Vakhtang V

Template:Template other Vakhtang V (Georgian: ), born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni (Georgian: ) (1618 – September 1675), was king (mepe) of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vassal wali for the Persian shah. He is also known under the name of Shah Nawaz, which he assumed on being obliged outwardly to conform to Islam.

Early life

Youth

File:Mukhrani fortress.jpg

Vakhtang spent his youth in the Mukhrani fortress, his father's residence.

Vakhtang was born around 1618, and was the eldest son of Teimuraz I, Prince of Mukhrani, who has the prince of the House of Mukhrani since 1580, and his wife, Princess Anne Sidamoni, he descends from a younger branch of the Bagrationi dynasty which has governed an interior province of Kartli since the beginning of the 16th century. From his youth, Vakhtang was educated as heir to the throne of a powerful principality and around the age of 5, his family began his training in the military arts.

His father soon became one of the leaders of the Georgian revolt against Safavid Iran which then occupied the Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti, and in 1623 he was appointed regent of Kartli by the Georgian nobles from the north of the kingdom.Template:Sfn However, he was killed during the Battle of Marabda in 1625, when Vakhtang was only 7 years old and the prerogative of Mukhrani went to Teimuraz's brother, Kaikhosro.Template:Sfn He was in turn defeated during the invasion of Kartli by King Teimuraz I of Kakheti in 1627 and went into exile in the Ottoman Empire, while his wife and nephews, including Vakhtang, took refuge in Imereti. at the court of King George III.Template:Sfn

After the failure of an attempt by the exiled family to retake their domains from Teimuraz I, the House of Mukhrani fell into the hands of Prince David of Kakheti.Template:Sfn However, the entire region became the stage of an internecine conflict between the pro-Safavid and Christian parties; Mukhrani found itself at the center of the conflict, while being administered by the Duchy of Aragvi.Template:Sfn Following the death of Shah Abbas the Great in 1629, the pro-Persian party divided and King Simon II of Kartli confiscated the Mukhrani region from Duke Zurab I of Aragvi and invited the young Vakhtang, then aged 11, to rule the principality as Vakhtang II of Mukhrani.Template:Sfn A few months later, Simon II was killed by the Duke of Aragvi, and Teimuraz I of Kakheti regained possession of Kartli. The intertwined fates of Mukhrani and Vakhtang became uncertain.Template:Sfn

In 1634, Prince Vakhtang, whose exact status is unknown but who remained one of the most influential nobles in central Georgia, was the first prince to offer his allegiance to the Persian-Georgian general Rostom Khan, who invaded Kartli with Safavid troops.Template:Sfn Vakhtang met Rostom in Khunan, Persia, and his arrival encouraged the Baratiani clan to follow the general.Template:Sfn In Tbilisi, Rostom is proclaimed king of Kartli, vassal of Persia, and the rebels are defeated.Template:Sfn

Prince of Mukhrani

File:Rostom.jpg

Bakhuta Beg had a complicated relationship with King Rostom Khan in the 1630s.

Rostom Khan's rise to power solidified Vakhtang's power over Mukhrani, who ruled under the Muslim name of Bakhuta Beg.Template:Sfn In 1635, he positioned himself as a negotiator during the talks held between the central government and the rebel Duke David of Aragvi, his maternal uncle, and welcomed the king, his troops and the duke to Mukhrani.Template:Sfn These negotiations failed and David of Aragvi was assassinated in the fortress of Vakhtang by the guards of Rostom Khan, who used Mukhrani as a base to invade the Aragvian province of Dusheti.Template:Sfn

This episode upended the dynamics of relations between Vakhtang and the Kingdom of Kartli. The same year, Teimuraz I of Kakheti, in exile in Imereti, returned to his former kingdom with the help of the prince of Mukhrani.Template:Sfn The latter, accompanied by Prince Iotam Amilakhvari, visited him in Kakheti in order to plan an invasion of Kartli.Template:Sfn Following Rostom Khan's failure to obtain Persian reinforcements, Teimuraz entered Kartli and formed an alliance with Vakhtang and the Duchy of Ksani, before besieging Gori with Mukhranian troops.Template:Sfn The night siege failed and Vakhtang and Teimuraz withdrew to the villages of Ikorta and Artsevi, within the Duchy of Ksani.Template:Sfn Together, they regrouped and attacked Gori again but were defeated by Rostom Khan in a bloody battle.Template:Sfn The latter devastated Mukhrani, while Vakhtang took refuge in Saeristo.Template:Sfn

