Bagrationi Dynasty
The
Bagrationi dynasty () was a ruling family whose ascendancy in
Georgia lasted from the early
Middle Ages until the early
19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the
Georgian Bagratids, a
Hellenized form of their dynastic name.
The origin of the Bagrationi dynasty is disputed, as well as the time when they first appeared on Georgian soil. Traditional Georgian history writing begins the Bagrationi
chronology in the
6th century and relates the family to earlier dynasties, though a version, more favored by modern
Western scholars, has it that the Bagrationis descended from the late-8th-century
Armenian refuge prince of the house of
Bagratuni.
The history of the dynasty is inextricably bound with
that of Georgia. They began their rule, in the early 9th century, as presiding princes in historic southwestern Georgia and the adjacent Armeno-Georgian marchlands reconquered from
Arabs. Subsequently they restored, in
888, the Georgian kingdom, which prospered from the 11th to the 13th century, bringing several regional polities under its control. This period of time, particularly the reigns of
David IV (
1089 -
1125) and his grand granddaughter
Tamar (
1184 -
1213), is celebrated as a "
golden age" in the history of Georgia, the era of empire, military exploits, and remarkable achievements in culture. After the fragmentation of their unified feudal state in the late
15th century, the branches of the Bagrationi house ruled the three breakaway Georgian kingdoms โ"
Kartli,
Kakheti, and
Imereti โ" until the
Russian annexation in the early
19th century. The dynasty persisted as the Imperial Russian
noble family until the
1917 February Revolution. The establishment of the
Soviet rule in Georgia in
1921 forced many representatives of the family to relocate to
Europe. One of the branches continues to this day to style themselves as the
Royal House of Georgia.
The dynasty has left behind a legacy that lasts in Georgia even in modern times. The qualities and symbols associated with the Bagrationi monarchy have been crucial in the making of the Georgian nation and the subsequent construction of national history. Their patronage of culture and learning has resulted in the most important works of Georgian art and literature.
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An earlier version of the Bagrationi family blazon. The Atlas of Georgia, by Prince Vakhushti, c. 1740s. |
According to a family legend, taken down by the eleventh-century Georgian chronicler
Sumbat Davitis-Dze,
[Sumbat Davitis-Dze, The Life and Tale of the Bagratids (แชแฎแแแ แ"แแแฒ แ"แ แฃแฌแงแ"แแแฒ แแแ'แ แแขแแแแแแแ แฉแฃแ"แ แฅแแ แแแ"แแแ แแ"แคแ"แแแกแ), see Suny (1994), p. 349; Rapp (2003), p. 337] and supplied much later by Prince
Vakhushti Bagrationi (
1696 โ"
1757) with chronological data, the ancestors of the dynasty traced their descent to the
biblical king and
prophet David and came from
Palestine around
530 AD. Tradition has it that of seven refuge brothers of the
Davidic line, three of them settled in Armenia and the other four arrived in
Kartli (a major Georgian region also known as
Iberia of
Classical authors) where they intermarried with the local ruling houses and acquired some lands in hereditary possession. One of the four brothers, Guaram (died in
532), allegedly gave an origin to a line subsequently called
Bagrationi after his son Bagrat.
[The earliest Georgian forms of the dynastic name are Bagratoniani, Bagratuniani and Bagratovani, changed subsequently into Bagrationi. These names as well as the Armenian Bagratuni and the modern designation Bagratid mean "the children of Bagrat" or "the house of/established by Bagrat".] A successor,
Guaram, was installed as a presiding prince of Kartli under the
Byzantine protectorate and bestowed, on this occasion, with the
Byzantine court title of
Kouropalates [From the time of Justinian I, the dignity of Kouropalates (, i.e., chancellor) was one of the highest in the Byzantine Empire, reserved usually for members of the Imperial family. Its frequent conferment upon various Georgian and Armenian dynasts emphasizes their importance in the politics of those times. Suny (1994), p. 348] in
575.
[Vakhushti Bagrationi (c. 1745), History of the Kingdom of Georgia (แแฆแฌแ"แ แ แกแแแ"แคแแกแ แกแแฅแแ แแแ"แแแกแ); a Russian translation available at ArmenianHouse.org. URL accessed on May 22. 2006.] Thus, according to this version, began the dynasty of the Bagratids, who ruled until 1801.
This tradition had been given a general acceptance until the early
20th century.
