Tarkhan-Mouravi
Encyclopedia
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...
noble family, claiming descent from the Shamkhal
Shamkhal
Shamkhal is the title for the rulers of Kumukh in Dagestan during the 8th-17th centuries. In 1642 the Shamkhalate of Kazi-Kumukh broke up into several independent states. Afterwards Shamkhal moved his capital from Kazi-Kumukh to Tarki, where he formed Shamkhalate of Tarki....
dynasty of Tarki
Tarki
Tarki is an urban locality under the administrative jurisdiction of Sovetsky City District of the city of Makhachkala in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, situated on the Tarkitau Mountain. Population:...
, in Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
. Originally known as Saakadze (სააკაძე), they acquired, in the 1640s, the title of prince (tavadi
Tavadi
Tavadi , "prince", lit. "head/chief" [man], from tavi, "head", with the prefix of agent -di) was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as prince...
) and the new surname, which is a composite of the two hereditary offices, mouravi
Mouravi
Mouravi was an administrative and military officer in early modern Georgia, normally translated into English as seneschal, bailiff, or sometimes as constable. Mouravi was an appointed royal official who had a jurisdiction over particular town or district. In towns, mouravi was assisted by a police...
and tarkhan
Tarkhan
Tarkhan is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic Tarqan; Mongolian: Darkhan; ; ; ; alternative spellings Tarkan, Tarkhaan, Tarqan, Tarchan, Tarxan, Tarcan or Targan) is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Indo-European Tarkhan (Old Turkic...
. The family was reconfirmed as the princes (knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
) by the Russian Empire
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...
in 1826 and 1850. The cadets continued to be called Saakadze and remained members of the petite nobility (aznauri
Aznauri
Aznauri was a class of Georgian nobility; the term that was first applied to all nobles, but in the later Middle Ages narrowed to designate the petty nobles....
) until 1881 when they were also elevated to the princely rank.
The first known member of the family, Siaush Saakadze (died c. 1606), was a loyal officer in the service of Simon I of Kartli
Simon I of Kartli
Simon I also known as Svimon , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a Georgian king of Kartli from 1556 to 1569 and again from 1578 to 1599...
, who gave him the office of mouravi of Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
in the 1580s. His son, Giorgi Saakadze
Giorgi Saakadze
Giorgi Saakadze was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important but contradictory role in the politics of the early 17th-century Georgia...
(the Grand Mouravi; c. 1570 – 1629) pursued a contradictory and turbulent career. He dominated the political life in eastern Georgia for years, and ended up his life in exile in the Ottoman Empire
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...
. His last surviving son, Ioram (died 1664) returned to Georgia, and was conferred with the titles of prince and tarkhan by Rostom of Kartli
Rostom of Kartli
Rostom or Rustam Khan was a ruler of Kartli, eastern Georgia, from 1633 until his death. Appointed by a Persian shah as a Wāli of Kartli, he styled himself king of kings and sovereign.- Life :...
early in the 1640s. His descendants assumed the surname of Tarkhan-Mouravi. Their fiefdom centered on the village of Akhalkalaki and the Tedzami river valley in Inner Kartli.