Giorgi Saakadze

Giorgi Saakadze (; c. 1570 – October 3, 1629) was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important but contradictory role in the politics of the early 17th-century Georgia. He was also known as Grand Mouravi in Georgia, Mūrāv-Beg in Persia and Māūrāv-Hūn or Māġrāv-Bek in the Ottoman Empire for having served as a mouravi (an appointed royal official which can be translated as seneschal or bailiff) of Tbilisi. Biography Giorgi Saakadze was born in 1570 in Noste village (Peli village by other sources), near the town on Kaspi. Saakadze's family came from the untitled nobility. His father, Siaush, rose to prominence through his 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 mouravi 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, Makrine, annoying the great nobles, who grew increasingly suspicious of the ambitious and aspiring officer who had risen from the ranks of the petty nobility to become the most powerful man in Kartli. The animosity between the two noble parties centered on the princes Parsadan Tsitsishvili and Shadiman Baratashvili on one hand, and Saakadze on the other. The nobles convinced Luarsab that Saakadze was an Iranian traitor, prompting him to divorce Makrine and authorize a plot to kill him in May 1612. Saakadze escaped the trap and defected 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 took revenge on Luarsab and his nobles by aiding Shah Abbas in the invasion of Georgia which brought Luarsab's reign to an end, but dissuaded the Iranians from committing atrocities in Kartli after the nation surrendered. 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.