Kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti | |||||||||||||
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| 1014–1104 | |||||||||||||
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| Status | Kingdom | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Telavi | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Georgian | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Orthodox Christianity Sunni Islam (temporary) | ||||||||||||
| Government |
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| Prince-Bishop | |||||||||||||
• 787-827 | Grigol (first) | ||||||||||||
• 976-1010 | David (last) | ||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||
• 1010-1037 | Kvirike III (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1102-1104 | Aghsartan II (last) | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Monarchy is established | 1014 | ||||||||||||
• incorporation ofHereti | 1020s | ||||||||||||
• vassal ofSeljuk Empire | 1080s | ||||||||||||
• annexed toKingdom of Georgia | 1104 | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Azerbaijan Georgia Russia | ||||||||||||
TheKingdom of Kakheti-Hereti (Georgian:კახეთ-ჰერეთის სამეფო,romanized:k'akhet-heretis samepo) was anearly medievalGeorgianmonarchy ineastern Georgia, centered at theprovince ofKakheti, with its capital first atTelavi. It emerged inc. 1014 AD, under the leadership of energetic ruler of principality of Kakheti,Kvirike III the Great that finally defeated the ruler ofHereti and crowned himself as aking of the unified realms of Kakheti and Hereti. From this time on, until 1104, the kingdom was an independent and separated state from the unitedKingdom of Georgia. The kingdom included territories fromriv. Ksani (western border) to Alijanchay river (eastern border) and fromDidoeti (northern border) to southwards along theriver of Mtkvari (southern border).[citation needed]
Kakheti had been a part ofKingdom of Iberia, and then a part thePrincipate of Iberia. However, in the second half of the 8th century, Arab sources already separates Iberia andTzanaria (Kakheti). In struggle againstArab occupation, ruler of the Tzanaria,Grigol (possible descendant fromBagrationi dynasty) seized control over Kakheti and established a chorepiscopate, a bishopric-duchy, ruled by a prince andchorepiscopus, with one member of the feudal nobility combining both roles. The new realm controlled theDarial Pass trade route. Grigol held power until 827: hoping to rule all Georgia, aided by mountaineers and the Arabemir of Tbilisi, he invaded Inner Iberia (Shida Kartli), but was repulsed byAshot I Kuropalates, a prince of the resurgent Bagratid dynasty ofTao-Klarjeti, and its allyTheodosius II of Abkhazia, east of theKsani River.
Grigol was succeeded byVache (son of John Kvabulisdze). Vache's successor Samuel (839–61) was elected as a prince by theGardabani a nobility who dominated the politics of Kakheti at the time. He allied with the Arab emir of Tbilisi,Ishaq ibn Isma'il, in the revolt against theCaliphate and hence Kakheti became targeted by the Arab punitive expeditions led byKhalid b. Yazid (840–42), allies pushed first Khalid bin Yazid, then his sonMuhammad, back intoArran. The next Arab punitive expedition led byBugha the Turk (853–54), managed to kill the emir of Tbilisi, but lost the battle to the Kakhetians, and retreated.
In contrast to his predecessor,Gabriel was at enmity with the Arab emir of Tbilisi, Gabuloc' who dispossessed him of the district ofGardabani. He was succeeded byPadla I (r. 881–93) of the Arevmaneli clan. There is another opinion saying thatPadla I, the first Arevmaneli prince was a descendant of Grigol and therefore he was Bagratid too. During his rule, Padla succeeded in recovering the district of Gardabani. Kakheti befriended the emirate of Tbilisi: they both rejected the caliphate's authority. His successorKvirike I forged an alliance withConstantine III of Abkhazia against his eastern neighborHereti, a principality in the Georgian-Albanian marchlands. The allies invaded Hereti and divided its major strongholds, with the Ortchobi fortress being allotted to Kakheti.
Kvirike I was succeeded by his sonPadla II, the latter built the fortress of Lotsobani. At the same time the Arabs, led byYusuf ibn Abi'l-Sajj, arrived. He first invadedKakheti and took hold of the fortresses ofUjarma andBochorma, but the former was then given back to the Kakhetian ruler following his plead for peace. Arabs despoiled Kakheti, burned downJvari andMtskheta, and departed. In 922, Padla II aided KingAshot II of Armenia in crushing the revolt by prince Moses ofUtik. Later in his reign, he also assistedGeorge II of Abkhazia against his rebellious son andduke of Kartli,Constantine.
