Alexander II (; died April 1, 1510), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the king (mepe) of Imereti from 1484 to 1510.
The son of Bagrat VI, Alexander briefly succeeded his father in 1478 during the Georgian civil war of 1463–1490, a dynastic civil conflict that fragmented the Kingdom of Georgia into several independent realms. Deposed by his uncle and rival, Constantine II, Alexander fled to the mountains of northern western Georgia, from where he continued the civil war for several years. In 1484, amid the national turmoil that prevented Constantine from securing his territories, Alexander returned to power and was crowned King of Imereti. His reign, however, remained unstable, as he faced two further invasions by Constantine in 1485 and 1487, before finally consolidating his rule in 1489.
The official division of Georgia in 1490 recognized Alexander II as one of the four independent Georgian monarchs and established him as the founder of the Kingdom of Imereti, which endured until 1810. His reign was marked by efforts to strengthen internal governance and maintain unity against the growing autonomy of Mingrelia and Guria. In 1509, Alexander launched an unsuccessful campaign to reclaim central Georgia. That same year, Imereti faced its first encounter with the Ottoman Empire, marking the beginning of centuries of geopolitical conflict in the region.
Upon his death in 1510, Alexander II was succeeded by his son, Bagrat III of Imereti.
Biography
Early life Alexander was the third son of Bagrat VI and his wife, a certain Helen. His father, Bagrat, had been king of Imereti since 1463 under the name Bagrat II. In 1466, Bagrat moved to Kartli and declared himself King of Georgia under the name Bagrat VI. He soon entered into conflict with Prince Constantine, another claimant to the Georgian crown. In 1468, the two rivals reached a temporary peace agreement: Bagrat VI would retain the title of King of Georgia, with agreeing that upon his death, the realm would be divided—Constantine inheriting Kartli, and Alexander receiving Imereti.
Brief reign Bagrat VI died in 1478, and despite his prior agreement with Constantine, Alexander sought to seize control over both Kartli and Imereti. At the time, Constantine already ruled Kvemo Kartli and Georgian Armenia, and soon advanced toward Tbilisi, the capital. In response, Alexander attempted to have himself crowned at Kutaisi in Imereti by the Catholicos of Abkhazia. The coronation, however, failed when the leading dukes—Vameq II of Mingrelia, Kakhaber II of Guria, and the nobles of Abkhazia and Svaneti—boycotted the ceremony, depriving Alexander of the legitimacy he sought.
Although the royal army initially remained loyal to Alexander, Constantine II swiftly captured Tbilisi with the aid of mountain militias from Khevsureti and Tusheti, leaving Alexander without his capital. His forces were soon driven out of Kartli, and a number of fortresses across central Georgia fell to Constantine’s troops. The new ruler replaced the minor nobles installed by Bagrat VI and Alexander II with governors loyal to his cause.
By 1479, Gori had also been taken by Constantine, forcing Alexander to retreat once more to Kutaisi. Meanwhile, Vameq II of Mingrelia, seeking to avenge himself for the autocratic rule of Bagrat VI, allied with Constantine and helped in the invasion of Imereti. The collapse of the royal army was compounded by the betrayal of the Imeretian nobility, who swore allegiance to Constantine that same year.
Alexander fortified himself in a citadel, while Constantine's mountain troops and the Mingrelian troops of Vameq II captured Kutaisi together. In Kutaisi, Constantine II received the allegiance of the dukes of Mingrelia and Guria, garrisoned the city to protect it against a potential attack by Alexander, and set off to fight against Samtskhe, another rebellious Georgian province.
Guerrilla warfare Following his defeat in 1479, Alexander withdrew into the mountainous regions of Racha and Lechkhumi, where he forged an alliance with the local population and continued to assert his claim to his father’s throne. The genealogist Cyril Toumanoff notes that Alexander remained firmly convinced of his hereditary right to the Georgian crown as the senior descendant of David VI (). The 16th-century Ottoman historian İbrahim Peçevi likewise recognized the legitimacy of Alexander’s dynastic claim.
Modern historian Donald Rayfield, however, suggests that Constantine II may have appointed Alexander as Duke of Racha and Lechkhumi in 1479, granting him residence at the royal court of Kutaisi.
Regardless of his exact status, Alexander governed both provinces and led a prolonged resistance against the central authority. In 1483, he married a woman named Tamar, and it is possible that he used the occasion to have himself crowned as anti-king with the support of the local nobility. That same year, Constantine II suffered a decisive defeat against the forces of Samtskhe and was forced to retreat toward Tbilisi.
In 1484, the death of Vameq II of Mingrelia, who had been consolidating Constantine’s control over Imereti, created a power vacuum. Seeing an opportunity, Alexander launched a new military campaign to reclaim his authority over western Georgia.
King of Imereti
Restoration and consolidation of power
With the support of his mountain forces, Alexander recaptured the weakened and largely abandoned city of Kutaisi in 1484, where he was crowned Alexander II, King of Likht-Imereti (meaning “the nation on this side of the Likhi,” referring to the Likhi Range that divides western Georgia from Kartli). His coronation marked a formal declaration of independence from the rest of the Georgian kingdom.
