Rostom of Kartli

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Rostom Khan

Rostom or Rustam Khan (1565–1658) was a ruler of Kartli, eastern Georgia, from 1633 until his death. Appointed by a Persian shah as a Wali (i.e. viceroy) of Kartli, he styled himself king of kings and sovereign.

[edit] Life

A son of Daud Khan, a Georgian prince and convert to Islam, by a concubine, he was born Khosro Mirza and brought up Muslim at the Persian court. An intelligent and resolute in his decisions, he soon attracted the attention of Shah Abbas I of Safavid who appointed him, in 1618, a darugha (prefect) of the capital Isfahan. From 1625 to 1626, he took part in suppression of the Georgian opposition: he commanded a right flank at the victorious Battle of Marabda and saved part of the Persian troops from a complete disaster at the Battle of Ksani. In 1626, Khosro Mirza was recalled from Georgia and appointed a commander of the Shah's guard Quli. In 1630, Abbas, lying on a deathbed, urged him to protect a grandson and heir Saam Mirza, the future Shah Safi, whom Khosro served faithfully. In 1630, he led a Persian army which defeated the Ottoman forces and captured Baghdad. As a reward, he was appointed, in 1633, a wali of Kartli at the age of 67 and sent to suppress the opposition of Georgians who had managed to unite the eastern regions of Kartli and Kakheti under Teimuraz I for a brief period of 1630-1633. He adopted a name Rustam (Rostom, როსტომ', in Georgian transliteration) and came to Georgia with a large Persian army. He soon took control of Kartli and garrisoned all major fortresses with Persian forces, bringing them, however, under his tight control. His willingness to cooperate with his suzerain won for Kartli a larger degree of autonomy. A period of relative peace and prosperity ensued, with the cities and towns being revived, many deserted areas repopulated and commerce flourished. Although Muslim, Rostom helped to restore a major Georgian Orthodox cathedral of Living Pillar (Svetitskhoveli) at Mtskheta, and patronised Christian culture. However, Islam and Persian habits predominated at his court. He ruthlessly crushed an opposition of local nobles and invaded, in 1648, Kakheti, forcing Teimuraz to flee to Imereti (western Georgia).

Throughout his reign, a question of succession appeared to be a challenging task. As he had no children, Rostom intended to make the Imeretian prince Mamuka his heir. The latter, however, was soon suspected to have been involved in a plot, and he had to return to his native Imereti. In 1642, Rostom adopted his kinsman Luarsab, the late Simon Khan’s grandson, but he was assassinated in 1652 while hunting. Another candidate for the succession, Rostom’s step-son Otia, also died in mysterious circumstances. Only in 1653 was able Rostom to choose his successor. It was Vakhtang of Mukhrani, a representative of a minor Mukhranbatoni branch of the Bagrationi dynasty, who actually ran government in the last years of Rostom, and succeeded on his death on November 17, 1658. Rostom was buried in Qum, Persia, close to his late suzerain Abbas I.

[edit] Family

Rostom first married, in 1633, Ketevan, daughter of a noble Gorjasp Abashishvili, but she died a month later. His second wife was Mariam, daughter of the Mingrelian prince Manuchar I Dadiani and former wife of the Gurian prince Simon Gurieli.