Prince Mirian of Georgia

Mirian (; , Mirian Irakliyevich Gruzinsky) (19 August 1767 – 15 October 1834) was a Georgian prince (batonishvili) of the Bagrationi dynasty, born to King Heraclius II and Queen Darejan Dadiani. After Heraclius placed his kingdom under the Russian protectorate in 1783, Mirian entered the Russian army, attaining to the rank of major general. He reconciled with the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801, departing to St. Petersburg, where he ended his days as a senator of the Empire. Of some literary talent, Mirian translated from Russian and himself composed poetry. Early life and military career in Russia Mirian was born in 1767 into the family of Heraclius II, King of Kartli and Kakheti and his third wife Darejan née Princess Dadiani. He was the fifth son and the ninth child born of this union. Upon signing of the Treaty of Georgievsk between Heraclius II and Catherine II of Russia in 1783, Mirian and his brother, the hierodeacon Anton, journeyed to St. Petersburg and were attached to the Imperial court. On this occasion, Mirian was commissioned into the Russian service as a colonel of the Iziumsky Light Cavalry Regiment. During the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), he served at Kuban. Promoted to major general in 1793, Mirian was the chief of the Kabardinsky Musketeer Regiment from 3 December 1796 to 27 January 1798. He saw service under the command of Count Ivan Gudovich on the Caucasus Line. During these years, he had a regular correspondence with his father and the Georgian court. Return to Georgia In January 1798, as his father lay dying, Mirian hurried to Telavi, bringing with him a doctor from Astrakhan, Girtzius. Arriving at home, he found Heraclius dead and his family descending into a dynastic crisis as his mother, Queen Dowager Darejan, insisted that Heraclius's successor and her step-son, George XII, remained pursuant to the late ruler's 1791 testament, requiring the king's successor to pass the throne not to his offspring, but to his eldest brother. This new rule would have made Mirian the fourth in the line of succession, behind George and his brothers, Iulon and Vakhtang. George XII reneged on the testament and obtained from Tsar Paul I of Russia recognition of his son, David, as heir-apparent on 18 April 1799.