Vakhtang V

Vakhtang V (ვახტანგ V), born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni (ბახუტა მუხრანბატონი) (1618 – September 1675), was king (mepe) of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vassal wali for the Persian shah. He is also known under the name of Shah Nawaz, which he assumed on being obliged outwardly to conform to Islam.

Youth
Vakhtang was born around 1618, and was the eldest son of Teimuraz I, Prince of Mukhrani, who has the prince of the House of Mukhrani since 1580, and his wife, Princess Anne Sidamoni, he descends from a younger branch of the Bagrationi dynasty which has governed an interior province of Kartli since the beginning of the 16th century. From his youth, Vakhtang was educated as heir to the throne of a powerful principality and around the age of 5, his family began his training in the military arts.

His father soon became one of the leaders of the Georgian revolt against Safavid Iran which then occupied the Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti, and in 1623 he was appointed regent of Kartli by the Georgian nobles from the north of the kingdom. However, he was killed during the Battle of Marabda in 1625, when Vakhtang was only 7 years old and the prerogative of Mukhrani went to Teimuraz's brother, Kaikhosro. He was in turn defeated during the invasion of Kartli by King Teimuraz I of Kakheti in 1627 and went into exile in the Ottoman Empire, while his wife and nephews, including Vakhtang, took refuge in Imereti. at the court of King George III.

After the failure of Teimuraz I of an attempt by the exiled family to retake their domains, the House of Mukhrani fell into the hands of Prince David of Kakheti. However, the entire region is the scene of civil conflict between the pro-Safavid and Christian parties; Mukhrani found itself at the center of the conflict, while being administered by the Duchy of Aragvi. Following the death of Shah Abbas the Great in 1629, the pro-Persian party divided and King Simon II of Kartli confiscated the Mukhrani from Duke Zurab I of Aragvi and invited the young Vakhtang, then aged 11, to rule the principality as Vakhtang II of Mukhrani. A few months later, Simon II was killed by the Duke of Aragvi, Teimuraz I of Kakheti regained possession of Kartli and the fate of Mukhrani and Vakhtang became uncertain.

In 1634, Prince Vakhtang, whose exact status is unknown but who remains one of the most influential nobles in central Georgia, was the first prince to offer his allegiance to the Persian-Georgian general Rostom Khan, who invaded Kartli with Safavid troops. Vakhtang meets Rostom in Khunan, Persia, and his arrival encourages the Baratiani clan to follow the general. In Tbilisi, Rostom is proclaimed king of Kartli, vassal of Persia, and the rebels are defeated.

Prince of Mukhrani
Rostom Khan's rise to power solidified Vakhtang's power over Mukhrani, who ruled with the Muslim name of Bakhuta Beg. In 1635, he positioned himself as a negotiator during talks between the central government and the rebel Duke David of Aragvi, his maternal uncle, and welcomed the king, his troops and the duke to Mukhrani. These negotiations failed and David of Aragvi was assassinated in the fortress of Vakhtang by the guards of Rostom Khan, who used Mukhrani as a base to invade the Aragvian province of Dusheti.

This episode changes the dynamics of relations between Vakhtang and Kingdom of Kartli. The same year, Teimuraz I of Kakheti, in exile in Imereti, returned to his former kingdom with the help of the prince of Mukhrani. The latter, accompanied by Prince Iotam Amilakhvari, visited him in Kakheti in order to plan an invasion of Kartli. Following Rostom Khan's failure to obtain Persian reinforcements, Teimuraz entered Kartli and formed an alliance with Vakhtang and the Duchy of Ksani, before besieging Gori with Mukhranian troops. The night siege failed and Vakhtang and Teimuraz withdrew to the villages of Ikorta and Artsevi, within the Duchy of Ksani. Together, they regroup and attack Gori again but are defeated by Rostom Khan in a bloody battle. The latter devastated Mukhran, while Vakhtang took refuge in Saeristo.

Vakhtang's defeat forces him to return to Rostom's sphere of influence. In 1638, he warned the monarch of an imminent invasion of Teimuraz, following which the king sent the Georgian Catholicos Eudemus to convince Teimuraz to return to Kakheti. Two years later, another invasion plan gained the support of Duke Zaal of Aragvi and Iotam Amilakhvari, who united their forces at Akhalgori. On December 24, 1640, Rostom Khan sent a dispatch to Vakhtang requesting help from Mukhrani's troops, before sending him a new letter on the night of December 24 to 25 saying: "“We are arriving with a lot of people, come and join us also with your people in good condition, so that God helping us, we attack without waiting for daybreak. »" Rostom arrives in Mukhrani the same night and is welcomed there by Vakhtang[18]. On the morning of December 25, united forces rushed Akhalgori, taking the rebels attending Christmas mass by surprise. During the battle, Vakhtang distinguished himself as a remarkable fighter, while the rebel nobles suffered a great defeat. Following the battle, Rostom, Vakhtang and their troops eat together the Christmas meal prepared for the defeated.

