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The Crown of Abkhazia

Nomenclature
Throughout of history, the term Abkhazian obtained several meanings, from Abasgian it broadened to the concept of western Georgian in 8th century, and to generally "Georgian" in 10th century. Only after dissolution of united Georgian monarchy in 15th century, the term reduced its meaning and implied only an inhabitants of the Principality of Abkhazia. 18th century Georgian geographer, historian and cartographer Vakhushti Bagrationi, when narrating about western Georgia, observes that this is a land that was first called Egrisi (i.e. Lazica), then Abkhazia, and then Imereti. The royal title - "King of Abkhazia" remained at the top of list of titles of Georgian monarchs. In foreign sources "Abkhazian" was used generally in the meaning of Georgian, and "Abkhazia" as designating Georgia.

Union of the two kingdoms
From the begining Kingdom of Georgia appeared to be a decentralized state, in which the great dynasts could successfully challenge the Bagratid king for local power. However, Bagrat Ill and Bagrat IV were able to reduce mighty princes to lowly status and elevate their loyal followers into the upper nobility by relying on foreign mercenaries and lesser nobility. The availability of non-noble and foreign elements gave the Georgian Bagratids more leverage in dealing with dynasts. The distrustful towards the aristocracy, brought men from the gentry and unranked classes as a new military aristocracy in sharp contrast to the old, frequently self-interested feudal lords. Throughout of 12th century Georgia saw several rebellions against the crown, but they were all harshly suppressed.

Bagrat III
In 978, the Bagratid prince Bagrat, nephew (sister's son) of the heirless King Theodosius III of Abkhazia, occupied the Abkhazian throne with the help of his adoptive father David III of Tao and John Marushisdze, the energetic eristavi (governor) of Iberia. In 1008, Bagrat succeeded on the death of his natural father Gurgen of Iberia as the "King of Iberia". Thus, these two kingdoms unified through dynastic succession, in practice laying the foundation for the unified Georgian monarchy, styled then as the Kingdom of Georgia.

The most acute problem for Bagrat III appeared to be retaining of Iberian lands, since local feudal lords refused to recognise Bagrat's athority. Bagrat suppressed several rebellions in Iberia, removed the recalcitrant feudal lords and appointed loyal dukes in their place. In 989 Bagrat declared war on Rati Baghvashi (Liparitid), who, ruled over Trialeti. Rati surrendered, turned his possessions over to the king and retired to Argveti, where their descedants, subsequently known as Kakhaberidze, were enfeoffed as the duke of Racha by King Bagrat IV of Georgia in c. 1050.

Bagrat III gave loyal "aznauris" the offices of unsubmissive nobles. Subsequently, the king and the great feudal nobility fought for influence over the small gentry, and a heavy blow was struck at Georgia's unity when this struggle ended with the victory of the great nubility.

Rebellions
The second half of the 11th century was marked by the strategically significant invasion of the Seljuq Turks. The records tell us that the power of the Georgian king was limited virtually to Western Georgia.

However, by the 1060s one of the stages of the king's struggle against the feudal nobility had ended with the victory of the central power, although this victory did not lead, to the final suppression of feudal opposition.

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The anti-Seljuk campaigns led by David IV of Georgia resulted by conquering new territories in the east. King David IV moved his residence from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. Thus western Georgia temporarily lost its importance, however western Georgian feudals still enjoyed degree of autonomy and held important court offices.

After the Tamar the Great's accession on the throne, the centrifugal tendencies fostered by the great nobles. She was forced to agree to a second coronation that emphasized the role of noble families in investing her with royal power. Tamar was pressured into dismissing her father's appointees, who had helped George III of Georgia in his crackdown on the defiant nobility. The nobility have also determined that Tamara get married to the Rus' Prince Yury Bogolyubsky. Tamar soon got disappointed in her husband and divorced him in 1187. Yury was expelled from Georgia in 1188.

