''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი) (literally "a child of batoni (

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ...

or sovereign)" in Georgian) is a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

for royal

prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

s and

princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

es who descend from the

kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

of Georgia from the

Bagrationi dynasty The Bagrationi dynasty (; ) is a royal dynasty which reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christianity, Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, the name of the dyn ...

and is suffixed to the names e.g. Alexandre Batonishvili, Ioane Batonishvili, Nino Batonishvili etc. The title was eventually borne not only by the children of the reigning king ('' mepe''), but by all

male-line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendants of past kings. The customary attribute or form of address for a ''batonishvili'' was "უგანათლებულესი" (''uganatlebulesi'') ("Most Brilliant" or "Most High").უფლის-წული
National Parliamentary Library of Georgia There were several types of noble in the

monarchies A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), ...

of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, some exercising more or less sovereign authority at times, whose titles are prone to be confused with the title and rank of Batonishvili when translated from Georgian into other languages. This is partially because there were no precise

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

equivalents for those titles, and partially because they all came to be translated by the Russian word for prince, ''

Knyaz , or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

'', as

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

increasingly dominated the region. A list of Georgian titled families was attached to the 1783

Treaty of Georgievsk The Treaty of Georgievsk (russian: Георгиевский трактат, Georgievskiy traktat; ka, გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, tr) was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east G ...

between Georgia and Russia pursuant to Article IX's promise that Russia would allow those families to "...enjoy all the same privileges and advantages granted to the Russian nobility". Inexplicably, the list did not differentiate among the ranks of the families included therein (although they were apparently listed in descending order of rank). Russia eventually added all of them to the Fifth Book of Nobility, wherein were already included nobles that held the title of prince but who had no claim to sovereign or quasi-sovereign rank. The first family named on the treaty's list was that of Bagrationi, to which belonged Georgia's king and agnates, but henceforth they and all of the other families were accorded the title of ''Knyaz'' and the rank of ordinary

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

in Russia. In fact, members of the

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

(including Mukhranian progeny of King

Vakhtang V Vakhtang V ( ka, ვახტანგ V), born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni ( ka, ბახუტა მუხრანბატონი) (1618 – September 1675), was the King of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vas ...

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises e ...

, and

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

branches of the Bagrationi dynasty all bore the title of ''batonishvili'' in Georgia and had descendants living in Russia in the 19th century. The heirs of Kakheti and Imereti had been deported to Russia after their kingdoms were annexed in 1801 and 1810 respectively. Yet at the Russian court they were allowed to bear the Russian title equivalent to Batonishvili, Tsarevich, until 1833, the year following the abortive ''coup'' to restore the Georgian crown which had been led by Alexandre Batonishvili. Henceforth Georgia's royal heirs and their descendants were demoted to ''

'', as Prince Gruzinsky and Prince

Imeretinsky Imeretinsky ( ka, იმერეტინსკი; russian: Имеретинский) is a title and later the surname of the Georgian royal family branch of the Bagrationi dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Imereti. Solomon II of Imereti w ...

, respectively.

References

{{italic title Bagrationi dynasty Georgian princes Princesses from Georgia (country)

See also

References