Vakhushti | |
---|---|
Born | 1696 Tbilisi, Kingdom of Kartli |
Died | 1757 Moscow, Russian Empire |
Burial | Donskoy Monastery |
Spouse | Mariam Abashidze |
Dynasty | Bagrationi dynasty |
Father | Vakhtang VI of Kartli |
Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church |
Vakhushti (Georgian: ვახუშტი) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (batonishvili) of the Kingdom of Kartli, geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, Description of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Geographical Atlas, were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2013.
An illegitimate son of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli (ruled 1716–24), he was born in Tbilisi, 1696. Educated by the brothers Garsevanishvili and a Roman Catholic mission, he was fluent in Greek, Latin, French, Turkish, Russian and Armenian.
In 1719 and 1720, he took part in two successive campaigns against the rebel duke (eristavi) Shanshe of the Ksani. From August to November 1722, he was a governor of the kingdom during his father’s absence at the Ganja campaign. Later he served as a commander in Kvemo Kartli. After the Ottoman occupation of Kartli, he followed King Vakhtang in his emigration to the Russian Empire in 1724. Retired to Moscow, Tsarevich Vakhusht (as he came to be known in Russia) was granted a pension. He died at Moscow in 1757. He was buried at the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, a traditional burial ground of Georgian emigrant royalty and nobility.