Vakhtang's defeat forced him to return to Rostom's sphere of influence.Template:Sfn In 1638, he warned the monarch of an imminent invasion by Teimuraz, after which the king sent the Georgian Catholicos Eudemus to convince Teimuraz to return to Kakheti.Template:Sfn Two years later, another invasion plan gained the support of Duke Zaal of Aragvi and Iotam Amilakhvari, who united their forces at Akhalgori.Template:Sfn On December 24, 1640, Rostom Khan sent a dispatch to Vakhtang requesting help from Mukhrani's troops,Template:Sfn before sending him a new letter on the night of December 24 to 25, saying:Template:Sfn

“We are arriving with a lot of people, come and join us also with your people in good condition, so that God helping us, we attack without waiting for daybreak. »

Rostom arrived in Mukhrani on that same night and was welcomed there by Vakhtang [18]. On the morning of December 25, their united forces rushed Akhalgori, taking the rebels attending Christmas mass by surprise.Template:Sfn During the battle, Vakhtang distinguished himself as a remarkable fighter, while the rebel nobles suffered a great defeat.Template:Sfn Following the battle, Rostom, Vakhtang and their troops ate together the Christmas meal prepared for the defeated.Template:Sfn

In the spring of 1642, Rostom Khan launched an invasion of Kakheti with his Iranian troops.Template:Sfn Vakhtang and his Mukhranian forces were sent to capture Teimuraz in Tianeti and confronted him at the Battle of Ughlisi.Template:Sfn Vakhtang's soldiers killed the Kakhetian general Revaz Cholokashvili, forcing Teimuraz to flee the battlefield and take refuge in eastern Kakheti, where he was pursued by Rostom.Template:Sfn

Heir of Rostom

Nomination

Having no legitimate son, Rostom adopted Prince Luarsab of Kartli as his heir.Template:Sfn However, the latter died in mysterious circumstances while hunting in 1652,Template:Sfn an incident that was widely considered by the Persian court to be a political assassination.Template:Sfn These rumors pushed Prince Vakhtang Rostom Mirza, younger brother of Luarsab and lord of Qazmin, to refuse the offer to succeed his brother as adopted son of the king, fearing a similar fate (Vakhtang Rostom Mirza also died during that same yearTemplate:Sfn). Only then did Rostom agree to name the ambitious Bakhuta Beg (Vakhtang II of Mukhrani) as his adopted son and heir to the throne.Template:Sfn

Parsadan Gorgijanidze, a close advisor to King Rostom, was sent to the court of Shah Abbas II to ask for his permission regarding the adoption of Vakhtang.Template:Sfn This journey is documented in Henri Brenner's Series regnum Iberiae.Template:Sfn In response, the shah requested a painting from the prince of Mukhrani, which he received two weeks later and which encouraged him to make his decision[3]. Following the confirmation of the shah, Vakhtang was officially adopted in 1653 and was in turn sent to Persia,Template:Sfn where he was received honorably by the shah.Template:Sfn It was during his stay that the Georgian diplomatic delegation, led by Gorgijanidze, informed the shah of the death of Vakhtang Rostom Mirza and formally requested the recognition of Bakhuta Beg as heir to the throne.Template:Sfn In Isfahan, Vakhtang converted to Islam and adopted the name Shah Navaz Khan, translated as “monarch of pleasures” or “beloved of the shah”.Template:Sfn

In Persia, he was appointed governor of Isfahan and Gilan, before returning to Georgia. Upon his return, he began to refer to himself as Son of Rostom in official documentsTemplate:Sfn and, while calling himself Shah Navaz Khan in royal decrees, he preserved his Vakhtang nomenclature in order to gain the support of Christians in Kartli.Template:Sfn The servants of Rostom and those of Queen Mariam were forced to swear allegiance to the new crown prince and he received a series of villages in Savakhtago as an appanage.Template:Sfn

Intervention in Imereti

File:Levan Dadiani and king of Imereti.jpg

Scene from the War of the Kingdom of Imereti (1623-1658).

