Bakar (; 7 April 1700 – 1 February 1750), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was appointed regent of Kartli in 1716, and in the absence of Vakhtang VI, he ruled as king (mepe) of Kartli from 1717 to 1719 under the Persian title Shah Navaz Khan III, and briefly reigned again from 1723 to 1724 under the Ottoman title Ibrahim Pasha.
Born into a dynasty that had ruled Kartli since 1658, Bakar was the son of king Vakhtang VI and was involved in state affairs from an early age. Part of his youth was spent in exile during the violent reign of his uncle Jesse of Kartli (). At the age of sixteen, he was appointed by the Safavid authorities to govern Kartli in his father’s absence, while Vakhtang VI was active in Persia, a regency that lasted until 1719. During this period, Bakar challenged the power of the local nobility and introduced a number of internal reforms, before relinquishing authority to his father following a Lezgin invasion.
A supporter of a pro-Persian orientation for Georgia, Bakar was appointed commander of Shah Soltan Hoseyn's imperial guard in 1722. However, Vakhtang VI prevented him from aiding the Safavids during the Afghan invasion of Persia. Vakhtang’s subsequent shift toward a pro-Russian foreign policy led to open conflict between the Persian forces in the Caucasus and the Georgian royal family. Despite Bakar’s military efforts, Vakhtang VI was deposed in 1723. In June of that year, following an Ottoman invasion, Bakar was restored to power and installed as king in Tbilisi. His reign proved short-lived: effective control of Kartli rested with the Ottoman authorities, prompting Bakar to rebel against his own government and wage guerrilla warfare alongside his father.
Lacking international support and facing overwhelming opposition, Bakar and the royal family went into exile in Russia in July 1724, establishing a significant Georgian community in Moscow. There, Bakar entered Russian military and diplomatic service and became involved in imperial policy in the North Caucasus. Repeated attempts to restore him to the Georgian throne failed due to Russia’s reluctance to provide military backing. After the death of Vakhtang VI in 1737, Bakar became a claimant to the throne of Kartli. In Moscow, he led a prosperous Georgian émigré community under Russian protection and, together with his brother Vakhushti, created an important cultural center that included a major printing press.
Early life
Youth Bakar was born on 7 April 1700 (or 11 June 1699), the first legitimate son of Prince Vakhtang, a grandson of King Vakhtang V (), and Rusudan of Circassia, a princess from the North Caucasus. He also had an elder half-brother, Vakhushti, the illegitimate son of Vakhtang.
Bakar was born in the citadel of Kharagauli, in the Kingdom of Imereti, where his father was living in exile following the expulsion of his uncle George XI from the throne of Kartli by Heraclius I. In 1703, the royal family returned to Tbilisi, the capital of Kartli, after Vakhtang was appointed regent of the kingdom by Persia, acting in place of the restored George XI, who was then campaigning in Afghanistan.
Bakar and Vakhushti received a princely education under the supervision of the Orthodox deacons Jesse and Giorgi Garsevanishvili. Vakhtang strictly forbade contact between his sons and the numerous Catholic missionaries active in Georgia at the time under his protection, in order to preserve their Orthodox upbringing.
In 1712, Vakhtang was summoned to Isfahan to the court of Shah Soltan Hoseyn to receive the title of wali. Anticipating a prolonged absence and fearing for the safety of his family in the capital, he settled Princess Rusudan and their children in Gori. Vakhtang’s refusal to convert to Islam ultimately compelled him to remain in Persia until 1719.
Early political activity Despite his young age, Bakar quickly became involved in the diplomatic affairs of Kartli. At the age of thirteen, he worked alongside the Catholicos Domentius IV in shaping Tbilisi's policy toward neighboring Imereti, then in the midst of a civil war. In this context, he supported the princes Zurab Abashidze and Mamia III Gurieli in their struggle against King George VI of Imereti. In the autumn, Bakar received Abashidze in Kartli and provided him with a military escort to help him return safely to his domains in Racha. During the winter of 1712–1713, he met Mamia of Guria at Tskhinvali and escorted him to Gori with great honors, thereby ensuring him safe passage back to his Black Sea principality.
This policy was soon overturned by Prince Simon, Bakar’s uncle and the administrator of the kingdom following Vakhtang’s departure. Simon turned against Mamia Gurieli, granted asylum to George VI of Imereti after the latter was overthrown by Mamia in 1713, and helped him regain the throne a few months later.
In March 1714, Persia appointed as King of Kartli Vakhtang’s Muslim brother and a general in Persian service, Jesse. Upon his arrival in Georgia in October, Rusudan, Bakar, and the other members of the royal family hastily left Gori to escape what soon proved to be a reign of anti-Christian terror imposed by Jesse. The new ruler nonetheless allowed Catholicos Domentius IV to remain in Kartli and coexist with the regime. The family took refuge in Racha under the protection of Zurab Abashidze, while Jesse dispatched a Persian emissary to locate them. Acting under Persian orders, the envoy pretended to be unable to find Vakhtang’s family: despite Jesse’s pro-Persian stance, Persia preferred to maintain instability in Georgia rather than strengthen the authority of the new king.
Toward the end of 1714, Bakar, his brothers, and their mother arrived at the court of George VI of Imereti. Upon learning this, Jesse attempted to negotiate their capture, offering the Imeretian king the return of his wife Rodam—then in exile in Tbilisi—in exchange for the fugitives. In a calculated diplomatic maneuver, George VI secured Rodam’s return while continuing to protect the exiled family.
