Kakheti crisis The new king, George I, was therefore largely inexperienced in political affairs, unlike his father, owing to his young age. At eighteen, the monarch had not yet acquired sufficient knowledge of the complex issue of the nobility, yet he was already too old for the appointment of a
regent—or even a highly influential advisor—without risking becoming the puppet of some powerful lord motivated only by his own aristocratic allies. For this reason, George was unable to prevent the first crisis of his reign, which erupted between the crown and the nobility. This class, representing the former Georgian high aristocracy from before unification, chose to target the most vulnerable region of the kingdom, one that had joined last and under difficult circumstances:
Kakheti. The
aznauri (lords), described as “treacherous” by the
Georgian Chronicles, had lived in comfortable conditions when Kakheti was an independent kingdom, but were exiled to western Georgia by King
Bagrat III in 1010. They rebelled against royal authority and the unity of the country. Upon returning to their homeland, they (whose names remain unknown) seized and took hostage the local governors (
eristavi, meaning “
grand duke”) appointed by Georgia, demanding the restoration of an independent Kakheti similar to that which had existed until 1010. Taken by surprise, King George I had no choice but to comply with the nobles’ demands. In an agreement that deprived Georgia of more than a third of its territory within the first year of his reign, he recognized the independence of Kakheti and released the former
chorepiscopus Kvirike III, who assumed the title of “
King of Kakheti and Hereti.” As a consequence, King George I was obliged to remove the title of Ranis and
Kakhetians from his father’s former royal title, retaining only that of “King of the Abkhazians and Iberians.” However, it cannot truly be said that Kvirike III saw himself as anything other than a Georgian monarch. Both he and his people continued to depend on the
Georgian Orthodox Church, with only a de facto independent bishop residing in
Alaverdi. Despite any claims to the contrary, the
Georgian language remained in common use among the
Kakhetians. Politically, Kvirike later became an ally of Georgia against two shared enemies—the
Alans, who lived on the northern slopes of the
Greater Caucasus, and the
Shaddadids—beginning as early as the reign of George I’s successor,
Bagrat IV. Why, then, did George I deprive his kingdom of a third of its territory when Kvirike considered himself an ally of the same culture and faith? The true reason remains uncertain. However, historian Nodar Assatiani proposed a theory that may explain the Kakhetian–Georgian affair: either the young Georgian king reached an agreement with the Kakhetian nobility and took advantage of Kakheti’s diplomatic isolation to ally himself with Alaverdi, or George I voluntarily granted the region to Kvirike III in order to avoid a
Byzantine invasion and the devastation of that area.
Georgia's regional power before the loss of
Kakheti (1010-1014). When
Bagrat III died in 1014, Georgia could rightly be considered the leading power of the
Caucasus. Few others could lay claim to that title. To the north, nearly all the nomadic tribes and peoples who once sought to form “countries” had already fallen under the suzerainty of the first ruler of unified Georgia, though some groups—such as the
Alans—remained de facto beyond the jurisdiction of Georgia. To the east, as previously mentioned, neither the
Kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti nor the
Emirate of Ganja—still paying tribute at the time—posed a threat to Georgia; one was regarded as an ally, the other a vassal. In the south, only the
Kingdom of Armenia matched Georgia’s military strength. King
Gagik I Shahanshah had ruled the Armenian kingdom since 989. Both Armenian and foreign chronicles describe him as a strong and powerful monarch in the region, comparable in prestige to
David Kuropalates. However, he died nearly thirty years later, in 1020, believing he had left behind a firmly established realm for his descendants. His eldest son and designated heir,
Hovhannes-Smbat III, proved far less capable than his father, provoking the anger of his younger brother
Ashot, known as the Valiant. Ashot rebelled and, without extensive warfare, succeeded in carving out an independent principality in northeastern Armenia in 1021.
