Alexander V of Imereti

Alexander V (Georgian: ალექსანდრე V) (c. 1703/4 – March 1752), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king (mepe) of the Kingdom of Imereti from 1720 to 1741 and again from 1742 until his death in 1752.

Alexander V
Alexander V, a fresco from the Gelati monastery
King of Imereti (more...)
1st Reign	1720–1741
Predecessor	George VII
Successor	George IX
2nd Reign	1742–1752
Predecessor	George IX
Successor	Solomon I
Born	c. 1703/4
Died	1752
Spouse	Mariam Dadiani Tamar Abashidze
Issue	Solomon I Joseph, Catholicos of Abkhazia Bagrat Arcil
Dynasty	Bagrationi dynasty
Father	George VII of Imereti
Mother	Princess Rodam of Kartli
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church
Khelrtva

Son of George VII of Imereti and Queen Rodam, he was raised at the court of Vakhtang VI of Kartli, where he received a Christian education, while his father struggled with a series of civil wars over control of the kingdom. In 1719, he accompanied his father to Constantinople in an effort to secure military assistance from the Ottoman Empire against the Prince of Guria, who had usurped the throne. With Ottoman support, he himself ascended the throne in 1720, at the age of seventeen. Bezhan Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, was appointed regent of the kingdom by İshak Pasha Jaqeli, the Pasha of Childir, who acted as the Ottoman governor overseeing the affairs of western Georgia.

The 32-year reign of Alexander V was marked by continuous internal strife between the central government and its many powerful vassals, continuing the civil conflict that had begun in the 17th century. Throughout his rule, he frequently shifted alliances: Duke Shoshita III of Racha became his principal adversary until 1731; Levan Abashidze opposed royal authority before later serving as Alexander V’s advisor; and Bezhan Dadiani, whose growing influence ultimately led to his downfall at the hands of the Turks in 1728. To maintain stability, Alexander V was compelled to appease numerous nobles by granting them lands and fortresses, thereby depleting the royal treasury, which was already severely diminished under Ottoman suzerainty.

Under Alexander V, the Ottomans gained significant influence in Imereti, stationing troops in around ten Imeretian cities, including the capital, Kutaisi, and annexing the Black Sea coast, thereby officially cutting the region off from all contact with the West. In 1733, he was forced to join the Ottoman campaign toward Azov, aimed at subduing the coastal tribes of Ciscaucasia, before withdrawing from the expedition after invading Abkhazia and compelling the Sharvashidze family, his vassals, to adopt Islam. The expulsion of Georgian peasant families to monopolize agricultural trade, the increase of tributes imposed on the central government, the expansion of the slave trade to Turkey, and the encouragement of noble revolts by Constantinople formed part of an Ottoman policy of divide et impera, which replaced the direct annexation of the Christian kingdom.

In an attempt to realign his kingdom geopolitically, he made several overtures toward Russia, including sending an embassy in 1738 to negotiate a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Niš of 1739, however, brought an end to these plans, and in 1741 Alexander V was deposed by a coalition of nobles supported by Ottomans in favor of his half-brother, George IX. He regained the throne a year later through the intervention of Nader Shah but continued to face numerous uprisings, including an attempted usurpation by his brother Mamuka between 1746 and 1749. Alexander is remembered both for his authoritarian measures against rebels and for his inability to maintain order during his reign. He died in 1752 and was succeeded by his son, Solomon I.

Eaely life and ascension

Early life

Alexander was born in the early eighteenth century, probably in 1703 or 1704, into the Bagrationi dynasty of Imereti, a cadet branch of the Georgian royal family that had ruled western Georgia since the independence of the Kingdom of Imereti in the fifteenth century. He was the eldest son of Prince George, an illegitimate son of King Alexander IV (r. 1683–1690, 1691–1695), and of Rodam, daughter of King George XI of Kartli. Alexander’s childhood coincided with a period of internal turmoil in Imereti, which had been ongoing since the 1650s. At the time of his birth, the powerful noble Giorgi Abashidze dominated the political and economic life of the kingdom through careful diplomacy with the neighboring Ottoman Empire. His rule came to an end in 1707, when a revolt of the nobility deposed him and elevated Alexander’s father to the throne as George VII.

The situation in western Georgia hardly improved with the accession of George VII, who was dethroned three times between 1711 and 1716. Amid constant feudal warfare and the entrenchment of the Ottoman military presence in the region, the king placed Rodam and her children (including Alexander) at the royal court of Vakhtang VI, the powerful Christian ruler of Kingdom of Kartli (and Rodam’s uncle), who was leading his kingdom toward a socio-economic revival.^[1] The young Alexander was educated with the royal family of Vakhtang VI in Tbilisi. However, when George VII regained his crown in 1712, he divorced Rodam, a decision disapproved by Kartli, which refused to repatriate her.^[2]

