Luarsab ( ka, ლუარსაბი) ( 1660 – November 1698) 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 royal (''

batonishvili ''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი) (literally "a child of batoni (lord or sovereign)" in Georgian) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty and is suffixe ...

'') of the Bagratid

House of Mukhrani The House of Mukhrani is a Georgian princely family that is a branch of the former royal dynasty of Bagrationi, from which it sprang early in the 16th century, receiving in appanage the domain of Mukhrani, in the Kingdom of Kartli. The family � ...

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 ...

. He was a son of King

Vakhtang V of Kartli Vakhtang V ( ka, ვახტანგ V), born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni ( ka, ბახუტა მუხრანბატონი) (1618 – September 1675), was the King of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vas ...

(Shah Nawaz Khan) and spent nearly two decades as a hostage in Iran.

Biography

Luarsab was born into the family of Prince Vakhtang, '' batoni'' of Mukhrani, who was adopted by the childless King

Rostom of Kartli Rostom or Rustam Khan ( ka, როსტომი or როსტომ ხანი) (1565 – 17 November 1658) was a Georgian royal, from the House of Bagrationi, who functioned as a Safavid-appointed vali (i.e. viceroy)/king of Kartli, e ...

and acceded to the throne on Rostom's death in 1658. Around 1675, Luarsab and his elder brother, Archil, departed to the Ottoman-controlled

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (''mkhare'') of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is situated on both banks of a small river Potskhovi (a left ...

in a bid to acquire the

Kingdom of Imereti The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Im ...

, which was within the Ottoman sphere of influence. This venture posed a risk of conflict between the Ottomans and the Iranian Safavids, which exercised their suzerainty over the kings of Kartli. The

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

, Suleiman I, held Vakhtang V responsible for his sons as the king failed to bring them back to Kartli. Vakhtang had to repair to the

Suleiman I to offer explanation, but he died on his way to

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 ...

, being succeeded on the throne by his son

George XI of Kartli George XI ( ka, გიორგი XI, ''Giorgi XI''; 1651 – 21 April 1709), known as Gurgin Khan in Iran, was a Georgian monarch who ruled the Kingdom of Kartli as a Safavid Persian subject from 1676 to 1688 and again from 1703 to 1709. He is ...

. The shah demanded from the new king immediate detention and surrender of his fugitive brothers. George allowed Archil to escape to Imereti, but he had to assuage the shah's anger by sending Luarsab as an honorary hostage to Iran in 1679. In 1688, when tensions between George XI and the Safavid government reached a high point, the shah had Luarsab and other hostages, George's only son Bagrat and another brother Levan, arrested. On the way to his exile to

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

, Luarsab was forcibly converted 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 ...

and was held captive until George reconciled with the Safavids and, in a show of loyalty, in 1696 paid a visit to Shah Sultan Husayn in Isfahan, where he met his freed brothers (George's son Bagrat died in exile in

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

). Luarsab died shortly thereafter, in 1698.

Family

Luarsab was married twice. His first wife was Mariam, daughter of Revaz, Duke of Aragvi, whom he wed at Lilo near

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

around 1669. He married secondly, in 1684, a niece of Shoshita II, Duke of Racha. Luarsab had two children. His natural son,

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 ...

, entered the Safavid service in 1708 and rose to a high rank. According to the 18th-century historian

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''G ...

, he is the same Alexander who died fighting the Afghan rebels in 1711. Alternatively, based on the account of Sekhnia Chkheidze, a contemporary historian and a companion of the Georgian royals to Iran, the Alexander of the Afghan war is considered by the historians

Marie-Félicité Brosset Marie-Félicité Brosset (24 January 1802 – 3 September 1880) was a French orientalist who specialized in Georgian and Armenian studies. He worked mostly in Russia. Early life and first works Marie-Félicité Brosset was born in Paris in ...

and

Cyril Toumanoff 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, ...

to have been a son of Luarsab's brother Levan. Of his first marriage, Luarsab also had a daughter, Elene, whose hand was vainly sought from her uncle, George XI, by

Alexander IV of Imereti Alexander IV ( ka, ალექსანდრე IV, ''Alek'sandre IV'') (died 1695), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Imereti (western Georgia) from 1683 to 1690 and again from 1691 to 1695. Reign A natural son of Bagrat V of Imereti, h ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luarsab, Prince of Kartli 1660 births 1698 deaths House of Mukhrani Georgian princes 17th-century people from Georgia (country) Prisoners and detainees of Safavid Iran 17th-century people of Safavid Iran