Bagrationi dynasty

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Bagrationi
ბაგრატიონი
House of Bagrationi
Style(s)
see list
Deposition1801/1810
Cadet branchesMukhrani
Gruzinsky
Davitashvili
Imeretinsky
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The Bagrationi dynasty (/bʌɡrʌtiˈɒni/; Georgian: ბაგრატიონი, romanized: bagrat'ioni [ˈbäɡɾätʼio̞n̪i]) is a royal dynasty which reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, the name of the dynasty is sometimes Hellenized and referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, also known in English as the Bagrations.

The

David IV the Builder (1089–1125) and of his great-granddaughter Tamar the Great (1184–1213) inaugurated the Georgian Golden Age in the history of Georgia.[1]

After

rule in Georgia in 1921 forced some members of the family to accept demoted status and loss of property in Georgia. Other members relocated to Western Europe,[1] but some Bagrations repatriated after Georgia regained independence
in 1991.

Origins

See also: Claim of the biblical descent of the Bagrationi dynasty

The earliest Georgian forms of the dynastic name are Bagratoniani, Bagratuniani[3] and Bagratovani, changed subsequently into Bagrationi. These names as well as the Armenian Bagratuni and the modern designation Bagratid mean "the children of Bagrat" or "the house of/established by Bagrat", Bagrat being a given name of Iranian origin.[4] The origins of the Bagratid dynasty is still matter of debate between Georgian and Armenian scholars. Georgian scholars argue that the Bagrationis were of Georgian origin, while Armenian and Western scholars believe them to be a branch of the Armenian Bagratunis.[5]

According to a tradition first recorded in the work of the 11th-century Georgian chronicler

Iberia), where they intermarried with the local ruling houses and acquired some lands in hereditary possession, with one of the four brothers, Guaram (died in 532), founding a line subsequently called Bagrationi after his son Bagrat. A successor, Guaram, was installed as a presiding prince of Iberia under the Byzantine protectorate, receiving on this occasion the Byzantine court title of Kouropalates[7] in 575.[8] Thus, according to this version, began the dynasty of the Bagrationis, who ruled until 1801.[9]

This tradition enjoyed a general acceptance until the early 20th century.

Moses of Khorene.[11] Once the Georgian branch, which had quickly acculturated in the new environment,[12] assumed royal power, the myth of their biblical origin helped to maintain their legitimacy and became a major ideological pillar of their millennium-long rule of Georgia.[13]

The generation-by-generation history of the Bagrationi dynasty begins only in the late 8th century.[1] Toumanoff claimed that the first Georgian branch of the Bagratids may be traced as far back as the 2nd century AD, when they were said to rule over the princedom of Odzrkhe in what is now southern Georgia.[14] The Odzrkhe line, known in the medieval annals as the Bivritianis, lasted until the 5th century AD. They cannot, however, be considered the direct ancestors of the later Bagratids who eventually restored Georgian royal authority.[15] Pavle Ingorokva suggested that the Bagrations were a branch of the Pharnavazid dynasty of the Kingdom of Iberia.[16][17]

History

See also:
List of Georgian monarchs

Early dynasty

Oshki Monastery

The Bagrationi family had grown in prominence by the time the Georgian monarchy (

Tao-Klarjeti. In 813, the new dynasty acquired, with Ashot I, the hereditary title of presiding prince of Iberia (Kartli), to which the emperor attached the honorific of kourapalates.[citation needed
]

Despite the revitalization of the monarchy, Georgian lands remained divided among rival authorities, with Tbilisi remaining in

Adarnase I, it restored the indigenous Iberian royal authority dormant since 580. His descendant Bagrat III was able to consolidate his inheritance in Tao-Klarjeti and the Abkhazian Kingdom, due largely to the diplomacy and conquests of his energetic foster-father David III of Tao.[citation needed
]

Golden Age

Main article: Georgian Golden Age
David IV of Georgia

This unified monarchy maintained its precarious independence from the Byzantine and

Asia Minor.[citation needed
]

In spite of repeated incidents of dynastic strife, the kingdom continued to prosper during the reigns of

Demetrios I (1125–1156), George III (1156–1184), and especially, his daughter Tamar the Great (1184–1213).[1] With the death of George III the main male line became extinct and the dynasty continued through the marriage of Queen Tamar with the Alan prince David Soslan, of reputed Bagratid descent.[20]

