Rusudan of Georgia

Rusudan
Ghias ad-din
Issue	David VI Gurju Khatun
Dynasty	Bagrationi
Father	David Soslan
Mother	Tamar of Georgia
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church
Khelrtva

Rusudan (

) of Georgia in 1223–1245.

Life

Daughter of Queen Tamar of Georgia by David Soslan, she succeeded her brother George IV on January 18, 1223.^[1] George's untimely death marked the beginning of the end of the Georgian Golden Age. Rusudan was unable to preserve whatever was gained by her mother and brother. She was known as a beautiful woman devoted to pleasure, whose hand was sought by her Muslim neighbors. In Muslim sources, such as Ata-Malik Juvayni, Rusudan was known as Qiz-Malik, from the Turkish qiz, "maiden", and the Arabic malik, "king".^[2]

In the autumn of 1225, Georgia was attacked by the

, before the allies could arrive (1228).

The Khwarezmians were superseded by the Mongols. They advanced into Georgia in 1235. Devastated and plundered by Jelal ad-Din's incursions, Georgia surrendered without any serious resistance. By 1239 all the country was under the Mongol yoke, and had to accept the Georgian–Mongolian treaty of 1239. Rusudan had to pay an annual tribute of 50,000 gold pieces and support the Mongols with a Georgian army of 80,000 soldiers.^[3]

Fearing that her nephew David would aspire to the throne, Rusudan held him prisoner at the court of her son-in-law, the sultan Kaykhusraw II, and sent her son David to the Mongol court to get his official recognition as heir apparent. She died in 1245, still waiting for her son to return.

Family

She married in 1224 to the Seljuk prince

as one of the preconditions of the peace settlement.

See also

References

• Wilhelm Baum (2007). "Rusudani (Russutuna)". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 27. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 1179–1184.
  ISBN 978-3-88309-393-2
  .

Rusudan of Georgia Bagrationi dynasty
Preceded by George IV	King of Georgia 1223–1245	Succeeded by David VI