David Orbeliani (Georgian: დავით ორბელიანი), monikered David "the General" (დავით სარდალი, Davit’ Sardali) (January 11, 1739 – May 29 1796) was a Georgian military figure, politician, translator, and a poet of some talent.
A member of the prominent Georgian noble house with family ties with the Bagrationi royal dynasty, he was a hereditary prince of Sabaratiano, Constable of Somkhiti, and a high-ranking military commander under King Heraclius II of Georgia whose daughter, Tamar (1749-1786), married him at Tbilisi in 1762.[1]
He made several diplomatic journeys to Iran, from where he brought manuscripts of Qahraman-e qatel, a Persian prose romance of chivalry and adventure, and translated it as Qaramaniani (ყარამანიანი) which, although given some local Georgian color, follows its Persian original very closely and gained a considerable popularity in Georgia.[2] He is also a hero of panegyrics by the contemporary Georgian poet Besiki (1750-1791), whom he responded by writing love-poetry very much in the spirit of Besiki.[3]
He died in Tbilisi in 1796, and was interred at Sioni Cathedral.