[Suny (1994), 349] While the
Jewish origin, let alone the biblical descent of the Bagratids, has been largely discounted by modern scholarship, the issue of their origin still remains controversial. Several
Soviet-era historians of Georgia developed a view summarized by
N. Berdzenishvili and
et al in their standard reference book on the history of Georgia:
"The illustrious dynasty of the Bagrationi originated in the most ancient Georgian district โ"
Speri (today
ฤฐspir).
[Centered on the modern-day district of ฤฐspir, northeastern Turkey, this province is sometimes thought to have been the cradle of the Georgian people (Suny [1994], p. 11). It lay in what is frequently referred to as the Armeno-Georgian marchlands where the two communities coexisted and intermingled for several centuries, but the Georgian Speri and the Armenian Sper may not always be absolutely identical (cf. Tao and Tayk, Rapp [2003], p. 14.).] Through their farsighted, flexible policies, the Bagrationi achieved great influence from the sixth through eighth centuries. One of their branches moved out to Armenia, the other to Kartli, and both won for themselves the dominant position among the other rulers of Transcaucasia."
[Berdzenishvili et al, Istoriia Gruzii, p. 129, cited in: Suny (1994), p. 349] Many modern scholars, however, argue the above version, referring to a more complex analysis of primary Armenian and Georgian sources. A genealogical scheme per
Cyril Toumanoff is, by far, the most accepted in Western scholarly literature. It affirms that the Georgian Bagratids branched out of the
Armenian Bagratid dynasty in the person of Adarnase, whose father Vasak (son of
Ashot III the Blind, presiding prince of Armenia from
732 to
748) passed to Kartli following an abortive uprising against Arab rule in
772. Adarnase's son,
Ashot I, attained to the principate of Kartli in
813 and thus founded the last royal house of Georgia. Accordingly, the legend of Davidic origin of the Georgian Bagratids was a further development of the earlier claim entertained by the Armenian dynasty and their apologist
Moses of Khorene.
[Toumanoff, C. Iberia on the Eve of Bagratid Rule, p. 22, cited in: Suny (1994), p. 349] Once the Georgian branch, who had quickly acculturated in the new environment,
[Rapp (2003), p. 169] assumed royal power, the myth of their biblical origin helped to assert their legitimacy and emerged as a main ideological pillar of the millennium-long Bagrationi rule in Georgia.
[Rapp (2003), p. 234] Although certain, generation by generation, history of the Bagrationi dynasty begins only in the late 8th century, C. Toumanoff has demonstrated that the first Georgian branch of the Bagratids may be traced back as far as the second century A.D., when we hear them ruling over the princedom of
Odzrkhe in what is now southern Georgia.
[Toumanoff, C. Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p. 316, cited in: Rapp (2003), p. 145] The Odzrkhe line, known in the medieval annals as the Bivritianis, lasted until the 5th century AD and they cannot be considered as the direct ancestors of the later Bagratids who eventually restored Georgian royal authority.
[Rapp (2003), pp. 218, 249]Early Bagrationi dynasty
The Bagrationi family grew in prominence by the time when Georgian monarchy (
Caucasian Iberia) had already fallen to the
Sassanid Persian Empire in the sixth century, and the leading local princely families were exhausted by the
Arab attacks. The raise of the new dyansty was made possible by the extinction of the
Guaramids and the near-extinction of the
Chosroids,
[Suny (1994), p. 29] the two earlier Georgian dynasties, with whom the Bagratids extensively intermarried, and also by the
Abbasid preoccupation with their own civil wars and the conflict with the
Byzantine Empire. Although the harsh Arab rule did not afforded them a foothold in the ancient capital of
Tbilisi and eastern Kartli, the Bagratids successfully maintained their initial domain in
Klarjeti and
Samtskhe and, under the Byzantine protectorate, extending their possessions southward into the northwestern Armenian marches to form a large polity conventionally known in modern history writing as
Tao-Klarjeti after its two major provinces. In
813, the new dynasty acquired, with
Ashot I, the hereditary title of presiding prince (
erismtavari) of Kartli, to which the
emperor attached the title of
kourapalates.
