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Giorgi VKing of Georgia
Country:
 Georgia |
Biography of George V of Georgia
George V of Georgia was the youngest son of Demetrius II and his third wife Natela, the daughter of the ruler of Southern Georgia, Beka Jakeli. He belonged to the Bagrationi dynasty. In the late 13th century, the Ilkhanate, a unified state, was experiencing a deep crisis. Agriculture was disrupted, cities were in decline, and state revenue was catastrophically decreasing. Bandits roamed the country, plundering the already impoverished population; Mongol princes and nobles sought to separate from the center, and conquered peoples rebelled. Gazan Khan, an outstanding representative of the Ilkhanate who ruled from 1295 to 1304, tried to save the Mongol state. He took energetic measures, displaced corrupt officials, reformed the tax system, and took steps to revive agriculture, trade, and exchange. However, all of Gazan Khan's efforts to improve the situation proved futile: the process of the Mongol state's disintegration continued, and after the death of Ilkhan Abu Said (1316-1335), the Ilkhanate fell apart. Mongol domination had serious consequences for Georgia. The political unity of the country was disrupted. In the early 14th century, a "multi-kingdom" was established. In Eastern Georgia, the Mongols set brothers against each other - the sons of Demetrius II: David VIII, Vakhtang III, and George.
In Western Georgia, after the death of David VI Narin, his sons Vakhtang and Konstantin ruled, and their brother Michael became the ruler of Racha-Lechkhumi and Argveti. The didibulis (large feudal lords) also gained strength and defied the king. Rebellions against the oppressors, participation in Mongol campaigns, and various epidemics brought the Georgian population to a sharp decline. The transformation of Georgia into an arena of clashes between the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate, as well as the atrocities of numerous punitive expeditions, led the country to complete decline. Cities and villages were destroyed, agriculture was devastated, and crafts died out. In fear of the Golden Horde, the Ilkhans moved the trade route connecting the east and west further south, which had a negative impact on the country's economy. The main productive forces of the country, the peasants, were unable to pay taxes. The devastated population left their ancestral lands and sought refuge elsewhere. The majority of the land remained uncultivated.
Relatively better conditions were in Samtskhe. Inside the country, anarchy and disorder prevailed, especially in the mountainous regions. The North Caucasus Ossetians took advantage of the situation and started raiding Kartli. They even managed to occupy the city of Gori. The period of Mongol rule, or "ulusoba" as it was called in Georgian at that time, led to a noticeable change in the country's economic and socio-political situation.
Around 1310, Abu Said Khan noted in one of his decrees that various numerous taxes were illegally collected in Anisi and other regions of Georgia. As a result, the document stated, "the country fell into desolation, the common people scattered, and the city dwellers, burdened with unfair taxes, abandoned their property and fled." This document vividly testifies to the unbearable situation in which the producers of material goods found themselves, who, being oppressed by Mongol officials, also suffered from countless levies in favor of local feudal lords and the church.
During the Mongol rule, approximately 900,000 rubles of gold were annually sent from Georgia to the Mongol treasury. Based on this fact, it is believed that the state revenue during the Mongol domination amounted to only a quarter of the state revenue during the pre-Mongol period.
However, the actual dimensions of the economic decline in Georgia under the Mongols are more accurately reflected not by the decrease in state revenue, but by the picture of the devastated economy, the miserable condition of the displaced peasants, the deserted cities, and the desolate regions.
The valleys of Mtkvari (Kura), Iori, and Alazani suffered the most. Mongols destroyed the cities of Rustavi, Khunani, and Shamkhor. The rich lands of Kambekh-Shiraki, Gardabani, and Samgori-Rustavi became empty. The eastern part of Shirvan-Shaki, located east of Ereti, was practically separated from Georgia. All these places turned into Mongol camps and pastures for their herds.
The same situation occurred in the Armenian regions. Impoverished Armenian peasants left their villages in whole regions of Georgia and sought refuge in other places.
One of the main reasons for the economic decline of the country, as mentioned earlier, was the exacerbation of class struggle between feudal lords and peasants. The peasants could no longer withstand the pressure from "their own" and "foreign" predators, that is, the extortion by Georgian feudal lords and Mongol officials. They abandoned their devalued economy, left their homes, and became beggars or fugitives. In particular, the peasants fled from small aznaurs to the more powerful ones, seeking refuge from the rulers who accepted "hasindju", as well as from churches and monasteries, hoping for better living conditions. Fleeing peasants found sympathy and support among the local peasantry. Their fellow class members willingly provided them shelter, protecting them from persecution by the feudal lords.
The country was in a state of chaos. The landlords lost their labor and tribute, and the Mongols lost the opportunity to collect tribute.
The feudal lords made persistent attempts to return the fleeing peasants, seeking help from the authorities. In response to the feudal lords' demands, Gazan Khan issued a decree in 1303, which prohibited peasants from leaving their land arbitrarily and feudal lords from sheltering fugitives. According to the decree, the feudal lord was given the right to search for and return the fugitives for a period of 30 years.
At the same time, in Georgia, tensions between mountain communities and the valleys escalated. The mountain people sought to free themselves from the forced feudal relations and restore their former freedom. They killed royal eristavs, rulers, and other officials, expelled Christian church servants, and raided the valley regions.
The feudal state, in turn, tried to conquer the rebellious mountain people with force, legislatively establish the same social relations that existed in the valley, and use the power of the cross and the gospel to bring the mountain tribes back under the rule of the feudal state. The economic decline of Georgia under Mongol rule led to the undermining of the country's political unity. Many cities ceased to exist, others lived miserable lives, the production of craft goods sharply decreased, and consequently, trade and exchange declined.
