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IRAN
AND THE WORLD IN THE SAFAVID AGE
Abstracts
Beradze, Dr. Grigol, Institute of
Oriental Studies, Tbilisi, On the History of the Political
Relations of Safavid Iran and Georgia: King Luarsab II and his
Captivity in Iran
The paper deals with some
episodes of Irano-Georgian political interrelations in the time of
Shah Abbas I. Namely,
it discusses the Iranian period in the life of Luarsab II
(1606-1615), king of Kartli (Eastern Georgia) - one of the most
distinguished and tragic political figures in the history of
seventeenth-century Georgia.
King
Luarsab's tragedy began in 1614 when the territory of Eastern
Georgia was invaded and completely occupied by the military forces
of Shah Abbas I. The
rebellious Luarsab, was seized and taken into captivity in Iran by
the Safavid Shah. In
1616 he was incarcerated in a prison-fortress at Shiraz.
However, notwithstanding drastic efforts, Shah 'Abbas I
failed to subdue the staunch and refractory spirit of the Georgian
king. Luarsab II
firmly withstood all terrible ordeals and torments, refusing - at
the cost of his own life - to renounce Christianity.
In 1622, by order of the Shah, the 'recalcitrant' Georgian
king was martyred in Shiraz.
The Georgian Church canonized him.
In
this paper, the author also discusses a hitherto unpublished
personal seal of King Luarsab II with a Persian inscription,
impressions of which have survived on a number of Georgian royal
documents issued in 1606-1615.
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