I then demanded Teimuraz's attendance. At this point war broke out. In 1614–1617, Abbas I led several campaigns against Kakheti and Kartli, massacred and deported hundreds of thousands ethnic Georgians to Iran, also despite stiff resistance and heavy defeat at Tsitsamuri forced Teimuraz I to Imereti. Shah Abbas I castrated both sons of the obdurate King and savagely tortured and burned to death his mother Queen Ketevan on September 13, 1624. Ketevan was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church and remains a symbolic figure in Georgian history. The story of her martyrdom was publicized in Europe, and several literary works were produced, including Andreas Gryphius’ Katharina von Georgien (1657). Moreover, Shah sought to populate Kakheti with the Turkoman tribes. In 1624, Shah Abbas I turned his attention to Georgia again. Fearing a potential revolt, he dispatched some 35,000 men under Qarachaqay Khan and George Saakadze to subdue eastern Georgia. Although Saakadze had already served the Shah for twelve years, Abbas I didn't trust Georgian general completely and kept George's son, Paata, as a hostage. The Shah's anxiety was justified, since the Grand Mouravi had maintained covert communications with the Georgian forces and devise a plan to destroy the enemy army. Saakadze surreptitiously united Kartli and Kakheti behind him. He deviously ‘advised’ Qarachaqay Khan to split his forces into small groups and send them into Kakheti, while the major army camped near Martqopi. On March 25, 1625, Saakadze summoned the war council where he personally slew Qarachaqay Khan and Yusuf Khan of Shirvan, while his son, Avtandil, and his Georgian escorts killed other Qizilbash commanders, including Imam Verdi Khan, Qarachaqay's son. Receiving a signal, Zurab Eristavi – another Georgian noble in Abbas's service – charged with his main forces, virtually annihilating leaderless Iranian troops. Annunciation Day (25 March) brought an extraordinary victory – Saakadze's and Duke Zurab's army massacred 27,000 out of 30,000 strong Turkoman-Persian army, took their arsenal and besieged Tbilisi's citadel before the puppet-king Simon II (1619–1630) could arrive. Within days, all Kartli and Kakheti was in Georgian hands. After that, Saakadze's army invaded neighbouring provinces of the Safavid Empire – plundering Ganja and razing to the ground countryside to the Araxes river, thus avenging Shah Abbas’ invasions. Since the Georgian Uprising was sudden, Qizilbash tribes living in Karabakh were caught by surprise and had to flee further south hastily. Even though Georgians managed to capture thousands of Qizilbashes.