David was a brother of the Kartlian king
Simon I, who led a long-lasting liberation war against the
Safavid Persian and
Ottoman empires. In December 1561, David repaired to
Qazvin to offer his submission to Shah Tahmasp, converted to Islam and adopted the name of Daud Khan. The shah appointed him ruler in Kartli, elevated him to the rank of
farzand ("son") at his investiture, and sent with a Persian army to claim the power. He may have been an unnamed Georgian prince reported by the English explorer
Anthony Jenkinson as attending his audience with Shah Tahmasp on 20 November 1562, but Daud appears to have been returned to Georgia in August 1562 and the Georgian prince of Jenkinson's report could have been another Georgian renegade,
Prince Jesse of Kakheti (Isa Khan). Relying on the Persian occupation forces and a few loyal nobles, Daud was in control of the Georgian capital
Tbilisi and the province of
Lower Kartli, while the rest of the kingdom remained faithful to Simon. The rival brothers met on the battlefield on several occasions. The hostilities took place mainly around Tbilisi, which was blockaded by Simon's forces from 1567 to 1569. Although the king won the battles at
Dighomi (1567) and Samadlo (1569), the Persians eventually prevailed and took Simon captive at the
Battle of Partskhisi, 1569. He was sent in chains to the fortress of
Alamut, and Daud Khan assumed nominal control of all of Kartli. As previously, he relied on the Persians and paid an annual tribute to the Shah. A patriotic alliance of nobles led by Prince Sachino Baratashvili continued, however, resistance to the renegade Georgian ruler. and
Mustafa Pasha, following the departure of David XI ("Daud Khan") from the city, during the
Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590).
Secaatname (1586) In 1578, a peace between the Safavids and the Ottomans collapsed. The Turkish army commanded by
Lala Mustafa Pasha overran much of Georgia and dislodged Daud Khan, who had burnt the citadel of Tbilisi and taken shelter at Lorri. The Shah presently freed Simon to fight against the Ottomans and reinstated him as king of Kartli. In retaliation, Daud Khan handed the control over Lorri to the Turks and fled to
Istanbul, where he was welcomed and granted lordship over two
sanjaks. His sons, Bagrat and Khosro, took shelter in Persia. During his stay in
Turkey, Daud Khan compiled two Ottoman-era medical treatises (
qarabadin) and translated it into Georgian, sending a copy to his motherland. ==Family==