For two years, Alexander, as heir to the throne of Imereti, became the subject of a diplomatic crisis between the two Georgian states. In October 1714, however, Vakhtang VI was forced by Persia to abdicate in favor of Jesse, who then reached an agreement with George VII to exchange Rodam and her children for the family of Vakhtang VI, who had taken refuge in the Imeretian citadel of Kharagauli.^[2] Upon their return to Imereti, the family settled in the mountainous region of Svaneti.^[3] In 1716, the young Alexander was still in Svaneti when the region was ravaged by Prince Bezhan Dadiani and Zurab Abashidze during the civil war.^[4]

Civil war and rise to power

When George VII was deposed once again in 1716 by Prince George IV of Guria, Alexander accompanied his father to Constantinople to plead for the intervention of the Sublime Porte on his behalf.^[5] In August 1719, father and son returned to Imereti with a Turkish detachment that enabled George VII’s final restoration to the throne. However, he failed to maintain stability, and feudal warfare continued, while Alexander and an ally from the Mamukashvili family settled in Akhaltsikhe with the Ottoman pasha Ishaq Jaqeli toward the end of 1719.^[6] On 22 February 1720, George VII was assassinated in a plot organized by the Abashidze family,^[7] and Alexander immediately returned to Kartli to take refuge with Vakhtang VI (himself restored to power since 1719), while the throne of Imereti was once again usurped by George IV of Guria.^[6]

In order to restore order to regional affairs, the Ottoman government decided to support the young Alexander against the power of the Abashidze clan. Ishaq Jaqeli sent the bey of Şavşat to the royal palace of Gori^[8] to request from Vakhtang VI not only Alexander’s return but also his military assistance.^[9] Soon afterward, Alexander, accompanied by numerous gifts and a military escort under the protection of General Vakhushti,^[10] arrived in Akhaltsikhe in June 1720.^[6]

The Ottomans and the Kartlians launched a joint invasion of Imereti with the approval of Sultan Ahmed III. Vakhtang VI quickly captured Kharagauli and forced Zurab Abashidze to retreat westward, where he was joined by the troops of Bezhan Dadiani of Mingrelia.^[6] Duke Shoshita III of Racha pledged allegiance to Alexander and surrendered the citadel of Katskhi, whose treasures were offered to Ishaq Jaqeli.^[6] Shoshita III and Alexander then laid siege to Tsutskhvati, one of the Abashidze fortresses, which fell after Ottoman reinforcements detonated mines dug beneath its walls.^[6] Janissaries were installed in Tsutskhvati, while the Ottomans pursued Bezhan Dadiani and Zurab Abashidze into Lechkhumi.^[6] The province was quickly ravaged by the Turks, who subsequently returned to Kutaisi, the capital of Imereti.^[6]

In 1721, an agreement between Dadiani and Jaqeli brought an end to the war: Mingrelia declared itself a vassal of the Ottomans and pledged to pay an annual tribute of twelve purses of silver, while the Turks executed Otia Tchkheidze, a close ally of Shoshita of Racha and an enemy of Bezhan Dadiani. The young prince, aged 16, was crowned by Ishaq Jaqeli, who appointed Bezhan Dadiani as his regent before returning to Akhaltsikhe.^[9] The coronation of Alexander V marked the end of a long period of instability in Imereti, which had witnessed 26 violent overthrows of the royal government since 1660.^{[11][full citation needed]}

First reign

King without power

Upon becoming king, Alexander V was officially recognized as the sovereign of all western Georgia. In practice, however, his authority was very limited: Guria remained in the hands of George IV of Guria, the murderer of his father; the northern marches of the kingdom, its coastal regions, and the capital Kutaisi were under Ottoman occupation; Abkhazia (under Mingrelian influence) was itself divided among various princes and mountain tribes; while the Duchy of Racha refused to acknowledge the young king’s legitimacy.^[12] Alexander V controlled only the meager royal domains,^[13] and his government was entirely dominated by Bezhan Dadiani, the powerful prince of Mingrelia.^[14]

In 1721, in order to consolidate Bezhan’s power, King Alexander married his daughter Mariam Dadiani in a wedding organized by Pasha Ishaq Jaqeli^[15] and financed by Bezhan, a reflection of the poverty of the central government.^[12] De facto, Bezhan Dadiani acted as governor of western Georgia, pursuing a double-edged policy: officially recognizing the Ottomans as suzerains of the region while secretly supporting anti-Turkish factions within the kingdom.^[16] He repeatedly attempted to have Alexander V assassinated, but failed either due to the interventions of Queen Mariam or the loyalty of the royal servants.^[17]

The weakness of Alexander V was used as a pretext by Tamar Gurieli, the dowager queen and widow of George VII, together with Bishop Gabriel of Chqondidi, to approach Köprülü Abdullah Pasha, the pasha of Erzurum, and accuse Bezhan of enriching Jaqeli in exchange for placing a “slave-king” on the Imeretian throne.^[12] This accusation led to a hearing before Köprülü Abdullah Pasha between the two Georgians and Ishaq Jaqeli, but Alexander V sent a letter to the pasha justifying his legitimacy and requesting the arrest of Tamar Gurieli and Bishop Gabriel, a demand that the pasha accepted.^[12] Alexander had Tamar imprisoned in the fortress of Dekhviri, while Gabriel was defrocked.^[12] Gabriel was not the only cleric with whom Alexander V came into conflict.^[18] In 1725, Bishop Guedevan of Gelati (brother of Shoshita III of Racha) seized the citadel of Jvaristsikhe and declared rebellion against the central government.^[19] Alexander and Bezhan jointly laid siege to the fortress, which fell when its walls collapsed as a result of mining by the besiegers.^[19]

