Watchtang VI.

Watchtang VI.

Watchtang VI. ( Georgian ვახტანგ VI , Persian Hussein Kuli Khan ; * September 15, 1675 , † March 27, 1737 in Astrakhan ) was a Georgian king under Persian rule. He ruled intermittently from 1711 to 1723 and distinguished himself primarily as a scientist and poet.

Life

From 1703 to 1711, Wachtang was the governor of Kartli Georgia for the kings Giorgi XI. (1703/09) and Kaichosrau (1709/11), who had to go to Kandahar in Afghanistan as Persian governors and died there fighting against the rebellious Afghans. Even in this office, Wachtang carried out extensive reforms in the Kingdom of Kartli .

In 1711, Wachtang was named King of Georgia by the Persians. After long years of war he restored a certain order in the country and united the provinces. Roads, bridges and canals were built, coinage improved, trade and handicrafts strengthened. In terms of foreign policy, he endeavored for many years to come closer to Western monarchies, especially France (see Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani ), and later also Russia .

Anna Gruzinski, granddaughter of Wachtang VI. 1797, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Watchtang VI. maintained close relationships with the Capuchin missionaries who were active in Kartli at the time . However, that is not surprising, because his uncle Giorgi XI. and his tutor Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani were converts and campaigned massively for the alliance with the absolutist European monarchs (Orbeliani had been visiting Clement XI and Louis XIV since 1713 at Wachtang's instigation ). With the support of the Capuchins, Wachtang was able to found the first printing house in Tbilisi in 1709, which he was then able to use for his lively literary and legislative work. His approach to the Catholic Church through the missionaries led - probably during the time of his imprisonment in Persia around 1716 - to his acceptance of the Catholic faith, which however remained secret "because of the betrayal in my environment". Wachtang VI reports on this. even in his well-known letters to Innocent XIII. and Emperor Charles VI. of November 29, 1722, where he asked for political but also ecclesiastical support. In the end, the desired help did not materialize.

Watchtang VI. was the author and editor of numerous historical treatises. In the Watchtang Code he laid down a number of criminal and civil laws. In 1709 he introduced the first printing house in Georgia. He wrote an extensive commentary on the edition of Warrior in a Tiger's Skin , printed in 1712 , and had the first Georgian dictionary and La Fontaine's fables published . He sent young Georgians to Moscow and Saint Petersburg to study medicine .

In 1723, Wachtang was deposed as king and emigrated to Russia. He lived in exile in Moscow until 1735, then moved to Astrakhan on the Volga , where he died and is still buried in a Russian Orthodox church to this day. Georgia's government is trying to get the king's remains to be transferred to Tbilisi .

Flag of Vakhtang VI.

Fonts

• Vakhtang VI .: Histoire ancienne, jusqu'en 1469 de J.-C . S.-Pétersbourg, Eggers & Co .; Leipzig, Voss, 1849–51
• Wachtang VI .: Istoriebri a · g.cera · girstha hsomisa semthhweulebatha Sakharthwelosa s'a a · g.ceritha zneobatha da cveulebatha… thhzuli… Gamoc . Tbilisi, Kiladze, 1914

literature

• Joseph Karst (Ed.): Le Code de Vakhtang VI [ Kharthuli samarthali . George. u. French] Ed. en version franc. et annoté par Joseph Karst., Vol. 1.1 Strasbourg 1934 (= Corpus Juris Iberico-Caucasica)
• Michel Tamarati: L'Eglise géorgienne , Rome 1910.

Web links

Commons : Wachtang VI.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Kaichosro	King of Kartli 1711 - 1714	Read

predecessor	Office	successor
Bakar	King of Kartli 1719 - 1724	Teimuraz II.