George IV of Georgia

George IV Lasha (Lasha George; in Georgian: გიორგი IV ლაშა, ლაშა გიორგი) (1191–1223) of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1213 to 1223.

A son of Queen Tamar and David Soslani, he was declared as a coregent by his mother in 1207. He continued Tamar’s policy of strengthening of the Georgia feudal state. He put down the revolts in neighbouring Muslim vassal states in the 1210s and began preparations for a large-scale campaign against Jerusalem to support the Crusaders in 1220. However, the Mongol approach to the Georgian borders made the Crusade plan unrealistic. The first Mongol expedition defeated two Georgian armies in 1221–1222 and left through Inner Caucasus. Georgians suffered heavy losses in this war and the King himself was severely wounded. As a result Lasha George became an invalid and died prematurely at the age of 31. He was succeeded by his sister Rusudan.

George Lasha was known as an open minded person and met much criticism from a conservative feudal society. The nobles and Christian clergymen rejected his wife and failed to recognize her as queen. She was a girl from a family of commoners. Ultimately, the King had to compromise and divorced her formally, refusing, however, to marry anyone else.

Some medieval sources characterize George IV as a wise ruler and brave warrior, while others point to his immoral life style and addiction to mysticism and even Sufism.

He was survived by a son David (the future King David VII Ulu). George was buried at Gelati monastery.