George X of Kartli

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Giorgi X

George X (Georgian: გიორგი X, Giorgi X) (born ca. 1561 – died September 7, 1606), of the Bagrationi royal dynasty, was a king of the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli from 1599 until his death.

He fought alongside his father, Simon I of Kartli, against the Ottoman occupation forces since 1598. He held power after Simon was taken captive by the Turks at the Battle of Nakhiduri in 1599. George attempted several times, though vainly, to ransom his father (who would die as a prisoner in 1612) from captivity and even offered to the Sublime Porte his son as hostage. He soon returned to his struggle against the Ottomans and recovered Lorri in 1601. In 1602, when the Safavid shah of Persia Abbas I resumed a war against the Ottomans, George sided with the Persians and led the Georgian auxiliary troops which took part in the conquest of Erivan in 1603/1604. As a reward, Abbas I granted Giorgi X a minor possession in Iran. In exchange, the shah asked for an area in the Debed River valley in the strategic Lorri district. Abbas I populated this territory with members of the Turkmen tribe Borchalu. Finally, the Shah permitted Giorgi X to return to Kartli.

He was the first king of Kartli who attempted to establish diplomatic ties with the northern co-religionist power of Muscovy. George decided even to give his daughter Elene to the Czar Boris Godunov in marriage. However, unstable political situation in both countries terminated these contacts.

According to Georgian chronicles, George X died suddenly, from a sting on his tongue, after biting into a cake with a bee in it, at Mejvriskhevi, 1606. There have also been some speculations that the king was poisoned on the orders of the shah Abbas I. He was buried at Mtskheta.

George X, then prince, married on September 15 1578 Mariam (died after 1610), daughter of Giorgi III Dadiani, prince of Mingrelia. Their children were:

Luarsab II of Kartli
Princess Elene (born 1591)
Princess Khorashan Darejan (died 1659) who married in 1612 Teimuraz I of Kakheti
Princess Tinatin (aka Peri Lala Fatima Sultan Begum in Persia) who was married (as his ninth wife) first to Shah Abbas I from 1604 to 1614, and then to Paykhar Khan, governor of Kakheti, 1616-1623