George VI of Imereti

George VI of Imereti
George VI of Imereti
King of Imereti
Reign	1702–1707
Predecessor	Mamia III Gurieli
Successor	George VII
Died	1722
Issue	Helen; Tamar (I); Anika; Tamar (II); Levan; Mariam;
House	Abashidze
Father	Paata Abashidze
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church (Catholicate of Abkhazia)

Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze (Georgian: გიორგი-მალაქია აბაშიძე, died 15 October 1722) was a Georgian nobleman and King of Imereti as George VI (or George V) from 1702 to 1707. He was a member of the prominent House of Abashidze.

Biography

The youngest son of Prince Paata Abashidze, he served as a priest until about 1684 when he entered politics after the death of his elder brother Paata Abashidze and began aggressively expanding his patrimonial fiefdom. He dispossessed the House of Chkheidze of Shorapani, and the House of Agiashvili of Tsutskhvati, and took control of the royal domain in Upper Imereti. Princess Tamar Abashidze, his daughter by his marriage to Princess Tamar Chijavadze, was married to the two successive kings of Imereti, Alexander IV and George V.^[1] During the reign of the latter monarch, Abashidze effectively ran the government and acted as an all-powerful kingmaker. In 1699, he gave his daughter Anika in marriage to King Simon of Imereti, but they divorced in 1700. In 1701, Abashidze compelled King Mamia of Imereti to abdicate and seized the throne for himself. He managed to establish a degree of stability in Imereti and ceased to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire, triggering a military response in 1703. He also patronized culture and learning. Deposed after a revolt by the nobles, in favour of the rightful Bagrationi king George VII, Abashidze took refuge at the court of Vakhtang VI in Tbilisi. He died there in 1722, and was buried in the Katskhi monastery in Imereti.

Family

George's children were:^[2]^[3]

Helen, who was betrothed to Kaikhosro II Gurieli in 1684. After Kaikhosro's death, she married his brother, Mamia III Gurieli, in 1689; the marriage ended in divorce in 1711.
Tamar (1681 – c. 1707), who married Alexander IV of Imereti in 1691, George V of Imereti in 1696, and, around 1700, George IV Dadiani.
Ana (Anika), who was initially betrothed to Nasqida Iashvili. She married Simon of Imereti in 1698, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1700. She later married Lomkatsi Chijavadze.
A daughter, probably named Tamar, who married George Nizharadze. She became a concubine of George VII of Imereti in 1712 and married Merab Tsulukidze in 1714.
Levan (died 1757).
Mariam, who married Prince Vakhushti, the illegitimate son of Vakhtang VI.