Padla II was succeeded by his sonKvirike II. whose reign was spent in a continuous struggle against the expansionism of the kings of Abkhazia who ruled over a significant portion of western and central Georgia and aimed at conquering Kakheti. Subversively aided by the rebellious Kakhetian nobles,George II of Abkhazia even succeeded in dispossessing Kvirike of his principality in the 930s. Kvirike II soon recovered the crown in 957 and successfully resisted the attempts of George's successorLeon III to gain a foothold in Kakheti. After Leon's death during one of his incursions into Kakheti II (969), Kvirike capitalized on the dynastic feud in the Kingdom of Abkhazia to reassert his full authority and even expand his possessions to the west. In 976, Kvirike II invadedKartli (central Georgia), captured the city ofUplistsikhe and took captive the GeorgianBagratid princeBagrat who was intended by his powerful foster-fatherDavid of Tao to seat on the thrones ofIberia and Abkhazia. In response, David marshaled an army to punish Kvirike and forced him to withdraw from Kartli and release Bagrat, who would later inherit Kingdom of Georgia and proceed to press a claim to Kakheti and annexed it in or around 1010, after two years of fighting and aggressive diplomacy.
The last ruler bearing the title of chorepiscope wasDavid and the following rulers are already titled as "The king of Kakheti and Hereti".
Following Bagrat's death in 1014,Kvirike III, son of dethroned Kakhetian princeDavid, was able to recover the crown. He also took control of the neighboring region ofHereti and declared himself King of Kakheti and Hereti. He madeTelavi his capital and constructed a palace at Bodoji nearTianeti. As a result of his administrative reforms, the kingdom was subdivided into seven duchies: Rustavi, Kveteri, Pankisi, Shtori, Vejini, Khornabuji and Machi. Under Kvirike III, the kingdom experienced a period of political power and prosperity.
In the beginning the kings of Kakheti were allies of Georgian kings in fights against foreign aggressors. In 1022, Kvirike III sent reinforcement toGeorge I of Georgia against theByzantine Empire, however they were defeated. In 1027, Kvirike joined the combined armies ofBagrat IV of Georgia led byLiparit Baguashi andIvane Abazasdze,Emir Jaffar of Tiflis, and theArmenian KingDavid I of Lori against theShaddadid emir ofArran,Fadhl II, who was decisively defeated at the Eklez River. Around 1029, Kvirike III defeated an invasion force led by theAlan king Urdure who had crossed the Caucasus Mountains into Kakheti and ravaged Tianeti. Urdure was killed in battle.[2] At the zenith of his power and prestige, Kvirike was assassinated while hunting in 1037/39. According to the Georgian historianVakhushti, this was done by Kvirike's Alan slave who sought to avenge for the death of King Urdure. On Kvirike's death, Kakheti was temporarily annexed to theKingdom of Georgia.[3][4]
The last Arevmaneli ruler, Kvirike III had died without male heir and his sister's sonGagiki succeeded in restoring monarchy by the support of Kakhetian nobility in 1039; thus becoming the first Kuirikid monarch of the Kakheti. Through maneuvering between Bagrat IV and the powerful Georgian warlord Liparit Orbeli. Gagik managed to retain his crown and the integrity of his kingdom. He aided Bagrat in his expeditions against theEmirate of Tbilisi, but when the king of Georgia attempted to take Gagik's possessions inHereti, Gagik allied himself with Liparit in the 1046-47rebellion against Bagrat IV and achieved more or less stable control of his territories. He was succeeded by his sonAghsartan I, whose reign coincided with theSeljuk invasions in the Georgian lands and persistent attempts by the Georgian Bagratid kings to bring all Georgian polities into their unified realm.
In 1068, Aghsartan submitted to the Seljuk sultanAlp Arslan, agreed to pay tribute, and secured the Turkish support against KingBagrat IV of Georgia who had seized part of the Kakhetian territory. He continued his struggle against the centralizing policy of the Georgian crown under Bagrat's successorGeorge II and allied himself with the rebelliousLiparitid clan, but then transferred his loyalty to George and helped him counter the feudal opposition, and thenfight the 1074 invasion by the Seljuk sultanMalik Shah I. However, when George II made peace with the sultan early in the 1080s, the latter recognized the king of Georgia as the only legitimate master of Kakheti and gave him a Seljuk force to conquer the region. George, at the head of a combined Georgian-Seljuk army, laid a siege to the Kakhetian fortress of Vezhini, but failed to take it and withdrew. Aghsartan immediately seized the opportunity to pledge his loyalty to the Seljuks, went to Malik Shah and embracedIslam, thus winning a Seljuk protection against the aspirations of the king of Georgia.
Aghsartan I died in 1084, and was succeeded by his sonKvirike IV, who continued the same policy and ruled as a tributary to theSeljuq dynasty and opposed the energetic Georgian kingDavid IV who pursued a vigorous domestic and foreign policy aimed at asserting Georgia's integrity and its hegemony in theCaucasus. Kvirike lost the fortress ofZedazeni to David, but was still able to secure the succession to his sonAghsartan II. The medieval Georgian chroniclers characterize Aghsartan as a frivolous man whose ignorant rule drew many great nobles into opposition. In 1105, Aghsartan was arrested by his vassals, the princes Areshiani ofHereti, and handed over to King David IV of Georgia who finally annexed the kingdom to Unified Georgian realm. Henceforth the territory of the Kingdom of Kakheti was divided into several administrative units. These administrative units were the Duchy of Kakheti, the Duchy of Hereti, Khornabuji bank and the "Land of Arishini".
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