://geoarchencyclopedia.ge/ArcheologyEncyclopedia/WebPage/Articles/II-I-East/TreliLB/English/ArticleEngl.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age, it was the largest settlement in the Caucasus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://isaw.nyu.edu/events/archive/2012/scythians-in-tbilisi|title=The Scythians in Tbilisi: Recent Excavations at Treligorebi|last=cguardia|date=2016-02-03 |website=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|access-date=2019-04-16|archive-date=16 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416181555/http://isaw.nyu.edu/events/archive/2012/scythians-in-tbilisi|url-status=live}}</ref> According to legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458. One widely accepted variant of the Tbilisi foundation myth states that King [[Vakhtang I of Iberia]] ({{reign|c. 447/49|502/22}}) went hunting in the heavily wooded region with a [[falcon]] (sometimes the falcon is replaced with either a [[hawk]] or other small [[birds of prey]] in the legend). The king's falcon allegedly caught or injured a [[pheasant]] during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby [[hot spring]] and died from burns. King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to clear the forest and build a city on the location.

King [[Dachi of Iberia]] ({{reign|522|534}}), the successor of Vakhtang I, moved the capital of Iberia from [[Mtskheta]] to Tbilisi and began construction of the fortress wall that lined the city's new boundaries.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Edge of empires : a history of Georgia|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|isbn=978-1-78914-059-0|oclc=1053903394|date=11 February 2019|publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref> From the sixth century, Tbilisi grew at a steady pace due to the region's strategic location along with important trade and travel routes between Europe and Asia.

===Foreign domination===
Tbilisi's favorable trade location, however, did not necessarily bode well for its survival. Located strategically in the heart of the [[Caucasus]] between Europe and Asia, Tbilisi became an object of rivalry among the region's various powers such as the [[Roman Empire]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthia]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Persia]], [[Caliphate|Muslim Arabs]], the [[Byzantine Empire]], and the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk Turks]]. The cultural development of the city was somewhat dependent on who ruled the city at various times, although Tbilisi was fairly cosmopolitan.

From 570 to 580, the Persians ruled the city until 627, when [[Third Perso-Turkic War|Tbilisi was sacked]] by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]/[[Khazars|Khazar]] armies and later, in 736–738, Arab armies [[Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia|entered]] the town under [[Marwan II]]. After this point, the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Arabs]] established an [[Emirate of Tbilisi|emirate]] centered in Tbilisi. [[Dirham|Arabic dirhams]] were brought to Georgia following the Arab conquest in the seventh century, and a mint was founded in Tbilisi that produced coins with inscriptions in both [[Arabic]] and Georgian.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|p=242}} In 764, Tbilisi – still under Arab control – was once again sacked by the Khazars. In 853, the armies of Arab leader [[Bugha al-Kabir|Bugha Al-Turki]] invaded Tbilisi in order to enforce its return to [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] allegiance. The Arab domination of Tbilisi continued until about 1050. In 1065, the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk]] Sultan [[Alp Arslan]] campaigned against the [[Kingdom of Georgia]], subjugated Tbilisi, and built a mosque in the city.{{sfn|Minorsky|1953|p=65}}

===Capital of Georgia===
In 1121, after the [[Battle of Didgori]] against the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuks]], the troops of King [[David IV of Georgia]] besieged Tbilisi, taking it in 1122. David moved his residence from [[Kutaisi]] to Tbilisi, making it the capital of a unified [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgian State]], thus inaugurating the [[Georgian Golden Age]]. From the 12–13th centuries, Tbilisi became a regional power with a thriving economy and astonishing cultural output. By the end of the 12th century, the population of Tbilisi had reached 100,000. The city also became an important literary and cultural center, not only for Georgia, but also for the [[Eastern Orthodox]] world of the time. During [[Queen Tamar]]'s reign, [[Shota Rustaveli]] worked in Tbilisi while writing his legendary epic poem ''[[The Knight in the Panther's Skin]]''. This period is often referred to as "Georgia's Golden Age"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgianbiography.com/history4.html|publisher=Dictionary of Georgian National Biography|title=The Golden Age of Georgia|access-date=2 February 2008|archive-date=28 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028133708/http://www.georgianbiography.com/history4.html|url-status=live}}</ref> or the Georgian [[Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Country Overview|publisher=Invest in Georgia |url=http://www.investingeorgia.info/georgia_profile/country_overview/|access-date=2 February 2008|quote=This early Georgian renaissance ... preceded its European analogue by several hundred years |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101022941/http://www.investingeorgia.info/georgia_profile/country_overview/|archive-date=1 January 2008}}</ref>

