In 1696, George XI arranged Rusudan's marriage with his nephew, Prince
Vakhtang, who wed her at
Kharagauli in
Imereti, where George XI and his family had been displaced from Kartli after his break with the shah of Iran in 1688. That same year, George XI reconciled with the shah and was restored to Kartli. In 1703, Vakhtang acceded to the regency of Kartli for George XI and a successor,
Kaikhosro, both reigning in absentia while serving in the Iranian ranks in
Afghanistan, where they were both killed in separate campaigns. Vakhtang's regency was marked by a relative political and cultural revival in Kartli. In April 1712, Vakhtang repaired to Iran to receive his investiture from Shah
Soltan Hoseyn and was detained there until being forced to comply with the condition of accepting Islam in 1716. During his absence, Vakhtang's brother
Simon took over the regency, being succeeded by the rule of another, Islamized brother,
Jesse. During this period of time, the country became engulfed in political intrigues and factional power struggles. Rusudan, living with his sons in
Gori, west of the increasingly hostile capital of
Tbilisi, eventually fled Jesse's oppressive regime to the mountains of
Racha. Jesse had even promised the shah to send Rusudan and her sons, and 500 families from Kartli for resettlement in Iran. She was a moderating influence on his elder son,
Bakar, who sought to avenge the enemies of his father. The queen, thus, saved the
Catholicos Domentius, suspected of being involved in political intrigues, from being blinded and averted the death of the general (
spaspet) Luarsab
Orbeliani. == Queen consort ==