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{{Infobox royalty
| name            = Vakhtang I Gorgasali
| succession      = 32nd [[King of Iberia]]
| moretext = ([[Style of the Georgian sovereign|more...]])
| image           = Vakhtang I.jpg
| image_size      = 255px
| caption         =A miniature by Pier Rossi based on the 17th century fresco of Vakhtang from [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]]
| reign           = c. 447/49 – 502/22
| coronation      =
| predecessor     = [[Mihrdat V of Iberia|Mihrdat V]]
| successor       = [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]]
| heir            =
| spouse          = [[Balendukht]]<br />Elene
| issue           = [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]]<br />Leon<br />Mihrdat<br />Two anonymous daughters
| house           = [[Chosroid dynasty]]
| house-type      = Dynasty
| royal anthem    =
| father          = [[Mihrdat V of Iberia|Mihrdat V]]
| mother          = [[Sagdukht]]
| birth_date      = c. 439/43
| birth_place     = [[Mtskheta]], [[Sasanian Iberia|Kingdom of Iberia]], [[Sasanian Empire]]
| death_date      = c. 502 (aged 62–63)
| death_place     = Ujarma, [[Sasanian Iberia|Kingdom of Iberia]], [[Sasanian Empire]]
| place of burial = [[Mtskheta]], [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]]
| signature_type  = [[Monogram]]
| signature       = 
| religion        = [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]
|}}
'''Vakhtang I Gorgasali''' ({{lang-ka|ვახტანგ I გორგასალი|tr}}; {{circa|439}} or 443 – 502 or 522), of the [[Chosroid dynasty]], was a king (''[[Mepe (title)|mepe]]'') of [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]], natively known as [[Kartli]] (eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter of the 6th century.

He led his people, through an ill-fated alliance with the [[Byzantine Empire]], into a lengthy struggle against [[Sasanian dynasty|Sasanian Iranian]] [[hegemony]], which ended in Vakhtang's defeat and weakened the kingdom of Iberia. Tradition also ascribes to him the reorganization of the [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] and the foundation of [[Tbilisi]], Georgia's modern capital.<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 320. Peeters Publishers, {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}</ref>

Dating Vakhtang's reign is problematic. [[Ivane Javakhishvili]] assigns to Vakhtang's rule the dates {{Circa|449–502}} while [[Cyril Toumanoff]] suggests the dates {{Circa|447–522}}. Furthermore, Toumanoff identifies Vakhtang with the Iberian king Gurgenes known from [[Procopius]]' ''Wars of Justinian''.<ref name="Toumanoff ">[[Cyril Toumanoff|Toumanoff, Cyril]] (1963). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', pp. 368–9. [[Georgetown University Press]].</ref>

Vakhtang is a subject of the 8th or 11th century ''[[Biography|vita]]'' attributed to [[Juansheriani|Juansher]], which intertwines history and legend into an epic narrative, [[hyperbole|hyperbolizing]] Vakhtang's personality and biography. This literary work has been a primary source of Vakhtang's image as an examplary warrior-king and statesman, which has been preserved in popular memory to this day.

By the [[Middle Ages]], he emerged as one of the most popular figures in Georgia's history<ref name="rapp-pass">Rapp (2003), ''passim''.</ref> and has been [[canonized]] by the Georgian Orthodox Church<ref name="pravo">Machitadze, Archpriest Zakaria (2006), [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/7367.htm "The Holy King Vakhtang Gorgasali (†502)"], in [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070306192614 ''The Lives of the Georgian Saints''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614125437/http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070306192614 |date=2008-06-14 }}. ''Pravoslavie.Ru''. Retrieved on April 19, 2009.</ref> as '''The Holy and Right-Believing King Vakhtang''' ({{lang-ka|წმინდა დიდმოწამე მეფე ვახტანგი|link=no}}) and is commemorated on {{OldStyleDateNY|December 13|November 30}}.<ref name="pravo"/>

