Gurandukht of Abkhazia

Gurandukht or Guarandukht (Georgian: გურანდუხტი, გუარანდუხტი, fl. 960–999) was a daughter of King George II of Abkhazia and wife of the Bagratid royal Gurgen of Kartli. She was the last known member of the royal house of Abkhazia, a fact that provided an opportunity to her son, Bagrat, to claim the crown of Abkhazia. By virtue of being also heir to the Georgian Bagratid principalities, Bagrat went on to become the first king of unified Kingdom of Georgia. Gurandukht stood by her son in his political and cultural enterprises. Gurandukht is known from The Georgian Chronicles and several inscriptions.

Gurandukht was a daughter of George II of Abkhazia (r. 916–960) and, thus, sister to the three succeeding monarchs—Leon III, Demetrius III, and Theodosius III. Gurandukht is depicted in relief on the northern squinch over eastern arch of the Kumurdo Cathedral in Javakheti, with an accompanying inscription in the medieval Georgian asomtavruli script ႢႰႣႲ, "G[u]R[an]D[ukh]T". The southern relief shows her brother Leon III, who is unnamed, but mentioned in a dedicatory inscription on the south door of the church, dated to 964.

Gurandukht was married to Gurgen, a member of the Georgian Bagratid family and a son of Bagrat II "the Simple", the titular king of Kartli, which was de facto under the Kingdom of Abkhazia. As none of Gurandukht's brothers produced a male heir, her son with Gurgen, Bagrat, was the potential heir to the crowns of both Abkhazia and Kartli. In addition, Bagrat was adopted by his powerful cousin, David III of Tao, through the advice of Iovane Marushisdze, eristavi of Kartli. David installed the boy-prince Bagrat as a ruler in Kartli in 975, with Gurgen and Gurandukht as regents. The family had to deal with strong aristocratic opposition, but enjoyed the support and protection of David of Tao. In 978, again through Marushidze's efforts, Gurandukht's weak reigning brother Theodosius III was deposed and Bagrat, now of age, proclaimed King of Abkhazia. On this occasion, Bagrat and Gurandukht sponsored the construction of the Bedia Cathedral, completed in 999, and donated a gilded chalice to it. For a time, during Bagrat's absence in Abkhazia, Gurandukht administered the key fortified, rock-hewn town of Uplistsikhe and part of Kartli. Gurandukht's husband Gurgen succeeded on his father's death as king of Kartli in 994. When he died in 1008, Bagrat, for the first time in history, united the western kingdom of Abkhazia with the eastern realm of Kartli to give rise to the unified Georgian monarchy.

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