arshba.ru

Illegitimate son of George IV, grandson of David Soslan and Queen Tamar. From the Bagratid dynasty. The nickname Ulu means "elder" in Turkic. Co-ruler with his namesake and cousin David-Narin VI Narin.

During the reign of his aunt Rusudan (who planned to pass the throne to her son David), he was sent to the court of her son-in-law — the Sultan of Rum, Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II, where he spent seven years as a hostage. He gained his freedom after the sultan was overthrown by the Mongols. In 1246, he was chosen by the Georgian nobility (who believed that Rusudan's son had died) as king.

After his coronation in Mtskheta, he went to Karakorum to receive official recognition from Khan Güyük. There he met his cousin David. In the end, both were recognized as kings of Georgia: David, son of George IV — as the elder (Ulu) co-ruler, and David, son of Rusudan — as the younger (Narin).

Co-ruler with David VII Ulu. Sent to the Great Khan for confirmation to the throne, David was forced to wait some time for his appointment. During this time, David Georgievich also arrived at the Great Khan. David, son of George, was illegitimate and since according to Georgian laws he was not entitled to reign, his supporters demanded that the dispute be settled according to Mongol custom. The Mongols confirmed both claimants to the throne. David, son of George-Lasha, was recognized as Ulu, i.e., elder, and David, son of Rusudan — as Narin, i.e., younger. In 1247, both kings arrived in Tbilisi and began to rule the country in concert.

Against Mongol domination, David Narin was the first to rebel. In 1259, he defeated the Mongol army stationed in Georgia, but seeing that he could not cope with new Mongol forces, he withdrew to Western Georgia and took refuge in Kutaisi. From this time on, Georgia was divided into two parts. After the revolt, David Narin had no relations with the Ilkhans. The Ilkhans themselves tried several times to set the feudal lords against David Narin, but without success. David Narin, in turn, had diplomatic ties with the opponents of the Ilkhans — the Golden Horde and the Egyptian Sultanate. David tried to restore Georgian influence over the Empire of Trebizond and even provided military assistance to pro-Georgian factions.

In 1293, David Narin died, and after that a long struggle for power began in Western Georgia between his sons.

Materials:

All rulers of Abkhazia

Abkhazian Kingdom. 786 CE
Anthroponymic repertoire of the "Divan of the Abkhazian kings". G. A. Amichba
Chronicle of the Abkhazian kings. F. Jordania 1902
Bgazhba O. Kh., Lakoba S. Z. History of Abkhazia from ancient times to the present day. 2007
Culture and ideology of early medieval Abkhazia (5th–10th centuries). Amichba 1999
"History of Abkhazia in dates". T. A. Achugba 2011
Circumnavigation of the Euxine Sea. Flavius Arrian
Naturalis Historia. Pliny the Elder 77–79. Latin-English 1969
Reports of ancient Greek and Latin writers about Scythia and the Caucasus. Latyshev 1947
Constantine Porphyrogenitus. On the Administration of the Empire: Text, translation, commentary. Litavrin 1991

The final division of the territory of the Abkhazian Kingdom between the brothers; David-Ulu – son of Lasha – received the territory east of the Likhi Range, and the lands west of the Likhi Range – David-Narin, son of Rusudan. According to the Armenian historian Hayton (13th century), the eastern part came to be called – Georgia, the western – Apvas (Abkhazia). The eastern kingdom was directly subordinate to the Mongols, but the power of the Mongols over the western kingdom did not actually extend. The western kingdom itself, known in Georgian sources as Imereti or Likht-Imereti (in Georgian: "Country beyond the Likhi"), was not strictly centralized and consisted of several parts: Abkhazia, Mingrelia, Svaneti, Racha, Guria and others.


Materials:

"History of Abkhazia in Dates." T.A. Achugba 2011

According to the results of lexico-statistical reconstruction of the evolution of North Caucasian languages, Balanovsky et al. 2011 ^[1], the divergence of Abkhaz and Abazin, and in the other group Adyghe and Circassian languages, began in both groups 780 years ago.

---

^[1] Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region. Balanovsky 2011. Supplementary Data. Supplementary Figure 2