Georgian civil war of 1463–1490

The Georgian civil war of 1463–1490 (Georgian: 1463–1490 წლების ქართული სამოქალაქო ომი) was a military conflict that took place within the Kingdom of Georgia during the second half of the 15th century. Beginning under the reign of George VIII, the conflict continued through the rules of Bagrat VI and Constantine II, spreading across the entire country. Major engagements occurred in Abkhazia, Svaneti, Imereti, Samtskhe, Kartli, Mingrelia, and Kakheti.

The war began in the 1460s, following separatist uprisings in the northern principality of Samtskhe, and soon evolved into a broader civil conflict between the central government in Tbilisi and rival royal claimants in Imereti and Kakheti. Over the course of three decades, Georgia became impoverished and politically fragmented. In 1490, peace was finally concluded with the formal partition of the Georgian Kingdom into four independent states, bringing an end to the unified Georgian monarchy that had existed since the 11th century.

The conflict took place amid profound geopolitical changes across the Near East. The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the collapse of the Empire of Trebizond in 1461 marked the ascendance of the Ottoman Empire as a dominant regional power. At the same time, Turkoman tribes sought to exploit Georgia's internal divisions to advance their own expansionist ambitions and facilitate the eventual conquest of the region.