Manuchar II Jaqeli

Manuchar II Jaqeli also known as Mustafa Pasha (d. 1614), was the atabeg of Samtskhe and the pasha of its capital Akhaltsikhe between 1581—1607. Later, when he was removed from power by the Ottomans, he fled to Safavid Iran, where he served at the Safavid court until his death, and continued to claim the title of atabeg of Samtshke.

Biography

Manuchar was the son of Kaikhosro II Jaqeli by his wife Dedisimedi, and served as the regent of Samtskhe between 1576—1578.^[1] He was married to a daughter of Simon I of Kartli, named Elene (fl. 1583–1609). During his regency, he sided with the Ottomans.^[1] He travelled to the Ottoman court in Istanbul, converted to Islam, adopted the name Mustafa, and was appointed pasha of Akhaltsikhe in 1579 by the Ottomans.^[1][2] In 1581, he drove his older brother Kvarkvare VI away, who had been ruling Samtskhe as a puppet of his "imperious" mother Dedisimedi since his father's death in 1573,^[3] and ruled eastern Samtskhe as pasha of Childir.^[4] Even though Manuchar, now known as Mustafa Pasha,^[2] chose to support the Ottomans, he had a double agenda, and maintained secret communications with the Georgian nobility, and especially with Simon I, who, after his initial stuggle against Safavid Iran, actively fought against the Ottoman encroachment and expansion in Georgia.^[1] At the Mukhrani Field, Manuchar assisted Simon in defeating the invasion of the Ottoman army.^[1] Subsequently, he renounced Islam, and started a successful rebellion in his own Samtskhe as well, which lasted for two years, and made the Ottomans recognize him as governor (beglarbeg) of Samtskhe.^[1] However, when he asked for the restoration of his former title of atabeg, and upon his refusion to re-convert to Islam, the Ottomans organized another invasion into Samtskhe, in 1587.^[1] Manuchar was unable to defeat it this time, and he fled to Iran, where he served at the Safavid court until his death in 1614.^[1] In the meantime, Georgia was a chaos politically, with numerous nobles and officials continuing to vy against each other, and in order to gain the Iranian and Ottoman investiture so that they could become ruler of eastern and western Georgia, respectively. When in 1608, Luarsab II of Kartli gained the Iranian approval to attack the Ottomans in Samtshke, the war was prompted by Manuchar II's wife Elene.^[2] She hoped to see her son become the next atabeg of Samtskhe, with Iranian and Kartlian help.^[2] This would eventually be accomplished, and their son succeeded as Manuchar III.^[1]

References

Sources

• Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442241466. 
• Rayfield, Donald (2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780230702.