Bakar (June 11, 1699 or April 7, 1700 – February 1, 1750) was a Georgian

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...

 prince (batonishvili

Batonishvili

Batonishvili was a title for princes and princesses of the blood royal in the Transcaucasian kingdom of Georgia, and was suffixed to the Christian name e.g., Alexandre Batonishvili, Ioane Batonishvili...

) of the Mukhrani

House of Mukhrani

The house of Mukhrani is a Georgian princely family, a collateral branch of the former royal dynasty of Bagrationi of which it sprung early in the 16th century, and received in appanage the domain of Mukhrani located in Kartli, central Georgia...

 branch 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...

.

He was the son of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli

Vakhtang VI of Kartli

Vakhtang VI , also known as Vakhtang the Scholar and Vakhtang the Lawgiver, was a Wāli of Kartli, eastern Georgia, as a nominal vassal to the Persian shah from 1716 to 1724. Traditionally, he has been still styled as king of Kartli...

 who left him in charge of the government 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...

 (eastern Georgia) during his absence at the Safavid court of Persia from September 1716 to August 1719. His position was recognized by the Shah of Persia

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 invested him, in 1717, with the title of janishin, a crown, sword, gold insignia, and robe of honor. At the same time, he had to nominally embrace Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 and assumed the name of Shah-Nawaz. On this occasion, he was appointed by the Shah the commander-in-chief of the Persian army and governor-general of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. When the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 armies invaded Georgia in 1723, Bakar attempted to negotiate, but eventually followed his father in a Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 exile in July 1724. He permanently settled in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 where he came to be known as Tsarevich Bakar Vakhtangovich Gruzinsky . The prince engaged in cultural enterprises initiated by his father; he helped revive the Georgian printing house in Moscow and sponsored publication of The Bible in Georgian in 1743.

Bakar was also involved in the Russian diplomatic and military service. In 1724, he was granted the village Lyskovo

Lyskovo

Lyskovo is a town and the administrative center of Lyskovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the southern side of the Volga River , opposite the mouth of the Kerzhenets River, southeast of Nizhny Novgorod.. Population: It was first mentioned in 1410...

 in hereditary possession. In November 1729, Bakar was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed commander of artillery in the Moscow region. He died in Moscow in 1750 and was interred at the Donskoy Monastery

Donskoy Monastery

Donskoy Monastery is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from an imminent threat of Khan Kazy-Girey’s invasion...

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Bakar was married to Anna, daughter of Giorgi Eristavi, Duke of the Aragvi

Duchy of Aragvi

The Duchy of Aragvi was an important fiefdom in medieval and early modern Georgia, strategically located in the upper Aragvi valley, in the foothills of the eastern Greater Caucasus crest, and ruled by a succession of eristavi from c...

 (1706-1779), and fathered four sons and one daughter:

• Alexander
  Alexander, son of Bakar of Georgia
  Alexander, son of Bakar or Aleksandr Bakarovich Gruzinsky ) was a Russian-born Georgian prince of the Mukhrani branch of the Bagrationi royal dynasty. He was the last of the Mukhranians to have attempted, unsuccessfully, to reclaim the crown of Georgia which had been lost to the Kakheti branch of...
  
  (1726–1791)
• Dimitri (1727-1745)
• Stephan (1729-1744)
• Leon (1739-1763)
• Elizabeth (1712-1786)