In Kartli, Jesse rapidly became deeply unpopular, and many nobles united to initiate a civil war, accusing the king of usurpation. Shah Soltan Hoseyn likewise abandoned him: instead of providing military assistance, he limited his support to sending gifts in order to preserve Jesse’s formal allegiance. Finally, after repeated petitions from the Kartlian nobility, Persia agreed to depose Jesse.
Regent
Domestic policy
On 1 June 1716, Vakhtang, still in Isfahan, agreed to convert to Islam and was recognized as King of Kartli under the name Vakhtang VI. However, as commander-in-chief of the Persian armed forces and governor of Tabriz, he was required to remain at the court of Shah Soltan Hoseyn. The shah nevertheless deposed Jesse and decided to appoint the young Bakar as janishin (“lieutenant”) of the kingdom. With Tbilisi devastated by an outbreak of bubonic plague, Bakar landed at Mtskheta on 17 September. On 1 August 1717, he was formally installed by Persia during a ceremony at Kojori, near Tbilisi, during which he converted to Islam, assumed the name Shah Navaz Khan III, and received from the Persian ambassador a crown, a golden insignia, and a robe of honor. He was also granted the titles of commander-in-chief and governor-general of Azerbaijan.
Bakar’s first task was the capture of Jesse, who initially took refuge in the forests of eastern Georgia before receiving the protection of David II of Kakheti while being pursued by a Persian military mission. Using his connections in Isfahan, Bakar informed Vakhtang VI of the situation, prompting the latter to request the intervention of Shah Soltan Hoseyn. The shah sent an embassy to David II, forcing him to reach an accommodation with Tbilisi. Bakar then had his uncle arrested and confined to a palace in the capital. Shortly thereafter, he also ordered the arrest of the general Luarsab, Jesse’s principal lieutenant during his reign of terror, and presented him as a prisoner to his mother, Queen Rusudan.
Bakar proved a loyal ally of Persia, encouraging the Safavid Empire not to hasten Vakhtang’s return. Nevertheless, father and son remained in constant communication, and Bakar frequently acted on his father’s instructions. He launched campaigns against leading nobles deemed disloyal: Heraclius II, Prince of Mukhrani was arrested and blinded, and his principality was transferred to his nephew Levan. Papuna Diasamidze was strangled in his sleep, while many other nobles were executed or sent into exile. In 1717, Bakar dismissed Datuna, duke of Ksani, who was then serving as minister of the palace, and replaced him with Edisher Tsitsishvili. Datuna rebelled in his domains, prompting the janishin to send his brother Vakhushti to invade Ksani. Datuna died during the conflict, and his son Shanshe fled to Persia, where Vakhtang VI persuaded Shah Soltan Hoseyn to arrest him and return him to Bakar, who imprisoned him in Tbilisi.
Bakar also resumed the cultural policies of his father, interrupted under Jesse, and became a patron of the printing house of Mikheil Stephaneshvili. Under his protection, a brief Georgian cultural revival saw the publication of numerous religious works, including the Psalms of David, a prayer book, and a second edition of the Book of Hours in Georgian. A measure of political autonomy and economic stability further enabled Bakar to mint the first Georgian coinage since the 13th century.
External problems Despite the support of Bakar and his Persian allies, the prince faced a growing number of external challenges on the borders of Kartli, partly encouraged by the supporters of Jesse. In particular, in Kakheti, King David II accused his vizier Qiassa of spying for Tbilisi and had him imprisoned in Pankisi, before a Kartlian mission secured his release. Qiassa’s subsequent settlement in Tbilisi and Bakar’s gift of a palace to the disgraced minister further aggravated relations between the two Georgian kingdoms, a tension that caused concern among Persian envoys. Only the return of Vakhtang VI to his throne succeeded in restoring calm between Kartli and Kakheti.
In the summer of 1717, an army of 7,000 Lezgins from Jar-Balakan crossed Kakheti and devastated the town of Bolnisi and the villages of the Ktsia valley. Bakar sent his uncle Simon with 300 cavalrymen in pursuit, but despite their superior military experience, they were defeated at the battle of Nazara and chased as far as Marneuli. Lezgin raids became routine and abated only during the height of the summer heat. When the Lezgins began to leave Kartli and attack Iranian territories, Isfahan decided to send Vakhtang VI back to Georgia to defeat them.
In August 1719, Vakhtang VI returned to Kartli. Bakar welcomed him with a military, noble, and religious procession at the frontier town of Lori, accompanied by Catholicos Domentius IV. The historian Sekhnia Chkheidze, an eyewitness to the events, describes the warm embrace between father and son, their return to Tbilisi, and the coronation of Vakhtang VI at Mtskheta.
Under Vakhtang VI
Under the reign of Vakhtang VI, Bakar became a close deputy of his father. In 1720 (or 1719, according to Nikoloz Berdzenishvili), the king dispatched Bakar and Vakhushti to confront Duke Shanshe of Ksani, who had just escaped from his imprisonment in Tbilisi. During the campaign, Bakar was responsible for the eastern front and inflicted a defeat on Shanshe, who entrenched himself at Churta before being finally overcome when the king called upon troops from Racha. The duke surrendered to Bakar, who had him imprisoned in Imereti.