During the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, the Georgian people fought against Persian and Byzantine conquerors to preserve independence.

 Egrisi was repelling the Buzantines and Kartli the Persians. In mid-fifth century, Vakhtang I Gorgasal became king of Kartli, heading the struggle against the Persians. He paved the way for transferring the capital of Georgia form Mtsketa to Tbilisi. The territory of Tbilisi had been inhabited from Neolithic times. By the middle of the fifth century, the population of Tbilisi had grown considerably. The transfer of the capital from Mtskheta to Tbilisi was accomplished by King Dachi, Vakhtang I’s son and successor.  

The entire population of Transcaucasia fought in the struggle against the Persians. Vakhtang Gorgasal practically created an anti-Persian coalition including, besides the Georgians, the Armenians and Albanians. However, this struggle was unsuccessful: the Kingo f Kartli fell in battle early in the sixth century. After his death, the Persians began to act with added fierceness and zeal. In 523 havind subdued Kartli, they moved into Western Georgia, Their intention to seize Egrisi became the casus belli between Persia and Byzantium. The war lasted 20 years, mostly on the territory of Egrisi, laying it waste.  

The valiant and selfless struggle of the Georgian people and the flexible policy and diplomacy of its leaders saved the country from catastrophe. The Byzantine historians Agathias and Menander extolled the courage and industry of the Georgians in their writings.  

In 572, the Kartlians rose in arms and expelled the Persians. Local administrative state government of Saerismtavro was instituted in Kartli. This early feudal state served as the basis for the creation of the future united Georgian monarchy.  

In the seventh and eighth centuries, important socio-political changes took place in Georgia. The principalities (samtavros ) of Kakheti, Hereti and Tao-Klarjeti, as well as the western Georgian state, the Kingdom of Abkhazia, took shape in this period.  

This time is significant also for the development of external political relationships. The invasions of the Arabs in the mid-seventh century undermined considerably the economic development of the country, with Kartli suffering the hardest. The struggle against the Arabs began to involve Georgia’s Armenian and Albanian neighbors as well. From the middle of the eighth century, the Arab control became unbearable, leading to an intensification of the struggle. The forces fighting against the Arabs united their efforts under the banner of Christianity. The selfless struggle waged by the Georgians ultimately resulted in a gradual shrinking of the sphere of Arab influence, which had long extended to Tbilisi.