Alexander ( ka, ალექსანდრე), also known as Ishaq Beg (ისაკ-ბეგი) (c. 1705/8 – September 1773), was an illegitimate son of the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

ruler

Jesse of Kartli Jesse (, Iese), also known by his Muslim names Ali-Quli Khan and Mustafa Pasha, (1680 or 1681–1727), of the Mukhranian Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Kartli (Georgia), acting actually as a Safavid Persian and later Ottoman viceroy (wali) ...

, of the Bagrationi-Mukhraneli, politically active in Georgia in the 1740s. His progeny subsequently flourished in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, producing a line of several notable figures of the 19th century, among them General

Pyotr Bagration Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (10 July 1765 – 24 September 1812) was a Georgian general and prince serving in the Russian Empire, prominent during the Napoleonic Wars. Bagration, a member of the Bagrationi dynasty, was born in Tbilisi. His ...

of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

fame.

Career

Alexander was born in

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

as a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, and was called Ishaq Beg. From 1743 to 1744, he served as a lieutenant (janisin) of Kartli, then under the Iranian sway. He was soon removed from the office by his cousin Teimuraz II, of the rival Bagrationi branch from

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

, who became king of Kartli in 1744. Ishaq Beg joined the opposition faction led by his half-brother Abdullah Beg, but soon had to submit to the ascending power of the Kakhetian Bagrationi. In 1750, he converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, baptized with the name Alexander and received a fief in Kvemo Kartli. Soon, his relations with Teimuraz again went downhill and Alexander fled to Russia in 1759. He entered the Russian military service and first joined a garrison at Astrakhan and then, in 1761, the Georgian squadron in Kizlyar in the ranks of

podpolkovnik ''Podpolkovnik'' (russian: подполко́вник, lit=sub –, junior – , or lower regimentary) is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. ...

. Grebelsky, P. Kh., Dumin, S. V., Lapin, V. V. (1993), Дворянские роды Российской империи (''Noble families of Russian Empire''), vol. 3, p. 50. IPK Vesti

Family

Alexander fathered five sons (and probably three daughters): *Prince Ivane (Ivan Aleksandrovich Bagration; 1730–1795), Second Major of the Russian army. He was father of Pyotr,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, and Alexander. *Solomon * Kiril (Kiril Aleksandrovich Bagration; 1750–1828), Major-General of the Russian army and a senator. *Tamaz (Thomas) (1743 – c. 1759) *Porphyry, who became an

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

of the Monastery of Exaltation of the Cross at Kizlyar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Son Of Jesse Of Kartli 1700s births 1773 deaths Politicians from Georgia (country) House of Mukhrani (royal line) Iranian people of Georgian descent Afsharid generals Military personnel of the Russian Empire Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Shia Islam Former Muslims from Georgia (country) 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire 18th-century people from Georgia (country)