Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/446

Rh 43:2 a city which he called Tb_'l_vs_'s-Iialaky, now Tillis, on account of the warm springs there. Vakhtang establislied a patriarcliate at Mtzklietha, and constructed the fortress of Soiirain. lle conqiicred Mingrclia, aird brought the Ossets and Abkhasiaiis uiidci' subjec- tion. He also took possession of a large part of Armenia, and liav- ing formed an alliance with Chosroes, king of Persia, even advanced into liidia. The seat of goveriiincnt was transferred from Mtzklictlra to 'l‘l»_'l_'sys-Kalaky, when Datchy came to the throne in 499. At this epoch the Georgian and .i-inenian Churches had separated; and a century later, the Georgian and llussian (‘liurclies united. On the death of Steplianos, who had ruled under the protection of the Eastern empire, a Bagratide named Goiirain was nominated eoiiropolate by the emperor. Soon after the appearance of Mahoiiict in the 7th century, the Arabs, having conquered the Persians, en- ters-.l Armenia and Georgia, and for nearly a century compelled all, under pain of death, to embrace Malioirietanisni. In 787 the Sassanian dynasty came to air end. Asliod I., 1l[c(l:, “ the Great," a llagratidc, succeeded, receiving from the caliph Haroun al Itas- chid the title of grand prince, and that of coiiropolate from the em- peror; but it was not until about 841 that the sovereign (Bagrat I.) was recognized by the caliph as ruler, the country during the interval having been continually ravaged by the Arabs. Their last expedition, in the reign of Bagrat I., included the occupation of Tiflis. The reign of Bagrat III. marks an epoch, for that monarch, who was king of Abkhasia, succeeded to the crown of Georgia by right of inheritance, his sovereignty extending from the Black Sea to the Caspian. He encouraged the arts and sciences, and was the founder of the noble cathedral at Koiitais, the first building in the style of architecture tlicnccfortli denominated Georgian. During the reign of Bagrat IV. the Seljuks coinineiiced in 1048 a succession of invasions, until they were effectually repulsed by Liparit Orboulk at the head of a comparatively small force of Georgians, Armenians, and Greeks. Liparit himself was taken prisoner, and Bagrat carried off his wife in his absence; but, regain- ing his liberty, Liparit took up arms against his sovereign, and drove him out of his capital into Abkhasia. Bagrat appealing to the emperor, it was arranged that he should return to his kingdom of Georgia and Abkhasia, Liparit being suffered, as his dutiful sub- ject, to retain the province of Mcskhy. In 1064 the Seljuks under Arp-Aslan again overi-an Georgia, destroying '1‘ iflis and slaughtering the inhabitants. In 1072 George II. ascended the throne, and in his reign '1‘iﬁis was again devastated by the Seljuks, the king himself being forced to fly. With his valiant son and successor, David III., the fortunes of Georgia changed, for the enemy was driven out of the plains of Kakhetia, and the land from Tiflis to Ani was freed of his presence in 1123 by Ivan Orbeliani, whose signal se1'vices were rewarded by elevation to the rank of coirstable. The next monarchs were Demetrius I. and David IV., the latter, at his death, entrusting his son Dcmna or Demetrius to the guardianship of Ivan Orbeliani, and the re- gency to his brother George, who with the assistance of Ivan, greatly extended the Georgian territory, rescuing from the Seljuks a large portion of Armenia. 'hen in 1177 Dennia had attained his majority, the nobles dcsii'oiis of supporting the young prirrce’s claims called upon Ivan, whose popularity had meanwhile been increasing, to place him on the throne. George fortified himself at Tiﬂis and awaited events; his rule, how- ever. was t.oo firmly established to be easily shaken, and, many of Ivaii's partisans espousing his cause, he at length set out to besiege Lorhy, which Ivan and his charge had made their headquarters. .'umeroiis desertions reduced the ranks of the besieged, until young J)ermia fled at last to the encampment of his uncle, and cntreatcd him to spare his life. His prayer was granted, but he was deprived of his eyes, and otherwise mutilated. The prince having sur- rendered, Ivan declared his readiness to submit on condition that he should be honourably treated. George assented, showed his prisoner all honour until he had got the whole of his relatives into his power, when he ordered that all should be massacred, Ivan himself being blinded and brutally treated. Three only of his kinsmen were saved—a brother named Liparit, and his two sons who had gone to Persia to solicit the aid of the atabek Ildcgouz. From them are descended the Orbeliani of the present day. At the time of their extermination, the possessions of the Orboulk comprised more than the half of Georgia. It is related that the ancestors of this powerful family, princes of the family of Djenkapour of the royal race of Djenesdan, first came to Karthli from that part of Asia which lies between China and the Ural ; the fortress of Orpcth was given to them for a residence. In return for the friendly recep- tion accorded to them, they united with the Karthlosides in throwing off the Persian yoke, a service 'lii(-I1 obtained for the chief Orboulk the rank of sbasala-r or generalissinio. During the reign of l’harnawaz, the Orboulk took precedence next to the sovereign, and matrimonial alliances were formed with the royal house. The first of the family individualized in the annals was the warrior Liparit (875-900). George III. died in 1184, and was succeeded by his only child Tliamar, whose kingdom extended from the Caspian to the Black Sea, and from beyond the Caucasus to Arnicnia, for GISORGIA Trebizoiid, Iﬁrzeroiim, Toviii, Kars, and