===Mongol domination and other instability===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Tiflis - Angelino Dulcert - 1339.jpg|thumb|left|Detail from the Nautical chart by [[Angelino Dulcert]], depicting Georgian Black Sea coast and Tiflis, 1339]]
Tbilisi's "Golden Age" did not last for more than a century. In 1226, Tbilisi was captured by the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarezmian Empire]] under Shah [[Jalal al-Din Mangburni|Jalal al-Din]], who massacred tens of thousands of Christians.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|p=19 }} The Khwarezmian occupation left Tbilisi's defenses severely devastated and prone to further attacks by Mongol armies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grousset |first1=René |title=The empire of the steppes: a history of Central Asia |last2=Grousset |first2=René |date=2008 |publisher=Rutgers Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 |edition=10. print |location=New Brunswick, NJ}}</ref> In 1236, after suffering crushing [[Mongol invasions of Georgia|Mongol defeats]], Georgia submitted to [[Kingdom of Georgia#Mongol yoke|Mongol domination]]. The nation itself maintained a form of "semi-independence" and did not lose its statehood, but Tbilisi would be strongly influenced by the Mongols for the next century, both politically and culturally. In the 1320s, the Mongols retreated from Georgia, and Tbilisi became the capital of an independent Georgian state, once again. However, an outbreak of the [[Black Death]] struck the city in 1366.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Suny |first=Ronald Grigor |title=The making of the Georgian nation |date=1994 |publisher=Indiana Univ. Pr. [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-253-35579-9 |edition=2. |series=Eurasian studies history |location=Bloomington, Ind.}}</ref>

Between the late 14th century and the late 18th century, Tbilisi would again be under the rule of various foreign powers. On several occasions, the city would even be completely burned and razed to the ground. In 1386, Tbilisi was [[Timur's invasions of Georgia|invaded and sacked several times]] by the armies of [[Timur|Tamerlane]]. In 1440, the city was [[Turkmen incursions into Georgia|invaded]] and destroyed by [[Jahan Shah]] (the Shah of the town of [[Tabriz]], [[Iran|Persia]]). From 1477 to 1478, the city was held by the [[Aq Qoyunlu|Ak Koyunlu]] tribesmen of [[Uzun Hasan|Uzun Hassan]].

===Iranian control===
{{see also|Safavid Georgia}}
[[File:03 Chardin Tblisi 1671.jpg|thumb|Tbilisi according to French traveler [[Jean Chardin]], 1671]]
[[File:Teflis Tournefort.png|thumb|A 1717 illustration of Teflis by [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]]]]