==Name==
According to the ''Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali'', the king was given at his birth an [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] name ''Varazkhosrovtang'', rendered in Georgian as ''Vakhtang''.<ref name="Thomson">Thomson, Robert W. (1996), ''Rewriting Caucasian History'', p. 156. [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|0-19-826373-2}}</ref> The name may indeed be derived from Iranian *''warx-tang'' (''vahrka-tanū'')—"wolf-bodied", a possible reflection of the wolf cult in ancient Georgia.<ref>[[Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze|Gamkrelidze, Tamaz]]; [[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Ivanov, Vyacheslav]]; Winter, Werner (transl. by [[Johanna Nichols|Nichols, Johanna]]; 1995), ''Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: a reconstruction and historical analysis of a proto-language and a proto-culture'', p. 416. M. de Gruyter, {{ISBN|3-11-009646-3}}</ref> Beginning in the late 13th century, numerous Georgian princes and kings took the name Vakhtang.<ref name="Rapp"/> Toumanoff observes that the name Vakhtang has no [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] equivalent and infers that the king's sobriquet Gorgasal — given to Vakhtang because of the shape of the helmet he wore — was rendered by the 6th-century Roman historian Procopius as Gurgenes ({{langx|el|Γουργένης}}). Toumanoff's identification of Vakhtang with Gurgenes has not been universally accepted.<ref>Greatrex, Geoffrey (1998), ''Rome and Persia at war, 502–532'', p. 129. Francis Cairns, {{ISBN|0-905205-93-6}}</ref>

==Early reign==
[[File:Ge iberia350.png|thumb|200px|left|The largest expansion of Iberia under Vakhtang I{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}]]
Beyond the ''Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali'' (hereinafter LVG), the medieval Georgian sources mention Vakhtang only briefly, yet do so with a respect rarely afforded to the pre-[[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagratid]] Georgian monarchs.<ref name="rapp-pass"/> Notwithstanding its semi-legendary epic character, the LVG provides many important details, which can be combined with the sources closer to the period in question, such as [[Ghazar Parpetsi|Lazarus of Parpi]] and Procopius.<ref name="Toumanoff "/>

Vakhtang is reported by the LVG to have succeeded at the age of 7 his father King [[Mihrdat V of Iberia|Mihrdat (V)]]. His mother, a Christianized Persian [[Sagdukht]], assumed regency in Vakhtang's minority. The author then describes the grave situation in which Iberia was at that time, troubled by the Sassanids' [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianizing]] efforts and a ravaging raid by the "[[Ossetians]]" from the north, this latter being a possible reference to the invasion by the [[Huns]] (which may have included [[Alans]]) through the [[Caspian Gates]] mentioned by [[Priscus]]. At the age of 16, Vakhtang is said to have led a victorious retaliatory [[Vakhtang I of Iberia's Invasion In Ossetia|war]] against the "Ossetians", winning a [[single combat]] against the enemy's champion (described as being a giant) and relieving his sister Mirandukht from captivity. At the age 19, Vakhtang married [[Balendukht]], "daughter" of the [[Shah|Great King]] Hormizd (apparently [[Hormizd III]], [[reign|r]]. 457–459). Soon, upon the Great King's request, Vakhtang took part in the campaign in "India", probably in [[Peroz I|Peroz]]'s abortive expedition against the [[Hephthalites]] in the 460s, and against the Roman Empire in 472, in which Vakhtang is reported to have gained control of [[Egrisi]] (Lazica) and [[Abkhazia]].<ref name="Toumanoff "/><ref name="Thomson 2">Thomson, Robert W. (1996), ''Rewriting Caucasian History'', pp. 153–251. [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|0-19-826373-2}}</ref><ref name="OIG">{{in lang|ru}} М. Лордкипанидзе, Д. Мусхелишвили (Ред., 1988), [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/ic/DGL/work/Ocherki_istorii_gruzii/Ocherki_istorii_gruzii_II/0.htm Очерки истории Грузии. Т.2: Грузия в IV-X веках.] АН ГССР, Ин-т ист., археол. и этнографии – Тб. : Мецниереба: Тип. АН ГССР.</ref>

