Princess Gurandukht: A Historical Portrait, by Naala V. Kaslandzia

Naala Kaslandzia
A historian specialising in mediaeval Abkhazia. She graduated with distinction from Abkhaz State University and has served at both the Dmitri Gulia Abkhaz Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Abkhaz State University, where she is currently Associate Professor. She defended her candidate thesis in 2017 and her doctoral dissertation in 2024 on the women of the ruling elite of the Abkhazian Kingdom. A laureate of the Georgi Dzidzaria State Prize in Science, she is the author of more than forty-five scholarly publications.

Abkhazian Institute for Humanitarian Studies named after D. I. Gulia,
Apsuattsaara / Abkhazovedenie: Archaeology, History, Ethnology, vol. XI.
Sukhum: AbIGI, 2018, pp. 41–48.

‘The surge of interest in the “woman in history”, observed in contemporary medieval studies, is partly due to the growing prominence of social-cultural history, historical anthropology and the “history of mentalities”, which open up new horizons for perceiving and understanding the human person’.[1]

Mediaeval authors paid little attention to their female contemporaries. Women who were deemed worthy of mention in written sources generally appeared only in connection with significant political events. Naturally, such references concerned women of the highest social rank.

The sources on the history of early mediaeval Abkhazia preserve only scant information about women, and this material relates exclusively to members of the ruling dynasty of the Abkhazian Kingdom. Despite the fragmentary nature of the evidence, there are grounds for assuming that women played a substantial role in the political history of the country. Thus, the anonymous author of the Letopis’ Kartli (Chronicle of Kartli) regards the unnamed widow of Giorgi I, King of the Abkhaz, as the principal figure behind a conspiracy aimed at eliminating the legitimate heirs to the throne – the sons of King Demetrius II, Tinen and Bagrat – and raising Ioane Shavlian to the throne of the Abkhazian Kingdom.[2] As is well known, the conspirators achieved their aim. Only twenty years later was Bagrat able to restore justice by assuming leadership of the Abkhazian Kingdom.

Another vivid example of a woman’s active participation in the political history of the Abkhazian Kingdom is found in the activities of the mother of the first representative of the Abkhazian Bagratid dynasty, Princess Gurandukht.

Gurandukht was the daughter of Giorgi II, King of the Abkhaz, and the sister of three Abkhazian monarchs – Leon III, Demetrius III and Theodosius III. As in the case of other Abkhazian princesses, the marriage of Gurandukht was arranged in accordance with the dynastic marriage strategy of the rulers of the Abkhazian Kingdom. The Leonids maintained close dynastic ties with the house of the Tao-Klarjeti Bagratids over a long period. In the ninth century, four Abkhazian kings (Theodosius II, Adarnase I, Bagrat I and Constantine III) were married to princesses of the Tao line of the Bagrationi dynasty. The wife of Adarnase I, ruler of Tao-Klarjeti, Burila (Anastasia), appears, judging from the evidence, to have belonged to the Leonid dynasty. In the first half of the tenth century, Bagrat, the younger brother of Giorgi II, King of the Abkhaz, married the daughter of Gurgen the Great, while their sister was given in marriage to an Artanuji branch representative of the Tao-Klarjeti Bagratids, the patrikios Ashot Kiskasis. Gurandukht herself became the wife of Gurgen, who belonged to the Tao line of the Bagratids.

Tao-Klarjeti was not a strictly centralised polity. «From the late ninth century two principalities were clearly formed – Tao with its centre at Bana (Oltisi?) and Klarjeti with its centre at Artanuji. Seniority belonged to the Tao branch, and the highest Byzantine court title “kouropalates” became attached to the house of Tao, where the title “king of the Kartvelians” was likewise confirmed».[3]

The Abkhazian monarchs deliberately encouraged rivalries among the various branches of the Tao-Klarjeti Bagratid house, actively promoting their mutual weakening. Between 923 and 937, Giorgi II, King of the Abkhaz, succeeded in annexing to his realm several districts that had previously belonged to the Tao-Klarjeti Bagratids. His dynastic policy, within which marriage strategy played a central role, aimed to expand the influence of the Abkhazian Kingdom within this region of great strategic importance to it. In the tenth century Javakheti came under the authority of the Abkhazian king, giving him the ability to control key transport communications. «By holding Javakheti the Abkhazian king could easily reach any area of southern and eastern Georgia. He controlled the main roads from the south (Armenia) and the south-west (Byzantium). All routes to Abkhazia passed through Javakheti (via Samtskhe), into Shida Kartli (via Samtskhe, Trialeti), into Mtskheta and Tbilisi (via Trialeti and Manglisi) and into Kakheti».[4]

