Botso Jaqeli ( ka, ბოცო ჯაყელი; ) was a

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 ...

nobleman of the

Jaqeli The House of Jaqeli ( ka, ჯაყელი) was a Georgian princely (''mtavari'') family and a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Samtskhe, an offshoot of the House of Chorchaneli. History "Jaqeli", literally meaning "of/from Jaqi", was o ...

family, the first to have the rank of ''

eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

'' ("duke") of

Samtskhe Meskheti ( ka, მესხეთი) or Samtskhe ( ka, სამცხე) ( Moschia in ancient sources), is a mountainous area in southwestern Georgia. History Ancient tribes known as the Mushki (or Moschi) and Mosiniks (or Mossynoeci) were t ...

. He lost his positions for having joined an aristocratic revolt against Queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty ...

. Botso's parentage is not known. His father could have been either Murvan Jaqeli of an inscription from the Agara monastery, near Akhaltsikhe, or Memna, mentioned by

Stepanos Orbelian Stepanos Orbelian ( hy, Ստեփանոս Օրբելեան, originally spelled hy, Ստեփաննոս, translit=Stepʻannos, label=none; – 1303) was a thirteenth-century Armenians, Armenian historian and the metropolitan bishop of the provi ...

as a participant of the 1178 revolt against

George III of Georgia George III ( ka, გიორგი III) (died 27 March 1184), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 8th King of Georgia from 1156 to 1184. He became king when his father, Demetrius I, died in 1156, which was preceded by his brother's revolt agains ...

. Botso Jaqeli's namesake and possible grandfather is recorded as ''eristavt-eristavi'' ("duke of dukes") in a Georgian stone inscription from the Ali monastery, now in Turkey, and ''

marzpan Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension milita ...

'' ("margrave") in a note attached to the 12th-century Gelati Gospels manuscript. According to the historian

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, ...

, Botso's successor as duke of Samtskhe, Ivane-Qvarqvare Jaqeli, was his brother. Botso's possible sister, Kravay, was married to the nobleman Samdzivari and was responsible for negotiating the surrender of Qutlu Arslan's rebellious party to Queen Tamar. Botso Jaqeli appears as ''eristavi'' ("duke") and ''

spasalar ''Ispahsālār'' ( fa, اسپهسالار) or ''sipahsālār'' (; "army commander"), in Arabic rendered as ''isfahsalār'' () or ''iṣbahsalār'' (), was a title used in much of the Islamic world during the 10th–15th centuries, to denote the sen ...

'' ("constable") of Samtskhe, an important frontier region in southwest Georgia, in the reign of Queen Regnant Tamar. Around 1187, Botso, together with Guzan, duke of

Tao ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other phil ...

, repelled an attack from Saltukid

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

and Sham into the provinces of Shavsheti and

Klarjeti Klarjeti ( ka, კლარჯეთი ) was a province of ancient and medieval Georgia, which is now part of Turkey's Artvin Province. Klarjeti, the neighboring province of Tao and several other smaller districts, constituted a larger region wi ...

. Around 1191, Botso joined the likes as

Vardan Dadiani Vardan I Dadiani ( ka, ვარდან I დადიანი) (died 1213) was a Georgian noble and the forefather of the Dadiani, the princely dynasty of Samegrelo (Mingrelia), a region in western Georgia which Vardan ruled as '' eristavi'' ...

and Guzan of Tao in a failed coup in favor of Tamar's disgraced husband, George the Rus'. Botso's subsequent fate is not clear; he seems to have been deprived by Tamar of his patrimonial castle of Jaqi as well as of his possession and command of Samtskhe for these dignities then appear as belonging to Ivane-Qvarqvare Jaqeli, Botso's kinsman and, according to Toumanoff, his possible brother. Botso's sons and descendants were known as Botsosdze. His elder son, Memna, also known as Ivane, was killed, being in charge of the defense of

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 ...

against the Khwarazmian army in 1226. A younger son, Botso (died c. 1283), also took part in this battle, commanding the last stand at Isani. This Botso was married to Vaneni, daughter of Ivane Abuserisdze, duke of

Adjara Adjara ( ka, აჭარა ''Ach’ara'' ) or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara ( ka, აჭარის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა ''Ach’aris Avt’onomiuri Resp’ublik’a'' ...

, and sister of the scholar

Tbeli Abuserisdze Tbeli Abuserisdze ( ka, ტბელი აბუსერისძე) (c. 1190 – 1240) was a medieval Georgian scholar and religious writer. His merits A son of Ivane Abuserisdze, '' eristavt-eristavi'' ("archduke") of Khikhata ( Upper ...

. The Botsosdze are last heard of with Shalva in the 1260s. By 1516, their estates in Samtskhe appear in possession of the Oladashvili family.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaqeli, Botso Botso 12th-century people from Georgia (country)