The legitimate heir-to-the-throne of Georgia reviewed in a historical and genealogical context The Georgian nation is grateful to the Lord that the genuine royal family of Bagrationi has survived to this very day, which has at least 1,300 years of history. The period between the 8th and 9th centuries AD witnessed the formation of the Principality of Tao-Klarjeti, led by the powerful Bagrationi Dynasty. This was one of the most powerful territorial unions in the territory of south-west Georgia, which sought the reunification of old Georgian lands. The territory was occupied by the dynasties of King Farnavaz and King Vakhtang Gorgasali, but was then divided during the Arab invasion (see the genealogical scheme of King Vakhtang VI). Beginning with the Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti, the ruling branch was considered a line of the Bagrationi of Tao, although genealogically this was a junior branch. From the second half of the 8th century onwards until the reign of David IV these kings held the title of “Kurapalati” (an honorable title which was granted by the Byzantine emperors to the Georgian kings). By the end of the 9th century (898), the Head of the Tao branch of the Tao-Klarjeti Bagrationi Dynasty, Adarnase II (898-923), received the title of “King of Georgians” (this included Tao-Klarjeti and part of the territory of Kartli). Between the 9th and 10th centuries the leadership of the Tao-Klarjeti was continued by the successors of the middle son of Ashot I Kurapalati, Bagrat I Kurapalati (826-876). King Bagrat III (975-1014), the Head of Tao branch and the direct descendant of Adarnase II, was the one who unified again Georgian lands. Today, the surname of Bagrationi has more than one hundred representatives, in Georgia and abroad. Naturally, not all of these representatives are heirs to the Royal Throne. And this was the main reason why following the collapse of the Soviet Union many scholars and researchers raised an issue to establish the legitimate heir-to the-throne of Georgia. To determine this, it was first necessary to consider the fact that Georgia, notwithstanding its two hundred years of Russian supremacy, survived to this day as a whole country and not in segregated states. Scholars had, therefore, to determine which branch of the Royal family of Georgia could be the legitimate successor not only of the last King of united Georgia (Giorgi VIII), before this was separated in the 15th century, but also of the last King of Georgia (Giorgi XII), who was the last monarch of the de jure restored kingdom in the second half of the 18th century. The representatives of the Kakhetian kingdom, which was established by the last King of undivided Georgia, Giorgi VIII, had on various occasions tried hard to reunite Georgia. One has to mention in particular King Teimuraz I (1625-1633), King Erekle I (1688-1703), King Aleksandre III (1717-1735), and King Teimuraz II (1744-1762). King Erekle II (1744-1798) finally succeeded in reuniting the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti in 1763. Today, the Head of the Royal House of Georgia is His Royal Highness Crown Prince Nugzar, the legitimate heir of the above mentioned kings. The royal branch of Kartli became extinct in 1919 with the demise of Prince Dimitri Petrovich (1863-1919). Even if this royal branch survived, its representatives would still not have been considered as legitimate claimants to the throne of Georgia, since as an autonomous political unit the Kingdom of Kartli had ceased to exist in 1763, and juridically became part of the unified Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Georgia). The princely offshoot branches of the Kingdom of Kartli indicated in the genealogical chart are: the Princes of Bagration-Mukhranski and the Bagration-Gochashvili. Those of the Kingdom of Kakheti are: the Princes of Bagration-Babadishi and the Bagration-Davitishvili. According to Georgian Dynastic rules and historical facts, these branches never had any relation to the Royal throne of Georgia. From a genealogical and historical perspective, the Imereti Royal branch is considered as a junior offshoot. This derives from the younger brother of King Alexandre I (1412-1442), Prince Giorgi, and not from the last King of united Georgia, Giorgi VIII, or from the last king of Georgia, Giorgi XII. The Treaty of the Iverians needs to be emphasized as well. According to this, the Kingdom of Imereti, together with the Principalities of Samegrelo and Guria, recognized the sovereign rights of King Erekle II. Later on, these rights and prerogatives were inherited by the last King of Georgia, Giorgi XII, whose direct heir is His Royal Highness Prince Nugzar. Following Prince Nugzar, these rights and prerogatives will be inherited by his elder daughter, Her Royal Highness Princess Anna.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 21:13:23 +0000