In the second half of the tenth century, the north-eastern sector of Tao – the lands adjoining the territory of the Abkhazian Kingdom, including the district of Samtskhe – was held by Bagrat Regueni [revgeni - callow youth] , the «king of the Kartvelians». It was his heir, Gurgen, who became the husband of Princess Gurandukht. For the Leonid house, forging an alliance with a dynast whose domain bore such strategic significance was eminently desirable. Conversely, a marriage with an Abkhazian princess was advantageous to the holders of north-eastern Tao, as it offered protection against possible claims from the ambitious ruler of southern Tao, the magistros David.

The offspring of the Abkhazian princess and the heir of north-eastern Tao was Bagrat, born in the early 960s (the sources do not preserve an exact date). He was destined to play a significant role in subsequent events, and this was in many respects predetermined by his kinship ties with the Leonid dynasty.

In the second half of the tenth century the Abkhazian Kingdom was struck by a dynastic crisis, the cause of which was the absence of male heirs among three successive Abkhazian monarchs: Leon III, Demetrius III and Theodosius III. The Letopis’ Kartli (Chronicle of Kartli) reports: «When King Demetre died, all the inhabitants of the land, seeing that the king had left no successor in Abkhazia and Kartli, brought forth Theodosius and established him as king».[5]

The accession to power of a ruler with a serious physical impairment, one that significantly hindered his capacity to exercise governmental functions, must have been regarded as highly undesirable. In most cases any form of physical disability sharply reduced or entirely removed the possibility of a royal offspring ascending the throne. The enthronement of Theodosius is therefore better explained by the political elite’s clear awareness of how dangerous a power vacuum would be for the realm.

That the new Abkhazian monarch was a weak political figure, unable to lead major military campaigns in person, created significant difficulties, which the rivals of the Abkhazian Kingdom did not fail to exploit. The Kakhetians and the rulers of Tao sought to detach Kartli from Abkhazian authority. The first to strike were the Kakhetians, who assaulted and captured Kartli’s capital, Uplistsikhe. Unlike the Kakhetians, the ruler of Tao, David, attempted to give his actions in Kartli a semblance of legitimacy. His military campaign in Kartli was preceded by an appeal to him from Ioane Marushisdze, the viceroy of the Abkhazian king. He «proposed that he should advance with his army and seize Kartli, either to hold it for himself or to bestow it upon Bagrat, son of Gurgen, son of the daughter of Giorgi, King of the Abkhaz…»[6]

«David the Kouropalates came and reached Kvakvreli, and Ioane Marushisdze appeared before him; David took Uplistsikhe from him and granted it to Bagrat and to his father Gurgen».[7]

Summoning the aznauri (nobles) of Kartli, David declared that Bagrat «is the heir to Tao, Kartli and Abkhazia, he is my son and ward, and I am his guardian and helper; obey him all of you».[8]

Source: Viacheslav Chirikba, The International Legal Status of the Republic of Abkhazia

Thus, according to the anonymous chronicler, Bagrat was established in Kartli as the viceroy of the ruler of Tao. At the same time, the chronicler stresses Bagrat’s rights to this territory by virtue of his kinship with the Abkhazian royal house. In the plans of magistros David regarding Kartli, no special place was envisaged for Gurandukht. It is known that the Abkhazian princess and her husband arrived in Kartli together with Bagrat, yet David appointed Gurgen as Bagrat’s co-ruler.

Despite the stern admonitions of magistros David, the Kartlian nobility did not wish to submit to the Bagratids. Displaying, in the chronicler’s words, «malicious treachery», they conspired with the Kakhetians against Bagrat. Uplistsikhe was surrendered and Bagrat with his parents was taken captive to Kakheti. Magistros David intervened, threatening Kakheti with war; the captives were released, but the fortresses of Tsirkvali and Gruji remained in Kakhetian hands.