In the spring of 1642, Rostom Khan launched an invasion of Kakheti with his Iranian troops. Vakhtang and his Mukhranian forces were sent to capture Teimuraz in Tianeti and confronted him at the Battle of Ughlisi. Vakhtang's soldiers killed the Kakhetian general Revaz Cholokashvili, forcing Teimuraz to flee the battlefield and take refuge in eastern Kakheti, where he was pursued by Rostom.

Nomination
Rostom having no legitimate son, he adopted Prince Luarsab of Kartli as his heir. However, the latter died in mysterious circumstances while hunting in 1652, an incident that was widely considered by the Persian court to be a political assassination. These rumors pushed Prince Vakhtang Rostom Mirza, younger brother of Luarsab and lord of Qazmin, to refuse the offer to succeed his brother as adopted son of the king, fearing a similar fate (Vakhtang Rostom Mirza also died the same year). It was then that Rostom agreed to name the ambitious Bakhuta Beg (Vakhtang II of Mukhrani) as his adopted son and heir to the throne.

Parsadan Gorgijanidze, a close advisor to King Rostom, was sent to the court of Shah Abbas II to ask his permission regarding the adoption of Vakhtang. This journey is documented in Henri Brenner's Series regnum Iberiae. In response, the shah requested a painting from the prince of Mukhrani, which he received two weeks later and which encouraged him to make his decision[3]. Following the confirmation of the shah, Vakhtang was officially adopted in 1653 and was in turn sent to Persia, where he was received honorably by the shah. It was during his stay that the Georgian diplomatic delegation, led by Gorgijanidze, informed the shah of the death of Vakhtang Rostom Mirza and formally requested the recognition of Bakhuta Beg as heir to the throne. In Isfahan, Vakhtang converted to Islam and adopted the name Shah Navaz Khan, translated as “monarch of pleasures” or “beloved of the shah”.

In Persia, he was appointed governor of Isfahan and Gilan, before returning to Georgia. Returning, he began to refer to himself as Son of Rostom in official documents and, while calling himself Shah Navaz Khan in royal decrees, he preserved his Vakhtang nomenclature in order to gain the support of Christians in Kartli. The servants of Rostom and those of Queen Mariam are forced to swear allegiance to the new crown prince and he receives as an appanage a series of villages in Savakhtago.

Intervention in Imereti
In Tbilisi, the 86-year-old king places his trust in his new adopted son, a distinction from which Prince Luarsab hardly benefited. He named Shah Navaz Khan administrator of Kartli, entrusting him with the daily governance of the kingdom, as well as head of the armed forces of Kartli.

Since 1623, a destructive war pitted the Kingdom of Imereti against the Principality of Mingrelia in western Georgia and King Rostom offered logistical support to the Mingrelians. In 1658, he appointed Vakhtang general with the task of leading a military expedition to Imereti following the reversal of the situation and the new strategic advantage of Imereti which appeared with the death of Levan II Dadiani. At the same time, the king fell ill, forcing Vakhtang to accept more responsibilities over the governance of Kartli.

Vakhtang is accompanied in his campaign by Duke Zaal of Aragvi. Together and with the help of the forces of the Ottoman Childir Eyalet, they faced the forces of Alexander III of Imereti in a short battle, but were defeated and were forced to retreat to the forest of Somaneti. A strategic disagreement between Vakhtang and Zaal then took place, according to the testimony of the royal envoy Parsadan, who visited the military camp in order to receive the signatures of the two men on a letter of submission to Shah Abbas II. During this visit, Vakhtang and Parsadan discuss state affairs and the heir tries to convince that a military victory is possible if Zaal's troops remain at the front, while Zaal submits an official complaint to the envoy about Vakhtang's adventurism.

The immediate departure of Aragvi's troops forces Vakhtang to reconsider his strategy and return to Kartli. Less than a year later, Imereti emerged victorious from the conflict.