Despite the revitalization of the monarchy, Georgian lands remained divided among rival authorities, with Tbilisi remaining in the
Arab hands. The sons and grandsons of Ashot I established three separate branches โ" the lines of Kartli, Tao, and Klarjeti โ" frequently struggling with each other and with the neighboring rulers. The Kartli line prevailed; in
888, with
Adarnase I, it restored the indigenous Georgian royal authority dormant from
580. His descendant
Bagrat III was able to gather his inheritance in both Tao-Klarjeti and
Abkhazian Kingdom, due largely to the diplomacy and conquests of his energetic foster-father
David III of Tao.
This unified monarchy maintained its precarious independence from the Byzantine and
Seljuk empires throughout the
11th century, and flourished under
David IV the Builder (
1089 โ"
1125), who repelled the Seljuk attacks and essentially completed the unification of Georgia with the reconquest of Tbilisi in
1122. With the decline of the Byzantine power and the dissolution of the Great Seljuk Empire, Georgia became one of the most preeminent nations of the
Christian East, her pan-Caucasian empire
stretching, at its largest extent, from
North Caucasus to
northern Iran, and eastwards into
Asia Minor. In spite of repeated occasions of dynastic strife, the kingdom continued to prosper during the reigns of
Demetrios I (
1125 -
1156),
George III (1156 -
1184), and especially, his daughter
Tamar (1184 -
1213). With the death of George III the main male line went extinct and the dynasty was continued by the marriage of Queen Tamar with the
Alan prince
David Soslan of the alleged Bagratid descent.
[According to Prince Vakhushti, David Soslan's ancestry traced back to the Georgian refuge prince David, a grandchild of George I of Georgia (1014 - 1027) and his Alan wife Alde.]Downfall
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Georgia at the peak of her might, c. 1184-1230 |
The invasions by the
Khwarezmians in
1225 and the
Mongols in
1236 terminated Georgia's "golden age". The struggle against the
Mongol rule created the state of
diarchy, with an ambitious lateral branch of the Bagrationi dynasty holding sway over
Imereti, western Georgia. There was a brief period of reunion and revival under
George V the Brilliant (
1299 โ"
1302,
1314 โ"
1346), but the eight onslaughts of the
Turco-Mongol conqueror
Timur between
1386 and
1403 dealt great blow to the Georgian kingdom. Its unity was finally shattered and, by
1490/
91, the once powerful monarchy finally fragmentized into three independent kingdoms โ" Kartli (central to eastern Georgia),
Kakheti (eastern Georgia), and Imereti (western Georgia) โ" each led by the rival branches of the Bagrationi dynasty, and into five semi-independent principalities โ"
Odishi (Mingrelia),
Guria,
Abkhazia,
Svaneti, and
Samtskhe โ" run by their own feudal clans. The Georgian rulers maintained their perilous autonomy during the three subsequent centuries of the
Ottoman and
Persian domination, sometimes acting nothing but mere puppets in the hands of their powerful suzerains.
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Kingdoms and principalities of Georgia, c. 1762. |
The line of Imereti, incessantly embroiled in civil wars, continued with many breaks in succession, and the kingdom was only relatively spared from the encroachments from its Ottoman overlords, while Kartli and Kakheti were subjected to numerous invasions by the Persians, whose efforts to annihilate the refractory vassal kingdoms went in vain, and the two eastern Georgian monarchies, though occasionally losing their independence in the course of their history, survived to be reunified, in
1762, under King
Heraclius II, who united in his person both the Kakhetian and Kartlian lines, the latter represented by its junior
branch of Mukhrani since
1658.
Last monarchs
Having gained
de facto independence from Persia, Heraclius II achieved a degree of stability in the country and established his political hegemony in eastern
Transcaucasia. In the
1783 Treaty of Georgievsk, he placed his kingdom under the protection of
Imperial Russia. The latter failed, however, to provide a timely help when the Persian ruler
Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar attacked Tbilisi in
1795, due largely to the Georgian ties with Russia. After the death of Heraclius in
1798, his son and successor
George XII renewed a request of protection from the
tsar Paul I of Russia and urged him to interfere in a bitter dynastic feud among the numerous sons and grandsons of the late king Heraclius. The main content of the projected new treaty was to incorporate the kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti into the Russian Empire, preserving its native dynasty and a degree of internal autonomy. The negotiations were still in process,
[Lang (1957), p. 242] when Paul I signed a
manifesto on
December 18 1800, declaring the direct annexation of Kartli-Kakheti to the Russian Empire.
The document had been held in secret until the death of King George on
December 28. His successor,
David, was never confirmed by the Russian government as a king, however, and on
September 12 1801, the tsar
Alexander I formally reaffirmed Paul's determination, removing the dynasty from the Georgian throne.