Following these events, Gurandukht became ruler of Kartli. The chronicler does not explain the circumstances under which this occurred. Most likely, Gurandukht’s accession to power resulted from a compromise regarding the fate of Kartli. Neither the Kakhetians nor the Tao rulers had sufficient forces to establish secure control there, and under such conditions the stance of the local Kartlian nobility became crucial. By their previous actions, they had demonstrated clearly that they did not wish to submit to the Bagratids.

By the end of the tenth century, with only brief interruptions, Kartli had been under the authority of the Abkhazian monarchs for almost 150 years. Given the region’s enormous strategic importance, its governors were usually royal sons. The viceroys of the Abkhazian king in Kartli had included Prince Tinen (the eristavi of Chikh), the younger son of Constantine III, as well as Bagrat, sons of Giorgi II, Constantine and Leon. The chronicler’s statement that after the death of King Demetrius III «he left no successor in Abkhazia and Kartli»[9] indicates that the rulers of the latter were most often heirs to the throne, sometimes even functioning as co-rulers.

Political tradition favoured the Leonids, and this circumstance worked to Gurandukht’s advantage. According to the legal consciousness of the early mediaeval era, dynastic affiliation constituted the essential foundation for a ruler’s legitimacy. It appears that Bagrat and his father had to leave Kartli and return to Tao. The Kartlian nobility preferred to see as their ruler a representative of the Leonid dynasty. Gurandukht was to exercise authority over Kartli either as viceroy of the Abkhazian king or as his co-ruler.

It is doubtful that the rule of Gurandukht in Kartli was sanctioned by Theodosius III, or that her status was recognised by the governing circles of the Abkhazian Kingdom. It is not impossible that the Kartlian nobility also considered forming a local dynasty by arranging a marriage between Gurandukht and a member of one of the regional aristocratic clans. In mediaeval history there were numerous cases in which children born of an unequal marriage, where the husband’s rank was lower than the wife’s, inherited the status of their mother. Through such a union noble blood, together with the right to exercise authority and rule over territory, was transmitted through the maternal line.

Kartli, headed by Gurandukht, at least formally remained in the hands of the Leonids.

During the second half of the 970s the dynastic crisis in the Abkhazian Kingdom was resolved through the activation of the matrilateral tradition, whereby, in the absence of direct, indisputable male-line heirs, the throne was inherited by male descendants through the female line, that is, by the offspring of female members of the ruling dynasty who had been married abroad. It was in accordance with this custom that the son of Gurandukht, Bagrat Bagrationi, was summoned to Abkhazia.

However, it is unlikely that the intention was for Bagrat to ascend the throne immediately. Theodosius III, who had fought so zealously for power against his elder brother, was hardly inclined to relinquish the throne voluntarily. Bagrat became the co-ruler of Theodosius. The Letopis’ Kartli states that only after «two years had passed did he begin to rule independently».[10] The displacement of Theodosius could only have occurred with the support of the Abkhazian ruling elite for Bagrat’s actions.

The first major military undertaking carried out by Bagrat II as King of the Abkhaz was a campaign into Kartli. According to the chronicler, the army led by Bagrat encamped at Tigva, a settlement on the frontier with Kartli. The Kartlians, «who did not wish the coming» of Bagrat and «remained obedient to Gurandukht», «appointed Kavtar Tbeli as their leader and dared to resist».[11] The battle took place on the approaches to Moghrisi. Bagrat won the victory.

«Bagrat entered Uplistsikhe, took the fortress (Uplistsikhe) from his mother, remained there for a few days, put certain affairs of Kartli in order, took his mother with him and departed for the land of Abkhazia».[12]

The epigraphic inscription from Ateni Sioni provides additional detail and clarification of the events that unfolded in Kartli. The inscription, carved in Armenian by Gerzium, son of Erbasan, indicates that Bagrat’s efforts to “set in order the Kartlian affairs” took no less than a year, and that the mother of the Abkhazian king had participated in a conspiracy against her son. Judging by the text, the inscription is contemporaneous with Bagrat’s military expedition into Kartli. According to the translator and commentator of the inscription, P. M. Muradyan, it was carved between 982 and 986.[13]

Thus, Gurandukht governed Kartli for a considerable length of time.

