Akhalkalaki was founded by
Bagrat IV of Georgia in 1064. In 1066, the city was destroyed during the
Seljuq invasions of the
Kingdom of Georgia. In the 11th century, Akhalkalaki became one of the
political and economic centers of
Javakheti. In the 16th century, the city came under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire and became a
sanjak center in
Çıldır Eyaleti. Under the Ottoman rule, the town was known as "Ahılkelek". The city was passed from the Ottomans to the
Russians after the
Russo-Turkish War in 1828–1829. Around 1830, approximately 30,000 Armenian refugees from Turkey’s Erzurum region settled here. On January 4, 1900, an earthquake destroyed much of the town and killed 1,000 people in the area. The citizens predominantly dwelled in
dugouts until the 1920s. The city was the administrative center of the
Akhalkalaki uezd of the
Tiflis Governorate. In May 1918, the town and its district were occupied by the
Ottoman army until their withdrawal by the
Armistice of Mudros—the occupation resulted in the exodus of the local Armenian population which nearly perished due to starvation and disease. ==Population==