{{Short description|King of Georgia from 1246 to 1270}} {{hatnote|This article is about the Georgian king. There was also a [[List of Caucasian Albanian catholicoi|Caucasian Albanian catholicos]] named David VII from 965 to 971.}} {{Infobox royalty | name = David VII<br />დავით VII | image = King David VII Ulugh.jpg | caption = Mural of David VII from the St. Shio's Marani Monastery, near [[Telavi]], [[Kakheti]]. | succession = [[List of monarchs of Georgia|King of Georgia]] | moretext = ([[Style of the Georgian sovereign|more...]]) | reign = 1245–1270 | coronation = 1245 at [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]] | predecessor = [[Rusudan of Georgia|Rusudan]] | successor = [[Demetrius II of Georgia|Demetrius II]] | regent = [[David VI]] (until 1259) | reg-type = Co-ruler | spouse = [[Jigda-Khatun]]<br />Althun<br />[[Gvantsa Kakhaberidze]]<br />[[Esukan]] | issue = {{plainlist| * [[Prince George of Georgia (1250–1268)|George]] * {{ill|Tamar (daughter of David VII)|lt=Tamar|ka|თამარი (დავით VII-ის ასული)}} * [[Demetrius II of Georgia|Demetrius II]]}} | full name = David VII the Elder<br />Davit VII Ulu | dynasty = [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagrationi]] | father = [[George IV of Georgia]] | mother = [[Velistsikhe|Velistsikhian]] [[Aznauri|Aznauri's]] daughter<ref>[http://www.nplg.gov.ge/bios/ka/00007178/ გიორგი IV (საქართველოს მეფე)]. Biographical Dictionary of Georgia</ref> | birth_date = 1215 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death year and age|1270|1215}} | death_place = [[Tbilisi]] | burial_place = [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]], [[Mtskheta]] | religion = [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] }} '''David VII''', also known as '''David Ulu''' ({{lang-ka|დავით VII ულუ}}, "David the Senior" in the Mongol language)<ref name="AM19"/> (1215–1270), from the [[Bagrationi dynasty]], was [[List of monarchs of Georgia|king]] (''[[mepe]]'') of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] from 1245 to 1270. He first ruled Georgia jointly with his namesake cousin, [[David VI of Georgia|David VI]], from 1246 to 1259. From 1259, David VI, revolting from the [[Mongol invasions of Georgia|Mongol hegemony]], seceded in the western half of the kingdom and formed the [[Kingdom of Western Georgia]], while David VII was left to rule a reduced [[Kingdom of Georgia (1256–1329)]] in the region of eastern Georgia under Mongol control.
==Early life== David was the [[Morganatic marriage|morganatic]] son of the [[Georgians|Georgian]] King [[George IV of Georgia|George IV]] and a woman of non-noble origin.<ref name="MAAR256">{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical dictionary of Georgia |date=2007 |publisher=Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-5580-9 |page=256 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000mika/page/256/mode/2up}}</ref> Because of this, he was considered an illegitimate son in the circles of the Georgian nobility, so his father was succeeded by his sister [[Rusudan of Georgia|Rusudan]] upon his death in 1223.<ref name="MAAR256"/> Since Georgia became a Mongol vassal in 1236 and no longer depended so much on the will of the local nobility, Rusudan, fearing that he would want to ascend the throne, sent him into captivity at the court of her son-in-law, Sultan [[Kaykhusraw II]]. Then in 1243 she sent her son, also [[David VI of Georgia|David]], to the court of the [[Khagan|great khan]] in [[Karakorum]], so that he could be recognized as the [[heir apparent]] to the [[Kingdom of Georgia]].<ref name="MAAR256"/>
== Reign ==