In Tbilisi, the 86-year-old king placed his trust in his new adopted son, a distinction from which Prince Luarsab hardly benefited. He named Shah Navaz Khan administrator of Kartli, entrusting him with the daily governance of the kingdom,Template:Sfn as well as head of the armed forces of Kartli.Template:Sfn

Since 1623, a destructive war pitted the Kingdom of Imereti against the Principality of Mingrelia in western Georgia and King Rostom offered logistical support to the Mingrelians.Template:Sfn In 1658, he appointed Vakhtang general with the task of leading a military expedition to Imereti following the reversal of the situation and the new strategic advantage of Imereti which arose from the death of Levan II Dadiani.Template:Sfn At the same time, the king fell ill, forcing Vakhtang to accept more responsibilities over the governance of Kartli.Template:Sfn

Vakhtang was accompanied in his campaign by Duke Zaal of Aragvi.Template:Sfn Together, and with the help of the forces of the Ottoman Childir Eyalet, they faced the forces of Alexander III of Imereti in a short battle, but were defeated and were forced to retreat to the forest of Somaneti.Template:Sfn A strategic disagreement between Vakhtang and Zaal then took place, according to the testimony of the royal envoy Parsadan, who visited the military camp in order to receive the signatures of the two men on a letter of submission to Shah Abbas II.Template:Sfn During this visit, Vakhtang and Parsadan discussed state affairs and the heir to the throne tried to convince his counterpart that a military victory was possible if Zaal's troops remained at the front,Template:Sfn while Zaal filed an official complaint to the envoy about Vakhtang's adventurism.Template:Sfn

The immediate departure of Aragvi's troops forced Vakhtang to reconsider his strategy and return to Kartli.Template:Sfn Less than a year later, Imereti emerged victorious from the conflict.

Conflict with Zaal

In order to avoid any conflict with the nobility, Vakhtang attempted to ally himself with the powerful Zaal of Aragvi and Nodar Tsitsishvili.Template:Sfn Thus, he gave his eldest daughter in marriage to Zurab Sidamoni, son of Zaal, and arranged the alliance between Tsitsishvili's daughter and his son Archil.Template:Sfn But these unions failed to alleviate the disagreement between the nobles and the royal heir, and Zaal urged the lords of Kakheti to oppose Vakhtang as soon as the old king Rostom fell ill.Template:Sfn The royal advisor Parsadan Gorgijanidze, Baïndur Tumanishvili and the Persian envoy Mohamed Zemena were responsible for negotiating, in vain,Template:Sfn between the two camps.

Parsadan recalled a correspondence between Vakhtang and the Duke of Aragvi:Template:Sfn

“Vakhtang: First and in the beginning, you coveted my principality; now what wrongs have I done towards you, that you are so ill-disposed towards me? I gave my daughter to your son and am willing to offer you such estate as you designate.

Zaal of Aragvi: When we chose him as our master, and he gave his daughter to my son Zurab, asking for his son Archil that of Nodar, he placed an enemy between us. But Thourman and the one from Tiflis still live. We awarded him the kingship of Kartli, and that of Kakheti was reserved for me. Besides, I have sworn to him many times that after King Rostom I will no longer submit to the master of Karthli. If that suits you, so be it; otherwise, that's another matter. »

File:Abbas II of Persia, Palace of Chehel Sotoun. Painted circa 1647.jpg

It was Abbas II who reigned over Persia during the ascension of Vakhtang.

