Erekle I of Kakheti

Erekle I (1642-1709), known by his Muslim name Nazar Ali Khan and at the Russian court as Tsarevich Nicholas Davidovich, was a prince of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty who reigned as king of Kartli (1688-1703) and then of Kakheti (1703-1709) under Safavid protection. ¹ He was the son of Prince David and a grandson of King Teimuraz I of Kakheti. ¹ Raised in Moscow from childhood, he accepted Islam after the shah made it the condition of his receiving a crown, becoming one of the most prominent Muslim kings of Georgia in the Safavid period. ²

Erekle was born in 1642 according to the Georgian and Arabic articles, while the English article and the Wikidata item give 1643 and the Russian article gives 1637 or 1642. ^{3 4 1 5 2} His grandfather Teimuraz I had been exiled and had lost the throne of Kakheti, and Erekle was raised from 1653 or 1654 at the Moscow court under the name Tsarevich Nicholas Davidovich. ¹ In 1671 he served as best man at the wedding of Tsar Alexis, a place of honour showing his standing at the Russian court. ¹ In 1662 he attempted to recover Kakheti but failed against his rival Archil. ¹

Erekle returned to the Caucasus in 1674 hoping for the throne of Kartli or Kakheti with Persian support. ¹ Shah Suleiman demanded that he change his faith as the price of a crown, and he at first refused to become a Muslim, citing the oath of allegiance his ancestor Alexander II of Kakheti had given to Tsar Feodor I of Russia. ¹ After long hesitation he accepted Islam and took the name Nazar Ali Khan; the English article dates his conversion to 1676. ^{3 1} The Russian article likewise relates that after hesitation he accepted Islam and received the name Nazar Ali Khan before spending fourteen years at the shah's court in Isfahan. ²

The shah installed him as king of Kartli in 1688 with Persian troops, while his predecessor George XI was driven into exile. ¹ He fought a long civil war against George XI, who returned from exile, and in 1691 George blockaded Tbilisi without permanently recovering his throne. ¹ In his reign the city administration of Tbilisi was organised and charters were issued regulating its craft guilds. ³

In 1703 the shah transferred him to rule Kakheti and appointed him commander of the shah's guard. ¹ He then handed Kakheti to his son David II, known as Imam Quli Khan, who had likewise entered Islam. ³ According to the Russian article, Erekle married Ana Cholokashvili in 1677. ² He died at Isfahan in 1709. ²