=== Diarchy === After the [[Battle of Köse Dağ]] in 1243, which subdued the [[Sultanate of Rum]] to the [[Mongols]], Kaykhusraw was forced to release David Ulu. Rusudan died in 1245, still waiting for her son's return from the Mongolian court. A part of the Georgian nobility, thinking that [[David VI of Georgia|David]] the son of [[Rusudan of Georgia|Rusudan]] had died, proclaimed David Ulu as the [[List of monarchs of Georgia|king of Georgia]].<ref name="AM254">{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6 |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA254 |language=en}}</ref> In 1246 the two Davids (the future [[David VI]], who had been in Mongolia since 1243, and the recently proclaimed David VII Ulu) attended the enthronement of [[Guyuk Khan]] at the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol court]] in [[Karakorum]], [[Mongolia]],<ref name="AM254"/> together with a large number of foreign ambassadors: the [[Franciscan]] friar and envoy of [[Pope Innocent IV]], [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine|John of Plano Carpini]] and [[Benedict of Poland]]; Grand Duke [[Yaroslav II of Vladimir]]; the brother of the king of [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenia]] and historian, [[Sempad the Constable]]; the future [[Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm|Seljuk Sultan of Rum]], [[Kilij Arslan IV]]; and ambassadors of the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[Al-Musta'sim]] and [[Ala ud din Masud]] of the [[Delhi Sultanate]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Jean-Paul |last=Roux |title=L'Asie Centrale |location=Paris |publisher=Fayard |year=2003 |isbn=2-213-59894-0 |page=312 }}</ref> all bearing [[Homage (feudal)|homage]], tribute, and presents. The 13th-century historian [[Ata-Malik Juvayni|Juvayni]] said:
{{quote|From [[Cathay|Khitai]] there came emirs and officials; and from Transoxiana and Turkestan the emir Masʿud accompanied by grandees of that region. With the emir [[Arghun Aqa|Arghun]] there came the celebrities and notables of Khorasan, Iraq, Lur, Azerbaijan and Shirvan. From [[Seljuk Rums|Rum]] came Sultan [[Kilij Arslan IV|Rukn al-Din]] and the [[Manuel I of Trebizond|Sultan of Takavor]] ([[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]]); from Georgia, the two [[David VI of Georgia|Davits]]; from Aleppo, the brother of the [[An-Nasir Yusuf|Lord of Aleppo]]; from Mosul, the envoy of Sultan [[Badr al-Din Luʾluʾ]]; and from the city of Peace, Baghdad, the chief ''[[qadi]]'' Fakhr al-Din. There also came the Sultan of [[Erzurum]], envoys from the Franks, and from [[Kerman]] and [[Fars province|Fars]] also; and from [[Muhammad III of Alamut|ʿAla al-Din of Alamut]], his governors in [[Quhistan]], Shihab al-Din and [[Shams al-Din Juvayni|Shams al-Din]]. And all this great assembly came with such baggage as befitted a court; and there came also from other directions so many envoys and messengers that two thousand felt tents had been made ready for them: there came also merchants with the rare and precious things that are produced in the East and the West.|[[Ata-Malik Juvayni|Juvayni]], 1: 249–50.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eastmond |first1=Antony |title=Tamta's World: The Life and Encounters of a Medieval Noblewoman from the Middle East to Mongolia |date=2017 |doi=10.1017/9781316711774 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn= 9781316711774 |page=348}}</ref>}}
In order to control the country more easily, due to the apparent succession crisis, although the majority of the nobility did not side with the illegitimate son, the Mongols divided the Georgian nobles into two rival parties, each representing its own candidate for the crown.<ref name="AM254"/> But there were also conflicts among the Mongols themselves, whereby David Ulu was supported by [[Baiju Noyan]], the general and commander of Persia, and his contemporary brother [[Batu Khan]], Khan of the [[Golden Horde]].{{Sfn|Uzelac|2015|p=63}} The Mongols appointed David VII as ''ulu'' ("senior") ruler, while [[David VI of Georgia|David VI]] was appointed as ''narin'' (junior) ruler.<ref name="AM19">{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Decline of the kingdom === In the following years, both David Ulu and [[David VI of Georgia|David Narin]] showed unwavering loyalty to the [[Mongols]] even after the change at the head of the [[Mongol Empire]] and the coming to power of the great Khan [[Möngke Khan|Mongke]] in 1251. Georgia then came under the supreme rule of [[Batu Khan]], who was given virtually independent rule over the western parts of the Mongol Empire by Mongke.