Diarchy After the
Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243, which subdued the
Sultanate of Rum to the
Mongols, Kaykhusraw was forced to release David Ulu. Rusudan died in 1245, still waiting for her son's return from the Mongolian court. A part of the Georgian nobility, thinking that
David the son of
Rusudan had died, proclaimed David Ulu as the
king of Georgia. In 1246 the two Davids (the future
David VI, who had been in Mongolia since 1243, and the recently proclaimed David VII Ulu) attended the enthronement of
Guyuk Khan at the
Mongol court in
Karakorum,
Mongolia, all bearing
homage, tribute, and presents. The 13th century historian
Juvayni said: In order to control the country more easily, due to the apparent succession crisis, although the majority of the nobility did not side with the illegitimate son, the Mongols divided the Georgian nobles into two rival parties, each representing its own candidate for the crown.
Decline of the kingdom In the following years, both David Ulu and
David Narin showed unwavering loyalty to the
Mongols even after the change at the head of the
Mongol Empire and the coming to power of the great Khan
Mongke in 1251. Georgia then came under the supreme rule of
Batu Khan, who was given virtually independent rule over the western parts of the Mongol Empire by Mongke. Having embarked on an expedition to the
Middle East in 1253, Mongke's brother
Hulegu Khan was particularly keen to exploit the political and religious divisions of that part of the world. Attacking mostly
Muslims, he tried to maintain the best possible relations with
Georgians and
Armenians. Numerous Georgian-Armenian military units participated in the
Mongol conquest of Alamut in 1256, where they were personally led by David Ulu, and of
Baghdad in 1258, and in the skirmishes between Mongol leaders during the campaign.
Later life coinage in the name of David VII citing
Möngke as overlord,
Persian, dated 1253.
Georgia lost tens of thousands of soldiers in these campaigns, and was left without native defenders against the Mongol forces sent to suppress spontaneous rebellions that broke out due to high taxes and the heavy burden of military service. The country suffered heavily from the consequences of rebellions against the Mongol authorities, and even more devastating than the Mongol punitive expeditions were the internal conflicts between currents loyal and disloyal to the
Mongols. In 1259, Georgian nobles led by
David Narin rose up against the Mongols, separating the
Kingdom of Western Georgia from the unified Georgia. When in 1260
Hulegu Khan requested the presence of
Georgians and
Armenians as part of the Mongol units in the
Levant, remembering the losses of his troops in the 1258
Siege of Baghdad, David Ulu rebelled. A large Mongol army led by General
Arghun Aqa invaded Georgia from the south, inflicted a heavy defeat on David and
Sargis I Jaqeli in a battle near
Akhaldaba, and then brutally plundered the country. The Mongol campaign continued during the winter, and the following year the king was forced to flee to
Imereti, which the Mongols failed to conquer. David's family was captured, and his wife
Gvantsa was killed. Peace with the Mongols was achieved in 1262, when David Ulu returned to
Tbilisi to reclaim his crown as a Mongol vassal, pledging allegiance to
Hulegu, while David Narin only nominally recognized Mongol rule in Imereti. The reason for Hulegu's tolerance towards the rebel lies in the fact that since 1261, the Il-kan was at war with the
Golden Horde, which was on a larger scale. David VII Ulu died of a bowel infection at the age of 55 in the spring of 1270. He was buried at
Mtskheta. He was succeeded by his son
Demetre II. ==Marriage and children==