Rostom, on his deathbed, offered a compromise. He bequeathed to his adopted son the title of king and the domination of Kartli, and divided Kakheti between the control of the PersiansTemplate:Sfn and the Ertso and Tianeti for Zaal of Aragvi.Template:Sfn This agreement, however, did not end the conflict, which led to rumors of Rostom's death.Template:Sfn Shah Abbas II, to gain some insight about the unfolding events, sent the diplomat Mahmoud Beg, who returned to Persia and informed the monarch of the tense situation in Georgia, to the surprise of the Isfahan court, convinced of the friendship between Vakhtang and Zaal.Template:Sfn

As Rostom's health worsened, Vakhtang sent a dispatch to Persia to ensure the shah's involvement in the royal succession.Template:Sfn He took over the leadership of the kingdom before November 17, 1658, when Rostom died at the advanced age of 91. The Persian delegation invited by Vakhtang did not arrive until shortly after the monarch's death and ensured that the riches of Rostom and Queen Mariam were secured within the citadel of Tbilisi before the arrival of Vakhtang, then on the move.Template:Sfn

Reign

Ascension

While Rostom's death theoretically ensured Vakhtang's ascension to the throne of Kartli, Shah Abbas II's envoy did not immediately recognize him as monarch, initially treating him as the kingdom's interim administrator.Template:Sfn This restraint was probably linked to the power of Zaal of Aragvi, which threatened to enter the fray.Template:Sfn The latter in turn tried to have himself proclaimed king by landing at Avlabari, just outside Tbilisi, but seeing the strength of the central troops, took refuge in his domains in Dusheti, while refusing to submit to Vakhtang.Template:Sfn

File:Mariam dadiani.jpg

Portrait of Queen Mariam Dadiani.

On January 1, 1659, Persia officially recognized Vakhtang as monarch of Kartli,Template:Sfn authorizing his coronation as king at Mtskheta according to ancient Georgian Orthodox tradition. For his coronation, he received from the shah a crown, an egret, a sword made of diamonds, a horse and weapons.Template:Sfn He then became Shah Navaz Khan, or Vakhtang V, “King of kings, master, possessor and sovereign of the Abkhaz, Kartvelians, Ranians, Kakhetians and Armenians, Shirvanshah and Shahanshah to the limits of the East and the North”.

The fate of Mariam Dadiani, dowager queen of Kartli and widow of Rostom, is not immediately clear. Afraid of being deported to Iran to join the shah's harem, she first sent him a lock of her white hair to demonstrate her advanced age, while showing her face as much as possible in public.Template:Sfn The shah then forced Vakhtang V to marry her so that she could stay in Georgia.Template:Sfn Vakhtang, then married to his first wife Rodam Qaplanishvili, a woman of "rare beauty", was forced to divorce her (or, according to some sources, to dismiss her as a secondary wife according to Persian tradition) in order to marry Mariam.Template:Sfn Despite the original opposition of Vakhtang V, he was forced to cave in to the pressure exerted by the Persian delegates.Template:Sfn

As a formality, Vakhtang sent an emissary to Levan II Dadiani, brother of the queen, to approve the wedding. He offered a golden throne and gems to Mariam. The marriage took place in mid-February 1659,Template:Sfn during a ceremony which lasted an entire week. After the celebration, the queen sent one of her ladies as a present to Simon I Gurieli, former prince of Guria and first husband of Mariam, and four ladies to Shah Abbas II to thank him for granting her the right to stay in Georgia.Template:Sfn Mariam maintained a certain relationship with Simon Gurieli until the latter's death in 1672, causing the jealousy of Vakhtang V.Template:Sfn

Vassal of the Safavids

Much like his adoptive father, Vakhtang V's status as an independent monarch remains much debated.Template:Sfn In Georgia, he was crowned in Georgian Orthodox rites and preserved his name of Vakhtang V, King of Kartli, for the Christian population, a level of autonomy generally unacceptable for Safavid Iran.Template:Sfn However, contemporary Persian documents call him Shah Navaz Khan, Wali of Gurjistan ("governor of Georgia"), making him a dignitary of the Persian Empire governing a Persian province.Template:Sfn A little over a century later, King George XII would use in vain this confederal system of a monarchy within an empire as an example of possible integration within Imperial Russia.Template:Sfn

