Alexander I of Kakheti
Encyclopedia
Alexander I (1445 – April 27, 1511), of the Bagrationi Dynasty
Bagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...

, was a king of Kakheti
Kingdom of Kakheti
The Kingdom of Kakheti was a late medieval/early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at Gremi and then at Telavi...

 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 1476 to 1511. Alexander's pliancy and flexible diplomacy earned him security from the neighboring powers, only to be murdered by his own son George II "the Bad"
George II of Kakheti
George II also known as George "the Bad" or "the Evil" , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1511 to 1513....

.

Biography

Alexander was appointed by his father George I of Kakheti (i.e., George VIII, formerly king of a united Georgia
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia was a medieval monarchy established in AD 978 by Bagrat III.It flourished during the 11th and 12th centuries, the so-called "golden age" of the history of Georgia. It fell to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by 1327...

) a co-ruler in 1460, and succeeded on the throne upon George's death in 1476. Next year, Kakheti was attacked by the Ak Koyunlu
Ak Koyunlu
The Aq Qoyunlu or Ak Koyunlu, also called the White Sheep Turkomans , was an Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled parts of present-day Eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq, and Iran from 1378 to 1508.-History:According to chronicles from the Byzantine Empire, the Aq Qoyunlu...

 nomads who had earlier ravaged the neighboring Georgian kingdom of Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...

. However, Alexander won peace by sending precious gifts to the Ak Koyunlu leader Uzun Hassan
Uzun Hassan
Uzun Hasan or Hassan , Sultan of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty, or White Sheep Turkmen. Hassan ruled in parts of present-day western Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia between 1453 and 1478....

 and succeeded in diverting his attention away from Kakheti. Alexander also preferred to keep peace with the rival Bagrationi branch in Kartli, which recognized him as an independent monarch in 1490.

He was the first Georgian ruler to have attempted to forge an alliance with the co-religionist princes of Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....

 in order to counterbalance the growing ambitions of the Saffavid dynasty of Iran. After the two Kakhetian embassies, in 1483 and 1491, to Grand Duke Ivan III, whose reign laid the basis for Russian unity, failed to bring any results, Alexander sent, in 1500, his younger son Demetre to deliver homage to Ismail I
Ismail I
Ismail I , known in Persian as Shāh Ismāʿil , was a Shah of Iran and the founder of the Safavid dynasty which survived until 1736. Isma'il started his campaign in Azerbaijan in 1500 as the leader of the Safaviyya, an extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i militant religious order and unified all of Iran...

, the Shah of Iran
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...

, who was on a campaign in Shirvan
Shirvan
Shirvan , also spelled as Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both Islamic and modern times...

 in the immediate eastern neighborhood of Kakheti. Received with honors by the shah, the mission helped establish stable relations with Iran which would remain more or less peaceful until the early years of the 17th century. This allowed Alexander to strengthen the royal authority and to secure internal stability within his kingdom.

In 1511, Alexander’s reign was abruptly terminated in a coup led by his elder son, George
George II of Kakheti
George II also known as George "the Bad" or "the Evil" , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1511 to 1513....

, who, suspicious that Alexander intended to deprive him of legacy, had his father executed and his brother, Demetre, blinded.
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