The Bagrationi princes resisted though divided. Most of them were subsequently arrested and deported from Georgia.
[Lang (1957), p. 252] The reign of the house of Imereti came to an end less than a decade later. On
April 25 1804, the Imeretian king
Solomon II, nominally an Ottoman vassal, was persuaded to conclude the
Convention of Elaznauri with Russia, similar to the terms of the Treaty of Georgievsk. Yet the Russian forces dethroned Solomon on
February 20 1810. Defeated in a subsequent rebellion to regain the power, he died in exile in
Trabzon, Ottoman Turkey, in
1815.
[Suny (1994), p. 64; Baddeley, Gammer (1908), pp. 66, 78; Royal Ark - Imerati, The Bagrationi dynasty]In the
Russian Empire Bagrationis became one of the most prominent aristocratic families. The most famous was prince
Pyotr Bagration great-grandson of
Jesse of Kartli who became a Russian general and hero of
Patriotic War of 1812. His brother
Roman Bagration also became a Russian general who distinguished himself in the
Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828 and was the first to enter
Yerevan in 1827. Roman Bagration was also known for his great love of arts, literature and theatre, his home theater in Tiflis (Tbilisi) was among the best in the Caucasus. His son
Pyotr Romanovich Bagration became governor of
Tver region and later
governor-general of
Baltic provinces. He was also an engineer-metallurgic who is known for development of
gold cyanidation in Russia.
Dmitry Pyotrovich Bagration was a Russian general who fought in the
First World War in the
Brusilov Offensive and later joined the
Red Army.
The Bagrationi family left
Georgia after the
Red Army took over
Tbilisi in
1921. Although the descendants of the last kings still live in Georgia, in
1942 Irakli Bagrationi-Mukhraneli, of the junior branch of the family, proclaimed himself Head of the Royal House and founded "Georgian Traditionalist Union" throughout
Europe. His second wife was the daughter of
Italian Count Maria Antoaneta, who deceased in 1944. After that he remarried the
Spanish Infanta Marรญa de las Mercedes, daughter of Infanta Marรญa de las Mercedes of Spain (1882-1912, daughter of
Alfonso XII and the former Prince of
Bavaria,
Fernando of
Wittelsbach. Nowadays, the Bagrationi-Mukhraneli family descendants live in
Rome.
Giorgi "Jorge" Bagrationi (born in 1944 in
Rome, currently living in
Spain) is the current Head of the Royal House of Georgia.
*
List of Bagrationi rulers of Georgia
*Baddeley, JF, Gammer M (INT) (2003),
The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0700706348 (First published in 1908; 1999 edition, reprinted in 2003)
*
Lang, DM (1957),
The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy: 1658-1832, New York: Columbia University Press.
*Rapp, SH (2003),
Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, Peeters Bvba ISBN 9042913185.
*Suny, RG (1994),
The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0253209153.
* A. Khakhanov. "Histoire de la Georgie", Paris, 1900 (in French)
* A. Manvelichvili. "Histoire de la Georgie", Paris, 1951 (in French)
* A. Manvelishvili. "Russia and Georgia. 1801-1951", Vol. I, Paris, 1951 (in Georgian)
* K. Salia. "History of the Georgian Nation", Paris, 1983
*
Kartlis Tskhovreba, vol. I-IV, Tbilisi, 1955-1973 (in Georgian)
* P. Ingorokva.
Giorgi Merchule (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1954 (in Georgian)
*
E. Takaishvili. "Georgian chronology and the beginning of the Bagratid rule in Georgia".-
Georgica, London, v.I, 1935
* Sumbat Davitis dze. "Chronicle of the Bagration's of Tao-Klarjeti", with the investigation of Ekvtime Takaishvili, Tbilisi, 1949 (in Georgian)
* "Das Leben Kartlis", ubers. und herausgegeben von Gertrud Patch, Leipzig, 1985 (in German)
* V. Guchua, N. Shoshiashvili. "Bagration's".- Encyclopedia "Sakartvelo", vol.I, Tbilisi, 1997, pp. 318-319 (in Georgian)
*
Genealogy.eu - Genealogical account of the Bagratids per Bichikashvili-Ninidze-Peikrishvili*
Royal Ark - Genealogical account of the Bagratids per Prince Toumanoff
