GEORGIA
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The Bagrationi (Bagration) Dynasty
GENEALOGY
Ashot Bagrationi Kuropalates,
Prince of Kartli
809 - 826
I
Bagrat I Kuropalates, Prince of Kartli
876
I
Davit I Kuropalates, Prince of Kartli
876 - 881
I
Adarnase II, King of the Georgians
888 - 923
I
Sumbath Kuropalates
945 - 958
I
Bagrat II, King of Kartli
937 - 994
I
Gurgen, King of Kartli
994 - 1008
I
Bagrat III, King of the Abkhazis and Kartvelians
975 - 1014
I
Giorgi I, King of the Abkhazis and Kartvelians
1014 - 1027
I
Bagrat IV, King of the Abkhazis and Kartvelians
1027 - 1072
I
Giorgi II Kuropalates, King of the Abkhazis and
Kartvelians
1072 - 1089
I
Davit IV Agmashenebeli
(with whom we treat)
1089 - 1125 H.M. The
Most High King Davit IV Agmashenebeli (the Builder), by
the will of our Lord, King of the Abkhazis, Kartvelians,
Ranians, Kakhetians and the Armenians. b. 1073,
only son of H.M. The Most High King Giorgi II
Sevastosi, King of the Abkhazis and Kartvelians.
Succeeded on the death of his father, 1089. He threw off
alliegience to Trebizond, abandoned Byzantine titles,
extinguished the independence of Kakheti in 1105 and
unified all Georgia from the Black Sea to the foothills
of Daghestan. Expelled the Turks from Somkheti in 1110,
Tao and Klarjeti in 1116 and conquered Shirvan in 1117,
Ispir and Ani in 1124. He was the first of his line to be
styled "by the will of our Lord". Reconquered
Tiflis and made it his capital, the city having been in
Islamic hands for nearly four hundred years. m.
(first) (div. 1107) H.M. The Most High Queen
Rusudan, an Armenian princess. m. (second) H.M.
The Most High Queen Gurandukt, daughter of Atraka, Prince
of the Qipchaqs. He d. at Tiflis, 24th
January 1125 (bur. St George's Cathedral, Gelati),
having had issue, three sons and four daughters: Copyright
©Christopher Buyers
1177 - 1184 H.M. The
Most High King Giorgi III, by the will of our Lord, King
of the Abkhazis, Kartvelians, Ranians, Kakhetians and the
Armenians, Shirvanshah and Shahanshah and Master of all
the East and the North, Sword of the Messiah, younger son
of H.M. The Most High King Demetre I, King of Georgia.
Installed as Regent for his nephew,Demna-Demetre, on the
death of his elder brother, 1155. Refused to surrender
power when the latter came of age in 1177, and assumed
full sovereign powers. Assumed the title of Shahanshah
after the reconquest of Arni in 1174. m. before
1155, H.M. The Most High Queen Burdukhan [Gurandukht],
daughter of H.M. Khuddan, King of Osettia. He d. 6th
April 1184 (bur. St George's Cathedral, Gelati),
having had issue, two daughters:
1184 - 1212 H.M. The Most High
Queen Thamar, by the will of our Lord, King and Queen of
Queens of the Abkhazis, Kartvelians, Ranians, Kakhetians
and the Armenians, Shirvanshah and Shahanshah and Master
of all the East and West, Glory of the World and Faith,
Champion of the Messiah, elder daughter and heiress of
H.M. The Most High King Giorgi III, by his wife, H.M. The
Most High Queen Burdukhan. Appointed as Heir Apparent by
her father and crowned as Queen at the Nacharmagevi
Palace, to forstall any dispute after his death, 1178.
Proclaimed by the Council of State (Darnazi) as
King and Queen of Queens. Crowned by Antoni Saghirisdze,
Archbishop of Kutaisi and girded with the Sword of State,
1184. They reigned jointly until the death of King Giorgi
III, 1184. - During her reign the kingdom reached the
apex of its political, economic and cultural might. A
unique Georgian Christian Culture flourished in this
multinational state, exalted by great building projects,
such as Gelati and Vardzia, and the flourishing of a
literary tradition revered to this day. It was to Queen
Tamar that Shota Rustaveli dedicated his great epic poem,
"the Knight in the Tiger's Skin," a poem
exemplifing all the virtues of chivalry and honor that
were celebrated throughout her days. The inheritance that
she left to her heir was a kingdom surrounded by
tribute-paying states that filled the royal coffers to
overflowing. m. (first) 1185 (div. 1187),
H.H. Prince Giorgi "the Russian" [Yuri
Bogoliubski], Prince of Novgorod (d. ca. 1187),
who returned to Georgia in 1191 and attempted to seize
the throne for himself, son of Andrei I Bogoliubski,
Grand Duke of Vladimir and Suzdal. m. (second)
1189, H.M. The Most High King Davit-Soslani, King of
Ossetia (d. 1207), son of Otto, grandson of Prince
Jadaros. She d. 18th January 1213 (bur.
St George's Cathedral, Gelati), having had issue, a son
and daughter:
1212 - 1223 H.M. The Most High
King Giorgi IV Lasha (the light of the world), by the
will of our Lord, King of the Abkhazis, Kartvelians,
Ranians, Kakhetians and the Armenians, Shirvanshah and
Shahanshah and Master of all the East and West. b.
1194, only son of H.M. The Most High Queen Thamar, Queen
of Georgia, by her second husband, H.M. The Most High
King Davit-Soslan, King of Ossetia, educ.
privately. Crowned by his mother as titular King and
joint sovereign following the death of his father, 1207.
Governor of Kars 1209-1212. Succeeded on the death of his
mother as sovereign and sole ruler, 18th
January 1213. He was k. unm. in battle
against the Mongols, 18th January 1223, having
had issue, a natural son by a Kakhian peasant woman:
1269 - 1289 H.M. The Most High
King Demetre II Tavdadebuli (the devout), by the will of
our Lord, King of the Abkhazis, Kartvelians, Ranians,
Kakhetians and the Armenians, Shirvanshah and Shahanshah
and Master of all the East and West, King of Kakheti and
Kartli. b. 1258, second son of H.M. The Most High
King Davit VII Ulu, by his third wife, H.M. The Most High
Queen Isukhan, daughter of Tehormaghan Noyan, educ.
privately. Succeeded on the death of his father, spring
1269. Reigned under the regency of Sadun Mankaberdeli, Atabeg.
Crowned at the Cathedral of the Living Pillar, Mtzkheta,
1271. The most lovable and sympathetic of kings, his
reign was a rare period of prosperity and religious
toleration. Fell victim to Arghun's jealousy after the
fall of Bukai, taken to Mughan and humiliated by the
bastinado in 1289. m. (first) 1277, a younger
daughter of H.M. Manuel I Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond,
by his second wife, Irene Syrikaina. m. (second)
H.M. The Most High Queen Sorgala, a Mongol princess. m.
(third) ca. 1280, H.M. The Most High Queen Natalia,
daughter of His Splendour The Pious Prince of High Rank
Béka I Jageli, Atabegi of Samtzkhé, and Lord
High Steward of Georgia. He was k. (decapitated)
by Arghun Khan, 12th March 1289 (bur.
Mtzkheta), having had issue, six sons and three
daughters:Copyright© Christopher Buyers, March 2003 - August 2008