Nine Chercheulidze brothers
The Nine Chercheulidze Brothers ( Georgian ცხრა ძმა ხერხეულიძე ) are revered as Georgian national heroes and martyrs . Tradition has it that they took part in the Battle of Marabda with their mother and a sister and all died defending their homeland and their beliefs.
In 1625, Shah Abbas I of Persia advanced with an army towards the eastern provinces of Georgia, Kartlien and Kakheti . His general was the proven and victorious Isa-Khan Qurtschibash. Their opponent, the Georgian army, consisted of only 20,000 fighters, but as defenders of their homeland they were ready to make any sacrifice. The Chercheulidze brothers were chosen to protect the Georgian standard, the flag with the St. George's Cross , in the battle .
The Georgians lost this battle, despite their courage and sacrifices. Your general and the bishops of Rustavi and Chartschascho were killed in the slaughter. During the battle, all nine Chercheulidze brothers died when they carried the Georgian flag into battle and protected it with their lives.
When the last and youngest brother fell, the Georgian flag was held by the sister Chercheulidze; when she, too, was killed, the siblings' mother carried the flag until her own death. The Chercheulidze brothers, their mother, sister and the other 9,000 Georgian martyrs of the Battle of Marabda were canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Apostle Church .
A chapel was later built near the Marabda battlefield. It is surrounded by a cemetery with the graves of the Christian dead.
literature
- Essays on the History of Georgia, fourth volume, Tbilisi, 1974
- Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, Volume 11, p. 258, Tbilisi, 1987
