Georgii

In Georgia:

Georgii III. Year of birth unknown; died 1184. King of Georgia from 1156; the son of King Demetre I. Georgii III continued the active foreign policy of David the Builder; he won back the cities of Dvin (1162) and Ani (1173) from the Seljuks, and his troops captured Shaburan and Darbent (1167). Relying upon the gentry and the urban population, Georgii III stubbornly fought against the great feudal lords to strengthen his centralized authority and suppressed an uprising of the nobility led by the vizier Ivane Orbeli. He also cruelly suppressed antifeudal peasant outbreaks. Georgii elevated his only daughter, Tamara, to the throne, in 1178, and they ruled together. After his death Tamara’s reign marked the florescence of feudal Georgia.

Georgii V the Brilliant. Year of birth unknown; died 1346. King of Georgia from 1314. Georgii V stubbornly fought for Georgia’s independence from the Mongol-Tatar yoke and did in fact become an independent king. He also fought against the unsubdued feudal lords and achieved the annexation of Imereti (1327) and Samtskhe-Saatabago (1334) to Georgia. He dealt cruelly with the mountaineers who revolted against their feudal lords. His reign saw the development of a code of laws for the mountaineers (Dzeglis dadeba), which strengthened the role of the royal administration, and the compilation of the juridical landmark The Regulations of the Royal Court, which reflected the development of the state structure and the economic condition of the country.

Georgii XII Bagrationi. Born 1746; died Dec. 28, 1800 (Jan. 9, 1801). Last king (from 1798) of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakhetia (Eastern Gerogia); son of Iraklii II. He renewed the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783 with Russia. Lacking the forces to combat aggression from Iran and confronted with his brothers’ claims to the throne, Georgii XII intentionally limited his own sovereignty and requested Pavel I to take Georgia into the Russian Empire. He died before his emissaries returned. On Dec. 22, 1800, Pavel I signed a manifesto joining Georgia to Russia, which was made public after the death of Georgii XII.