Jesse ( ka, იესე), also known as 'Isa Khan Gorji ( fa, عیسی خان گرجی, translit=Isā Xān e Gorji) ( 1527 – 1580) 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 ...

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

of the

royal house A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in repu ...

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 ...

, whose career flourished in the service 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 ...

and included several years as a governor of Shaki in what is today

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Early life

Jesse was a son of King

Leon of Kakheti Levan ( ka, ლევანი), also known as Leon ( ka, ლეონი) (1503–1574), was a Georgian monarch of the Bagrationi dynasty, who reigned as king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1518/1520 to 1574. He presided over the most prospero ...

by his first wife

Tinatin Gurieli Tinatin Gurieli ( ka, თინათინ გურიელი; died 1591) was queen consort of Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia, as the first wife of King Levan. A daughter of Mamia I Gurieli, Prince of Guria, she married Levan c. 1520 a ...

. As a young prince, Jesse was placed by his father at the head of the Georgian auxiliaries requested by the Safavid shah

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...

during

his war His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

with 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) ...

(1532–55). After the conclusion of the peace, Jesse was left as a hostage in Iran, where he converted to Islam and became known as 'Isa Khan Gorji. In 1558 or 1560 he was made by Shah Tahmasp I governor of Shaki, a Muslim city close to the border of his homeland. At his investiture, he was also elevated to the rank of ''farzand'' ("son") by the Safavid king. Jesse could have been an unnamed Georgian prince reported by the English explorer

Anthony Jenkinson Anthony Jenkinson (1529 – 1610/1611) was born at Market Harborough, Leicestershire. He was one of the first Englishmen to explore Muscovy and present-day Russia. Jenkinson was a traveller and explorer on behalf of the Muscovy Company an ...

as attending his audience with Shah Tahmasp on 20 November 1562. Alternatively, the Georgian prince is identified with Daud Khan, brother of King

Simon I of Kartli Simon I the Great ( ka, სიმონ I დიდი), also known as Svimon ( ka, სვიმონი) (1537–1611), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a Georgian king of Kartli from 1556 to 1569 and again from 1578 to 1599. His first tenure wa ...

Career in the Safavid service

In 1576, 'Isa Khan became embroiled in a power struggle following the death of Shah Tahmasp. He was part of the

Kazvin Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...

-based Georgian faction, including Tahmasp's Georgian widow Zahra Baji, a

Shalikashvili The Shalikashvili ( ka, შალიკაშვილი, ) is a Georgian noble family, originally from Samtskhe in southwest Georgia. With several notable members from the 16th century to the 20th, their descendants have survived in the United S ...

princess, which tried to secure the succession for Tahmasp's younger son

Heidar Heidar is a name, chiefly in Arabic, with variant spellings such as Haydar, Haider, and Heydar. It may refer to: Given name * Haidar al-Abbadi, Iraqi prime minister *Haidar Ali (c. 1722 – 1782), ruler of the Indian Kingdom of Mysore *Heidar Alie ...

. But a rival faction, dominated by the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

nobles, had Heidar murdered at Kazvin and placed

Ismail II Ismail II (; Born Ismail Mirza; 31 May 1537 – 24 November 1577) was the third Shah of Safavid Iran from 1576 to 1577. He was the second son of Tahmasp I with his principal consort, Sultanum Begum. By the orders of Tahmasp, Ismail spent twent ...

on the throne. According to the 17th-century historian,

Iskandar Beg Munshi Iskandar Beg Munshi ( fa, اسکندربیگ منشی), a.k.a. Iskandar Beg Turkman () ( – c. 1632), was a Persian historian of Turkoman origin of the Safavid emperor Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically ...

, 'Isa Khan was imprisoned together with another Georgian,

, at

Alamut Alamut ( fa, الموت) is a region in Iran including western and eastern parts in the western edge of the Alborz (Elburz) range, between the dry and barren plain of Qazvin in the south and the densely forested slopes of the Mazandaran provinc ...

, and was liberated with him by Shah Ismail. Munshi may have confused him with Archil, son of Bagrat, Prince of Mukhrani. On the accession of Shah

Mohammed Khodabanda Mohammad Khodabanda (also spelled Khodabandeh; fa, شاه محمد خدابنده, born 1532; died 1595 or 1596), was the fourth Safavid shah of Iran from 1578 until his overthrow in 1587 by his son Abbas I. Khodabanda had succeeded his brothe ...

in 1578, 'Isa Khan was again in favor. Together with Simon and yet another Georgian, Shah Rustam the Lur, he was present at the coronation of Khodabanda and the three received the honor of kissing the shah's feet. 'Isa Khan's allegiance to the Safavids was cemented, in 1578, by his marriage to a daughter of 'Abu'l Nasir Sam Mirza, Shah Tahmasp I's half-brother and

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

's son, by his wife, a daughter of Husain Khan-e

Shamlu The Shamlu tribe (also: Shamloo, Shomloo, Chamlou; fa, ایل شاملو) was one of the seven original and the most powerful Qizilbash tribes of Turcoman origin in Iran. List of the Khans of Shamlu *Ahmad Sultan Shamlu *Abdu Beg Shamlu ( F ...

. That same year, 'Isa Khan had to take flight before the

Ottoman army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha Lala Mustafa Pasha ( – 7 August 1580), also known by the additional epithet ''Kara'', was an Ottoman Bosnian general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia. Life He was born around 1500, near the Glasinac in Sokolac Plateau in Bosnia ...

. He then returned to Christianity and fled to his homeland, where died shortly thereafter, in 1580.

Children

Jesse had four children: * Prince Bagrat (died after 1607), a prisoner of the Safavids for twenty years (1580–1600), he thereafter departed for

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, where he was living as Prince Pankrati Yesseyevich Gruzinsky as of 1607. * Prince Mahmad-Mirza (fl. 1580). * Prince Khosro (died after 1574). * An anonymous daughter (fl. 1605).

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesse, Prince of Kakheti 1520s births 1580 deaths Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kakheti Georgian princes Iranian people of Georgian descent Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Shia Islam Safavid governors of Shaki 16th-century people of Safavid Iran