George XI

George XI (Georgian: გიორგი XI, romanized: giorgi XI; died 21 April 1709), also known as Shah Navaz Khan II and Gurgin Khan in Iran, was a Georgian monarch (mepe) who ruled the Kingdom of Kartli as a Safavid Persian subject from 1676 to 1688 and again from 1703 to 1709. He is best known for his struggle against the Safavids which dominated his weakened kingdom and later as a Safavid commander-in-chief in what is now Afghanistan.

Life

He was the son of Vakhtang V, whom he succeeded as the ruler of Kartli in 1676, by his first wife, Princess Rodam Qaplanishvili-Orbeliani. As with many other Georgian rulers, he had to nominally accept Islam¹ and take the name of Shahnawaz II before being able to be confirmed as a viceroy by Shah Solayman I.

When nearly half-century-long peaceful relations between Kartli and its Persian suzerains significantly deteriorated, George attempted to centralise loose royal authority in Kartli and weaken the Persian influence. He patronised Catholic missionaries and had correspondence with Innocent XI. After the Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Vienna, George XI hoped to exploit that Empire's new weakness. In a letter to Innocent XI dated April 29, 1687 he vowed to be a Catholic King and declared his readiness and willingness and that of his troops to obey any order of the Roman Pope. According to Catholic missionaries, George remained until his death a faithful Catholic.

In 1688, George headed an abortive coup against a Persian governor of the neighboring Georgian region of , and attempted, though vainly, to gain support against the Safavid overlordship. In response, Shah Solayman deposed George and gave his crown to the rival Kakhetian prince , who then embraced Islam and took the name Nazar-Ali Khan. , the () of , was placed in charge of the government in Kakheti and commissioned to reinforce Erekle's positions in Kartli. George fled to in western Georgia, whence he made several attempts to reclaim his possession. In 1696, he managed to stage a temporary comeback and helped his brother to temporarily regain the in western Georgia, but was eventually forced to withdraw from Kartli again. In 1694, following the death of Solayman, there was a change in the government in Georgia: Abbas-Quli Khan was accused by his rivals of supporting George XI. On the orders of the new shah , he was promptly arrested by Erekle and sent to under guard, while his possessions were confiscated. Qalb-Ali Khan was appointed Abbas-Quli Khan's successor as Persian governor of Kakheti. However, the strife in Georgia as well as the Safavid empire in general forced Husayn to make peace with George who was summoned to Isfahan in 1696. The shah entrusted him with restoring order along the eastern frontiers of the empire and appointed him of in 1699. It was the beginning of an illustrious but, ultimately, tragic career in the service of the Safavids.