Vakhtang ( ka, ვახტანგი) or Tsuata ( ka, ცუატა) (c. 1118 – 1138) was the

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 ...

Bagrationi prince and the son of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

David IV "the Builder" (r. 1089–1125), probably of his second marriage to the

Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

- Kipchak "princess" Gurandukht, daughter of

Otrok Otrok (also Atrak) was an early twelfth-century Cuman- Kipchak chieftain (''khan'') who was involved in the wars with Kievan Rus', and later served under the Kingdom of Georgia. He was a member of the Sharukanids, one the ruling houses of the Kipcha ...

. The 12th-century document ''The Will of King David'' contains a vague and controversial passage whereby David instructs the eldest son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

Demetrius I to rear his younger brother Vakhtang and make him a successor to the throne if the latter proves to be "capable". Given the Georgian

order of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

and indication that an attempted coup against Demetrius in the 1130s involved Vakhtang, many modern scholars in Georgia consider the passage to be a latter-day forgery by Vakhtang's sympathizers. A reference to the aristocratic plot against Demetrius on behalf of Vakhtang is found in the contemporaneous

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n chronicle by

Vardan Vardan ( hy, Վարդան; Vartan in Western Armenian transliteration, pronounced in both Eastern and Western Armenian), Varden ( ka, ვარდენ) in Georgian, is an Armenian name of Middle Persian origin (from Mid. Pers. Wardā), popula ...

although the author does not directly names the rebellious prince. This plot, intended to assassinate Demetrius I, was directed by the influential nobleman Ivane

Abuletisdze Abuletisdze ( ka, აბულეთისძე) was a Georgian noble family – eristavs – with its most prominent members in the 12th and 13th century. The family held appanages in the valleys of Aragvi and Tedzami in the eastern province of K ...

and his son Kirkish. The king was timely warned by Ivane's father Abulet. Vakhtang was captured, blinded and cast in prison where he apparently died shortly afterwards. Melikishvili, Giorgi & Anchabadze, Zurab (ed., 1979)
საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევებიტ. 3: საქართველო XI–XV საუკუნეებში
(''Studies in the History of Georgia'', vol. 3: ''Georgia in the 11th–15th centuries''). Tbilisi: Sabchota Sakartvelo

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakhtang 1110s births 1138 deaths Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Georgian princes People of Cuman descent