Bagrat VII ( ka, ბაგრატ VII) (1569–1619), also known as Bagrat Khan, was King of Kartli, eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, effectively serving as a

khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

for the

Persia 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 ...

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 ...

Abbas I from 1615/1616 to 1619.

Life

A son of

David XI of Kartli David XI ( ka, დავით XI) or Dāwūd Khan II (, ) (died ''c''. 1579) was King of Kartli. A convert to Islam, he was appointed as Khan of Kartli by the Persian Shah Tahmasp I from 1562 (effectively from 1569) to 1578. Life David was a ...

, he took refuge in Persia after his father was dislodged by the Ottoman invasion in 1578. He was raised at the shah’s court in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

, brought up

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 adopted Persian customs. Later, for his efforts, he was given a fiefdom in mainland Iran. Around the mid 1590s, he assisted Farhad Khan Qaramanlu in arranging a match for Abbas I with a daughter of the

Amilakhori The Amilkhvari ( ka, ამილახვარი) was a noble house of Georgia which rose to prominence in the fifteenth century and held a large fiefdom in central Georgia until the Imperial Russian annexation of the country in 1801. They were ...

noble family. In 1615/1616, he was installed by Abbas I as a puppet king/khan in Kartli on the deposition of his cousin, King Luarsab II the Martyr. He exercised only a limited power confined to

Lower Kartli Kvemo Kartli ( ka, ქვემო ქართლი, az, Aşağı Kartli) or "Lower Kartli", is a historic province and current administrative region (mkhare) in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is the regional capital. Location Kvem ...

and largely relied on Persian forces. Considered as a renegade, he was disgusted by most of the kingdom’s population and, in spite of the Persian presence, he was unable to control even seemingly loyal nobility. His short reign was spent mostly in the town of

Bolnisi Bolnisi ( ka, ბოლნისი, az, Qəmərli), is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. It currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants. History Bolnisi was settled ...

, where he died in 1619, to be succeeded by his son, Simon II (Semayun Khan). His half-brother Khosrow was given his land in Iran.

Family

Bagrat was married to Anna, daughter of

Alexander II of Kakheti Alexander II ( ka, ალექსანდრე II) (1527 – March 12, 1605) of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1574 to 1605. In spite of a precarious international situation, he managed to retain relative ...

. They had the following children: # Simon II, King of Kartli. # Pahrijan-Begum, given in marriage to Shah Abbas I.

References

Sources

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External links

Bagrat VII
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagrat 07 Of Kartli 1569 births 1619 deaths People from Isfahan Safavid appointed kings of Kartli Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kartli Iranian people of Georgian descent 16th-century people of Safavid Iran 17th-century people of Safavid Iran