Giorgi XI
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Giorgi XI or Gurgin Khan, as he was known in Persia, was the ruler of eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli from Bagrationi dynasty and reigned in 1676-1688 and 1703-1709.
He succeeded his father, King Vakhtang V Shahnawaz in 1676. King Giorgi attempted to centralize loose royal authority in Kartli and weaken Persian influence. In 1688, he organized an unsuccessful uprising against the Persians. After this failure, he was dethroned by the Shah. However, a great unrest in the Persian Empire made Shah Hussein to negotiate with Giorgi in 1696 and restore his throne in 1703 provided he would serve Persia with Georgian troops. It was the beginning of an illustrious but, ultimately, tragic career in the service of the Persian Safavids.
The shah entrusted him with restoring order along the eastern frontiers of the empire and appointed him beglarbeg (governor general) of Kerman. Giorgi, aided by his brother Levan, by 1700 had reestablished the shah's sovereignty in the region. Soon Giorgi was assigned to suppress the Afghan rebellion. He was granted the title of Gurgin Khan by the Shah and was appointed the Viceroy of Kandahar and Sipah Salar (commander-in-chief) of the Persian armies. While he was in the field, he entrusted the administration of his country of Kartli to a nephew, the future King Vakhtang VI.
Gurgin Khan managed to crash the revolts of Afghan tribes and ruled Kandahar with uncompromising severity. He was opposed by Mir Wais Khan Khotak, local tribal leader of Ghilzay Afghans, who invited Giorgi to negotiate at his country estate at Kohkran on the outskirts of Kandahar city and assassinated him along with the Georgian escort in April 1709. A punitive expedition to the Afghan border led by Giorgi’s nephew Prince Kaikhosro in 1711 ended disastrously with his death and the destruction of nearly his entire Persian-Georgian force of 30,000.
Giorgi XI was succeeded by his son, Levan (Shah Quli Khan) as King of Kartli.
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