George XII

Common card · No. 376604

George XII (Georgian: გიორგი XII, romanized: giorgi XII; 10 November 1746 – 28 December 1800), contemporaneously known as George XIII, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the second and last king (mepe) of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1798 until his death in 1800. The second son of King Heraclius II, George was raised in a country at war, facing regular attacks from the Persian and Ottoman empires in its south, and constant Lezgin raids from its northeast, and became heir to the throne after the early death of his older brother. As prince, he was a diligent governor of royal domains, seeking to repopulate devastated regions in Georgian Armenia, while seating on his father's royal council, assisting him in leading Georgian forces against Ottoman incursions, and representing him in diplomatic negotiations to bring peace to Western Georgia. However, he had to face the ambitions of his step-mother Queen Darejan and her sons, ambitions that would grow into open tensions...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Joseph Goetting (died 1830), Public domain