Bagrat VII

Bagrat VII (Georgian: ბაგრატ VII) (died 1619), also known as Bagrat Khan, was king (mepe) of Kartli, eastern Georgia, effectively serving as a khan for the Persian shah Abbas I from 1616 to 1619.

Born into the Kartli line of the House of Bagration, Bagrat was the son of David XI of Kartli and his wife, Queen Elene, a relative of King Alexander II of Kakheti. He took refuge in Persia after his father was dislodged by the Ottoman invasion in 1578. He was raised at the shah’s court in Isfahan, brought up Muslim and adopted Persian customs.^[1] Later, for his efforts, he was given a fiefdom in mainland Iran.^[2] Around the mid 1590s, he assisted Farhad Khan Qaramanlu in arranging a match for Abbas I with Tamar Amilakhori.^[2] In 1616, he was installed by Abbas I as a puppet king/khan in Kartli on the deposition of his cousin, King Luarsab II. He exercised only a limited power confined to Lower Kartli and largely relied on Persian forces. Considered as a renegade, he was disgusted by most of the kingdom’s population and, in spite of the Persian presence, he was unable to control even seemingly loyal nobility. His short reign was spent mostly in the town of Bolnisi, where he died in 1619, to be succeeded by his son, Simon II (Semayun Khan). His half-brother Khosro was given his land in Iran.^[2]

Bagrat was married to Princess Ana of Kakheti, daughter of Alexander II of Kakheti. They had one son:

• Simon II of Kartli, King of Kartli.

• Floor, Willem; Herzig, Edmund (2012). Iran and the World in the Safavid Age. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1850439301.
• Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442241466.

• Bagrat VII (in Georgian)