As early as the 1510s, Tbilisi (and the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Kartli|Kartli]] and [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]]) were made vassal territories of [[Safavid Iran]].{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|pages=164, 166}} In 1522, Tbilisi was garrisoned for the first time by a large Safavid force.{{sfn|Hitchins|2001|pages=464–470}}{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|page=166}} Following the death of king (''[[shah]]'') [[Ismail I]] (r. 1501–1524), king [[David X of Kartli]] expelled the Iranians. During this period, many parts of Tbilisi were reconstructed and rebuilt. The four campaigns of the king [[Tahmasp I]] (r. 1524–1576) resulted in the reoccupation of Kartli and Kakheti, and a Safavid force was permanently stationed in Tbilisi from 1551 onwards.{{sfn|Hitchins|2001|pages=464–470}}{{sfn|Floor|2008|pages=295–296}} With the 1555 [[Treaty of Amasya]], and more firmly from 1614 to 1747, with brief intermissions, Tbilisi was an important city under Iranian rule, and it functioned as a seat of the Iranian vassal kings of Kartli whom the shah conferred with the title of [[vali (governor)|vali]]. In 1718, the Venetian senate implored the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid emperor]] [[Soltan Hoseyn]] to protect the Catholic Armenians and Capuchin missionaries in Tbilisi from the Gregorian Armenians.{{sfn|Rota|2012|p=152}} Under the later rules of [[Teimuraz II of Kakheti|Teimuraz II]] and [[Heraclius II of Georgia|Heraclius II]], Tbilisi became a vibrant political and cultural center free of foreign rule—but, fearful of the constant threat of invasion, Georgia's rulers sought Russian protection in the 1783 [[Treaty of Georgievsk]]. Despite this agreement, the city was [[Battle of Krtsanisi|captured and devastated]] in 1795 by the Iranian [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] ruler [[Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar|Agha Mohammad Khan]], who sought to re-establish Iran's traditional sovereignty over the region.{{sfn|Kazemzadeh|1991|pages=328–330}}<ref>Suny, pp. 58–59</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/9137125|title=Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1797–2014|access-date=15 December 2014|archive-date=1 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501122208/http://www.academia.edu/9137125/Relations_between_Tehran_and_Moscow_1979-2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Russian control===
{{see also|Georgia within the Russian Empire}}
[[File:Coat of arms of Tiflis Governorate 1878.svg|thumb|upright|left|The coat of arms of Tiflis under Russian rule]]
In 1801, the [[Russian Empire]] annexed the Georgian [[Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti]] (of which Tbilisi was the capital), later cementing its rule with the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] of 1813,<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&dq=russo+persian+war+1804-1813&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626144341/https://books.google.nl/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728&dq=russo+persian+war+1804-1813&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=QnOXVJXpCcz7UPevhPAK&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=russo%20persian%20war%201804-1813&f=false |date=26 June 2015 }} pp 728–729 ABC-CLIO, 2 dec. 2014. {{ISBN|978-1598849486}}</ref><ref>[[Alexander Mikaberidze|Mikaberidze, Alexander]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&dq=alexander+mikaberidze+gulistan+treaty+georgia&pg=PA351 ''Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia 2 volumes: A Historical Encyclopedia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211065514/https://books.google.nl/books?id=jBBYD2J2oE4C&pg=PA351&dq=alexander+mikaberidze+gulistan+treaty+georgia&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAWoVChMIl_W72tP_yAIVwkYPCh3v2gwm#v=onepage&q=alexander%20mikaberidze%20gulistan%20treaty%20georgia&f=false |date=11 December 2015 }} ABC-CLIO, 22 jul. 2011 {{ISBN|978-1598843378}} p 351</ref> which ended Iranian control of Georgia.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kazemzadeh|first1=Firuz|author-link1=Firuz Kazemzadeh|title=Russia and Britain in Persia: Imperial Ambitions in Qajar Iran|date=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0857721730|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWEBAwAAQBAJ&q=1801+persia+loses+georgia+to+russia&pg=PA5|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401002900/https://books.google.com/books?id=aWEBAwAAQBAJ&q=1801+persia+loses+georgia+to+russia&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref> Within Tsarist Russia, Tbilisi (known then as Tiflis) was included within the [[Tiflis Uyezd]] county in 1801, and became the administrative center of the [[Tiflis Governorate]] (''[[Governorate (Russia)|Gubernia]]'') following the latter's establishment in 1846. Russian Imperial administrators implemented a new European-style city plan and commissioned new buildings in Western styles. Roads and railroads were built to connect Tbilisi to other important cities in the [[Russian Empire]], such as [[Batumi]] and [[Poti]]. By the 1850s, Tbilisi once again emerged as a major trade and cultural center, with many foreign, including Western European, entrepreneurs operating under Russian oversight.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Riegg |first=Stephen Badalyan |date=2020-01-01 |title=Cocooned In The Caucasus |url=https://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/11963 |journal=Cahiers du monde russe. Russie - Empire russe - Union soviétique et États indépendants |language=en |volume=61 |issue=1–2 |pages=205–230 |doi=10.4000/monderusse.11963 |issn=1252-6576}}</ref>