Mtsvare and didibulis-aznauris obtained the right to inherit the serfs and lands granted to them by kings as "dideba". Mtsvares and eristavs, as patrons, were obeyed by aznaurs and mdabiu warriors who held land grants in their samtaros and eristavas.
Eristavs-eristavs took advantage of the weakened royal power, and with the active support of the Mongols, they, like the mtavares, appropriated the prerogatives of the king.
By the 14th century, the didibulis-aznauris, the direct social ancestors of the later tavados (princes), had already emerged as a separate social stratum. Now, to finally form the satavado, only the condition had to be fulfilled for the ruler (king or mtavar) to grant the didibul-aznaur the right to raise an army from the territory of their house. With the realization of this condition, the institution of eristavs became unnecessary and their military function was transferred to tavadams.
After the death of his father, George was raised at the court of his grandfather Beka Jakeli, the de facto independent ruler of Samtskhe, whose domain covered the territory from Tashiskari to Basiani.
In 1314, the Mongols imposed George VI Mcire ("the Little"), the son of David VIII, as king. George V assumed the throne for the second time in 1335 after the death of George the Little. By this time, his older brothers David and Vakhtang were no longer alive, and the majority of the country was under the control of the king. Thus, the process of gathering Georgian lands into a unified state began again under new conditions. With favorable foreign policy, friendship with the Mongol court, and political skill, George V achieved significant success in the task of reunifying the country.
George V saw that the power of the Mongols was coming to an end, and sooner or later their state would collapse. It was necessary to act extremely cautiously and wisely to prevent Georgia from being caught up in this collapse. For this reason, George V changed his policy towards the Ilkhans: he abandoned rebellion against them and refrained from hostilities.
In 1316, after the death of Oljeitu Khan, a minor Abu Said ascended the Ilkhanate throne. King George V traveled to the horde to introduce himself to the Khan. The first vizier of the Khan was Choban Noyon, a close friend of King George V. Choban valued this friendship, relying on the loyalty of the Georgian king. And indeed, George V was loyal to Choban. With wise advice and military valor demonstrated in joint campaigns with the Mongols, he gained great trust at the Mongol court. Therefore, when George V arrived at the horde, Choban "gave him all of Georgia and all the mtavares of Georgia, and the sons of King David, and Meskhs, the sons of Beka"; in other words, he gave George V the right to unite the Georgian lands, subjugate the mtavares and kings, particularly the sons of his brother, King David. This meant that the Mongol court, experiencing a political crisis, was already unable to support the centrifugal tendencies of the numerous small states in Georgia.
Thus, with successful foreign policy, George V established good relations with the Ilkhanate emir Choban Noyon, who ruled the country due to the young age of the Khan Abu Said. George V achieved the right from Choban to collect taxes himself. This was very important because tax collectors cheated the peasants and collected more than required, sometimes even collecting the same tax twice. From Choban's perspective, he was also interested in good relations with George V, as he hoped for the military power of the Georgians. The didibulis had become accustomed to the absence of strong royal power, so with the support of the Mongol court, King George V began the process of unifying Georgia and implementing radical measures. He gradually subjugated many mtavares and eristavs. The king mercilessly dealt with the rebellious ones.
For example, in 1335, while in Kakheti at his summer palace, King George V summoned the eristavs of Samkheti (Armenia) and Ereti to the mountain of Tsivi, accusing them of treason. At the king's demand, these eristavs were executed on the spot. The king put an end to Ossetian raids and liberated the city of Gori from them.
George V took advantage of Choban's trust to limit the arbitrariness of the basqaqs (Mongol officials) in the country and reduce the number of Mongol occupying forces.
In 1329, Mikael, the son of David VI Narin, passed away. George V entered Western Georgia, occupied Kutaisi, and subjugated local didibulis. The king also managed to annex Southern Georgia, after which the integrity of the country was restored. It was necessary to restore order in the church as well. In the 1330s, at the initiative of George V, a church council was convened. By the time of George V's coronation, Kartli, the central part of Georgia, was in a particularly difficult situation.
Rebellions that had not ceased during the many years of David's reign, the bloody rampage of punitive Mongol squads, famine, and plague devastated the country. Cities and villages were depopulated. The situation was further complicated by Ossetian raids descending into Kartli through the Liakhvi Gorge via Dvaleti. The inhabitants of the Liakhvi, Ksani, and Aragvi valleys did not cease bloody feuds. The weak royal authority was unable to ensure peace and tranquility within the country.
A long struggle was required to restore order in the country. The king needed to first cleanse the valleys of the mountain people, return the lands of Kartli to the Kartli aznaurs, and firmly subjugate the Ksani and Aragvi communities.
To achieve this, King George V launched a major campaign. Through Zhinvali, he penetrated into Mtiuleti, passed the Cross Pass, reached Hevi, turned back, descended through Lomisi into the Ksani Gorge, and from there, through Mukhrani, returned to Tbilisi. The campaign demonstrated the power of central authority to the inhabitants of the gorges.
King George V convened a special darbaz (council), which with the participation of the highest officials of Mtiuleti - eristavs and khevisdavos, as well as elders of mountain communities - khevisbers and erovans, developed laws. At the king's order and with his active assistance, a special "Code" ("Dzeglis deba") was compiled for the mountain population of Kartli. Its creation was prompted by the difficult situation in mountainous Georgia. During the same period, a significant monument of state law was created - the "Code of the Royal Court," which defined the court etiquette and the rights and responsibilities of its officials.
By the 14th century, George V had achieved significant success in reuniting Georgia and restoring order in the country. His reign marked the beginning of a new era in Georgian history, with the restoration of political unity and the implementation of radical reforms.