A vassal who governed, according to Prince Vakhushti Bagrationi, "well"Template:Sfn according to the interests of the Safavids, he quickly became one of the most influential political figures in Persia.Template:Sfn Kalistrat Salia made Vakhtang V the third most important man in Persia, behind the shah and his vizier.Template:Sfn This position allowed the Georgian upper class to become powerful in the Persian capital,Template:Sfn beginning an era of Georgian influence in Isfahan under the Bagrationi dynasty of Mukhrani. The royal family became members of the imperial high court.Template:Sfn A Shiite, Vakhtang V and his court often took part in the religious intrigues of Isfahan.Template:Sfn

This close relationship between Kartli and Persia, however, took place within the framework of a broad control by the Persian authorities in eastern Georgia.Template:Sfn As early as 1659, Shah Abbas II appointed Mourtouz Ali Khan as governor of Kakheti,Template:Sfn while the Persian-Georgian general Allahverdi Khan was given the mission to settle 15,000Template:Sfn (or 1,500 according to some sources) Azeri soldiers in Kakheti and build three Persian military bases there.Template:Sfn At the same time, the Persian authorities in the South Caucasus relocated 50,000 Muslim families from Azerbaijan and Karabakh to Kartli.Template:Sfn The kingdom of Vakhtang V was divided into six territories, four of which were placed under the supervision of Mourteza Qouli Khan, beylerbey of Karabakh, and two, under that of Ali Qouli Khan Kankerlou, governor of Nakhchivan.Template:Sfn The latter directly ruled over local Muslim families, but such a separation led to numerous tensions between Christian and Muslim communities, tensions which sometimes took a violent turn.Template:Sfn Ali Qouli Khan Kankerlou himself led a military expedition against the Christian Tushetians, in the areas theoretically controlled by Vakhtang V.Template:Sfn

While Vakhtang preserved his royal right to appoint every heir of the noble families, he was forced to receive permission from the Persian authorities when making such appointments.Template:Sfn The Persians also tried to preserve internal peace, as shown by Abbas II's appointment of the diplomat Safiqoli Khan to negotiate peace between Vakhtang and Zaal of Aragvi, negotiations which resulted in a temporary truce with the visit of Zaal at the court of Isfahan.Template:Sfn In 1660, he was forced to send his young daughter Anuka to Persia to marry Abbas II.

Family and children

Vakhtang was married twice. His first wife was Rodam Kaplanishvili-Orbeliani, daughter of Prince Kaplan Baratashvili and founder of the Orbeliani family. At the insistence of the shah of Iran, Vakhtang had to divorce Rodam, with great reluctance, upon his accession to the throne of Kartli, to marry Mariam Dadiani, (died 1682), widow of his adoptive father Rostom. Rodam became a nun under the name of Catherine and died at Tbilisi in 1691. All of Vakhtang's children were raised by Rodam. These were:

• Archil (1647–1713), sometime king of Kakheti and of Imereti.
• George XI (Gurgin Khan; 1651–1709), king of Kartli.
• Levan (Shah-Quli Khan) (c. 1653–1709), regent of Kartli.
• Alexander (Iskander Mirza; fl. 1666 – 1697), a darogha (prefect) of the Persian capital Isfahan in 1667. Married Mehr Sharf Begum, a daughter of Izz-i-Sharf and Mirza Abdollah al-Husayni al-Marashi.Template:Sfn
• Luarsab (died 1698), whose natural son, Alexander (died 1711), was a Safavid commander in Afghanistan.
• Solomon (Suleiman Mirza; died 1703), who was married to Tamar Kvenipneveli, daughter of Shalva, Duke of Ksani, and had a son, Osman;
• An anonymous daughter, who married, in 1655, Zurab, Duke of Aragvi (died 1661).
• Anuka (died 1697), who was sent in the harem of Shah Abbas II in 1660. After Abbas's death, his successor Shah Suleiman I gave Anuka in marriage to Shah Verdi Khan of Luristan to the sorrow of Anuka's brother, George XI of Kartli.
• Tamar (died 1694), who married, in 1661, Prince Givi Amilakhvari (c. 1634 – 1700) and had five children. She became a nun in her widowhood under the name of Gaiane.
• Elene.

See also

• Shahnavaziani

Sources

• Vakhtang V (In Georgian)