{{Sfn|Uzelac|2015|p=65}} Having embarked on an expedition to the [[Middle East]] in 1253, Mongke's brother [[Hulegu Khan]] was particularly keen to exploit the political and religious divisions of that part of the world. Attacking mostly [[Muslims]], he tried to maintain the best possible relations with [[Georgians]] and [[Armenians]]. Numerous Georgian-Armenian military units participated in the [[Mongol campaign against the Nizaris|Mongol conquest of Alamut]] in 1256, where they were personally led by David Ulu, and of [[Siege of Baghdad|Baghdad]] in 1258, and in the skirmishes between Mongol leaders during the campaign.{{Sfn|Uzelac|2015|pp=78–79}}<ref>{{harvnb|Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan|2011|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HrqqhduBapQC&pg=PA121 121, 129]}} MONGOL-ARMENIAN MILITARY COOPERATION: STAGE I: THE CONQUEST OF THE MIDDLE EAST 11258-1260 (...) The main allies of this campaign were King Het‘um from Cilicia, the Greater Armenian lords under the Georgian King David Ulu and the Mongol Prince Hűlegű, who promoted himself as a founder of the Mongol dynasty in this region.(...) In November 1257, Hűlegű set off from Hamadān in the direction of Baghdad. (...) With him were the forces of the Armenian Prince [[Zak‘arē]], the son of Shahnshah Zak‘arian and Prince [[Pŕosh Khaghbakian]]. The Mongols placed considerable trust in these Armenian lords, whose assistance they had received since the 1230s.</ref>
=== Later life === {{main|Kingdom of Eastern Georgia}}
{{See also|Georgian Rebellion of 1256}} [[File:Georgian Issue of Davit VII Ulu.jpg|thumb|[[Tiflis]] coinage in the name of David VII citing [[Möngke]] as overlord, [[Persian language|Persian]], dated 1253.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Tiflis Dirhams of Möngke Khān |url=https://numismatics.org/store/nnm172/ |website=American Numismatic Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Silver dirham of David [Ulugh]/Möngke Khan, Tiflis, 650 H. 1977.158.1348 |url=https://dlme-stage-lb.stanford.edu/library/catalog/ans_1977-158-1348 |website=Digital Library of the Middle East - DLME |language=en}}</ref>]] [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]] lost tens of thousands of soldiers in these campaigns, and was left without native defenders against the Mongol forces sent to suppress spontaneous rebellions that broke out due to high taxes and the heavy burden of military service. The country suffered heavily from the consequences of rebellions against the Mongol authorities, and even more devastating than the Mongol punitive expeditions were the internal conflicts between currents loyal and disloyal to the [[Mongols]]. In 1259, Georgian nobles led by [[David VI of Georgia|David Narin]] rose up against the Mongols, separating the [[Kingdom of Western Georgia]] from the unified Georgia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6 |pages=254–255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA254 |language=en}}</ref>
{{multiple image | perrow = 2 | total_width = 400 | caption_align = center | align = right | direction = horizontal | image1 = King David VII of Georgia. Bibliotheque Nationale MS Fr. 2810.jpg | image2 = King David VII of Georgia. Bibliotheque Nationale MS Fr. 2810 fol. 8r (cropped).jpg | footer = David VII on a hunt. A miniature from [[Marco Polo]]'s ''[[Livre des merveilles (BNF Fr2810)|Livre des merveilles]]'', c. 1410 }} When in 1260 [[Hulegu Khan]] requested the presence of [[Georgians]] and [[Armenians]] as part of the Mongol units in the [[Mongol invasions of the Levant|Levant]], remembering the losses of his troops in the 1258 [[Siege of Baghdad]], David Ulu rebelled.<ref>{{harvnb|Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HrqqhduBapQC&pg=PA137 137]}} "Hűlegű demanded that the Georgian King David Ulu support his conquest of Syria and Egypt. Surprisingly, David refused. One might have expected that the Georgian king would have been more than interested in liberating the Holy Land. However, David was not only disinterested in this venture, but also bold enough to refuse Hűlegű’s order. In addition, he sought a revolt, which was suppressed by Arghun Aqa in Southern Georgia in 1260. David Ulu ’s refusal to participate in the Mongol campaign in Syria can be explained by his huge loss of men in the battle for Baghdad."