Kaikhosro, Prince of Mukhrani


Kaikhosro was a Georgian tavadi of the House of Mukhrani, a collateral branch of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Kartli. He was Prince of Mukhrani, ex officio commander of the Banner of Shida Kartli, and regent of Kartli from 1625 to 1626. During the civil war in 1626, Kaikhosro sided with Giorgi Saakadze against Teimuraz I of Kakheti and followed him into exile in the Ottoman Empire, where they both, after three years of military service, were accused of treason and put to death.

Biography

Kaikhosro was a son of Vakhtang I, and a younger brother of Teimuraz I, on whose death at the battle of Marabda against Safavid Iran he succeeded to the fief of Mukhrani in 1625. Kaikhosro was allied with the warlord Giorgi Saakadze, who helped him to become regent of Kartli during the anti-Iranian rebellion to the chagrin of his rival Zurab, Duke of Aragvi. Zurab, suspicious of the tandem's designs and inclined to believe that his brother Giorgi, who was married to Kaikhosro's daughter, was part of a plot against him, had Giorgi blinded and made an alliance with Teimuraz I of Kakheti, whom Saakadze tried to prevent from acceding to the throne of Kartli.
The split in the ranks of Georgian nobility degenerated to a civil war in 1626. Saakadze and Kaikhosro were defeated by Teimuraz and his party at Bazaleti and fled to the Ottoman Empire, where they entered the sultan's military service. Mukhrani was taken over by Teimuraz I and given in possession to his son David, while children and nephews of Kaikhosro took refuge in western Georgia, in the Kingdom of Imereti. Saakadze and Kaikhosro both fell victim to intrigues at the Ottoman court. They were accused of treason and beheaded at the order of Grand Vizier Gazi Hüsrev Pasha in 1629.

Marriage and children

Prince Kaikhosro was married to Tinatin, daughter of Mamia II Gurieli, Prince of Guria. They had three sons and three daughters: