Vakhtang IV of Georgia

Who was Vakhtang IV of Georgia?

Vakhtang IV, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Georgia from 1442 until his death.

Vakhtang was the eldest son of Alexander I of Georgia by his first wife Dulandukht. He was raised to the co-kingship by his father in 1433. When Alexander I abdicated in 1442, Vakhtang succeeded him to the throne of Georgia, leaving his brothers – Demetrius and George as co-kings. Vakhtang’s rule was threatened by the rivalry among the nobles and general instability in the kingdom. According to the 18th-century Georgian scholar Vakhushti, Vakhtang also faced an attack by the Turkoman prince Jahan Shah of the Kara Koyunlu. Vakhtang met him at Akhaltsikhe in southern Georgia, but a fierce fight did not reveal a victor. In the night, Jahan Shah left the battlefield and returned to Tabriz.

Vakhtang IV married Sitikhatun, daughter of Prince Zaza I Panaskerteli in 1442, outlived her by two years and died without issue in 1446, being buried, together with Sitikhatun, at the Bana cathedral in Tao. He was followed by his rivaling brothers Demetrius and George. This marked the beginning of a fierce and extended struggle for hegemony in Georgia, which eventually ended with the partition of the Georgian kingdom.