The Duchy of Aragvi ( ka, არაგვის საერისთავო) was an important fiefdom in medieval and early modern
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 ...
, strategically located in the upper
Aragvi valley, in the foothills of the eastern
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...
crest, and ruled by a succession 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
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
s") from c. 1380 until being transferred to the royal crown in 1747.
History
The first known dukes of Aragvi belonged to the
House of Shaburisdze which flourished in the 13th century. From this house, the duchy passed to those of Tumanisdze and, finally, in the 16th century, to the
House of Sidamoni
The House of Sidamoni ( ka, სიდამონი) was a noble family (tavadi) in Georgia, their principal line known as Aragvis Eristavi (არაგვის ერისთავი) by virtue of being eristavi (“dukes”) of Aragvi from ...
. This latter change of power took place sometime after 1569, when an obscure nobleman of the Sidamoni clan, with the aid of the
dukes of the Ksani, massacred the Tumanisdze family and took control of their possessions. In the process of time, the tenure of a duke of Aragvi became hereditary, and the eristavi ranked as
mtavari
''Mtavari'' ( ka, მთავარი) was a feudal title in Georgia usually translated into English as Prince or Duke.
The earliest instances of the use of ''mtavari'' are in the early Georgian hagiographic texts dated to the 5th century. From ...
, one of the "undivided" princely houses of Georgia.
Toumanoff, Cyril
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, ...
(1949–51). The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia. ''Traditio'' 7: 201-2.
The dukes of Aragvi had their residences at
Dusheti
Dusheti () is a town in Georgia, the administrative center of Dusheti Municipality, in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, 54 km northeast of the nation's capital of Tbilisi.
History
Dusheti is on both banks of the small, mountainous Dushetis-K ...
and
Sioni, and the main fortress at
Ananuri
Ananuri () is a castle complex on the Aragvi River in Dusheti Municipality Georgia, about from Tbilisi.
History
Ananuri was a castle and seat of the '' eristavis'' ( Dukes) of Aragvi, a feudal dynasty which ruled the area from the 13th century ...
.
Bodorna was their familial abbey and a burial ground.
Their possessions extended from the main ridge of the Great Caucasus in the north to the left bank of the
Mtkvari
The Kura is an east-flowing river south of the Greater Caucasus Mountains which drains the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus east into the Caspian Sea. It also drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus while its main tributary, the Ar ...
(Kura) in the south, and from the
Liakhvi River
The Great Liakhvi ( ''Didi Liakhvi'', , ''Styr Lewakhi'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in the de facto independent region of South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (Mtk ...
in the west to the mountains of
Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
and
Gremi
Gremi ( ka, გრემი) is a 16th-century architectural monument – the royal citadel and the Church of the Archangels – in Kakheti, Georgia. The complex is what has survived from the once flourishing town of Gremi and is located southwest ...
in the east – which formed the watershed between the valleys of the
Ksani
The Ksani (, , ''Ĉysandon'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (''Mtkvari''). It is long, and has a drainage basin of . and the
Aragvi
The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinv ...
. As of the 1770 census, the duchy's population amounted to 3,300 households. The duchy controlled a vital road to 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, ...
, which would later become the
Georgian Military Road
The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative r ...
,
[ Allen, W.E.D. (1964), Trivia Historiae Ibericae, 2-4. '']Bedi Kartlisa
''Bedi Kartlisa. Revue de Kartvélologie'' was an international academic journal specializing in the language, literature, history and art of Georgia ( Kartvelology) published from 1948 to 1984. It derived its name from the poem ''Bedi kartlisa'' ( ...
'', 17-18; 45-46: pp. 165-8. as well as the fertile area of
Bazaleti.
The energetic 17th-century dukes of Aragvi –
Nugzar,
Zurab Zurab ( Georgian: ზურაბ) is a Georgian masculine given name. It derives from the Persian Sohrab, a name of the legendary warrior from Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh''. It may refer to:
*Zurab Adeishvili (born 1972), Georgian jurist and politicia ...