</ref> A large Mongol army led by General [[Arghun Aqa]] invaded Georgia from the south, inflicted a heavy defeat on David and [[Sargis I Jaqeli]] in a battle near [[Akhaldaba]], and then brutally plundered the country. The Mongol campaign continued during the winter, and the following year the king was forced to flee to [[Imereti]], which the Mongols failed to conquer.<ref name="AM255">{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6 |page=255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |language=en}}</ref> David's family was captured, and his wife [[Gvantsa Kakhaberidze|Gvantsa]] was killed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mikaberidze |first1=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6 |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA260 |language=en}}</ref> Peace with the Mongols was achieved in 1262, when David Ulu returned to [[Tbilisi]] to reclaim his crown as a Mongol vassal, pledging allegiance to [[Hulegu]], while David Narin only nominally recognized Mongol rule in Imereti. The reason for Hulegu's tolerance towards the rebel lies in the fact that since 1261, the Il-kan was at war with the [[Golden Horde]], which was on a larger scale.<ref name="AM255"/>
The territory of the [[Caucasus]], and as part of it the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] itself, became the scene of [[Berke–Hulagu war|war]] between [[Hulegu Khan|Hulegu]] and the Khan of the [[Golden Horde]] [[Berke]] in the following years. David Ulu provided his support for the conflict between the Il-Khanate and the [[Golden Horde]] in 1263-1265.<ref name="AM255"/> In 1263, King David's troops participated in the defense of the Siba fortress against the Golden Horde. In 1265, his troops, as the vanguard of the [[Ilkhanate]] army, defeated Berke and pushed his troops out of [[Shirvan]]. As Hulegu died in the same year, Berke began to prepare a major offensive. The following year, his army penetrated into Georgia, but the offensive was abruptly stopped due to the death of the khan in the vicinity of [[Tbilisi]]. However, Georgia's troubles continued, but now with the Ilkhanate. The nobles were encouraged to rise up against the crown, which naturally facilitated Mongol control over the country. In the same year, 1266, [[Sargis I Jaqeli|Sargis Jaqeli]], prince of [[Samtskhe-Saatabago|Samtkhe]], who ruled city of [[Akhaltsikhe]], received special protection and patronage from the new ilkhan of [[Abaqa Khan]]. In this way, Sargis was elevated to the rank of David and Georgia was torn into three entities.
In 1270, David Ulu led Georgian and Armenian troops in support of the Mongol [[Abaqa]] against [[Tekuder]], who had found refuge in Western Georgia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Biran |first1=Michal |last2=Kim |first2=Hodong |title=The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire 2 Volumes |date=31 July 2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-30197-8 |page=721 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A87eEAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT763 |language=en |quote=The only non-Toluid army in Iran was at this time under the command of the Chaghadaid prince Tegüder, who had accompanied Hülegü to Iran and received an appanage in Georgia. After Hülegü’s death, Tegüder joined the Chaghadaid cause. Trying to join Baraq via Derbend, Tegüder asked to return to his Georgian appanage. King David V refused and Tegüder remained stuck there. David Narin sheltered him in Imereti, but his behavior in Georgia – pillaging villages and caravans and insulting the clergy – provoked the rage of the local population, who urged Abaqa to summon him back. When Tegüder refused (or because he had found out about his plans) Abaqa attacked him, defeating him in 1270, with the help of the Georgian and Armenian troops headed by King David V.}}</ref>
David VII Ulu died of a bowel infection at the age of 55 in the spring of 1270. He was buried at [[Mtskheta]]. He was succeeded by his son [[Demetre II of Georgia|Demetre II]].
