Archil of Imereti

Archil of Imereti
King Archil by Nicolaes Witsen
King of Imereti
Reign	1661–1663 1678–1679 1690–1691 1695–1698
King of Kakheti
Reign	1664–1675
Successor	Heraclius I of Kakheti
Born	1647
Died	April 16, 1713 Moscow
Burial	Donskoy Monastery
Dynasty	Bagrationi dynasty
Father	Vakhtang V of Kartli
Mother	Rodam Kaplanishvili-Orbeliani
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church
Signature

Archil (Georgian: არჩილი) (1647 – April 16, 1713), of Bagrationi dynasty, king of Imereti in western Georgia (1661–1663, 1678–1679, 1690–1691, 1695–1696, and 1698) and of Kakheti in eastern Georgia (1664–75). After a series of unsuccessful attempts to establish himself on the throne of Imereti, Archil retired to Russia where he spearheaded the cultural life of a local Georgian community. He was also a lyric poet.

Archil was the son of Vakhtang V Shahnawaz of Kartli, who, under the Persian protection, attempted to reunify a fragmented Kingdom of Georgia under his crown. Having brought the neighboring eastern kingdom of Kakheti under his control, Vakhtang marched into western Georgia in 1661, deposed King Bagrat V of Imereti, and crowned his fourteen-year-old son Archil king at Kutaisi, capital of Imereti. The Ottoman government strongly objected to what it considered a Persian-inspired incursion into the Turkish zone of influence. A Turkish ultimatum was soon received in Isfahan, threatening a declaration of war if Shahnavaz maintained his son on the throne of western Georgia. Shahnavaz was forced to recall Archil from Kutaisi in 1663 and to restore the rightful king, Bagrat. Instead, Vakhtang installed Archil as king of Kakheti in 1664. To gain the shah's consent, Archil was prevailed upon, much against his will, to become a nominal convert to Islam, assuming the title of Shah-Nazar-Khan. In 1664, Archil defeated an attempt by the rival Kakhetian prince and his brother-in-law, Erekle, to regain his father's crown, and achieved a degree of stability and prosperity in Kakheti.

In 1675, however, due largely to the intrigues by the Persian grand vizier Shaykh' Ali Khan, Archil abandoned Kakheti and, with his brother Luarsab, defected to the Turkish frontier pasha of Akhaltsikhe who promised him the crown of Imereti. He was soon reestablished in Kutaisi with the aid of the pasha of Akhaltiskhe, though without the consent of the Sublime Porte. The Ottoman agents had the pasha executed, and deposed Archil in 1679. He fled to Russia, but was not allowed to Moscow until 1686. Encouraged by his brother, King George XI of Kartli, Archil returned to Georgia in 1690 and succeeded in regaining the Imeretian throne, only to be deposed again by the local nobility in 1691. During the next few years, he made several attempts to seize the crown, waging a guerrilla war against the Turks and the aristocratic opposition led by Prince Abashidze. Eventually Archil gave up hope of reestablishing himself in Imereti and, in 1699, crossed the Caucasus Mountains once more into Russia where he settled in Vsesviatskoye near Moscow.