Senekerim-Hovhannes,
King of Vaspurakan, cleverly positioned himself as mediator between the two brothers to prevent a civil war that could invite
Byzantine intervention. Yet no lasting resolution emerged, and he remained the most prominent figure in Armenia. At this point, George I of Georgia entered the scene. Replacing Senekerim-Hovhannes as arbiter, he proposed a genuine settlement: dividing the lands of Gagik I, he granted the region of
Ani to Hovhannes-Smbat III, while Ashot received the territories situated between Georgia and the
Abbasid Caliphate. However, a minor incident soon broke the agreement. According to
Aristakes Lastivertsi, Ashot became enraged upon learning that his brother, on his journey to Ani, had stopped overnight at Chatik—territory belonging to Ashot. He sent envoys to George I, who decided to “come to his aid”. The Georgian king marched to Ani, encountered no resistance, seized the city, and plundered and destroyed it. Subsequently, nobles loyal to Gagik I’s legitimate successor defected and handed Hovhannes-Smbat over to George, who released him in exchange for several fortresses and Ani’s formal vassalage. Georgia now stood as the foremost power in the Caucasus. Yet this was not enough for George: he sought not only titles, but new lands. Having apparently recovered from the earlier loss of
eastern Georgia, he was ready to confront a far greater adversary.
War with the Byzantine Empire .
The Skylitzes Chronicle. George is shown as fleeing on horseback on the right and
Basil II holding a shield and lance on the left. Still young and proud of his early achievements, George I decided to rekindle the old tensions between his kingdom and the
Byzantine Empire, which had pursued imperialist ambitions in the
Caucasus region since at least the reign of
Justinian (527–565). Considering himself the true successor of those who sought to unite the Georgian lands, the loss of
Kakheti and Hereti drove him to seek new territories in the southwest. He set his sights on
Tao, the former
Kingdom of the Iberians and hereditary domain of the early
Bagrationi dynasty. This region had been bequeathed by testament to Emperor
Basil II by
David III Kurapalates as a form of punishment for the latter’s support of the rebel
Bardas Phokas; part of it had later been granted by Byzantine to
Bagrat III. Since the year 1000, Basil II had been fully engaged in a long and brutal war against the
Bulgarians—earning him the epithet Bulgar Slayer—and thus had little time to concern himself with Georgia. Taking advantage of this, George I invaded the disputed territory for the first time in 1015 or 1016, without provoking an immediate military response from the emperor. However,
Aristakes Lastivertsi reports a written exchange between Basil and the Georgian monarch, in which the emperor declared:Following this defiance, Basil II personally intervened despite his ongoing difficulties in Bulgaria. Yet the renewed alliance between Georgia and Byzantium’s principal rival, the
Fatimid Caliphate—against which Basil had waged war between 992 and 995—initially repelled the Greek forces. By 1018, however, Bulgaria had been completely subdued by Byzantine arms: Tsar
Presian II was deposed, and his kingdom was made a province of the Byzantine Empire. Soon after, the Fatimid Caliph
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah died and was succeeded by his inexperienced son,
Ali az-Zahir, who proved too weak to maintain any focus on Georgian affairs. Left isolated on the international stage, George I now faced the full might of the Byzantine army. The two forces met on the plains of
Basiani, in Tao. George retreated, burning the town of
Oltisi to block the Greek advance, but was overtaken at Kola. Nearby, at the village of Shirimni, the Georgian rearguard was attacked by the Byzantine vanguard, leading to a
fierce battle on 11 September 1021. The engagement was narrowly won by Basil II’s troops, with the emperor himself present on the battlefield, though many of Georgia’s greatest generals perished. The Georgian army hastily withdrew toward
Samtskhe, pursued by the Byzantines, who ravaged
Javakheti and set fire to the city of
Artaani. A pursuit ensued following the initial encounters. From Samtskhe, upon sighting the approach of enemy forces, King George I withdrew to the region of
Trialeti. Once there, he prevented the Byzantine troops from catching up, while his own army was reinforced by soldiers from
Kakheti-Hereti and the mountains of the
