The Tarkhan-Mouravi ( ka, თარხან-მოურავი) (Tarkhnishvili, თარხნიშვილი, or Tarkhan-Mouravishvili, თარხან-მოურავიშვილი) is 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 ...

noble family, claiming descent from the Shamkhal dynasty of

Tarki Tarki ( kum, Таргъу, Tarğu; russian: Тарки́) formerly also spelled Tarkou and also known as Tarku, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of Sovetsky City District of the City of ...

, in Dagestan. Originally known as Saakadze (სააკაძე), they acquired, in the 1640s, the title of prince (''

tavadi ''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as P ...

'') and the new surname, which is a composite of the two hereditary offices,

mouravi Mouravi ( ka, მოურავი) was an administrative and military officer in early modern Georgia, translated into English as seneschal, bailiff, or constable. A mouravi was an appointed royal official who had a jurisdiction over particular t ...

and

tarkhan Tarkhan ( otk, 𐱃𐰺𐰴𐰣, Tarqan, mn, or ; fa, ترخان; ; ar , طرخان; alternative spellings ''Tarkan'', ''Tarkhaan'', ''Tarqan'', ''Tarchan'', ''Turxan'', ''Tarcan'', ''Turgan, Tárkány, Tarján'') is an ancient Central Asia ...

. The family was reconfirmed as the princes ( knyaz) by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the 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 the Great Northern War. ...

in 1826 and 1850. The cadets continued to be called Saakadze and remained members of the untitled nobility (

aznauri ''Aznauri'' ( ka, აზნაური, ; pl. ''aznaurni'', აზნაურნი, or ''aznaurebi'', აზნაურები) was a class of Georgian nobility. The word derives from Middle Persian ''āznāvar'', which, in turn, correspond ...

) until 1881 when they were also elevated to the princely rank. The earliest record of the Saakadze clan dates back to the reign of Queen Tamar. The first known member of the family, Siaush Saakadze (died c. 1606), was a loyal officer in the service of

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 w ...

, who gave him the office of mouravi of

Tbilisi 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 p ...

in the 1580s. His son,

Giorgi Saakadze Giorgi Saakadze the Grand Mouravi ( ka, გიორგი სააკაძე) (c. 1570 – October 3, 1629) was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important but contradictory role in the politics of the early 17th-ce ...

(the Grand Mouravi; c. 1570 – 1629) pursued a contradictory and turbulent career. He dominated the political life in eastern Georgia for years in which he firstly collaborated with the Persian

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

, conspired against them later on, and eventually ended up his life in exile in 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) ...

after the

Battle of Bazaleti The Battle of Bazaleti ( ka, ბაზალეთის ბრძოლა, ''bazalet’is brdzola'') was fought between the two rival Georgian parties centered respectively on Teimuraz I of Kakheti and his defiant noble Giorgi Saakadze in the f ...

. His last surviving son, Ioram (died 1664) returned to Georgia, and was conferred with the titles of prince and tarkhan by

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 ...

early in the 1640s. His descendants assumed the surname of Tarkhan-Mouravi. Their fiefdom centered on the village of Akhalkalaki and the Tedzami river valley in Inner Kartli. Throughout the 17th century, the Saakadze's were one of the most successful noble families in Safavid Iran, especially through

Bijan Beg Saakadze Bijan Beg, also known as Bijan Beg Gorji (''Bezhan'', ''Bizhan''), was a Safavid courtier, official, and royal ''gholam'' from the Georgian Saakadze clan. He was one of the most influential and closest servants of king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) i ...

and his Descendants.

References

{{Reflist Noble families of Georgia (country) Families of Georgia (country) Georgian-language surnames