==Church affairs==
Returning to Iberia, Vakhtang took up a series of measures aimed at strengthening the royal authority. Resenting Persia's encroachments on his independence, Vakhtang reversed his political orientation and effected a rapprochement with the Roman government. He married Helena, "daughter" (possibly relative) of Emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]], and received permission from [[Constantinople]] to elevate the head of the church of Iberia, the [[bishop]] of [[Mtskheta]], to the rank of [[catholicos]], whom he sent, together with twelve newly appointed bishops, to be consecrated at [[Antioch]]. These rearrangements did not pass smoothly and the king had to overcome opposition, especially in the person of Mikel, the deposed bishop of Mtskheta. Javakhishvili explains this conflict on account of doctrinal differences between the [[Monophysite]] Vakhtang and [[Diophysite]] Mikel, a presumption supported by Toumanoff, who points out that the change of prelate and his subordination to Antioch could "only imply acceptance of Zeno's formulary of faith", i.e., the moderately Monophysite ''[[Henotikon]]'' of 482. On his part, another Georgian historian, [[Simon Janashia]], argues that Vakhtang was inclined towards Diophysitism while Mikel adhered to Monophysitism.<ref name="OIG"/><ref name="Suny">[[Ronald Grigor Suny|Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', pp. 23–25. [[Indiana University Press]], {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}}</ref>

==War with Iran==
[[File:Ujarma 5.jpg|thumb|170px|Ruins of Ujarma, once an Iberian stronghold under Vakhtang]]
By espousing a pro-Roman policy, Vakhtang further alienated his nobles, who sought Iranian support against the king's encroachments on their autonomy. In 482, Vakhtang put to death his most influential vassal, [[Varsken of Gugark|Varsken]], [[Bidaxsh|vitaxa]] of [[Gogarene]], a convert to Zoroastrianism and a champion of Iran's influence in the [[Caucasus]], who had executed his Christian wife, [[Shushanik]], daughter of the [[Armenia]]n [[Mamikonid]] prince [[Vardan Mamikonian|Vardan II]] and a hero of the [[Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik|earliest surviving piece]] of Georgian literature. By this act, Vakhtang placed himself in open confrontation with his Iranian suzerain. Vakhtang called on the Armenian princes and the Huns for co-operation. After some hesitation, the Armenians, under Vardan's nephew [[Vahan Mamikonian]], joined forces with Vakhtang. The allies were routed and Iberia was ravaged by Iranian punitive expeditions in 483 and 484, forcing Vakhtang into flight to Roman-controlled [[Lazica]] (modern-day western Georgia). After Peroz's death in the war with the Hephthalites in 484, his successor [[Balash]] reestablished peace in the Caucasus. Vakhtang was able to resume his reign in Iberia, but did not betray his pro-Roman line.<ref name="OIG"/><ref name="Suny"/>
[[File:Stamp of Georgia - 2014 - Colnect 634019 - King Akhtang Gorgasali.jpeg|thumb| Vakhtang I Gorgasali on a 2013 Georgian postage stamp]]

Once the Hundred Years Peace between Iran and Rome collapsed, the Sassanid monarch [[Kavadh I]] summoned Vakhtang as a vassal to join his new campaign against Rome. Vakhtang refused, provoking an Iranian invasion of his kingdom. Then about 60, he had to spend the last years of his life in war and exile, fruitlessly appealing for Roman aid. The chronology of this period is blurry, but by 518 an Iranian viceroy had been installed at the Iberian town of [[Tiflis]], founded—according to Georgian tradition—by none other than Vakhtang and designated as the country's future capital. According to the LVG, Vakhtang died fighting an Iranian invading army at the hands of his renegade slave who shot him through a defect of his armor, in the armpit. The wounded king was transported to his castle at [[Ujarma]] where he died and was interred at the cathedral in Mtskheta. Javakhishvili puts Vakhtang's death at c. 502. If Toumanoff's identification of Procopius’ Gurgenes with Vakhtang is true, the king might have ended his reign in 522 by taking refuge in Lazica, where he possibly died around the same time. Gurgenes’ family members—[[Peranius]], [[Pacurius]], and [[Phazas]]—had careers in the Roman military.<ref name="Toumanoff "/><ref>Procopius reports that the Iberian king Gurgenes defected to the Romans at some point during [[Justin I]]'s reign, but was defeated by Iranians and forced into flight to the Roman territory (''Bell. pern.'' 1.12.)</ref>

