George II of Georgia

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Giorgi II (გიორგი II) (d. 1112), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia from 1072 to 1089. He was a son of his predecessor Bagrat IV of Georgia and Borena of Alania. For the whole of his reign he had to contend rebellions of the nobles of the realm and the Seljuk Turks invasions.

In 1073, several powerful feudal lords rose against the royal authority. Niania, son of Kvabuli, captured Georgia’s capital Kutaisi; Ioane Bagvashi and his son Liparit supported by the secessionist Kakhetians took control over the Ksani gorge, while Vardan, eristavi (duke) of Svans attacked Saegro (Egrisi). King Giorgi managed to quell the rebellion using force and compromise. He agreed to extend fiefdoms of the rebels in exchange of their submission. In 1074, Ioane and his son Liparit revolted again, but were defeated by Giorgi supported by King Aghsartan I of Kakhs and the Meskhetians.

The year 1074 was marked by a powerful Seljuk attack. Sultan Malik Shah I took Samshvilde and ravaged Kartli. Despite Giorgi’s victory over the Sultan’s lieutenant Sarang of Ganja at the battle of Partskisi, he could not repulse the next Seljuk attacks. Most of his kingdom had been devastated in a series of campaigns called the Great Turkish Invasions (didi turkoba in Georgian) of Georgia by 1082, when Giorgi was forced to conclude a peace by which Georgia became a tributary of the Seljuk Sultanate. According to the agreement, Giorgi II received a Seljuk auxiliary force to reassert his supremacy in the Kakhet-Hereti. He advanced into the province and laid siege to the local stronghold Vezhini in the winter of 1082-1083, but failed to take the fortress and left Kakheti. The situation in the kingdom was further deteriorated by a disastrous earthquake of 1083.

Unable to deal with the difficulties of defending his kingdom, he stepped down from the throne in 1089, allowing his son to David to become King David IV.