The likes of [[Ilia Chavchavadze]], [[Akaki Tsereteli]], [[Mirza Fatali Akhundov|Mirza Fatali Akhundzade]], [[Iakob Gogebashvili]], [[Alexander Griboyedov]] and many other statesmen, poets and artists all found their home in Tbilisi. The city was visited on numerous occasions by and was the object of affection of [[Alexander Pushkin]], [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Mikhail Lermontov]], the [[House of Romanov|Romanov family]] and others. The main new artery built under Russian administration was Golovin Avenue (present-day [[Rustaveli Avenue]]), on which the [[Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917)|Viceroys of the Caucasus]] established their residence. For much of the early 19th century, Tbilisi's largest ethnic group was Armenian, at some point forming 74.3% of the population.<ref name="Ronald Grigor Suny 1994 116">{{cite book |author=Ronald Grigor Suny|title=The making of the Georgian nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riW0kKzat2sC&pg=PA116|access-date=16 November 2011|year=1994|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-20915-3 |pages=116–|archive-date=22 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322113445/https://books.google.com/books?id=riW0kKzat2sC&pg=PA116|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Old Tbilisi - XIX century.jpg|"Dry Bridge", constructed by Italian architect Antonio Scudieri
File:Rustavelis Gamziri old.jpg|View on [[Rustaveli Avenue|Golovin Avenue]] as seen from the site of present-day [[Freedom Square, Tbilisi|Freedom Square]]
File:Tbilisi XIXc 01.jpg|Building of the [[Tbilisi City Hall]]
File:Tbilisi XIXc 04.jpg|Grand Hotel "Kavkaz" in central Tbilisi, c 1900
File:Image-Tbilisi XIXc 05.jpg|Building of the [[Art Museum of Georgia]], built at the end of the 1830s, photo ca. 1900
File:Tbilisi, Metekhi Castle and Church from Tatar Square in 1890s.png|Tatar bazaar and with the [[Metekhi]] Orthodox church seen on the cliff
File:Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tbilisi (ტფილისის სამხედრო ტაძარი).jpg|[[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tiflis|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]], demolished by the Soviets to make way for the present [[Georgian Parliament Building (Tbilisi)|Parliament building]]
</gallery>

[[File:Lermontov TiflisGLM.jpg|thumb|Tiflis by [[Mikhail Lermontov]], 1837]]

===Brief independence===
After the [[Russian Revolution|Russian Revolution of 1917]], the city served as a location of the [[Transcaucasia|Transcaucasus]] interim government which established, in the spring of 1918, the short-lived independent [[Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic|Transcaucasian Federation]] with the capital in Tbilisi. At this time, Tbilisi had roughly the same number of Armenians as Georgians, with Russians being the third largest ethnic group.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208080442/http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html|url-status=dead|title=население грузии|archive-date=8 February 2008|website=ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru}}</ref> It was in the former Viceroy of the Caucasus's palace where the independence of three Transcaucasus nations – Georgia, [[Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan]] – was declared by their respective national councils on 26 to 28 May 1918. After this, Tbilisi functioned as the capital of the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] until 25 February 1921. From 1918 to 1919, the city also consecutively served as the headquarters of the country's [[German Empire|German]] garrison{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} and later the [[British Army|British]] [[27th Division (United Kingdom)|27th Division]];<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|volume=2|location=Berkeley|page=130|oclc=238471}}</ref> Tbilisi was also the main office of the British Chief Commissioner in Transcaucasia, [[Oliver Wardrop]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2 |volume=2|location=Berkeley|page=116|oclc=238471}}</ref> and the High Commissioner to Armenia, Colonel [[William N. Haskell]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|volume=2|location=Berkeley|pages=113–114|oclc=238471}}</ref>

Under the national government, Tbilisi turned into the first Caucasian University City after the [[Tbilisi State University]] was founded in 1918.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Marshall|author-link=David Marshall Lang |year=1962|title=History of Modern Georgia|page=211}}</ref> On 25 February 1921, the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Bolshevist Russia]]n 11th [[Red Army]] invaded<ref>{{cite book|title=Socialism in Georgian Colors |first=Stephen F. |last=Jones|location=<!-- omit location without publisher: London--> |year=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Marshall|author-link=David Marshall Lang|year=1962|title=History of Modern Georgia}}</ref> Tbilisi and after bitter fighting at the outskirts of the city, declared Soviet rule.