Despite the serious conflict between Bagrat II and his mother, he did not exclude her from political life. It may be assumed that throughout Bagrat’s reign Gurandukht enjoyed particular privileges. The first representative of the Abkhazian Bagratid dynasty took care to emphasise his connection with the preceding dynasty. For Bagrat, genealogical kinship with the Leonids through the maternal line constituted the juridical foundation of his right to exercise supreme authority in the Abkhazian Kingdom. This circumstance conferred upon Gurandukht a special position within the monarchical system, expressed through the title “lady-mother” (dedopal-i).[14]

Under this title her name, alongside that of her crowned son, appears in the inscription on the golden chalice for the Eucharist from the Bedia church.[15] The mother of Bagrat, King of the Abkhaz, is likewise mentioned in the inscriptions of the Kutaisi cathedral, built by his order. The construction inscription, carved in decorative script upon the arcade above the windows of the eastern façade, proclaims: «By the help of God, Bagrat, king of the Abkhaz and the Kartlians, and his mother Gurandukht, who built this holy church».[16]

According to several scholars, the relief sculpture of a woman from the church at Kumurdo represents Gurandukht.[17] In the genealogical compilation known as the Divan abkhazskikh tsarei (Register of Abkhazian Kings), produced during the reign of Bagrat II, the names of his father Gurgen and his grandfather, Giorgi II, King of the Abkhaz, are recorded; it is further noted that Bagrat was the son of the daughter of the King of the Abkhaz (her name being omitted).

After the enthronement of Bagrat II, his father and the husband of Gurandukht – Gurgen Bagrationi – became the bearer of the title “king of kings”. This is attested in the Letopis’ Kartli, in Istoriia i povestvovanie o Bagratonakh (History and Narrative Concerning the Bagratids), as well as in epigraphic evidence; the sole exception is Asoghik, who refers to Gurgen as “king of the Kartvelians”.[18]

Yet it is unlikely that Gurgen inherited this title from his father, Bagrat Regueni, the “king of the Kartvelians”. The well-informed author Sumbat Davitisdze, historian of the Bagratid dynasty, explains the origin of this high rank “king of kings” as follows: «And this Gurgen had a son, Bagrat, son of the sister of the Abkhazian kings Demetre and Tevdosi. Even before the accession of Gurgen, this Bagrat became king in Abkhazia and therefore Gurgen was called king of kings».[19]

It is plausible that the title “king of kings” corresponds to the Byzantine dignity basileopator (“father of the emperor”), a title introduced in the empire in the late ninth century. Thus, the parents of the first representative of the Abkhazian Bagratid dynasty did not bear the titles “queen and king of the Kartvelians”.

The place of burial of Gurgen Bagrationi, who died around 1008, was most likely the small church he had built adjacent to the church at Ishkhani.[20] It may be assumed that his wife was not interred beside him. The name of Gurandukht appears in several inscriptions made after her death, in which she is termed “the departed”. The exact date of her death and the location of her burial remain unknown.

It is difficult to determine whether Gurandukht could have had any realistic possibility of ascending the Abkhazian throne, or whether the succession order operating in the Abkhazian Kingdom would, under certain conditions, have permitted a woman to come to power. It is noteworthy that the name of Gurandukht is never preceded by masculine royal titles, of the type applied to women who exercised supreme authority in certain mediaeval states (for example, basileus Eirēnē or Tamar mepe).

At the same time, in Abkhaz oral tradition the term азс6а (ants’ba, title of the supreme ruler) is applied even to women.[21]

Gurandukht owed her elevation in large measure to circumstances and, in all likelihood, to her own ambitions. Yet even if her authority was not the result of any broader shift in the status of high-born women, it nonetheless created an important historical precedent. This precedent seems to have played a significant role in shaping the developments that followed.