Downfall

The invasions by the

Samtskhe – dominated by their own feudal clans.[citation needed
]

During the three subsequent centuries, the Georgian rulers maintained their perilous autonomy as subjects under the Turkish Ottoman and Persian Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar domination, although sometimes serving as little more than puppets in the hands of their powerful suzerains.[1] In this period, in order to receive investiture from their suzerains, as a necessary prequisite, many Georgian rulers converted to Islam.[21] Individuals from the Georgian royal family and nobility were frequently chosen for prominent administrative roles within the Safavid state.[22] Members of the Muslim royals from the Bagrationi dynasty, amongst others, held the esteemed position of darugha ("prefect") of the Safavid royal capital of Isfahan for an extensive period spanning over 100 years, from 1618 to 1722.[22] Despite being seated in Kartli starting from 1632, Rostom Khan, in particular, served as Isfahan's darugha for 40 years.[22] Additionally, he appointed deputies to represent him in the Safavid capital.[22]

The line of Imereti, incessantly embroiled in civil war, continued with many breaks in succession, and the kingdom was only relatively spared from the encroachments of its Ottoman suzerains, while Kartli and Kakheti were similarly subjected to its Persian overlords, whose efforts to annihilate the fractious vassal kingdoms were in vain, and the two eastern Georgian monarchies, survived to be reunified in 1762 under King Erekle II, who united in his person both the Kakhetian and Kartlian lines, the latter surviving in male descent in the branch of Mukhraneli since 1658.[1]

Last monarchs

Erekle II, king of the eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kakheti and Kartli-Kakheti

In 1744, Erekle II and his father Teimuraz II were granted the kingships of Kakheti and Kartli respectively by their overlord Nader Shah, as a reward for their loyalty.[23] Following Nader Shah's death in 1747, Erekle II and Teimuraz II capitalized on the eruption of instability, and declared de facto independence. After Teimuraz II died in 1762, Erekle II succeeded his father as ruler of Kartli, and united the two kingdoms in a personal union as the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, becoming the first Georgian ruler to preside over a politically unified eastern Georgia in three centuries.[24] At about the same time, Karim Khan Zand had ascended the Iranian throne; Erekle II quickly tendered his de jure submission to the new Iranian ruler, however, de facto, he remained autonomous throughout the entire Zand period.[25][26]

Erekle II (Hercules) achieved a degree of stability in Kartli-Kakheti and established political hegemony in eastern

Imperial Russia.[1] The latter failed, however, to provide timely help when the Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar captured, sacked and ravaged Tbilisi in 1795 to compel severance of Georgian ties to Russia, as he sought to re-establish Persia's traditional suzerainty over the region.[27][28]

After the death of Erekle in 1798, his son and successor, King

Tsarevich Davit, had been formally acknowledged as heir apparent
by Emperor Paul on 18 April 1799, but his accession as king after his father's death was not recognized.

On September 12, 1801, Emperor Alexander I of Russia formally re-affirmed Paul’s determination, deposing the Bagrationi dynasty from the Georgian throne.[1][31] Although divided among themselves, some of the Bagrationi princes resisted Russian annexation, trying to instigate rebellion. Most of them were subsequently arrested and deported from Georgia.[32]

The reign of the House of Imereti came to an end less than a decade later. On April 25, 1804, the Imeretian king

Solomon II, nominally an Ottoman vassal, was persuaded to conclude the Convention of Elaznauri with Russia, on terms similar to those of the Treaty of Georgievsk. Yet the Russian forces dethroned Solomon on February 20, 1810. Defeated during a subsequent rebellion to regain power, he died in exile in Trabzon, Ottoman Turkey, in 1815.[33][34]
Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various peace treaties with Iran and the Ottomans and the remaining Georgian territories were absorbed by the Russian Empire in a piecemeal fashion in the course of the 19th century.

Bagrationi in Russia

General Pyotr Bagration

In the

Brusilov Offensive and later joined the Red Army
.