===Soviet rule===
[[File:Red Army in Tbilisi Feb 25 1921.jpg|thumb|The Red Army [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|entered]] Tbilisi on 25 February 1921]]
In 1921, the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] was [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|occupied]] by the Soviet [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] forces from Russia, and until 1936, Tbilisi functioned first as the capital city of the [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]] (which included Armenia, [[Azerbaijan]], and Georgia), and afterward until 1991 as the capital of the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. During Soviet rule, Tbilisi's population grew significantly, the city became more industrialized, and it also came to be an important political, social, and cultural centre of the Soviet Union. In 1980, the city hosted the first state-sanctioned [[Tbilisi Rock Festival (1980)|rock festival]] in the USSR. As a major tourist destination for both Soviet citizens and foreign visitors, Tbilisi's "Old Town" (the neighborhoods within the original city walls) was reconstructed in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Бабенко|first=Виталий|date=October 1983|script-title=ru:...внутри драгоценного круга|journal=[[Vokrug Sveta]]|volume=1983|issue=10 (2517) |url=http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/2120/|access-date=19 August 2012|language=ru|archive-date=28 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128112304/http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/2120/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Tbilisi witnessed mass anti-Russian demonstrations during 1956 in the [[1956 Georgian demonstrations|9 March Massacre]], in protest against the anti-Stalin policies of [[Nikita Khrushchev]]. [[1978 Georgian demonstrations|Peaceful protests]] occurred in 1978, and in 1989 the [[April 9 tragedy]] was a peaceful protest that turned violent.

===Post-independence===
Since the [[History of the Soviet Union (1982–91)|break-up of the Soviet Union]], Tbilisi has experienced periods of significant instability and turmoil. After a brief civil war, which the city endured for two weeks from December 1991 to January 1992 (when pro-[[Zviad Gamsakhurdia|Gamsakhurdia]] and Opposition forces clashed), Tbilisi became the scene of frequent armed confrontations among various [[Russian mafia|mafia]] clans and illegal business operators. During the [[Eduard Shevardnadze|Shevardnadze]] Era (1992–2003), crime and corruption were rampant. Many segments of society became impoverished because of unemployment caused by the crumbling economy. Average citizens of Tbilisi started to become increasingly disillusioned with the existing quality of life in the city (and in the nation in general). Mass protests took place in November 2003 after falsified parliamentary elections forced more than 100,000 people into the streets and concluded with the [[Rose Revolution]]. Since 2003, Tbilisi has experienced considerably more stability with decreasing crime rates, an improved economy, and a real estate boom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbg.gov.ge/uploads/workingpaper/nbgwp01.08.pdf|title=Analysis of Tbilisi's Real Estate Boom|last=Rukhadze|first=Vasili|author2=Tobias Moerschen|year=2007|access-date=22 November 2009|archive-date=9 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009073042/http://nbg.gov.ge/uploads/workingpaper/nbgwp01.08.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Russo-Georgian War|2008 South Ossetia war]], the Tbilisi area was hit by multiple Russian air attacks.

After the war, several large-scale projects were started, including a streetcar system,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rustavi2.com/news/news_text.php?id_news=39070&pg=1&im=main |title=Rustavi 2 |publisher=Rustavi 2 |access-date=3 June 2011 |archive-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715220119/http://www.rustavi2.com/news/news_text.php?id_news=39070&pg=1&im=main |url-status=live }}</ref> a railway bypass and a relocation of the [[Tbilisi railway station|central station]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Sergey Gevenov |url=http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=7945 |title=Tbilisi railway project to start : Story by Nino Edilashvili : Georgia Today on the Web |publisher=Georgiatoday.ge |access-date=3 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721031152/http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=7945 |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> and new urban highways.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.investor.ge/issues/2010_1/10.htm |title=Issue 1, 2010 – Tbilisi 2010 |publisher=Investor.ge |access-date=3 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007010159/http://www.investor.ge/issues/2010_1/10.htm |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> In June 2015, [[2015 Tbilisi flood|a flood]] killed at least twenty people and caused animals from the [[Tbilisi Zoo|city's zoo]] to be released into the streets.<ref>{{cite news|title=Georgia flood: Tbilisi residents warned over zoo animals after devastating flood|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33125879|access-date=15 June 2015|work=BBC News|date=14 June 2015|archive-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614104452/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33125879|url-status=live}}</ref>