, and Zaal – waged a relentless struggle to achieve more autonomy from the royal authority 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 rol ...
as well as to subdue the free mountainous communities of
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 ...
-
Khevsureti
Khevsureti ( Georgian: ხევსურეთი, ''a land of valleys'') is a historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia. They are the branch of Kartvelian ( Georgian) people located along both the northern (Pirikita khevsureti, Georgia ...
and
Ertso-Tianeti
Ertso-Tianeti ( ka, ერწო-თიანეთი) is a small historical-geographic area in eastern Georgia. It lies along the upper Iori Valley in what is now Tianeti District in the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti. The area's name is compound, ...
.
In 1743, the rebellious Aragvians killed their duke Bezhan and surrendered the duchy to
Teimuraz II, a Georgian king of Kartli. Teimuraz converted the duchy into a royal
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
and gave it to his grandson Prince
Vakhtang. The surviving members of the ducal family were later removed by Teimuraz's son
Erekle II
Heraclius II ( ka, ერეკლე II), also known as Erekle II and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი ) (7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 C. ToumanoffHitchins, KeithHeraclius II. ''Encyclopædia Iranica Online edit ...
to
Kakheti and granted a smaller estate. Vakhtang died in 1756 and was succeeded by his brothers, first by
Levan (died 1781), and then by
Vakhtang-Almaskhan, who was sent into exile by the
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
, once they
took control of Georgia, in 1803. Later, the descendants of the dukes of Aragvi attempted to restore their titles and patrimonial estates in the Aragvi valley, but to no avail. In 1828, the
Russian Senate ruled their claims to be groundless.
List of Dukes of Aragvi
Shaburidze
*c. 1380 : Mihai
*c. 1430 : Shanshe I
*c. 1440 : Nugzar I
*c. 1465–1474 : Vameq I
Sidamoni
*1558–1580 : Jason I
**Founder of Sidamoni dynasty, recognized as ''Eristav of Aragvi'' by King Simeon of Georgia 1558
*1580–1600 : Avtandil I
**Son of Jason I
*1600–1611 :
Nugzar I
**Grandson of Jason I by brother of Avtandil I, Baadur
*1611–1619 : Baadur I
**Son of Nugzar I
*1619–1629 :
Zurab I
**Son of Nugzar I
*1629–1635 : David I
**Son of Nugzar I
*1635–1660 : Zaal I
**Son of Nugzar I
*1660–1666 : Otar I
**Grandson of Nugzar I by brother of Baadur I; George
*1666–1687 : Revaz I
**Son of Nugzar I
*1687-1687 : Jason II
**Grandson of Nugzar I by brother of Baadur I; George (brother of Otar I)
*1687–1696 : Baadur II
**Son of Otar I
*1696–1723 : George I
**Son of Otar I
*1723–1724 : Otar II
**Son of George I
*1724–1730 : Teimuraz I
**Son of Jason II, first cousin once removed of Otar II
*1730–1735 : Revaz II
**Son of George I
*1735–1739 : Bardzim I
**Son of George I
Pretenders/Anti-Eristavi
*1729-1742 : Revaz III
*1742-1743 : Bezhan I
(Both installed by the Turks)
Non-dynastic
*1743–1747 :
Givi II, Prince
Amilakhvari
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 ...
*1747 : Annexion by the Kingdom of Kakheti
Bagrationi appanage
*1747–1756:
Prince Vakhtang of Georgia
*1756–1766: Vacant (royal domain)
*1766–1781:
Prince Levan of Georgia
*1782–1801:
Prince Vakhtang-Almaskhan of Georgia
*1801: annexation by Russia.
[ Toumanoff, Cyrille, ''Manuel de Généalogie et de Chronologie pour le Caucase chrétien (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie)'', 1976]
References
{{Reflist
Aragvi
The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinv ...
States and territories established in the 14th century
States and territories disestablished in 1747