==Family==
According to the LVG, Vakhtang was survived by three sons. [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]], Vakhtang's eldest son by his first marriage to the Iranian princess Balendukht (who died at childbirth), succeeded him as king of Iberia and had to return to Iranian allegiance. Two younger sons by Vakhtang's second marriage to the Roman lady Elene—Leon and Mihrdat—were enfeoffed of the southwestern Iberian provinces of [[Klarjeti]] and [[Javakheti]] in which Leon's progeny—the [[Guaramids]]—traditionally followed a pro-Roman orientation. Both these lines survived in Iberia into the 8th century, being succeeded by their energetic cousins of the [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagratid]] family.<ref name="Toumanoff "/> Toumanoff has inferred that the ''Samanazus'', a name of the Iberian "king" found in [[John Malala]]'s list of rulers contemporary with Justinian and reported by [[Theophanes the Confessor]] and [[Georgios Kedrenos]] to have visited Constantinople in 535, might have been a corruption of words meaning "brother of Dachi" and so perhaps refers to Mihrdat.<ref>Martindale, John Robert (1992), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', p. 1109. [[Cambridge University Press]], {{ISBN|0-521-07233-6}}</ref>

==Will of Vakhtang==
Before his death, the wounded King Vakhtang left the following [[Will and testament|will]] to his son [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]] and to the Georgians:
{{cquote|მე ესე რა წარვალ წინაშე ღმრთისა ჩემისა, და ვმადლობ სახელსა მისსა, რამეთუ არა დამაკლო [or: დამარხო] გამორჩეულთა წმიდათა მისთა. აწ გამცნებ თქუენ, რათა მტკიცედ სარწმუნოებასა ზედა სდგეთ და ეძიებდეთ ქრისტესთჳს სიკუდილსა სახელსა მისსა ზედა, რათა წარუვალი დიდება მოიგოთ. <br />And I, as I go to my [[God]], I give thanks to His name, because he did not sacrifice [or: 'spare'] his chosen blessings. Now I exhort you, that you stand firm in your faith and seek death for [[Jesus|Christ]] in His name, so that you may obtain imperishable glory!<ref>Georgian royal annals, Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali, page of edition 203, line of edition 9-10-11-12-13</ref>}}

He also called on [[Georgians]] not to abandon ties with the [[Byzantine Empire]]:
{{cquote|მე ჴორციელებრითა დიდებითა გადიდენ თქუენ ნათესავთა ჩემთა. და სახლსა ჩუენსა ნუ შეურაცხჰყოფთ, და სიყუარულსა ბერძენთასა ნუ დაუტეობთ. <br />I have magnified you and all my generations in the flesh with glory; neither disgrace our home nor abandon the [[love]] of the [[Greeks]].<ref>Georgian royal annals, Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali, page of edition 203, line of edition 16-17</ref>}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Svetitskhoveli (interior) 24.jpg|thumb|170px|Grave of Vakhtang I at [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]].]]
Vakhtang entered a pantheon of Georgian historical heroes already in the Middle Ages. A royal oriflamme of the Georgian Bagratids was known as "Gorgasliani", i.e., "of Gorgasali". It is sometimes supposed to be the earliest model of the current [[Flag of Georgia (country)|Georgian national flag]].{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}{{clarify|date=August 2013}}
In popular memory, his image has acquired a legendary and romantic façade. Vakhtang is a subject of several folk poems and legends, extolling the king's perceived greatness, enormous physical strength, courage and devoutness to Christianity.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Tsulaia, G. V. (trans., 1986), Джуаншер Джуаншериани. «Жизнь Вахтанга Горгасала» (Juansher Juansheriani. "Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali"). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. [http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus4/Gorgasal/framepred.htm Online version], digitalized by Тhietmar. 2002. Vostlit.Info. Retrieved on April 22, 2009</ref>