Ani fell to her arms. llcr missionaries travcllcd far and wide, and numcroiis cliiirchcs were constructed, and thus it was that her many virtues and brilliant rule secured to her the title of J1cp'lu-, “king." This great queen was succeeded in 1212-13 by her son George I'., suriiaiiied Lasha, “IIc who ciiliglitcns the world,” who, assisted by the powerful noble, Ivan Mkliargrdzcliilze, of the family that had replaced the. Orbeliani in the royal favour, vampiislied the Persians in many battles, conquering Gandja, arnl permaiieirtly occupying I'ars. In 1220 and 1222 the Mongols again visited Georgia. The king left an infant son who afterwards ieigiicd as David I'., but his own sister, ltoussoudan, seized the crown in 11223, aml passed a life not free from reproach. To rcvcngc himself upon the ipicen, who refused his suit, Jalal-iiddiii twice oecupicd her capital, and her kingdom was again overruir by the Mongols, who committed fearful 1‘a‘ages. Next follow the exploits of Timur, who invaded Georgia in 1:586, and, having seized upon the capital, carried away the king, llagrat '., who feigned conversion to Islamism that he might gain the confidence of‘ the conqueror. By this means he S1lC(‘('('(l('tl in ol-_ tainiirg from Timur a force of 12,000 men, for the purpose of pr.-- railing upon his people to embrace IIahonrctanism. Bagr-at had pl'CCOIlCel‘l,(‘(l his plans, and in due course every Tatar in his suite. was slaughtered by his own warriors. In an ungovernable passion Timur rc—entered Georgia (1393-94), and laid waste the entire country, levelling towns and villages, without sparing a single life. Satiatcd of bloodshed, he withdrew to the plains of Iiarabagh, and George 'II., son and successor to Bagi-at, returned upon the death of his father (1401) from the mountains where Iic had remained concealed, and occupied the capital. Timur made war upon him as well, compelling his submission, and in 1403 finally qiiittcd the coiiiitry. George was succeeded by Constantine II., whose successor, Alexander I., son of George VII. , rest.orcd the kingdom to prosperity; but towards the close of his days he conceived the unhappy idea of dividing his kingdom among his tlirce sons, an act that was followed by interrieciiie wars, rebellioirs, massacres, and foreign invasions. From about this period coniriiciice the relations of llussia with Georgia and its neiglrbouriiig principalities, for in 1-19:2, during the war foincnted between Turkey and Persia, Alexander, king of link- lietia, sought the protection of the ezar John III. Again, in 1587, Boris Godounoff was appealed to for succour; and when, in 1618. Shah Abbas invaded Georgia, Teiiiioiiraz I. applied for assistance to Michael F eodorovitch (the first of the Ilomaiiolls), as did also, in 1621, George III. king of Iineritia, and Marni-ii Gouriel the ruler of Gouria. In 1638 Lcvan, sovereign of Mingrelia, took the oath of allegiance to Alexis Micliaclovitch, and in 1650 Alexander of Iineritia acknowledged the sovereignty of Russia. That cnipirc, however, could not render material assistance to those petty sovereigns in distress, and little was done until fresh excess:-s committed by the Turks and Persians aﬂorded Peter the Great the excuse for sending air expedition, in 1716, under Bekevitcli a (‘ireassian chieftaiii, to survey the Caspian shore and erect defences. I3ckr-viti-Ii was over- powercd by the Tatars, aird slaughtered with the whole of his force. Peter then occupied the western shore of the Caspian, taking the king of Georgia under his protection. This was Vaklrtaiig 'I., the author of a code that was in vogue until 1841, 'llCIl.I'il1SSlilIl laws were in great measure introduced. But he was unable to resist Nadir Shah, and abdicating in 1724, retired to Astrakhan, where he died. Peter being at peace with Turkey, and having eoncludi-d the treaty of Nystadt with Sweden, left Moscow, May 24, 1722, and embarked at Astrakhan with troops destined for Georgia and the Persian provinces. Derbent, Bakou, Ghylan, and llazandcran fell into his power‘, and he constructed a fort on the river Suiilak, which he named St Cioix. All these places were ceded by treaty, in 1732, after Nadir Shah had delivered Karthli and Kakhetia from Turkish oppression. A few years later, in 1735, Turkey renounced all claim to those countries in favour of Persia. When war broke out with '1‘ui-key in 1768, General Todlebeii was sent to the assist- ance of Solomon 1., king of Iiiicritia, arid the Turks were expelled that kingdom. Then followed the treaty of Kainardsclii in 1774, by which Georgia, Imeritia, and l'Iingrelia were placed under the protection of Russia. In 1795 Aga Malioniet Shah laid Tillis in ruins, a disaster that was succeeded by dissensioiis in the royal family; aml Hcraclius II., who in 1783 had declared himself the vassal of Russia, now appealed to that country for protection. The next sovereign, George XIII., renewed this appeal, which would have been granted but for the sirddcn death of the emperor Paul. Alexander I. Iicsitated for a time, until George ﬁnally 1't'll0llIl('f:tl his crown in 1799 in favour of Russia, drawing down upon him the hatred and curses of his country. Ilis younger brother, Alexander, made air effort to secure the crown, l)iit the cliicfs saw the liopclcss- ness of attempting to throw oil" the Russian yoke, and, being but poorly supported, the prince was beaten on the banks of the Lora. George died the following year, being the last of the Bagratidcs to occupy the throne of Georgia, which his ancestors had held for the space of 1029 years. It may be stated that the Bagrations claim descent from David, by his adulterous intercourse with the wife of Uriah! Georgia was now virtually annexed to the empire, and on