Aghsartan I of Kakheti
Encyclopedia
Aghsartan I (died 1084) was a king of Kakheti
in eastern Georgia
from 1054 until his death in 1084.
He succeeded on the death of his father Gagik of Kakheti
. His reign coincided with the Seljuk 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 sultan Alp Arslan
, agreed to pay tribute, and secured the Turkish support against King Bagrat 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 successor George II
and allied himself with the rebellious Liparitid clan, but then transferred his loyalty to George and helped him counter the feudal opposition, and then fight the 1074 invasion by the Seljuk sultan Malik 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 embraced Islam
, thus winning a Seljuk protection against the aspirations of the king of Georgia. He died in 1084, and was succeeded by his son Kvirike IV
.
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
in eastern Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
from 1054 until his death in 1084.
He succeeded on the death of his father Gagik of Kakheti
Gagik of Kakheti
Gagik was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1039 to 1058.He was a son of the Armenian Bagratid king David I of Lorri and his Georgian wife, sister of King Kvirike III of Kakheti who adopted Gagik as his son and heir...
. His reign coincided with the Seljuk 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 sultan Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the third sultan of the Seljuq dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty...
, agreed to pay tribute, and secured the Turkish support against King Bagrat IV of Georgia
Bagrat IV of Georgia
Bagrat IV , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King of Georgia from 1027 to 1072. During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgia's sovereignty from the Byzantine and Seljuqid empires...
who had seized part of the Kakhetian territory. He continued his struggle against the centralizing policy of the Georgian crown under Bagrat’s successor George II
George II of Georgia
George II , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1072 to 1089. He was a son and successor of Bagrat IV and his wife Borena of Alania...
and allied himself with the rebellious Liparitid clan, but then transferred his loyalty to George and helped him counter the feudal opposition, and then fight the 1074 invasion by the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I
Malik Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh was born in 1055, succeeded Alp Arslan as the Seljuq Sultan in 1072, and reigned until his death in 1092....
. 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 embraced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, thus winning a Seljuk protection against the aspirations of the king of Georgia. He died in 1084, and was succeeded by his son Kvirike IV
Kvirike IV of Kakheti
Kvirike IV was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1084 to 1102.He succeeded upon the death of his father Aghsartan I. He ruled as a tributary to the Seljuq dynasty and opposed the energetic Georgian king David IV who pursued a vigorous domestic and foreign policy aimed at asserting...
.