Ketevan the Martyr

Saint Ketevan
Queen Ketevan by Mikhail Sabinin
Queen of Kakheti
Tenure	1601–1602
Born	c. 1560
Died	13 September 1624 Shiraz
Burial	Alaverdi Monastery
Spouse	David I
Issue	Teimuraz I Vakhtang Helena
Dynasty	Bagrationi-Mukhrani
Father	Ashotan I, Prince of Mukhrani
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church

Ketevan the Martyr (Georgian: ქეთევან წამებული, ketevan tsamebuli) (c. 1560 – September 13, 1624) was a queen of Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia. She was killed at Shiraz, Iran, after prolonged tortures by the Safavid suzerains of Georgia for refusing to give up the Christian faith and convert to Islam.

Ketevan was born to Prince Ashotan of Mukhrani (Bagrationi) and married Prince David of Kakheti, the future David I, king of Kakheti from 1601 to 1602. After David’s death, Ketevan engaged in religious building and charity. However, when David’s brother Constantine I killed his reigning father, Alexander II, and usurped the crown with the Safavid Iranian support in 1605, Ketevan rallied the Kakhetian nobles against the patricide and routed Constantine’s loyal force. The usurper died in battle. According to the Safavid official and chronicler, Fażli Ḵuzāni, Ketevan showed characteristic mercy to Constantine's surviving supporters and his Qizilbash officers. She ordered that the wounded enemy soldiers be treated accordingly and accepted in service if they desired. The Muslim merchants, who suffered in the war, were compensated and set free. Ketevan had Constantine's body laid in rest and sent to Ardebil.

After the uprising she negotiated with Shah Abbas I of Iran who was the suzerain over Georgia, to confirm her underage son, Teimuraz I, as king of Kakheti, while she assumed the function of a regent.