Eristavi
Encyclopedia
Eristavi was a Georgian
feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine
strategos
and normally translated into English
as "duke
". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province. Holders of the title were ex-officio commanders of a military 'banner', wore a distinctive dress, ring, belt and spear and rode a particular breed of horse.
Some high-ranking eristavis were also titled as Eristavt-eristavi , i.e. "duke of dukes", but it is improbable that the holder of the title had any subordinate eristavis. Erismtavari was a similar title chiefly endowed upon the pre-Bagratid rulers
of Iberia
(Georgia) and later used interchangeably with the eristavi.
The title gave origin to the surname of four Georgian noble houses confirmed in their princely ranks under the Russian rule
in the 19th century. These families were often known simply as Princes Eristov in Russia but they did not have the same origin.
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...
feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
and normally translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as "duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province. Holders of the title were ex-officio commanders of a military 'banner', wore a distinctive dress, ring, belt and spear and rode a particular breed of horse.
Some high-ranking eristavis were also titled as Eristavt-eristavi , i.e. "duke of dukes", but it is improbable that the holder of the title had any subordinate eristavis. Erismtavari was a similar title chiefly endowed upon the pre-Bagratid rulers
Principate of Iberia
The Principate of Iberia is a conventional term applied to an aristocratic regime in early medieval Caucasian Georgia that flourished in the period of interregnum between the sixth and ninth centuries, when the leading political authority was exercised by a succession of princes...
of Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
(Georgia) and later used interchangeably with the eristavi.
The title gave origin to the surname of four Georgian noble houses confirmed in their princely ranks under the Russian rule
Georgia within the Russian Empire
Between 1801 and 1918 the country of Georgia was part of the Russian Empire. For centuries, the Muslim Ottoman and Persian empires had fought over various fragmented Georgian kingdoms and principalities but by the 18th century, a third imperial power, Russia, had emerged in the region. Since Russia...
in the 19th century. These families were often known simply as Princes Eristov in Russia but they did not have the same origin.
Eristavi families
- AbazasdzeAbazasdzeThe Abazasdze was a noble family in medieval Georgia, probably an offshoot of the Georgian feudal house of Tbeli. A purported founder of the Abazasdze dynasty, Tbeli Abazay, is recorded in the 11th century inscription from Bortsvisjvari...
- AbuserisdzeAbuserisdzeThe Abuserisdze were a noble family in medieval Georgia. The first known members of the family, Ioane and his son, Abuser, served loyally to King Bagrat IV as hereditary holders of Artanuji and Khikhata . Abuser was also a commandant of Atskuri and Tsikhisjvari and the governor of the Armenian...
- Chorchaneli
- ChosroidsChosroid DynastyThe Chosroids were a dynasty of the kings and later of the presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia, natively known as Kartli, from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Of Iranian origin and a branch of the Mihranid House, the family accepted Christianity as their official religion c...
- DadianiDadianiDadiani was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo.- The House of Dadiani :...
- Eristavi of Aragvi
- Eristavi of GuriaEristavi of GuriaGuriis Eristavi or Eristavi of Guria, was a Georgian noble family, a branch of the Shervashidze, dynasts in Abkhazia. Their surname derives from the title of eristavi the family held under the suzerainty of the reigning princes of Guria in southwest Georgia. In the 18th century the family bore...
- Eristavi of Ksani
- Eristavi of Racha
- GelovaniGelovaniHouse of Gelovani - is a Georgian princely family from the lower part of the mountainous province of Svaneti, formerly - rulers of Svaneti.The family can be traced back to...
- Ghobiari
- GuaramidsGuaramid DynastyThe Guaramid Dynasty was the younger branch of the Chosroid royal house of Iberia . They ruled Iberia as presiding princes in the periods of 588-627, 684-748, and 779/780-786, three with the dignity of curopalates bestowed by the Byzantine imperial court.- History :This branch descended from the...
- GurieliGurieliGurieli was a Georgian noble family and a ruling dynasty of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria which was autonomous and later for a few centuries independent, as well as a few ducal rulers of the dynasty rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place...
- JaqeliJaqeliJaqeli was a Georgian noble family, an offshoot of the House of Chorchaneli, that rose to a ruling house of the principality of Samtskhe in the 13th century, and eventually Islamized to become a dynasty of Akhaltsikhe under the Ottoman Empire in the 16th/17th century.-History:"Jaqeli", literally...
- Kakhaberisdze
- Liparitids
- NersianidsNersianid DynastyThe Nersianids were an early medieval Georgian princely family. Appearing in the late 5th century, in the reign of King Vakhtang I of Iberia , they figure in the eighth as dukes of Inner Iberia and twice attained, in the persons of Adarnase III and his son Nerse, to the office of Presiding Prince ...
- Panaskerteli
- ShervashidzeShervashidzeShervashidze was a noble family in Abkhazia which, according to later sources, can be traced at least as far back as the twelfth century.Although this is quite clearly a Georgian form , the family is said to have derived from the Shirvanshahs, a dynasty of Shirvan in what is now Azerbaijan...
- Surameli
- Thornikios
- VardanisdzeHouse of VardanisdzeThe House of Vardanisdze was an aristocratic family in medieval Georgia, listed among the Great Nobles of the realm.The family is presumed to have branched off from another eminent Georgian feudal clan of the Marushisdze, a hypothesis supported by the abundance of the name Marushiani in the...