The rise of Alexander V marked the ultimate downfall of Giorgi Abashidze, the powerful noble who had dominated the internal politics of Imereti since the 1690s and who took refuge in Kartli to live at the court of Vakhtang VI until his death in 1722.^[20] Nevertheless, the Abashidze family continued its fiercely anti-royal policies and launched military raids alongside Duke Shoshita of Racha. In 1726, Levan Abashidze, George’s son, captured the citadel of Shorapani, but it was quickly retaken by Bezhan’s forces, who confiscated its treasures and handed it over to Zurab Abashidze, a junior member of the princely family loyal to the royal authority.^[19] In July 1724, while traveling to Skanda, Alexander V was briefly attacked by Shoshita III, who destroyed the village but spared the fortress where the king had taken refuge.^[19] In retaliation, Alexander led his troops against Racha, devastating the fiefs of the Satsouloukidzo, the town of Seva, and the southern fortresses of the duchy, before returning to Kutaisi with a rich plunder.^[19]

The growing power of Bezhan Dadiani quickly became a problem for the Ottoman government, which opposed the centralization of western Georgia under a single prince.^[17] Yusuf bin Ishaq Jaqeli, son of the pasha of Childir, organized a military campaign in Abkhazia to force the submission of Rostom Sharvashidze in August 1728.^[21] When Bezhan reached a peace agreement with Shoshita III by offering his daughter in marriage, Yusuf and Alexander V met at the Iashvili palace in Geguti^[21] (also in August 1728) and summoned Bezhan, who arrived with his son Otia Dadiani.^[19] At the palace, Bezhan was beheaded by an Ottoman soldier, and his Mingrelian guard was massacred, while Otia was proclaimed prince of Mingrelia, subject to King Alexander V.^[22] Shoshita was summoned to Geguti and forced to swear allegiance to the king.^[23]

Feudal war

Despite the downfall of Giorgi Abashidze, the assassination of Bedzan Dadiani, the forced submission of the Duchy of Racha, and the support from the Ottoman Empire and the neighboring Kingdom of Kartli, Alexander V remained significantly weak and was compelled to rely on his allies within the high Georgian nobility to maintain his authority. He established an alliance with the new Prince of Guria, Mamia IV,^[24] by marrying his daughter Rodam to him in 1732. Alexander also enhanced the influence of the Tsereteli and Agiashvili families^[25] and removed the Duchy of Bary from his royal domains, granting it to the brother of Shoshita III in order to weaken the Duke of Racha.^[26]

In 1730, Alexander faced a new rebellion led by Shoshita, who temporarily captured Shorapani[23]. In another sign of weakness, the king was forced to abandon his seat at the citadel when Zurab Abashidze arrived with Ottoman reinforcements; the latter seized the city and established a permanent garrison there.^[23] In 1731, Shoshita besieged Sadmeli, a village traditionally part of Racha but granted as an appanage to the Iashvili family by the kings of Imereti, and took hostage Levan Abashidze, who was then commanding the royal forces.^[23] Otia Dadiani, despite his oath of 1728, joined the revolt and imprisoned the Imeretian general within his domains. In response, King Alexander gathered his troops, crossed the Rioni, and massacred the Rachians during the night battle of Sadmeli.^[23] However, Levan Abashidze was released only in exchange for numerous prisoners from Sabachidzo, who were later sold into slavery.^[23]

Family

In 1721, Alexander V married Mariam Dadiani, daughter of Prince Bezhan of Mingrelia. She died between 1730 and 1731, leaving two children:

• Prince David (c. 1727–1749), heir to the crown until his death.
• Princess Rodam (died 1770), who married Prince Mamia IV Gurieli.

On 23 December 1732, Alexander V married for a second time Tamar Abashidze, daughter of Levan Abashidze, with whom he had five children:

• Solomon I (1735–1782), King of Imereti (1752–1766, 1768–1784).
• Joseph (died 1776), Catholicos of Abkhazia from 1769 to 1776.
• Prince Bagrat (1741–1800), Bagrat's progeny, through his son David, is the longest surviving line directly descending from the kings of Imereti.^[27]
• Prince Archil (died 1775), He was the father of Solomon II, the last king of Imereti.
• Princess Tamar (born 1733), who married Zurab Tsereteli, chamberlain of the kingdom.

During Queen Mariam’s lifetime, her younger sister Darejan also lived at the royal court and became Alexander V’s mistress, possibly the mother of princess Mariam , the wife of George V of Guria.^[21] Darejan later married Mamuka, the king’s brother.