Conflict with Zaal
In order to avoid conflict with the nobility, Vakhtang attempted to ally himself with the powerful Zaal of Aragvi and Nodar Tsitsishvili. Thus, he gives his eldest daughter in marriage to Zurab Sidamoni, son of Zaal, and arranges the alliance between Tsitsishvili's daughter and his son Archil. But these unions fail to alleviate the disagreement between the nobles and the heir and Zaal urges the lords of Kakheti to oppose Vakhtang when the old king Rostom falls ill. The royal advisor Parsadan Gorgijanidze, Baïndur Tumanishvili and the Persian delegate Mohamed Zemena were responsible for negotiating, in vain, between the two camps.

Parsadan recalls a correspondence between Vakhtang and the Duke of Aragvi: "“Vakhtang: First and in the beginning, you coveted my principality; now what wrongs have I done towards you, that you are so ill disposed towards me? I gave my daughter to your son and am willing to offer you such estate as you designate. Zaal of Aragvi: When we chose him as our master, and he gave his daughter to my son Zurab, asking for his son Archil that of Nodar, he placed an enemy between us. But Thourman and the one from Tiflis still live. We awarded him the kingship of Kartli, and that of Kakheti was reserved for me. Besides, I have sworn to him many times that after King Rostom I will no longer submit to the master of Karthli. If that suits you, so be it; otherwise, that's another matter. »" Rostom, on his deathbed, offers a compromise. He bequeathed to his adopted son the title of king and the domination of Kartli and divided Kakheti between the control of the Persians and the Ertso and Tianeti for Zaal of Aragvi. This agreement, however, did not end the conflict, which led to rumors of Rostom's death. Shah Abbas II, to inspect the situation, sent the diplomat Mahmoud Beg, who returned to Persia and informed the monarch of the tense situation in Georgia, to the surprise of the Isfahan court, convinced of the friendship between Vakhtang and Zaal.

As Rostom's health worsened, Vakhtang sent a dispatch to Persia to ensure the shah's involvement in the royal succession. He took over the leadership of the kingdom before on November 17, 1658, Rostom died at the advanced age of 91. The Persian delegation invited by Vakhtang did not arrive until shortly after the death and ensured that the riches of Rostom and Queen Mariam were secured within the citadel of Tbilisi before the arrival of Vakhtang, then on the move.

Ascension
While Rostom's death theoretically ensured Vakhtang's ascension to the throne of Kartli, Shah Abbas II's envoy did not immediately recognize him as monarch, initially treating him as the kingdom's interim administrator. This restraint is probably linked to the power of Zaal of Aragvi, which threatens to enter into conflict. The latter in turn tried to have himself proclaimed king by landing at Avlabari, just outside Tbilisi, but seeing the strength of the central troops, he took refuge in his domains in Dusheti, while refusing to submit to Vakhtang. On January 1, 1659, Persia officially recognized Vakhtang as monarch of Kartli, authorizing his coronation as king at Mtskheta according to ancient Georgian Orthodox tradition. For his coronation, he received from the shah a crown, an egret, a sword made of diamonds, a horse and weapons. He then became Shah Navaz Khan, or Vakhtang V, “King of kings, master, possessor and sovereign of the Abkhaz, Kartvelians, Ranians, Kakhetians and Armenians, Shirvanshah and Shahanshah to the limits of the East and the North”.

The fate of Mariam Dadiani, dowager queen of Kartli and widow of Rostom, is not immediately clear. Afraid of being deported to Iran to join the shah's harem, she first sent him a lock of her white hair to demonstrate her advanced age, while showing her face as much as possible in public. The shah then forced Vakhtang V to marry her so that she could stay in Georgia. Vakhtang, then married to his first wife Rodam Qaplanishvili, a woman of "rare beauty", was forced to divorce her (or, according to some sources, to dismiss her as a secondary wife according to Persian tradition) in order to marry Mariam. Despite the original opposition of Vakhtang V, he was forced to accept following pressure from the Persian delegates.

As a formality, Vakhtang sent an emissary to Levan II Dadiani, brother of the queen, to approve the wedding. He offers a golden throne and gems to Mariam. The marriage took place in mid-February 1659 during a ceremony which lasted a week. After the celebration, the queen sent one of her ladies as a present to Simon I Gurieli, former prince of Guria and first husband of Mariam, and four ladies to Shah Abbas II to thank him for granting her the right to stay in Georgia. Mariam maintained a certain relationship with Simon Gurieli until the latter's death in 1672, causing the jealousy of Vakhtang V.

