Burdukhan ( ka, ბურდუხანი), also known as Bordokhan (ბორდოხანი), (died before 1184) was an
Alan
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
**List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
*A ...
princess and
queen consort of
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 ...
as the wife of
George III, king of Georgia (
r. 1156–1184). She was mother of
Queen Tamar
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 ...
, who would preside over the apogee of the medieval Georgian monarchy.
Biography
Burdukhan was a daughter of Khuddan, whom the Georgian chronicles call "king of the Osi", a Georgian designation of the Alan tribe in the
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
. She married George, then a crown-prince of Georgia, in the lifetime of his father, King
Demetrius I, in the 1150s. She gave birth to Tamar, subsequently queen regnant of Georgia. It is possible that the couple had another daughter
Rusudan; but she is only mentioned once in all contemporary accounts of Tamar's reign. The medieval historians extol Burdukhan's piety and fidelity. One of them, an anonymous author of the ''Histories and Eulogies of Sovereigns'', compares her to the Christian saints
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
and
Irene-Penelope.
[Eastmond (1998), p. 116.]
Burdukhan died before her husband, that is, prior to 1184. Beyond the medieval chronicles, her name survives on the Icon of the Theotokos of Khobi, now on display at the
Dadiani Palace Museum in
Zugdidi
Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilom ...
, and in a wall inscription from
Ruisi, where she is mentioned as a benefactor to the local cathedral.
Notes
References
*Eastmond, Antony (1998), ''Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia''. Penn State Press, .
*
Qauxčišvili, Simon (ed.; Vivian, Katharine, trans.; 1991), ''The Georgian chronicle: the Period of Giorgi Lasha''. Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert.
Alanic women
Queens consort from Georgia (country)
1180s deaths
Year of birth unknown
12th-century Iranian people
12th-century people from Georgia (country)
12th-century women from Georgia (country)
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