Following his enthronement, Alexander launched campaigns across western Georgia, though he failed to bring Mingrelia and Guria fully under his control, while Constantine II remained preoccupied with warfare in Samtskhe. Seeking to reunify Georgia, Constantine invaded Imereti in 1485, but was decisively defeated by Alexander and a nobleman from the Lortkipanidze family in a battle at Chikhori. The following year, Constantine was forced to retreat to Kartli when Sultan Yaqub Aq Qoyunlu began a series of military incursions into his eastern territories.
Meanwhile, Liparit II Dadiani, Duke of Mingrelia, continued to oppose Alexander. In 1487, he invited Constantine II to renew his invasion of Imereti. The allied Kartlian and Mingrelian forces, supported by factions of the Imeretian nobility, overran Alexander’s domains. Once again, Alexander was forced to abandon his capital and take refuge in a fortified citadel. When Constantine’s mountain militias laid siege to him, Alexander fled north into the mountains, allowing Constantine and Liparit to seize the fortresses loyal to Alexander.
Constantine consolidated his control by employing North Caucasian tribes to enforce his rule and remained in Kutaisi, fearing another Imeretian uprising. Thus, when Yaqub invaded Kartli again in 1488, Constantine refused to leave Imereti and instead sent two of his generals to confront the invaders. However, Yaqub successfully besieged Tbilisi, forcing Constantine to abandon Imereti. This withdrawal allowed Alexander to reclaim his throne and restore his authority.
Taking advantage of the crisis in eastern Georgia, Alexander II reconciled with the Imeretian nobility and Liparit of Mingrelia. In 1489, a coalition of mountain forces from Racha, Lechkhumi, and Svaneti invaded Imereti, capturing numerous strategic fortresses before Constantine could respond. Kutaisi soon fell, marking the final separation of Imereti from the Georgian crown—a division that would endure until the Russian annexation in the 19th century.
In 1490, with Tbilisi liberated, Constantine II convened a royal council to determine a plan for the reconquest of Kakheti, Imereti, and Samtskhe. However, the high Georgian nobility, wary of Constantine’s growing power, resolved instead to officially dissolve the unified Kingdom of Georgia, founded in 1008. A series of peace treaties followed between Constantine and the various regional rulers. In Imereti, Tbilisi formally recognized Alexander II's territorial boundaries, while Alexander in turn was compelled to grant broad autonomy to Guria and Mingrelia, with Abkhazia incorporated into Mingrelia.
This arrangement created a decentralized and fragile western Georgia, yet one that, in theory, left open the possibility of future reunification. A final treaty between Constantine and Alexander was concluded in 1491 (or 1493, according to some sources), one year after the royal council’s decision, officially confirming Imereti’s independence under Alexander II.
Formation of a New Kingdom
After securing independence, Alexander II was faced with an unstable realm and a powerful nobility that continuously threatened his authority. During his early years on the throne, he focused on consolidating his power by waging campaigns against rebellious lords. Several were executed, while others were stripped of their lands and noble titles or replaced with other nobles loyal to the Crown.
Alexander’s greatest challenge, however, came from the influential princes who ruled the regions along the Black Sea — Liparit of Mingrelia and George of Guria. Peace with these powerful vassals was achieved only after an agreement that came to define the subsequent history of the Kingdom of Imereti:
The Crown would no longer interfere in the internal affairs of the two principalities; The princes of Mingrelia and Guria were released from their obligation to pay taxes to Imereti; The rulers of Mingrelia were henceforth granted the hereditary office of Mandaturtukhutsesi (Minister of the Interior); The rulers of Guria were designated Amirspasalar (Commander of the Royal Army); Mingrelia and Guria were required to provide soldiers for the royal army; Their lands remained open for royal hunting; The king retained the de jure right to confirm the succession of each princely ruler.
Alexander II also sought to extend his authority into Abkhazia by subduing Prince Solomon Sharvashidze and the ducal family of Gelovani in Svaneti. Contemporary records indicate that Alexander soon became involved in Svaneti’s internal affairs, supporting the Japaridze-Kuchaidze clan in a political dispute over control of the mountainous province.
Following the example of his counterparts in Kartli and Kakheti, Alexander initiated a military reform that divided the armed forces into four sadrosho (district commands), each led by the king and the hereditary lords of Argveti, Racha, and Lechkhumi. However, unlike the reform in Kakheti—which strengthened royal authority—Alexander’s changes allowed the nobility to expand its influence, further fragmenting the small kingdom.
In 1495, Queen Tamar gave birth to Prince Bagrat, the heir of Alexander II. That same year, Alexander concluded a new peace agreement with Constantine of Kartli, securing the latter’s support against rebellious petty nobles in Imereti.
Invasion of Kartli The lack of unity among the four Georgian monarchs became evident once again in 1500, when Constantine II, Alexander I of Kakheti, and Kaikhosro I Jaqeli of Samtskhe formed an anti-Ottoman coalition in alliance with Safavid Iran—a coalition in which Alexander II did not participate.
In 1505, Constantine II, Alexander’s long-standing adversary, died and was succeeded by his son David X. Seeing an opportunity to restore the unity of Georgia under his rule, Alexander II launched an ambitious campaign. In 1509, he crossed the Likhi Range with a large army and captured the strategic town of Gori.