David II of Kakheti

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David II (Georgian: დავით II, Davit' II) also known as Imām Qulī Khān (იმამყულ-ხანი) (1678 – 1722), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1709 to 1722. Although a Muslim convert and a loyal vassal of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, he failed to ensure his kingdom’s security and most of his reign was marked by Lekianoba - incessant inroads by the Dagestani mountainous clansmen.

[edit] Biography

David was a son of King Erekle I of Kakheti and Queen Anna née Cholokashvili. He was brought up at the shah’s court at Isfahan and installed as wali (viceroy) of Kakheti upon his father’s retirement to Iran in 1703. David resided at Qara Aghach or Qaraghaji in eastern Kakheti, on the borders of Shirvan, but had to move his residence to Telavi after he failed to recover Balakan from the Dagestani warlords and lost Qakh to them in 1706. After the death of his father in 1709, Erekle was ordered to Isfahan to receive investiture from Shah Husayn, leaving his younger brother Teimuraz and mother Anna in charge of the government. The years of his absence at the Shah’s court (1711-15) were troubled by the Dagestan attacks and peasant revolts. Returning to Kakheti, David attempted to bring the situation under control. He made an alliance with Jesse, ruler of the neighboring Georgian kingdom of Kartli, and marched against Dagestan, but suffered defeat and failed to prevent large migrations of Lezgins in the Kakhetian borderlands. In December 1719, he met Vakhtang VI of Kartli and negotiated a new alliance against the Dagestani clans. Early in 1720, reinforcements sent by Vakhtang arrived in Kakheti, but David refrained from another expedition and sent the Kartlian army back home.

He died at his summer residence at Magharo in 1722 and was buried at Qum, Iran.

[edit] Family

David was married to Yatar, daughter of the shamkhal Jahan-Begum. They had three sons:

  • Levan (Mahmud Reza Mirza) (died 1734), governor of Ganja for the Shah of Iran.
  • Alexander (Nazar 'Ali Mirza) (died 1737), governor of Tiflis during the absence of King Teimuraz II from 1736 to 1738.
  • Hasan-Mirza (died 1750), Georgian envoy to Nader Shah in 1734.

[edit] References

Preceded by
Erekle I		 King of Kakheti
1709-1722		 Succeeded by
Constantine II