Vakhtang has been credited with the foundation of several towns, castles, and monasteries across Georgia, including the nation's capital Tbilisi, where a street and a square bear his name, and a 1967 monument by the sculptor [[Elguja Amashukeli]] tops the [[Metekhi]] cliff. A legend has it that when King Vakhtang was in the forest, his [[falcon]] chased a [[pheasant]]. The bird fell into a hot water spring and the king and his servants saw the steam come out of the water. Surprised by the abundance of hot water, Vakhtang gave orders to build a city on this site and named it "Tbilisi", that is, "the site of warm springs".<ref>Constantine B. Lerner, "The 'River of Paradaise' and the Legend about the City of Tbilisi: A Literary Source of the Legend," ''Folklore'' 16 (November 2001): 72–77</ref>

Vakhtang was officially included in the Georgian Orthodox calendar — and a church built in his honor in the city of [[Rustavi]]—early in the 1990s, but he had presumably been considered a saint long before that.

The Vakhtang Gorgasali Order, created in 1992, is one of the highest [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Georgia|military decorations]] in Georgia.<ref>[http://www.president.gov.ge/?l=E&m=8&sm=0: State Decorations]. [[President of Georgia]] website. Retrieved on April 22, 2009</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Vakhtang I of Iberia}}
*ჯუანშერი, "ცხოვრება ვახტანგ გორგასლისა/ქართლის ცხოვრება, ს. ყაუხჩიშვილის გამოც. ტ. I, თბილისი, 1955
*ლ. ჯანაშია, ლაზარ ფარპეცის ცნობები საქართველო შესახებ, თბილისი, 1962
*ლ. ჯანაშია, ქართლი V საუკუნის მეორე ნახევარში/ საქართველოს ისსტორიის ნარკვევები, ტ. II, თბილისი, 1973
*ბ. ლომინაძე, საქართველოს მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესიის ადმინისტრაიული ორგანიზაცია V საუკუნეში, საქართველოს ფეოდალური ხანის ისტორიის საკითხები, VII, გამომცემლობა "ცოტნე"
*ვ. გოილაძე, ვახტანგ გორგასალი და მისი ისტორიკოსი, თბილისი, 1991
*ზ.ალექსიძე, ვახტანგ გორგასალსა და მიქაელ მთავაეპისკოპოსს შორის კონფლიქტის გამო/ ძიებანისაქართველოსა და კავკასიის ისტორიიდან, 1976
*ნ. ლომოური, საქართველოსა და ბიზანტიის ურთიერთობა V საუკუნეში,1989, გვ. 52
*ვ. მ. ლორთქიფანიძე, ქართლი V საუკუნის მეორ ნახევარში, თბილისი, 1979
*Les plus anciens  homéliaires géorgiens, étude descriptive et historique par Michel van Esbroeck. Publication de l'institut orientaliste de Louvain, 10. Luvain-la-neuve, 1975

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |
before = [[Mithridates V of Iberia|Mithridates V]]|
title = [[King of Iberia]]|
years=447–522|
after = [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakhtang 01 of Iberia}}
[[Category:Chosroid kings of Iberia]]
[[Category:Georgian royal saints]]
[[Category:Burials at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]]
[[Category:City founders]]
[[Category:People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars]]
[[Category:Rebellions against the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:5th-century births]]
[[Category:6th-century deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:6th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:5th-century monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:6th-century monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:6th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Vassal rulers of the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:Christians in the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:Sasanian generals]]
[[Category:Georgians from the Sasanian Empire]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]