Luarsab II the Holy Martyr ( ka, ლუარსაბ II) (1592 – 21 June ( O.S.), 1 July ( N.S.), 1622), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1606 to 1615. He is known for his martyr’s death at the hands of the Persian shah Abbas I. The Georgian Orthodox Church regards him as

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and marks his memory on the day of his death, July 1.

Life

Luarsab ascended the Kartlian throne at the age of 14 after his father, Giorgi X, suddenly died in 1606. During his minority, the government was actually run by a royal tutor

Shadiman Baratashvili Shadiman Baratashvili ( ka, შადიმან ბარათაშვილი) was a political figure in Kingdom of Kartli at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries.ქართული საბჭოთა ენცი� ...

. It was when Abbas I succeeded in driving the Ottoman armies out of eastern Georgia, leaving a Persian force in Tbilisi, and confirming Luarsab as king of Kartli. The Ottomans attempted to remove Luarsab, sending in Georgia a large army, only to be destroyed by the Georgian general Giorgi Saakadze at the

Battle of Tashiskari The Battle of Tashiskari ( ka, ტაშისკარის ბრძოლა) was fought between the Georgians and the Ottoman Turks at the village of Tashiskari on June 16, 1609. The Georgians, led by Giorgi Saakadze Giorgi Saakadze the Gr ...

, 1609. After this victory, Luarsab was granted again the control of the citadel of Tbilisi and the shah married his sister Tinatin, 1610. Late in 1611, Luarsab himself married Makrine, a sister of a lower-class noble Saakadze. The great nobles of the realm led by

convinced the king that Saakadze was a Persian agent seeking a royal crown. They induced Luarsab to divorce Makrine and forced Saakadze into exile to Persia. Shah Abbas indeed demanded more loyalty and obedience from the Georgians and encouraged a

khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

Mohammad to trouble the Kartlian lands. In 1612, Luarsab had Mohammad Khan assassinated and allied with another Georgian monarch, Teimuraz I of Kakheti to counter an anticipated Persian aggression. Early in 1614, a large Persian army invaded

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 ...

, destroying several settlements on its way, and moved into Kartli. Luarsab and Teimuraz fled to a western Georgian Kingdom of Imereti. George III of Imereti refused to surrender the refugees. Abbas threatened Kartli with ruin, promising that if Luarsab submitted, he would conclude a peace. In October 1615, Luarsab surrendered to save his kingdom from being wiped out, and, refusing to convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, was incarcerated first in Astarabad and then somewhere near Shiraz. The Georgians attempted to free their king through the mediation of

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 ...

Mikhail I of Russia. However, the negotiations yielded no results and, in 1622, Luarsab was executed (strangled with a bow string) on the orders of the shah at the fortress of Qal‘eh-ye Golāb in southwest Iran.

References

External links

Luarsab I

an essay by

Ilia Chavchavadze Prince Ilia Chavchavadze ( ka, ილია ჭავჭავაძე; 8 November 1837 – 12 September 1907) was a Georgian public figure, journalist, publisher, writer and poet who spearheaded the revival of Georgian nationalism during the ...

, 1886. * The Orthodox Church in Americabr>website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luarsab 02 Of Kartli Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kartli Saints of Georgia (country) 1592 births 1622 deaths Safavid appointed kings of Kartli Eastern Orthodox monarchs Eastern Orthodox Christians from Georgia (country) Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs Christian saints killed by Muslims People executed by Safavid Iran Rebellions against Safavid Iran 17th-century people of Safavid Iran