Ivane Amilakhori ( ka, ივანე ამილახვარი, russian: Иван Гивич �горовичАмилахвари �милахори}; 26 January 1829 – 27 August 1905) 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 and a military commander in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

n service. He was born in the village Chala in what is now

Shida Kartli Shida Kartli ( ka, შიდა ქართლი, , ; "Inner Kartli") is a landlocked administrative region (''Mkhare'') in eastern Georgia. It comprises a central part of the historical-geographic province of Shida Kartli. With an area of , Sh ...

region (then under Russian rule) to a prominent Georgian

aristocratic family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

. Educated at the

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 ...

nobility gymnasium, he enrolled in the

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

regiment in 1850. Amilakhvari spent the first three years of his military career fighting the recalcitrant mountainous clans during the

Caucasian War The Caucasian War (russian: Кавказская война; ''Kavkazskaya vojna'') or Caucasus War was a 19th century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the R ...

and was wounded at the action of Chakpak on 31 August 1853. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

(1853-1856), he fought on the Caucasus front against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and distinguished himself at the Battle of

Choloki The Choloki
Mindat.org ( ka, ჩოლოქი, a ...

where Amilakhvari, with his irregular unit of Georgian hunters completely destroyed an entire Ottoman battalion. After another three years of his service in

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

(1856-1859), Amilakhvari was promoted to colonel and assigned to command the Nizhny Novgorod dragoon regiment from 1864 to 1873. In 1871,

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

sent him to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

to congratulate King

Charles I of Württemberg Charles (german: Karl Friedrich Alexander; 6 March 18236 October 1891) was King of Württemberg, from 25 June 1864 until his death in 1891. Early life Charles was born on 6 March 1823 in Stuttgart as the son of King William I and his third wif ...

on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his being the chief of Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. The same year, Amilakhvari visited the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

army headquarters at

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

during the Franco-Prussian War. On return, he obtained the rank of major general in 1873 and returned to the service in the Caucasus where he took part in a series of battles during the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 ( tr, 93 Harbi, lit=War of ’93, named for the year 1293 in the Islamic calendar; russian: Русско-турецкая война, Russko-turetskaya voyna, "Russian–Turkish war") was a conflict between th ...

. After the war, he served as a commander of a cavalry division in the Caucasus and was promoted to lieutenant general in May 1883. In 1886, through negotiation and persuasion, he managed to stop unrest in Chechnya. Commissioned a cavalry general in 1896, he commanded the Caucasus Army Corps from 1893 until 1897 when he was assigned to the chief headquarters of the Caucasus Military District, sometimes acting as a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

commander-in-chief of the Caucasus army. In 1901, on the 200th anniversary of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, he became an

adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

. In 1904, he served as an acting governor-general of

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

and used his influence and prestige to pacify the disturbances in the city. He was decorated with numerous Russian and foreign awards, including the imperial orders of

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, St. Vladimir,

St. Anna According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come on ...

St. Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...

and of St. Stanislav. He died in his native Chala in 1905 and was interred at the

Kashveti Church {{commonscat, Kashueti Church The Kashveti Church of St. George ( ka, ქაშვეთის წმინდა გიორგის სახელობის ტაძარი) is a Georgian Orthodox Church in central Tbilisi, located acr ...

in downtown Tbilisi. Ivane Amilakhvari's grandson was Prince

Dimitri Amilakhvari Prince Dimitri Zedginidze-Amilakhvari, more commonly known as Dimitri Amilakhvari ( ka, დიმიტრი ამილახვარი, french: Dimitri Amilakvari) (31 October 1906 – 24 October 1942) was a French military officer of ...

, a French hero of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

князь Амилахвари Иван Гивич (Егорович)
''Regiment.ru''. Accessed on September 4, 2007.
Амилахвари Иван Гивич
''nobility.pro''. Accessed on December 18, 2017.
Амилахори (Амилахвари) Иван Гивич (Егорович), князь - временный генерал-губернатор Баку и Бакинской губернии, генерал-адъютант
''ourbaku.com''. Accessed on December 18, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amilakhori, Ivan Guvich 1829 births 1905 deaths Nobility of Georgia (country) Imperial Russian Army generals Georgian generals in the Imperial Russian Army Georgian generals with the rank "General of the Cavalry" (Imperial Russia) Generals from Georgia (country) Recipients of the Cross of St. George People from Shida Kartli Russian military personnel of the Caucasian War