==Marriage and children== He was married four times. His first wife, [[Jigda-Khatun]], either a Mongol woman or a daughter of the [[Sultanate of Rum|Sultan of Rum]],{{sfn|Toumanoff|1976|p=124}} died in 1252 and was buried at the regional necropolis in Mtskheta.{{sfn|"Chronicle of A Hundred Years"|p=581}}{{sfn|Howorth|1888|p=141}}
In 1249/50, he bigamously contracted a union with an Alan woman, Altun, whom he repudiated in 1252. Their children were:
* [[George (son of David VII of Georgia)|George]] (1250–1268), [[heir apparent]], died before his father's death in 1268. * Tamar, who was married twice: first to a son of Arghun Noyan around 1273, and later to the Georgian noble [[Sadun Artsruni]], [[Atabeg]] and [[Amirspasalar]] of Georgia (1272–1282).
His third wife, [[Gvantsa Kakhaberidze|Gvantsa]], widow of the Georgian noble [[Avag Zakarian]] and daughter of Kakhaber, ''[[eristavi]]'' (duke) of [[Racha]] and [[Lechkhumi|Takveri]], was executed on the orders of [[Hulegu Khan]] in 1262. Their child was:
* [[Demetrius II of Georgia]] (1259–1289), King of the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] from 1270 until his execution by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhans]] in 1289.
In 1263, David married [[Esukan]], daughter of the Mongol Noyan [[Chormaqan]].
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book |last1=Bai︠a︡rsaĭkhan |first1=D. |title=The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335) |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden; Boston |isbn=978-9-0041-8635-4 }} *{{Cite book |last=Uzelac |first=Aleksandar |title=Under the shadow of a dog; Tatars and South Slavic countries in the second half of the 13th century |year=2015 |location=[[Belgrade]]}} *{{cite book|last=Toumanoff|first=Cyrille|author-link=Cyril Toumanoff |title=Manuel de Généalogie et de Chronologie pour l'histoire de la Caucasie chrétienne (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie)|language=French|trans-title=Manual of Genealogy and Chronology of Christian Caucasian History (Armenia, Georgia, Albania)|year=1976|publisher=Edizioni Aquila|location=Rome|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mNhkLwEACAAJ&q=%22Manuel+de+G%C3%A9n%C3%A9alogie+et+de+Chronologie+pour+l%27histoire+de+la+Caucasie+chr%C3%A9tienne%22 }} *{{cite book|title=ქართლის ცხოვრება|language=Georgian|trans-title=[[Georgian Chronicles|Kartlis Tskhovreba]]|year=2008|publisher=Artanuji|location=Tbilisi|chapter-url=http://www.science.org.ge/books/Kartlis%20cxovreba/11%20aswlovani%20matiane-2.pdf|editor-first=Roin|editor-last=Metreveli|editor-link=Roin Metreveli|chapter=„ასწლოვანი მატიანე“|trans-chapter=Chronicle of A Hundred Years|ref={{sfnRef|"Chronicle of A Hundred Years"}}|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401013934/http://www.science.org.ge/books/Kartlis%20cxovreba/11%20aswlovani%20matiane-2.pdf|archive-date=2012-04-01}} *{{cite book|last=Howorth|first=Henry H.|author-link=Henry Hoyle Howorth|title=History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th century. Part III|year=1888|publisher=Longmans, Green, And Co|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmongols03howouoft }}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040920032222/http://www.tbilisiymca.ge/index.php History of Georgia – XIII-XV centuries]
{{s-start}} {{succession box | before = [[David VI of Georgia|David VI Narin]] | title = [[List of Georgian Kings|King of Georgia]] |with = [[David VI Narin]] | years = 1246–1270 | after = [[Demetre II of Georgia|Demetre II]] }} {{s-end}} {{Kings of United Georgia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:David 07 Of Georgia}} [[Category:Kings of Georgia]] [[Category:1215 births]] [[Category:1270 deaths]] [[Category:Illegitimate children of Georgian monarchs]] [[Category:13th-century people from Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia]]