Timur In His Institutes
Mentions A Suit Of Armour Given Him By The King Of Georgia As Forged By
The Hand Of The Psalmist King.
David is a very frequent name in their
royal lists.
[The dynasty of the Bagratidae, which was founded in 786 by
Ashod, and lasted until the annexation of Georgia by Russia on the 18th
January, 1801, had nine reigning princes named David. During the second
half of the 12th century the princes were: Dawith (David) IV. Narin
(1247-1259), Dawith V. (1243-1272), Dimitri II. Thawdadebuli (1272-1289),
Wakhtang II. (1289-1292), Dawith VI. (1292-1308). - H. C.] There were two
princes of that name, David, who shared Georgia between them under the
decision of the Great Kaan in 1246, and one of them, who survived to 1269,
is probably meant here. The name of David was borne by the last titular
King of Georgia, who ceded his rights to Russia in 1801. It is probable,
however, as Marsden has suggested, that the statement about the King
always being called David arose in part out of some confusion with the
title of Dadian, which, according to Chardin (and also to P. di
Castelli), was always assumed by the Princes of Mingrelia, or Colchis as
the latter calls it. Chardin refers this title to the Persian Dad,
"equity." To a portrait of "Alexander, King of Iberia," or Georgia Proper,
Castelli attaches the following inscription, giving apparently his
official style: "With the sceptre of David, Crowned by Heaven, First King
of the Orient and of the World, King of Israel," adding, "They say that he
has on his shoulder a small mark of a cross, 'Factus est principatus
super humerum ejus,' and they add that he has all his ribs in one piece,
and not divided." In another place he notes that when attending the King
in illness his curiosity moved him strongly to ask if these things were
true, but he thought better of it!
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 464 of 1256
Words from 126447 to 126776
of 342071