Bagrationi today

The majority of the Bagrationi family left Georgia after the Red Army took over Tbilisi in 1921.[1]

Mukhrani branch

Main article: House of Mukhrani

The House of Mukhrani is the most senior patrilinear branch of the Bagrationi dynasty,[1] descending directly from King Constantine II of Georgia. Originally a cadet branch of the former Royal House of Kartli, they became the genealogically seniormost line of the Bagrationi family in the early 20th century; and although this elder branch had lost the rule of Kartli by 1724,[1] it retained the Principality of Mukhrani until its annexation by Russia, along with Kartli-Kakheti, in 1800.[1]

This branch of the family is related to the

Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia.[1] The overwhelming majority of regnant and non-regnant Royal Houses recognize Prince Davit's claim to the Headship of the Royal House of Georgia.[35][36][37][38][39][40]

In 1942 Prince

Princess María Mercedes de Baviera y Borbón, a granddaughter of King Alfonso XII, and daughter of Don Fernando de Baviera y Borbón, who had renounced his royal rights in Bavaria to become a naturalised infante
in Spain.

Beginning in the 1990s, senior members of the Bagrationi-Mukhraneli descendants began

Prince Georgi Bagrationi-Mukhraneli, was officially recognized by government and church leaders when he brought his father's remains from Spain to rest with those of his ancestors in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral at Mtskheta in 1995,[41] and moved to Tbilisi in 2005, where he died.[41] His eldest son, Prince Irakli (Erekle), born in 1972, deferred his dynastic claim to his younger brother, Prince Davit (born 1976).[citation needed] Thus, Prince Davit — who moved to Tbilisi and reclaimed his Georgian citizenship — became Head of the Family Council and the Mukhraneli dynastic titles.[42]

Gruzinsky branch

See also: Gruzinsky

The Bagration-Gruzinsky line, although junior to the Princes of Mukhrani genealogically, reigned over the kingdom of

Kartli-Kakheti in 1762, and did not lose sovereignty until Russian annexation in 1800.[43]

Prince

Nugzar Petrovich Bagration-Gruzinski (1950–2025[44][45]) was the last known male patrilineal descendant of Kartli-Kakheti's last king, George XII, and was, as such, head of the Kakhetian branch of the dynasty which, although genealogically junior to the Mukhranelis, has reigned more recently over a part of Georgia, not having lost the throne of a Georgian kingdom until 1800.[citation needed][citation needed
]

Nugzar was a theatrical and cinema director, while his father, Prince Petre Bagration-Gruzinski (1920–1984), was a poet, and authored "Song of Tiflis".[citation needed]

As Nugzar had no male issue, Prince Evgeny Petrovich Gruzinsky (1947-2018), the great-great-grandson of Bagrat's younger brother

Russian Federation, was considered to be an heir presumptive within the same primogeniture principle.[1] But he died without issue and no male descendant (recorded and official) was left in the Gruzinsky branch except Nugzar himself. Despite basing his claim on male primogeniture,[1] Nugzar argued in favor of having his eldest daughter, Ana, designated as his heir prior to his death in 2025.[46]

Imereti branch

Main article: Imeretinsky

Various sources present three different lines as the head of the House of Imereti, potential claimants to the long-defunct Kingdom of Imereti, the last of the three Georgian kingdoms to lose its independence in 1810. The male line descending from the deposed David II of Imereti became extinct in 1978 when Prince Constantine Imeretinski died. He was survived by three daughters of his older brother.[citation needed]

However, Prince

Nugzar Petrovich Bagration-Gruzinski claims that the headship of the Imereti branch had – for one reason or another – transferred in the early 20th century to a cadet branch descending from an older son of Prince Bagrat of Imereti. Regardless, this branch died out in the male line in 1937 and in the female line in 2009.[46][47]

The third claim names another branch descending from Prince Bagrat's younger natural son. This line survives in the male line and is headed by Prince David Bagrationi (born 1948) (not to be confused with his younger namesake from the Mukhrani branch).[48][49]

The current claimant is Irakli Davitis Dze Bagrationi (Georgian: ირაკლი დავითის ძე ბაგრატიონი), head of the Georgian scion of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Imereti, the direct male-line descendant of the kings of Imereti, the direct descendant of Alexander V (Georgian: ალექსანდრე V) (c. 1703/4 – March 1752), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, King of Imereti (western Georgia). Irakli is a son of David Bragationi and Irina Kobakhidze, born 10 July 1982 in Terjola, Imereti, Georgia. He is the future successor and head of the House of Bagrationi-Imereti. Irakli has been recognized by the

Patriarch of Georgia, as well as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, as well as the Unione della Nobiltà Bizantina (Ένωση της Βυζαντινής ευγένειας).[50]

Union of Bagrationi branches

Georgian media.[52]

The dynastic significance of the wedding lay in the fact that, amidst the

Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia publicly called for the restoration of the monarchy as a path toward national unity in October 2007.[53] Although this led some politicians and parties to entertain the notion of a Georgian constitutional monarchy, competition arose among the old dynasty's princes and supporters, as historians and jurists debated which Bagrationi has the strongest hereditary right to a throne that has been vacant for two centuries.[52]

Although some

medieval kings of Georgia down to Constantine II of Georgia who died in 1505,[1]
and continue as unbroken, legitimate male lines into the 21st century.