It is sufficient to note that an analysis of the evidence in the Letopis’ Kartli concerning the events of the first half of the eleventh century reveals a high degree of female involvement in the political life of the Abkhazian Kingdom. This pertains particularly to the wives of Giorgi III, King of the Abkhaz – Mariam and Alda. Even when discussing the offspring of this monarch, the anonymous chronicler lists not only his sons but also his daughters, one of whom bore the name Gurandukht.[22]

In the Middle Ages female involvement in the sphere of politics was determined, at the very least, by the fact that alliances between states were established through dynastic marriages. For a woman of high social rank, marriage itself constituted an act of participation in political life. Despite the ideological emphasis on the masculinity of the ideal ruler and despite the formal limitations on the participation of women in public institutions, the influence of women upon affairs of state was felt throughout the entire mediaeval history of Abkhazia.

Footnotes

​​[1] Boldyreva, I. I., Zhena v anglosaksonsko-m obshchestve i ego pismennoy kulture kontsa IX – serediny XI vv., Summary of Dissertation (typescript). Saratov, 2009, p. 13.

[2] Letopis’ Kartli (Chronicle of Kartli), transl., introduction and commentary by G. V. Tsulaia. Tbilisi, 1982, p. 50.

[3] Ocherki istorii Gruzii, vol. II. Tbilisi, 1988, p. 313.

[4] Berdzenishvili, N. A., cited in Ocherki istorii Gruzii, vol. II. Tbilisi, p. 362.

[5] Letopis’ Kartli, transl., introduction and commentary by G. V. Tsulaia. Tbilisi, 1982, p. 56.

[6] Ibid., p. 56.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid., p. 56.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., p. 58.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Muradyan, P. M., Armianskaia epigrafika Gruzii (Kartli i Kakheti). Yerevan, 1985, pp. 107–108.

[14] «Various derivative forms of the term with the general meaning “queen” are attested in Georgian. In addition to the form dedopal-i, examples include dedupal-i, deopal-i, didupal-i, diopal-i, dodpal-i, dodopal-i, and others. Unlike the more widespread dedopal-i (a determinative compound derived from Georgian deda, “mother, woman”, plus Georgian upal-i, “lord, master”), didupal-i is understood as a compound formed by the fusion of didi plus upal-i, where the first component is not Georgian deda (“mother, woman”), but Georgian didi (“great, large”), that is, “great lady”. See: Beradze, G. G., “Legendy o tsaritse Tamar v persidskom istoricheskom sochinenii Ikhya al-Muluk”, in: Istoch nikovedenie i tekstologiia Blizhnego i Srednego Vostoka. Moscow, 1984, p. 66.

[15] Bgazhba, Kh. S., “Iz istorii pis’mennosti v Abkhazii”, Trudy AbNIIYaLI, 1959, no. 30, p. 256.

[16] Ashkhatsava, S. M., Puti razvitiia abkhazskoi istorii. Paper delivered at the First All-Union Conference on Local History in Abkhazia, 12 September 1924. Published by the People’s Commissariat of Education of Abkhazia. 1925, p. 24.

[17] Aladashvili, N. A., Monumental’naya skul’ptura Gruzii. Figurnye rel’efy V–XI vekov. Moscow, 1977, pp. 94–96.

[18] Letopis’ Kartli, transl., introduction and commentary by G. V. Tsulaia. Tbilisi, 1982, p. 60; Sumbat Davitisdze, Istoriia i povestvovanie o Bagratonakh. Tbilisi, 1979, p. 37; Takaishvili, E., Arkheologicheskaia ekspeditsiia 1917-go goda v iuzhnye provintsii Gruzii. Tbilisi, 1952, p. 42; Vseobshchaia istoriia Stepanosa Taronskogo, Asokhika po prozvaniiu pisatelia XI stoletiia, transl. N. Emin. Moscow, 1864, pp. 200–201.

[19] Sumbat Davitisdze, Istoriia i povestvovanie o Bagratonakh. Tbilisi, 1979, p. 37.

[20] Takaishvili, E., Arkheologicheskaia ekspeditsiia 1917 goda v iuzhnye provintsii Gruzii. Tbilisi, 1952, p. 42.

[21] Inal-ipa, Sh. D., Trudy (Materialy i issledovaniia po voprosam istoricheskoi etnografii abkhazskogo naroda). Sukhumi, 1988, pp. 320, 325.

[22] Letopis’ Kartli, transl., introduction and commentary by G. V. Tsulaia. Tbilisi, 1982, p. 65.