House of Mukhrani

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House of Mukhrani
Constantine IV of Mukhrani
TitlesPrince of Mukhrani

The House of Mukhrani is a

Bagrationi, from which it sprang early in the 16th century, receiving in appanage the domain of Mukhrani, in the Kingdom of Kartli. The family — currently the seniormost genealogical line of the entire Bagrationi dynasty[1] — has since been known as Mukhranbatoni (Georgian: მუხრანბატონი lit. 'Princes (batoni
) of Mukhrani').

An elder branch of the house of Mukhrani, now extinct, furnished five royal sovereigns of Kartli between 1658 and 1724. Its descendants bore the Imperial Russian titles of Prince Gruzinsky (Грузи́нский, გრუზინსკი) and Princes Bagration (Багратион, ბაგრატიონი). Another branch, presiding in Mukhrani as tavadi and received among the princely nobility of Russia under the name of Bagration of Mukhrani (Bagration-Mukhransky; Багратион-Мухранский; Bagration-Mukhraneli, ბაგრატიონ-მუხრანელი), still flourishes and has, since 1957, claimed to be the Royal House of Georgia by virtue of being the genealogically eldest surviving line of the Bagrationi dynasty.[1] David Bagration of Mukhrani has been the head of this house since January 16, 2008.[2][3]

History

Prince Nicholas Bagration of Mukhrani with his family.
Palace of Mukhrani, built from 1873 to 1885 and restored in 2012.

Origins of the house of Mukhrani date back to 1512, when King

Constantine I, ancestor of all the subsequent Princes of Mukhrani.[5]

The descendants of Vakhtang V, the elder branch of the house of Mukhrani, retained the crown of Kartli until 1724, when the

Alexander, was made famous by Pyotr Bagration, a Russian general of the Napoleonic Wars, and became extinct in male line in 1920, after the death of the brothers Dmitry and Alexander Bagration. The throne of Kartli eventually passed to their distant cousins from the Bagrationi dynasty of Kakheti.[1] This new royal house united both Kartli and Kakheti into a single monarchy.[1]

Constantine's scions, the branch of the house of Mukhrani, chose to stay in Kartli rather than follow Vakhtang VI to Russia. They remained in possession of Mukhrani under the Kakhetian Bagrationi and continued to exercise within the united kingdom of Georgia the hereditary positions of Mayor of the Palace of Georgia and High Constable of Upper Kartli.

Bagration-Gruzinsky family, an offshoot of the Bagrationi of Kakheti.[6]

Intra-dynastic marriage

Georgian media.[7]

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

medieval kings of Georgia down to Constantine II of Georgia who died in 1505.[1]

Whereas the Bagration-Mukhrani were 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: yet the elder branch had lost the rule of Kartli by 1724.[1]

Meanwhile, 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.[9]

The bridegroom is the only member of his branch who retains Georgian citizenship and residence since the death of his father,

Bagrationi family, while the bride's father is the most senior descendant of the last Bagrationi to reign over the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. Since Nugzar and his cousin, Prince Eugene Bagration-Gruzinsky (b. 1947, married with no children), are the last patrilineal males descended from King George XIII, their branch verges on extinction. But the marriage between Nugzar Gruzinsky's heiress and the Mukhrani heir resolves their rivalry for the claim to the throne, which has divided Georgian monarchists.[9]
The son born of this marriage, prince George Bagration-Bagrationi (born on September 27, 2011) is apt to eventually become both the heir male of the House of Bagrationi and the heir general of George XIII of Kartli-Kakheti.

Hereditary princes of Mukhrani

See also: House of Mukhrani family tree

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-85011-029-7
  2. ^ a b Toumanoff, Cyril (1967). Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p. 269. Georgetown University Press.
  3. Toumanoff, Cyril
    (1949–51). The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia. Traditio 7: 201.
  4. ISBN 0-253-20915-3
    .
  5. ^ a b Horan, Brien Purcell (1998), The Russian Imperial Succession Archived 2016-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Russian Imperial Union Order. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  6. ^ Sainty, Guy Stair (ed.). Bagration (Georgia) Archived 2010-03-07 at the Wayback Machine. Almanach de la Cour. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  7. ^ a b Vignanski, Misha (2009-02-08), "Primera boda real en dos siglos reagrupa dos ramas de la dinastía Bagration", El Confidencial (in Spanish), retrieved 2009-02-09
  8. ^ a b Time for a King for Georgia?
  9. ^ a b c "Wedding of the two royal dynasties members", GeorgiaTimes, 2009-02-08, archived from the original on 2009-02-13, retrieved 2009-02-09
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