Aside from his unmarried elder brother Irakli, Davit is the

united kingdom of eastern Georgia. The marriage between Nugzar Gruzinsky's heiress and the Mukhrani heir may resolve their rivalry for the claim to the throne.[43]

Prince Davit and Princess Ana became the parents of a boy on 27 September 2011,

Kartli-Kakheti on 1 March 2025, alongside already being heir apparent to the heir male of the House of Bagrationi, when his maternal grandfather died and the Gruzinsky branch went extinct in the male line, which left his mother as the Gruzinsky heiress general.[55][44][45]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-85011-029-7
  2. ^ Martin, Russell. "The Treaty of Georgievsk; A Translation". Westminster College. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  3. ^ Stephen H. Rapp. Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts. — Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. — Peeters Publishers, 2003. — Vol. 601. — P. 450—451. ""K'art'velized" branch of the Armenian Bagratuni family (as is evident from the early Georgian form of their name, Bagratuniani) — resuscitated local royal authority in the late ninth century and then assembled an all-Georgian kingdom"
  4. ^ Donald Rayfield (2013) Edge of Empires, A History of Georgia, ISBN 9781780230702, p. 64
  5. ^ Mikaberidze, p. 172
  6. ^ Sumbat Davitis-Dze, The Life and Tale of the Bagratids (ცხოვრებაჲ და უწყებაჲ ბაგრატონიანთა ჩუენ ქართველთა მეფეთასა), see Suny (1994), p. 349; Rapp (2003), p. 337
  7. ^ From the time of Justinian I, the dignity of Kouropalates (Greek: κουροπαλάτης, i.e., chancellor) was one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire, reserved usually for members of the Imperial family. Its frequent conferral upon various Georgian and Armenian dynasts attests to their importance in the politics of those times. Suny (1994), p. 348
  8. Vakhushti Bagrationi (c. 1745), History of the Kingdom of Georgia (აღწერა სამეფოსა საქართველოსი); a Russian translation available at ArmenianHouse.org
    . URL accessed on May 22. 2006.
  9. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Georgia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  10. ^ Toumanoff, C. Iberia on the Eve of Bagratid Rule, p. 22, cited in: Suny (1994), note 30, p. 349
  11. ^ Toumanoff, C. Iberia on the Eve of Bagratid Rule, p. 22, cited in: Suny (1994), note 30 p. 349
  12. ^ Rapp (2003), p. 169
  13. ^ Rapp (2003), p. 234
  14. ^ Toumanoff, C. Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p. 316, cited in: Rapp (2003), p. 145
  15. ^ Rapp (2003), pp. 218, 249
  16. ^ Mikaberidze, p. 171
  17. ISBN 9994012568
    .
  18. ^ Suny (1994), p. 29
  19. ^ "Georgia.". Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2006-05-25.
  20. ^ According to Prince Vakhushti, David Soslan’s ancestry traced back to the Georgian refugee prince David, a grandchild of George I of Georgia (1014–1027) and his Alan wife Alde. This continues to be disputed
  21. ^ Rota 2017, pp. 52–57.
  22. ^ a b c d Sanikidze 2021, p. 389.
  23. ^ Suny 1994, p. 55.
  24. ^ Hitchins 1998, pp. 541–542.
  25. ^ Fisher et al. 1991, p. 328.
  26. ^ Perry 1991, p. 96.
  27. ^ Kazemzadeh 1991, pp. 328–330.
  28. ^ Relations between Tehran and Moscow, 1797-2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  29. ISBN 9639241989
    p 204
  30. ^ Lang (1957), p. 242
  31. ^ a b "Georgievsk, Treaty of". Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Retrieved 2006-06-04.
  32. ^ Lang (1957), p. 252
  33. ^ Suny (1994), p. 64
  34. ^ Baddeley, Gammer (1908), pp. 66, 78
  35. ^ a b "La familia real (Y española) de Georgia, de luto por la muerte de su matriarca". 21 April 2020.
