Georgian Royal Dynasties and Issues of Political Inheritance in Medieval Georgia

Abstract

According to the Georgian historical sources, during the transfer of royal power, the issue of inheritance was of special importance. Royal power usually passed from father to son. If the throne could not be handed over directly, the daughter’s rights would come to the fore. In this regard, the legal status of a woman member of the royal family is interesting. According to Georgian historical sources, women not only had hereditary property rights but also the right to inherit royal authority. Exactly according to this right, the royal government in Georgia has been legitimately transferred several times. One of the clearest examples of this is the enthronement of Mirian in Kartli. After marrying Abeshura, the daughter of the king of Kartli Asfaguri, he became the king of Kartli. As a result, the royal government has been transferred from wife to husband. This is how the kingship of the Parnavazian-Chosroid dynasty started in Kartli. Thus, Mirian and his successors became the political heirs of the Parnavazians. In the 6^th century, the Bagrationi family appeared in the Georgian political arena and became actively involved in the struggle for the Georgian royal throne. After a long confrontation, at the turn of the 11^th century, Bagrat III became the king of the united Georgian Kingdom. He was the political heir to both dynasties. He received the title of the king of Georgians from his father, and the Chosroid inheritance was again transferred by the line of a woman, and from Gurandukht, it passed to Bagrat.

Historical sources clearly show that the issue of the legitimacy of political inheritance was strictly conformed to first by the Chosroids and then by the Bagrations.

In conclusion, it is possible to say that the unified political line of the Georgian royal dynasty founded by Parnavaz was broken only in 1801 when the Russian Empire intervened in Georgia and abolished the monarchy. The political reality of a united Georgia was restored on a democratic basis with the adoption of the Constitution in 1921.