Dvalishvili L.B. (2025). Specializacija oruzhejnikov v Tiflise (1633-1865) [Armourers’ specialization in Tiflis (1633-1865)]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 15, pp. 12—52.
Abstract: Late feudal Tiflis was a major commercial and industrial centre in the region. Despite the fact that the city’s industrial and commercial potential was affected by circumstances related to periods of wartime, on the whole, even in the most difficult political conditions, Tiflis retained its role as a regional commercial and industrial centre, being connected by transit routes to various countries around the world, and played a key role in the development of the region’s economy.
Transit routes passing through Tiflis and a large concentration of merchants contributed to the growth of the city’s population and the development of craft production. The development of craft industries led to their differentiation, both as a whole and within individual industries. Armourers specialised in manufacture of specific types of arms, as well as in manufacture of individual parts for such arms (handles and blades for sabres and daggers, locks and stocks for rifles, etc.). Such narrow specialisation in arms manufacturing ensured high product quality on the one hand, and increased production scale on the other. As a result, arms manufactured in Tiflis were not only sold on the local market, but were also exported abroad. The article covers the period from the accession of King Rostom to the Kartli throne in 1633 (with its capital in Tiflis), when craft production began to develop rapidly, to 1865, that is, until the uprising of the Tiflis hamkar (guilds), after which the state took extraordinary measures and traditional craft production also changed its appearance.
Keywords: Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia, armourer, historical arms of Caucasus, Tiflis hamkar, craftsmen, armourers’ specialisation, division of labour, sabre armourer, dagger armourer, master.