David II ( ka, დავით II, ''Davit' II'') also known as Imām Qulī Khān (; ka, იმამყული-ხანი) (1678 – November 2, 1722), of the

Bagrationi Dynasty The Bagrationi dynasty (; ) is a royal dynasty which reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, the name of the dynasty is sometim ...

, was a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

from 1709 to 1722. Although 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 a loyal vassal of the

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...

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 ...

, he failed to ensure his kingdom’s security and most of his reign was marked by razzias (called

Lekianoba Lekianoba ( ka, ლეკიანობა) was the name given to sporadic forays by Northeast Caucasian people into Georgia from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The term is derived from ''Leki'', by which the Georgians knew the Lezgin people, ...

) - incessant inroads by the

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

i mountainous clansmen.

Biography

David was a son of King

Erekle I of Kakheti Heraclius I ( ka, ერეკლე I, Erekle I; ) or Nazar Alī Khān (; ) (1642–1709), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a Georgian monarch who ruled the kingdoms of Kakheti (1675–1676, 1703–1709) and Kartli (1688–1703) under the protecti ...

and Queen Anna née

Cholokashvili The Cholokashvili ( ka, ჩოლოყაშვილი, Russian: Чолокаевы) is a former noble family in Georgia. It claimed an exotic foreign lineage and first appeared in the eastern Georgian province, and later kingdom, of Kakheti in ...

. He was born and raised at 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 ...

’s court at

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 ...

and installed as

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 ...

(viceroy) of Kakheti upon his father’s retirement to Iran in 1703. David resided at Qara Aghach or Qaraghaji in eastern Kakheti, on the borders of

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

, but had to move his residence to

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombo ...

after he failed to recover Balakan from the

Lesgians Lezgins or Leks ( lez, Лезгияр, Лекьер. lezgijar) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native predominantly to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northeastern Azerbaijan. The Lezgin are predominantly Sunni Muslims and ...

of Char and lost

Qakh Qakh District ( az, Qax rayonu; ka, კახის რაიონი, K′akhis raioni; Tsakhur: Къахын район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala E ...

to them in 1706. After the death of his father in 1709, Erekle was ordered to Isfahan to receive investiture from Shah

Husayn Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

, leaving his younger brother Teimuraz and mother Anna in charge of the government. The years of his obliged absence at the Shah’s court (1711–15), were troubled by the Dagestan attacks and peasant revolts. Returning to Kakheti, David attempted to bring the situation under control. He made an alliance with

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

, ruler of the neighboring Georgian kingdom of

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 marched against

, but he suffered defeat and failed to prevent settlements of the Lesgians in the Kakhetian borderlands. In December 1719, he met

Vakhtang VI of Kartli Vakhtang VI ( ka, ვახტანგ VI), also known as Vakhtang the Scholar, Vakhtang the Lawgiver and Ḥosaynqolī Khan ( fa, حسین‌قلی خان, translit=Hoseyn-Qoli Xān) (September 15, 1675 – March 26, 1737), was a Georgian m ...

and negotiated a new alliance against the Dagestani clans. Early in 1720, reinforcements sent by Vakhtang under the command of Prince Erasti Kaplanishvili arrived in Kakheti, but David refrained from another expedition and sent the Kartlian army back home. David died at his summer residence at Magharo in 1722 and was buried at

Qum Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

Family

David was married twice. His first wife was a daughter of the shamkhal of Tarki; the second one was Yatri Jahan-Begum, daughter of Shakhrukh-Zadeh,

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...

Erivan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and in ...

. All his children were by the second marriage: *Levan (Mahmud Reza Mirza) (died 1734), governor of

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd� ...

for the Shah of Iran. He was killed in battle with the Ottoman

Topal Osman Pasha Topal Osman Pasha (1663–1733) was an Ottoman military officer and administrator. A capable man, he rose to the rank of ''beylerbey'' by the age of 24 and served as general against the Venetians and the Habsburg monarchy and as governor in se ...

. He had three sons: Asan Mirza, Ivane, and Rostom-Mirza. *

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

(Nazar 'Ali Mirza) (died 1737), governor of

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

during the absence of King Teimuraz II from 1736 to 1738. *Hasan-Mirza (died 1750), Georgian envoy to

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

in 1734.

References

Sources

*Mikaberidze, Alexander (ed., 2007)
David II (Imam Quli Khan).
''Dictionary of Georgian National Biography''. Accessed October 9, 2007. *
დავით II (კახეთის მეფე)
''People.Istoria.Ge''. Accessed October 9, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:David 02 Of Kakheti 1679 births 1722 deaths Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kakheti Safavid appointed kings of Kakheti Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Iranian people of Georgian descent People from Isfahan Burials in Iran 17th-century people of Safavid Iran 18th-century people of Safavid Iran