Bagrat V of Georgia

Bagrat V the Great (ბაგრატ V დიდი, Bagrat V Didi, died 1393) from the Bagrationi dynasty was the son of the Georgian king David IX of Georgia by his wife Sindukhtar Jaqeli. He was co-ruler from 1355, and became king (mepe) after the death of his father in 1360.

Life
Bagrat was the son of the Georgian King David IX by his wife Sindukhtar Jaqeli. He was co-ruler from 1355, and became king after the death of his father in 1360.

Bagrat V was respected by his subjects, who nicknamed him the Great. According to Armenian and Greek chroniclers, the king was a skilful warrior and a talented military leader.

The alliance concluded in 1385 with Tokhtamysh, Khan of the Golden Horde, led him to a protracted and heavy war with Timur, Emir of Timurid Empire. King Bagrat V, learning of Timur's possible attack, fortified himself in Tbilisi, creating powerful defence fortifications.

In the late autumn of 1386, a huge army under the command of Timur invaded the Georgian kingdom. Timur laid siege to Tbilisi. Most of the Georgian nobility betrayed their king, taking refuge in castles. Bagrat V desperately resisted, repeatedly personally participating in attacks on the enemy army besieging the city. Only the presence of Timur's firearms - cannons, helped him to capture Tbilisi.

On 22 November 1386, after a six-month siege, the city was captured. Timur kept his promise and preserved the lives of the king, Queen Anna and Prince David, but ordered his soldiers to sack Tbilisi. Bagrat V with his wife and son David were declared prisoners of the emir. Timur sent the famous library of Georgian kings to Samarkand, together with rich booty. The eldest sons of Bagrat V escaped captivity. The subjects offered to crown prince George the new king, but he refused, fearing for his father's life in captivity.

Timur's army halted in Karabakh for a winter camp. Timur tried to persuade Bagrat V to renounce Christianity, but the king was unwilling to do so, even though he recognised himself as Timur's vassal. Finally, they managed to agree that Bagrat V would accept Islam. After converting to Islam, Timur agreed to release Bagrat V and sent him and twelve thousand Timurid warriors back to the Georgian kingdom to convert the Georgians to Islam. But as soon as they were on the territory of the Georgian kingdom, Bagrat V, together with his sons, prince George and Constantine and Georgian warriors, destroyed the Timurids.

Believing that this time Bagrat V could not escape death, his vassal Imeretian prince Alexander proclaimed himself an independent ruler and in 1387 was crowned king of Imereti in Gelati monastery. In the spring of 1388 Timur invaded the Georgian kingdom again, but could not force the Georgians to submit. Bagrat V was helped by allies from the Golden Horde who invaded Azerbaijan and the rebellion that had begun in Persia. Timur had to retreat from Tbilisi. In 1389, after the death of the Imeretian king Alexander, Bagrat V managed to restore his suzerainty over his successor. Bagrat died in 1393, leaving the throne to his eldest son George.

Family
His first marriage was to Helena Megale Komnene, daughter of Emperor Basil of Trebizond. In 1366, during the plague epidemic, Queen Helena died, leaving her husband two sons:
 * George VII of Georgia
 * David

In June 1367, Bagrat V married Anna Megale Komnene, the daughter of Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond.
 * Constantine I of Georgia
 * David
 * Tamar (subsequently wife of Prince Eles Baratashvili)
 * Olympias (Ulumpia; subsequently wife of Prince Kakhaber Chijavadze).