Barbaro Giosafat

Giosafat Barbaro (b. 1413, Venice — d. 1494, Venice) was a Venetian merchant, diplomat and traveler. In 1436-1451, he was engaged in trade and lived in Tanais (Azov) because of his trading activities and from there he traveled to the Caucasus, Crimea and South Russia. In 1463-1473, he was the representative of the Republic of Venice first in Dalmatia, then in Albania. He had close relations with Albanian national hero Skanderbeg. In 1473-1477, he was the ambassador of the Republic of Venice to the Turkmen federation Aq Qoyunlu and tried to involve Uzun Hasan in the fight against the Ottomans. In 1477, he returned to Venice.

In 1475, Barbaro visited Tbilisi and described his journey in the book. The book is divided in two parts (Journey to Tanais and Journey to Iran) and includes political, economic and ethnic reports about different countries, including Georgia, as well as the issues of relations between Georgia and Aq Qoyunlu in the second half of the 15^th century.

Barbaro described Uzun Hasan's campaign in Georgia in 1477. According to him, the conqueror was secretly preparing for this. With an army of about 30-35 thousand, in which there were 20-24 thousand horsemen, Uzun Hasan first traveled in another direction for a week, and then turned towards Georgia. In two days, the invaders reached Tbilisi. The population fled to safety in advance. Uzun Hasan conquered Tbilisi without resistance. The number of those captured by the enemy was around 4-5 thousand.

Literary work: XV საუკუნის იტალიელ მოგზაურთა ცნობები საქართველოს შესახებ. იტალიურიდან თარგმნა, შესავალი, შენიშვნები და საძიებლები დაურთო ე. მამისთვალიშვილმა, თბ., 1981.

E. Mamistvalishvili