Yury allied himself with a powerful party of Georgian nobles led by Vardan Dadiani, the most influential dignitaries in Georgia, being in possession of Orbeti and Kaeni in the eastern part of the kingdom in addition to the vast lands in the west, from the Likhi mountains to Nicopsia. The rebels and crowned Yury as a king at the Royal Palace of Geguti near Kutaisi, but they were soon defeated and were forced to surrender. As a result, Vardan lost the office of msakhurtukhutsesi (majordomo) and the fief of Kaeni, both of which were then conferred upon the queen's loyal noble Ivane Mkhargrdzeli.

Mongol invasion
In 1235-1242 Georgia was captured by the Mongols. But west Georgia i.e. Abkhazia avoided the destroying hostile invasions. Queen Rusudan was soon forced to accept the sovereignty of the Mongol Khan in 1242/3. Following the death of Queen Rusudan in 1245, an interregnum began during which the Mongols divided Georgia into eight tumens. Thus western Georgia was divided between two parts, territories of Tskhumi, Odishi and Svaneti went to Tsotne Dadiani, while, Racha and Argveti, went to the Kakhaberisdze family. The western Georgia, suffered no Mongol presence and few Mongol taxes. The other six dumnas were made destitute by elaborate Mongol taxation. In 1247 the royal power was restored in Georgia. The Mongolians ascended to the throne simultaneously two kings – David VI of Georgia (son of Rusudan) and David VII of Georgia (son of George IV).

Split of the monarchy
Diarchy continued for several years. In 1249/59 David VI rebelled against the Mongols, but after the failure in east Georgia, he established himself in Kutaisi. West Georgian feudal lords accepted the rebelled David VI with great joy and proclaimed the son of Rusudan as the king of Abkhazia. Georgia was split into two parts, David VI (the junior) being enthroned in Likht-imereti (i.e. "the country on that side of the Likhi Range" ), became factual successor of Abkhazian kings and David VII (the senior) ruling over rest of Georgia.

After some time, a part of the feudals of West Georgia tried to overthrow David VI and replace him by David VII. Bedan II Dadiani, duke of Odishi sided with David VI and rebellion was suppressed. David VII had to accept with division of Georgia into two parts and temporarily abandoned its claim over Abkhazia/Imereti. David VI was generous not only to Bedan II Daidani, but to the whole Dadiani clan. The king donated to this family the most precious Christian relics and elevated them more than other feudal families. With the support of David VI, Duchy of Odishi became the strongest in west Georgia.

David Narin died in 1293 and was succeeded by his son Constantine I, against whom rebelled his brother Michael. In a subsequent internecine war, Michael seized control of the provinces of Racha, Lechkhumi, and Argveti. The conflict continued until 1327, when Michael succeeded on the death of the childless Constantine as king of Imereti.

Reunification
Michael died in 1329. He was succeeded by his son, Bagrat I, who, owing to his minority, never firmly sat on the throne of Imereti and was reduced to the position of a vassal duke by the resurgent king of eastern Georgia, George V "the Brilliant", in 1330. George V appointed Duke of Odishi, Mamia I Dadiani as a amirspasalar (commander-in-chief) of Western Georgia. Between the 14-15th centuries the main trade ports of Georgia - Poti and Tskhumi were within the boundaries of Odishi. This strengthened the international significance of Duchy of Odishi.

Timurid invasions
The Turco-Mongol Timurid Empire (1370-1405) invaded Georgia in 1386. During one of his campaigns in Georgia, Timur destroyed the Georgian capital Tbilisi, left a garrison there, and laid siege to Gori where George VII of Georgia had entrenched. The king made a bold sortie westward, but having failed to thwart the enemy’s advance at the fortresses of Dzami and Savaneti, fled to the inaccessible forests of western Georgia where the armies of the Islamic ruler could not penetrate. Timur turned back in fury and thoroughly pillaged the rest of Georgia.

