'Ali-Mirza ( ka, ალი-მირზა), born Alexander (ალექსანდრე), (died 23 November 1737 Grebelsky, P. Kh., Dumin, S. V., Lapin, V. V. (1993), Дворянские роды Российской империи (''Noble families of Russian Empire''), vol. 3, p. 68. IPK Vesti or 1739 Toumanoff, Cyrille (1976), ''Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour le Caucase chrétien (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie)'', p. 153. Édition Aquila,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was a

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

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 ...

Bagrationi dynasty of the

Kingdom of Kakheti The Second Kingdom of Kakheti ( ka, კახეთის სამეფო, tr; also spelled Kaxet'i or Kakhetia) was a late medieval/ early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at Grem ...

who ruled in eastern Georgian provinces –

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

and Kakheti – for the

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

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 ...

in the late 1730s. Like his father, King David II (Imam-Quli Khan), and brothers, Ali-Mirza was a

convert to Islam Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

. As a ruler of Kakheti, he is sometimes known in modern historiography by his

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

Alexander and ascribed the

regnal number Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers used to distinguish among persons with the same name who held the same office. Most importantly, they are used to distinguish monarchs. An ''ordinal'' is the number placed after a monarch's regnal name to differ ...

"Third". Despite his power being derived from the shah, Ali Mirza followed the established Georgian tradition to style himself as "king of kings".

Wali of Kartli and Kakheti

Ali-Mirza was made a viceroy (''

wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

'') at

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, the capital of the kingdom of Kartli, in August 1735, by the Iranian warlord

Nader Nader is a masculine given name and surname of Arabic origin ( ''Nādir'', meaning "rare", "unique") and may refer to: Persons Given name * Nader Shah, former Shah of Iran (Persia) * Nader Ahmadi (born 1986), Iranian football player * Nader Bat ...

after the victory over the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. The Persian officer Safi Khan was appointed to watch by him and the Muslim Georgian Ali Quli-Bek Amirejibi was placed in charge of collecting taxes. Ali-Mirza failed to gain foothold in the restive province and ran afoul of Safi Khan. In October 1736, Nader, now the shah of Iran, replaced Ali-Mirza with the Muslim Georgian prince Abdullah Beg, moving him to the government of Kakheti, from where his paternal uncle, Teimuraz, had been removed by Nader and was then accompanying the shah on the road to

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. Allen, William Edward David (1932), ''A History of the Georgian People: From the Beginning Down to the Russian Conquest in the Nineteenth Century'', p. 191. Taylor & Francis, Unable to gain popularity with the local population and facing an unrest, Ali-Mirza was equally disturbed by the pressure from his Iranian suzerains. In 1736, he even wrote to the Empress

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

, describing the difficult conditions of his reign and asking her for protection. Feeling that the shah now favored the more able Teimuraz,

Rayfield, Donald Patrick Donald Rayfield OBE (born 12 February 1942, Oxford) is an English academic and Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London. He is an author of books about Russian and Georgian literature, and about Josep ...

(2012). ''Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia'', p. 232. London: Reaktion Books. . Ali-Mirza, under the influence of Prince Abel Andronikashvili, contemplated a revolt in Kakheti. To this end, he attempted, but failed to enlist the support of Teimuraz's consort, Tamar, who feared for the fate of her husband and

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

. Tamar, through the service of Prince Givi Cholokashvili, secured the loyalty of Kiziki and

Pshavi Pshavi ( ka, ფშავი) is a small historic region of northern Georgia, nowadays part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti ''mkhare'' ("region"), and lying chiefly among the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains along the Pshavis Aragvi ...

, dissuading Ali-Mirza from his design. In a state of despair, Ali-Mirza repaired to Nader's camp in Kandahar, where he took command of the shah's Georgian regiments and died in a battle in 1737 or 1739.

Family

Ali-Mirza was married to Mariam, daughter of Shanshe II, Duke of Ksani. According to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

's genealogy, Ali-Mirza had two children, who retired and died 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. ...

: *Prince Ioane (Ivan Alexandrovich Bagration; 7 November 1730 – 28 September 1795), who had a son named Peter, whose fate is obscure; *Princess Ana

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali Mirza Of Kakheti 1730s deaths Converts to Shia Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Georgian Orthodox Christians Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kakheti Year of birth unknown Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Monarchs killed in action Afsharid generals Safavid governors of Kartli Afsharid governors of Kakheti Kings of Kakheti Iranian people of Georgian descent 18th-century people from Georgia (country)