George XII of Georgia

George XII (b. October 10, 1746 – d. December 28, 1800) was the last king of Kartli-Kakheti from 1798 to 1800. He was the son of Erekle II. In literature, he is sometimes referred to as George XIII. He was raised at the royal court. He participated in state affairs from the 1760s. In 1765, he did not support the strict punishment of the participants in the conspiracy against Erekle II. This became the basis for the rift between father and son. This dissatisfaction was further aggravated by his stepmother, Queen Darejan, who created disagreements between George XII and her own children. When George XII ascended the throne in January 1798, after the death of Erekle II, he was already seriously ill.

A very difficult domestic and foreign situation arose in Kartli-Kakheti during his reign. George XII took care of the restoration of Tbilisi, which had been destroyed as a result of the Persian invasion in 1795. He ordered a census of the population and introduced a monetary tax for the construction of the royal palace, but the collected money was spent on the development of churches. George XII tried to restore the standing army of the time of Erekle II, thought about the religious unity of Georgians and Armenians, tried to subdue the opposing Batonishvili party and curb domestic opposition, but he failed. In foreign policy, George XII followed the chosen course of relations with Russia. He demanded the fulfillment of the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783 and he hoped to deal with domestic and foreign political difficulties with the support of Russia. However, the entry of Russian troops into Georgia (November 26, 1799) could not restore the shaky state of Kartli-Kakheti. George XII agreed to limit the rights of the king stipulated in the treaty of 1783 in exchange of preserving the reign for himself and his descendants. The Russian government was following the crisis in the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and was waiting for a favorable moment to completely abolish this kingdom. After the death of George XII, the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was annexed by Russia.

Literature: ი ო ს ე ლ ი ა ნ ი პ., ცხოვრება გიორგი მეცამეტისა, ტფ., 1936; საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები, ტ. 4, თბ., 1973; Д у б р о в и н Н., Георгий ХII, последний царь Грузии и присоединение ее к России, 2 изд., СПб., 1897; Д у м б а д з е М. К., Из истории борьбы грузинского народа против колониальной политики царизма, «საქ. სსრ მეცნ. აკადემიის საზ. მეცნ. განყ-ბის მოამბე», 1963, №5.

M. Dumbadze