David VIII

. David VIII ( Georgian დავით VIII * 1273 , † 1311 ) from the Bagratids - Dynasty ruler was the medieval Georgia (1293-1311).

Life

He was the eldest son of Dimitri II and was installed as king by Il-Khan Gaichatu (1291-1295).

Efforts were made as early as 1291 to enthrone David as king in Tbilisi . After the early death of his cousin Vakhtang II in 1292, David became his father's inheritance. During his five-year reign, like his predecessor, he stayed more in Tabriz , at the court of the Il-Khan, than in Tbilisi.

In 1297 he was involved in the overthrow of the Emir Novruz, commander in chief of the Il-Khanid army. The latter had fallen into disgrace through false accusations with the Il-Khan Ghazan (1295-1304), whom he had helped to the throne in 1295 against his predecessor Baidu (1295), and was executed after an unsuccessful uprising . David was to suffer the same fate, but at that point he was in Tbilisi and got away with his life. He did not obey any requests to go to Ghazan's court.

David withdrew to the northeastern provinces of Georgia and waged a largely successful partisan war against the Mongols . Despite their best efforts, they did not succeed in eliminating him. In Tbilisi they therefore appointed the youngest son Dimitris Giorgi V (* approx. 1286) as king. But it could only last a few months, probably until the turn of the year 1297/98. Giorgi's first reign must have been so short that not even coins were minted by him. According to ancient sources, he ruled from November 1299 to 1301. Since the Mongols needed an adult king who could lead the Georgian army contingents on their numerous campaigns, they appointed another son Dimitris, Wachtang , as king.

The northern and eastern parts of the country continued to support David. When clashes broke out again between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Il-Khan Empire in 1298 , Ghazan tried to eliminate David by force. The campaigns of 1299 and 1301 under the leadership of Qutlughschah, David was able to fight back with the support of the hill tribes with great losses. Eventually the Mongols tried to negotiate again. But David could not be persuaded to visit Ghazan's camp. After 1301 he contented himself with rule over Mtiuleti and some peripheral areas and left his brother Wachtang III. most of eastern Georgia.

In 1304 he managed to occupy Tbilisi for a short time. After two years of negotiations, David agreed in 1310 to send his two-year-old son Giorgi to the Mongols, where he was named Giorgi VI. the little boy was appointed king of Kartlien under the reign of his uncle Giorgi V. The government of David made it clear that the Mongols were no longer strong enough to impose their will on all of eastern Georgia.

See also: History of Georgia

literature

• B. Limper: The Mongols and the Christian Peoples of the Caucasus: An Inquiry into the Pol. History of the Caucasus in the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. Diss. Cologne 1980
• DM Lang: Georgia in the Reign of Giorgi the Brilliant (1314-1346) . In: BSOAS , 17/1, pp. 74-91, London 1955
• DG Kapanadze: Gruzinskaja Numizmatika . Moskva 1955

predecessor	Office	successor
Wachtang II.	King of Georgia 1293-1311	Giorgi V.