Vassal of the Safavids
Much like his adoptive father, Vakhtang V's status as an independent monarch remains the subject of debate. In Georgia, he is crowned in Georgian Orthodox rites and preserves his name Vakhtang V, King of Kartli, for the Christian population, a level of autonomy generally unacceptable for Safavid Iran. However, contemporary Persian documents make him Shah Navaz Khan, Wali of Gurjistan ("governor of Georgia"), making him a dignitary of the Persian Empire governing a Persian province. A little over a century later, King George XII would use in vain this confederal system of a monarchy within an empire as an example of possible integration within Imperial Russia.

A vassal who governed, according to Prince Vakhushti Bagrationi, "well" according to the interests of the Safavids, he quickly became one of the most influential political figures in Persia. Kalistrat Salia made Vakhtang V the third most important man in Persia, behind the shah and his vizier. This position allowed the Georgian upper class to become powerful in the Persian capital, beginning an era of Georgian influence in Isfahan under Bagrationi dynasty of Mukhrani. The royal family becomes members of the imperial high court. A Shiite, Vakhtang V and his court often took part in the religious intrigues of Isfahan.

This close relationship between Kartli and Persia, however, takes place within the framework of broad control by the Persian authorities in eastern Georgia. As early as 1659, Shah Abbas II appointed Mourtouz Ali Khan as governor of Kakheti, while the Persian-Georgian general Allahverdi Khan charged with a mission to settle 15,000 (or 1,500 according to some sources) families Azerbaijani forces in Kakheti and build three Persian military bases there. At the same time, the Persian authorities in South Caucasus relocated 50,000 Muslim families from Azerbaijan and Karabakh to Kartli. The kingdom of Vakhtang V is divided into six territories, four of which are placed under the supervision of Mourteza Qouli Khan, beylerbey of Karabakh, and two, under that of Ali Qouli Khan Kankerlou, governor of Nakhchivan. The latter govern directly over local Muslim families, but such separation leads to numerous tensions between Christian and Muslim communities, tensions which are sometimes violent. Ali Qouli Khan Kankerlou himself led a military expedition against the Christian Tushetians, in the areas of Vakhtang V.

While Vakhtang preserved his royal right to appoint every heir of the noble families, he was forced to receive permission from the Persian authorities when making such appointments. The Persians also tried to preserve internal peace, as shown by Abbas II's appointment of the diplomat Safiqoli Khan to negotiate peace between Vakhtang and Zaal of Aragvi, negotiations which resulted in a temporary truce with the visit de Zaal at the court of Isfahan. In 1660, he was forced to send his young daughter Anuka to Persia to marry Abbas II.

Family and children
Vakhtang was married twice. His first wife was Rodam Kaplanishvili-Orbeliani, daughter of Prince Kaplan Baratashvili and founder of the Orbeliani family. At the insistence of the shah of Iran, Vakhtang had to divorce, with great reluctance, Rodam on his accession to the throne of Kartli, to marry Mariam Dadiani, (died 1682), widow of his adopted father Rostom. Rodam became a nun under the name of Catherine and died at Tbilisi in 1691. All of Vakhtang's children were mothered by Rodam. These were:


 * Archil (1647–1713), sometime king of Kakheti and of Imereti.
 * George XI (Gurgin Khan; 1651–1709), king of Kartli.
 * Levan (Shah-Quli Khan) (c. 1653–1709), regent of Kartli.
 * Alexander (Iskander Mirza; fl. 1666 – 1697), a darogha (prefect) of the Persian capital Isfahan in 1667. Married Mehr Sharf Begum, a daughter of Izz-i-Sharf and Mirza Abdollah al-Husayni al-Marashi.
 * Luarsab (died 1698), whose natural son, Alexander (died 1711), was a Safavid commander in Afghanistan.
 * Solomon (Suleiman Mirza; died 1703), who was married to Tamar, daughter of Shalva, Duke of Ksani, and had a son, Oman;
 * An anonymous daughter, who married, in 1655, Zurab, Duke of Aragvi (died 1661).
 * Anuka (died 1697), who was sent in the harem of Shah Abbas II in 1660. After Abbas's death, his successor Shah Suleiman I gave Anuka in marriage to Shah Verdi Khan of Luristan to the chagrin of Anuka's brother George XI of Kartli.
 * Tamar (died 1694), who married, in 1661, Prince Givi Amilakhvari (c. 1634 – 1700) and had five children. She became a nun in her widowhood under the name of Gaiane.
 * Elene.