Greater Caucasus. Emperor Basil II, in turn, retreated and spent the winter at Artaani, using the season to devastate the surrounding regions in retaliation. Later, he established his camp within imperial territory near
Trebizond, where he received the submission of
Hovhannes-Smbat III of Armenia—a vassal of Georgia—and initiated the first attempts at negotiation with the Georgian kingdom. Around the same time,
Vaspurakan was ceded to Byzantium by King
Senekerim-Hovhannes, who sought protection from the advancing
Seljuks. Surrounded on all sides, Georgia found itself in a precarious position and, as a last resort, intervened in the internal affairs of the Byzantine Empire. In 1022, the strategos of
Anatolia,
Nikephoros Xiphias—a distinguished Byzantine general who had previously fought in the war against the
Bulgarians—rose in rebellion alongside his namesake,
Nikephoros Phokas (nicknamed “the Twisted-Neck”), son of the former rebel
Bardas Phokas. Together, they opposed Emperor Basil II. Officially, their revolt stemmed from their exclusion from the Caucasian campaign; however, in reality, the rebellion was instigated by George I, who exploited the envy and resentment of the Byzantine generals. On 11 September 1022, exactly one year after the Georgian defeat at Shirimni, Basil II decisively crushed the revolt and brought the rebels to
Constantinople. Realizing the Georgian monarch’s involvement, Basil once again turned his forces against Georgia, compelling George I to sue for peace. George attempted to recover from this setback by sending Prince Zviad Liparitisdze with a large contingent to meet the Byzantine emperor. During the winter of 1022–1023, he seized the opportunity to reoccupy Tao. Acting on the treacherous counsel of several Georgian nobles, George I ordered an attack on the imperial troops. Personally leading his army onto the plain of Basiani, he engaged the Byzantines in a fierce and bloody
battle. The Greek division of the enemy army was routed, yet the contingents from the
Kievan Rus’ continued their assault with great tenacity, ultimately defeating the Georgian forces. Many Georgian nobles and soldiers fell in battle. Peace negotiations resumed soon afterward, resulting in a treaty between Basil II and George I. Under its terms, the young prince
Bagrat, the king’s eldest son—then three years old—was sent to Constantinople as a hostage for three years. Georgia was also compelled to cede fourteen fortresses and to renounce all claims to the territories of David Kuropalates. Consequently, Georgia lost control over Tao,
Javakheti,
Shavsheti, the plains of Basiani, and the towns of Artaani and Kola. The first
Byzantine–Georgian war thus concluded with a decisive Byzantine victory.
End of the reign and death Two years after the end of the war,
Basil II died on December 15, 1025. His brother
Constantine VIII succeeded him on the imperial throne, just as the three-year period during which Crown Prince
Bagrat was to remain in
Constantinople had come to an end. Constantine didn't see it that way, however, and asked the catapan of
Iberia, Nikita, to take back the six-year-old Bagrat, who was still on Georgian territory. The catapan Nikita tried to recover the prince by force, but it was already too late: an innumerable Georgian army, ready for battle to defend the future king, stood in front of him. Later, the
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Melchizedek I (c. 1010 - 1033) traveled in Constantinople for what can be considered the first discussions between Byzantium and Georgia since the end of the war. There, as his country's ambassador to the empire, he bought the
Tao villages of Zadvareki, Orota and another whose name is unknown. In
Shavsheti, Naghvarevi was also taken, as were Tontio in
Javakheti, Orotan in the Kola region, Makharovani in Phanavari and Nakalakevi and Berdadzoni in Sacoeti. All these lands were later assigned to the
Georgian Orthodox Church. Two more years later, on August 16, 1027, King George I died while traveling in the
Trialeti region, in the village of Mkinvarni (also known as Itsroni or Vironi). He was buried in the
Bagrati Cathedral in his capital
Kutaisi. A recently discovered grave, presumably robbed in the 19th century, is proposed to have belonged to George I. According to the
Georgian Chronicles, the whole country mourned him, for during his reign he had surpassed all his ancestors in every possible quality. His son, then aged seven, was recognized and proclaimed
King of Georgia, under the name of
Bagrat IV. ==Heritage==