The Zvenigorodsky Embassy to Kakheti

The Zvenigorodsky Embassy to Kakheti 1589–90, was a foreign mission from the Tsardom of Russia to the Kingdom of Kakheti.

In April 1589, after receiving the Oath Book from King Alexander II of Kakheti, the Russian Sovereign Feodor Ivanovich dispatched an embassy to Kakheti led by Prince Simon Zvenigorodsky and the dyak (secretary) Torkh Antonov. They were accompanied on the journey to Georgia by the Georgian envoys led by Prince Kaplan Vachnadze.

The Zvenigorodsky Embassy arrived in Kakheti in October 1589. The envoys presented Alexander II with the Russian Sovereign's Charter of Favor (წყალობის სიგელი - Tsqalobis Sigeli) and gifts. In the Charter, the Sovereign promised to take the Kingdom of Kakheti under his protection and defend it from external enemies.

Following the conclusion of negotiations in May 1590, the Zvenigorodsky Embassy departed Kakheti for Russia. They were accompanied by the Georgian ambassadors Suleiman and Khurshita.

Sources: Белокуров С. А., Сношения России с Кавказом, в. 1 (1578–1613), М., 1889.

Literature: ბერძენიშვილი ნ., საქართველოს ისტორიის საკითხები, წგ. 4, თბ., 1967.

V. Macharadze