Kaikhosro of Kartli

Who was Kaikhosro of Kartli?

Kaikhosro, of the House of Bagrationi, was a king of Kartli, eastern Georgia, from 1709 to 1711. However, he never ruled due to his permanent absence at the Persian military service.

He was the son of Prince Levan, and accompanied his father during the service in the Saffavid empire. Since 1703, Kaikhosro himself served on high posts in the Persian administration, including being a darougha of the capital city of Isfahan and a naib to the divanbeg. On the death of his uncle, Gurgin Khan, in 1709, he was confirmed as a wali/king of Kartli and a sipah-salar of the Persian armies in Afghanistan, and granted Tabriz and Barda in possession. He spent the whole of this period in field, and Kartli was administered by his brother Vakhtang.

In November 1709, Kaikhosro led a new Persian–Georgian army, supported by contingents from Khorasan, Herat, and Kerman, against the Afghans after the murder of Gurgin Khan by Mir Wais Hotak, a rebel chieftain of the Ghilzai. Kaikhosro's efforts to take Kandahar, however, were in vain. A fragile truce ensued, but in the summer of 1711 the hostilities were resumed. Kaikhosro forced the rebels to withdraw within the walls of Kandahar city which was placed under siege. However, the positions of the besiegers soon became precarious due to attacks by the Balochs. On October 26, 1711, Kaikhosro ordered a retreat from the city. The Afghans attacked the retreating army and won a crushing victory; Kaikhosro was killed when he fell off his horse and his entire army of 30,000 soldiers was annihilated.