The Incorporation of Eastern Georgia into the Russian Empire (1798–1801)

Abstract

Scarcely had the coronation ceremonies been completed when the new king of Georgia, Giorgi, was forced to deal with a number of pressing concerns. Giorgi had often clashed with this brothers and half-brothers during his father’s lifetime,¹ and now faced stiff opposition from his stepmother, Queen Darejan, and her sons, led by his half-brothers Iulon and Alexander.² In order to placate Darejan, Erekle had overturned the principle of primogeniture in 1794 in favour of fraternal inheritance,\ mandating in his will that after his death, his eldest son Giorgi would become king, but that after Giorgi’s death, the throne would pass to the next surviving son of Erekle, rather than to Giorgi’s heir. Giorgi maintained that this codicil had been forced upon his father and that it was therefore invalid.³ Darejan and her sons were anti-Russian, and the dowager queen had repeatedly maintained that the relationship with Russia had brought no benefit to Georgia.⁴ Moreover, Giorgi had to face massive Ottoman-backed Lesghian raids into Georgian territory, which took place from July to September 1798, causing much destruction and loss of life.⁵ The Persians also continued to press their claims to Georgia; the grand vizier, Khadji Ibrahim, declared that the Russian protectorate over Georgia was illegal since the borders between the two Empires had been fixed by earlier treaties and reiterated that ‘Georgia, Kakhetia, and Tiflis’ belonged to the Persian Empire