Ketevan ( ka, ქეთევანი; ; ) was a Georgian princess royal (''

batonishvili ''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი, ) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the Kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty. ''Batonishvili'' is suffixed after or before the given names e.g. David ' ...

'') of the

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

. She was a daughter of Teimuraz II and sister of Heraclius II and married the

Afsharid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly referred to as Afsharid Iran or the Afsharid Empire, was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, establishing the Afsharid dynasty that wo ...

Iranian royal

Adil Shah Ali-qoli Khan (), commonly known by his regnal title Adel Shah (also spelled Adil; , "the Just King") was the second shah of Afsharid Iran, ruling from 1747 to 1748. He was the nephew and successor of Nader Shah (), the founder of the Afsharid d ...

(Ali-qoli Khan) in 1737. Ketevan was the eldest daughter of Teimuraz, of the royal house of Kakheti, by his second wife, Princess

Tamar of Kartli Tamar ( ka, თამარი; 1696 – 12 April 1746) was a Georgian royal princess of the Bagrationi dynasty, a daughter of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli, of the Mukhranian branch, and the second wife of King Teimuraz II, of the Kakhetian bran ...

. Teimuraz, then at war to secure his throne, was summoned by his suzerain

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

, the Afsharid ruler of Iran, in 1737. In a show of loyalty, Teimuraz had to agree to Nader's terms, which included the marriage of Teimuraz's daughter Ketevan to Nader's nephew Ali-qoli Khan and summoning his son Heraclius to join Nader's campaign to India, a deal which Teimuraz would lament in his autobiographical poem. The marriage was celebrated at

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

, attended by Teimuraz and his entourage of 2,500. Ketevan's subsequent fate is unknown. Her husband, Ali-qoli Khan, maintained friendly relations with Teimuraz and the Georgians. He relied on Sohrab Khan, a

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of Georgian background, and exchanged gifts with his father-in-law during his brief reign over the crumbling Afsharid empire as Adil Shah from 1747 to 1748. Adil Shah was overthrown by his brother

Ebrahim Khan Ebrahim Khan Zahir od-Dowleh () was an Iranian statesman from the Qajar dynasty. He is mostly known for being the governor of the Kerman province for 22 years (1803–1824). Life Ebrahim Khan was from the Qawanlu (also spelled Qoyunlu) branch o ...

and killed in 1749.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ketevan, Princess of Kakheti Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Kakheti 18th-century people from Georgia (country) Princesses from Georgia (country) People from Afsharid Iran Iranian people of Georgian descent Iranian women royalty 18th-century Iranian people 18th-century Iranian women Daughters of kings