  36. ^ "Russian Imperial House - Decree of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, on the Recognition of the Royal Rank of the House of Bagration, 22 November/5 December 1946".
  37. ^ a b "Georgian royalty on diplomacy". 5 August 2017.
  38. ^ a b "Interview du prince David Bagration, héritier au trône de Géorgie".
  39. ^ a b "Court Circular". The Royal Family.
  40. ^ a b ">NEWS".
  41. ^ a b Marrin, Minette (2008-02-02). "Prince George Bagration of Mukhrani, Claimant to the throne of Georgia who became well known in Spain as a motor racing and rally driver". The Times. London. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  42. ^ ">Genealogy".
  43. ^ a b "Wedding of the two royal dynasties members". Georgia Times. 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  44. ^ a b "გარდაიცვალა რეჟისორი და მსახიობი ნუგზარ ბაგრატიონ-გრუზინსკი". Georgian Public Broadcaster (in Georgian). Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  45. ^ a b "ნუგზარ ბაგრატიონ-გრუზინსკი (1950-2025)". National Parliamentary Library of Georgia; Biographical dictionary. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  46. ^ a b The Legal Heir to the Royal Throne of the Georgian Bagrationi Dynasty. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  47. ^ BAGRATION genealogy. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  48. ^ ბაგრატიონები: სამეცნიერო და კულტურული მემკვიდრეობა, იმერეთის მეფეები ბაგრატიონთა დინასტიიდან, თბილისი, 2003 The Bagrations: Scientific and Cultural heritage, Kings of Imereti from Bagrationi dynasty, Tbilisi, 2003
  49. ^ იმერელი ბაგრატიონების ოჯახი. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  50. ^ ბაგრატიონები: სამეცნიერო და კულტურული მემკვიდრეობა, იმერეთის მეფეები ბაგრატიონთა დინასტიიდან, თბილისი, 2003 The Bagrations: Scientific and Cultural heritage, Kings of Imereti from Bagrationi dynasty, Tbilisi, 2003 ვინ ერეოდა ირაკლი ბაგრატიონის ცხოვრებაში აქტიურად და რატომ არ ქმნის ის ოჯახს თბილისელები Magazine "Tbiliselebi" Retreind 2022-10-27.
  51. ^ "GeorgiaTimes.info". 2009-02-13. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  52. ^ a b Vignanski, Misha. (in Spanish) El Confidencial, Spain. Primera boda real en dos siglos reagrupa dos ramas de la dinastía Bagration (First royal wedding in two centuries reunites the branches of the Bagrationi dynasty). 2 August 2009 (retrieved 25 November 2013).
  53. ^ a b Time for a King for Georgia?
  54. ^ "Russian Imperial House - Decree of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich, on the Recognition of the Royal Rank of the House of Bagration, 22 November/5 December 1946".
  55. ^ "Royal Birth". Royal House of Georgia. 2011-09-28. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05.

Sources

Further reading

  • A. Khakhanov. "Histoire de la Georgie", Paris, 1900 (in French)
  • A. Manvelichvili. "Histoire de la Georgie", Paris, 1951 (in French)
  • A. Manvelishvili. "Russia and Georgia. 1801-1951", Vol. I, Paris, 1951 (in Georgian)
  • K. Salia
    . "History of the Georgian Nation", Paris, 1983
  • Kartlis Tskhovreba, vol. I-IV, Tbilisi, 1955-1973 (in Georgian)
  • P. Ingorokva. Giorgi Merchule (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1954 (in Georgian)
  • E. Takaishvili. "Georgian chronology and the beginning of the Bagratid rule in Georgia".- Georgica, London, v. I, 1935
  • Sumbat Davitis dze. "Chronicle of the Bagration's of Tao-Klarjeti", with the investigation of Ekvtime Takaishvili, Tbilisi, 1949 (in Georgian)
  • "Das Leben Kartlis", ubers. und herausgegeben von Gertrud Patch, Leipzig, 1985 (in German)
  • V. Guchua, N. Shoshiashvili. "Bagration's".- Encyclopedia "Sakartvelo", vol. I, Tbilisi, 1997, pp. 318–319 (in Georgian)
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