Giorgi Saakadze - Biography

Biography

Saakadze's family came of the petty nobility (aznauri). His father, Siaush, rose in prominence through a loyal service to King Simon I of Kartli, whom Giorgi joined in military service in his early career. Under the young king Luarsab II, he was appointed a mourav of Tbilisi, Tskhinvali, and Dvaleti in 1608. Saakadze’s influence and prestige especially grew after he destroyed an Ottoman invasion force at the battle of Tashiskari in June 1609, thereby saving Luarsab from being dislodged. In 1611, the king married Saakadze’s sister, Macrine, annoying the great nobles, who grew increasingly suspicious of the ambitious and aspiring officer who had had risen from the ranks of the petty nobility to become the most powerful man in Kartli. The animosity between the two nobles parties centered on the princes P’arsadan Tsitsishvili and Shadiman Baratashvili on one hand, and Saakadze on the other, culminated in May 1612, when a threat to his life led Saakadze to defect to Iran. Having converted to Islam and displayed his military ability in Iran’s war with the Ottomans, he quickly won the confidence of Shah Abbas I of Iran and was regularly consulted on the Georgian affairs.

In 1614, Saakadze avenged Luarsab and his nobles by aiding Shah Abbas in the invasion of Georgia which brought Luarsab’s reign to an end. In 1619, the shah appointed him a vekil (regent) to Bagrat Khan, the Iranian nominee to the throne of Kartli. Saakadze turned into a de facto ruler of Kartli. Once the hostilities with the Ottomans resumed, Saakadze served as one of the leading commanders in the shah’s ranks from 1621 to 1623. His military exploits led Abbas to appoint him to the staff of Qarchiha-Khan who led a 35,000-strong army to crush the rebellion in Georgia. Saakadze, however, conspired with the rebel leaders – his brother-in-law Zurab of Aragvi and king Teimuraz I of Kakheti – and ambushed the Iranian army at Martqopi on March 25, 1625, inflicted a decisive defeat on the invaders. Saakadze went on to annihilate the Turkic nomads transplanted by the Iranian government to replace the exiled Georgian population, and raided the Iranian garrisons as far as Ganja and Karabakh. In an act of revenge, Shah Abbas put Saakadze’s younger son, Paata, to death, and sent his severed head to the Georgians. The punitive Iranian expedition followed soon thereafter, and won a costly victory over the Georgians at the battle of Marabda. Saakadze withdrew into the mountains, and organized a powerful guerrilla resistance which forced Abbas I to recognize Teimuraz’s royal status.

The unity of Georgian nobles quickly collapsed, however. Saakadze’s opposition to Teimuraz’s control of Kartli led to a bitter conflict which culminated in the fratricidal battle of Bazaleti in the fall of 1626. The royal army won a victory, driving Saakadze into exile to Istanbul where he entered the service of Sultan Ibrahim I. He briefly served as a governor of the Konya Vilayet and fought against the Iranians at Erzurum (1627-1628), and in Meskheti (1628). However, Grand Vizier Ekrem Hüsrev Pasha soon accused Saakadze of treason and had him, along with his son Avt’andil and a Georgian entourage, assassinated at Aleppo on October 3, 1629.

His last surviving son, Ioram, later attained to the princely rank in Georgia, and founded the Tarkhan-Mouravi noble family.