After the first invasion of Georgia by Timur, in the west part of the country appeared the throne seekers trying to restore the Kingdom of Imereti. The initiative was shown from the off-springs of king Michael and the officials appointed by the king. In 1387, the great-grandson of David I – Alexander I was crowned in Gelati, but couldn’t receive the support of west Georgian nobility. After the death of Alexander his brother George I tried to occupy the Georgian throne, but west Georgian nobles refused to obey him as well. Then George I marched out against the Vameq I Dadiani in 1392, but was defeated.

As a result of internal struggles in Kingdom of Georgia, the highlanders of the west Caucasus refused to obey Georgian monarchs and started their raids and piracy on the Black Sea. The amirspasalar (commander-in-chief) of West Georgian army Vameq I Dadiani, was one of the first to face highlander tribes. At the end of the fourtheen century, Vameq undertook great campaign against north Caucasian tribes and devastated Circassia up to the Azov Sea.

Religion
In the first hald of the 10th century King George II of Abkhazia founded Ckhondidi Cathedral to counter the Greek Cathedrals, and, by virtue of this, it was a mainstay of the central state-power against external and internal enemies. In 1072, George of Chqondidi played important role in a placing of coup in which George II Georgia, who was forced to cede power to his young and energetic son David IV of Georgia. David IV united the two offices of the Archbishop of Chkondidi and mtsignobartukhutsesi (Grand Chancellor), in one person soon after the Council of Ruisi-Urbnisi, and gave unprecedented power to his friend and advisor George of Chqondidi. Thus new chancellor was given judicial powers and influence in both domestic and foreign affairs. For the following centuries, the Church would remain a crucial feudal institution, whose economical and political power would always be at least equal to that of the main noble families.

Catholicate of Abkhazia
In the early 9th century Catholicate of Abkhazia broke away from Patriarchate of Constantinople and recognized the authority of the Catholicate of Iberia; language of the church in Abkhazia shifted from Greek to Georgian, as Byzantine power decreased and doctrinal differences disappeared. After the unification of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the throne of Cathalicos of Abkhazia in Pityus was not abolished, it only subdued to the Cathalicos–Patriarch of All Georgia. Cathalicos of Abkhazia participated in the ceremony of coronation of a king.

Together with the growth of the tendency for the disintegration of Georgia, the role of the Cathalicos of Abkhazia gradually increased. This situation was used with the purpose of strengthening of the political positions by the King of Imereti – Bagrat II of Imereti ((r. 1455 – 1478)) and Duke of Odishi Shamadavle Dadiani ((r. 1470 – 1474)). They took an opportunity from the visit of Patriarch of Jerusalem and Antioch who, at the king’s request, consecrated Archbishop Joachim of Tsaish and Bedia, as Catholicos of Abkhazia. To justify the break with the Mtskheta see, Michael issued a special document, "Law of Faith", in which he stated that western and eastern Georgia had different histories of conversion and, therefore, they should be independent from each other. The first independent from Mtskheta Cathalicos-Patriarch Joachim was given the right of appointing of bishops in Likht-Ameri (i.e. Western Georgia). At various periods of its existence, the Catholicate of Abkhazia was subdivided into several dioceses (eparchies), including those of Bichvinta, Kutaisi, Gelati, Tsageri, Tsaishi, Tsalenjikha, Chkondidi, Khoni, Ninotsminda, Nikortsminda, Shemokmedi, Jumati, Dranda, Bedia and Mokvi, centered on the respective cathedrals.

Culture
At the height of the Georgian monarchy in the 12th century, David IV built a monastery at Gelati in western Georgia.

As it appeared Constantine’s epoch was the period of the cultural renewal of west Georgia. On the borders of 13-14th centuries was built and painted the famous Khobi cathedral. This is the period when in west Georgia began development of Palaeologan art, preceding the paintings of the renaissance period. Gelati cathedral was repainted using this style. During Constantine, at the end of the 13th century were performed great building and restoring works. The Bedia Cathedral was rebuilt and repainted. King Constantine played the crucial part in returning for the Orthodox church its possession in Jerusalem the Monastery of Cross.