Each of us knows the name of Queen Tamara. Surely, if a sociological survey were conducted in Georgia to find out who the Georgian residents consider the greatest woman, she would undoubtedly be the first on the list. But what do we really know about Queen Tamar? Apart from many castles, bridges and roads, the construction of which is attributed to her, except for the vague legends about the treasures in her tomb? The dust of history has notably settled on historical sources, but still the vivid image of Queen Tamara deserves the most careful study.
Tamara (Tamar) is the queen of Georgia (born 1166, death 1213) and came from the Bagration dynasty. Her parents are the king of Georgia George III and his wife Burdukhan, daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan. Poets contemporaries praised her intelligence and beauty. She was called not a queen, but a king, “a vessel of wisdom,” “a smiling sun,” “a slender reed,” “a radiant face,” glorified for her meekness, hard work, obedience, religiosity, enchanting beauty.
Legends have been added about her perfections, which have survived in oral transmission to our time. The Byzantine princes, the Aleppo Sultan, the Persian Shah were looking for her hands. The entire reign of Queen Tamara is surrounded by a poetic halo. The time of her reign is called the "golden age" of Georgia.
However, it all started not at all cloudless. The grandfather of the future queen Dmitry Bagration had two sons - the younger George and the elder David, to whom he traditionally handed over power. But the young king did not occupy the throne for long - after only six months he died under dubious circumstances.
The successor to the last king of Georgia was his young son Demeter (Dmitri or Demna), whom, of course, Uncle George undertook to take care of. George III was a tsar, so to speak, of a military orientation. He diligently pushed the borders of the state, and his goal was to conquer Armenia. The king more than once occupied the city of Ani and the ancient capital of Armenia Dvin, although their final annexation to the Georgian kingdom took place under his daughter, Queen Tamara. George was a strong king, and he intended to stay as long as possible.
And of course, this state of affairs did not suit Dmitry's legal heir. 1177 - an uprising broke out against George III. Tsarevich Demna decided to seriously fight for the royal throne, and in this he was supported by his father-in-law - amirspasalar (commander-in-chief of the troops) of Georgia Ioane Orbeli. Most of the feudal lords from eastern and southern Georgia joined the rebels, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the tsarist power.
Despite the fact that a large military force (about 30,000 people) was concentrated in the hands of the rebels, they hesitated, hoping for outside support, knowing the determination and success of George in military affairs. In addition to everything, they could not decide in any way who, in fact, was in charge of this campaign. They even sent ambassadors to the Muslim rulers and expected help from them.
Meanwhile, George took the initiative into his own hands and attacked the rebels. After the first clash, the ranks of the rebels wavered, a split occurred between them, as a result, part of them went over to the side of the king. Tsarevich Demna and Ioane Orbeli locked themselves in the Armenian fortress of Lori. The king laid siege to the fortress, after which the rebels were forced to surrender to the king. George did not stand on ceremony: Tsarevich Demna and Ioane Orbeli were executed. According to another version, the prince was "just" blinded and expelled from the country. Whatever happened there, he never appeared in the political arena.
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Tamara was probably born shortly before this division of power. According to the version of researchers of that period of history, she was born between 1164 and 1169. The girl was left without a mother early, and her father, who was primarily busy with military affairs, entrusted Tamara to her mentor Rusudan. This lady is surrounded by a mystical halo, therefore, it can take a long time to list all the options of who she could be, and the assumptions where she came from.
A more likely version, she came from the Ossetian branch of the Bagration, that is, she was a distant relative of George. But one thing is known for sure - she was an outstanding woman and had a strong influence on young Tamara, having managed to nurture from her not just a woman, but first of all a queen. Largely thanks to her, the future queen received a wonderful education and, by the will of fate, she had to show her abilities at a very young age.
After the uprising of Prince Demna and the Orbeliani clan, the situation in the country was unstable. George III had no sons, and after his death Tamara was to come to the throne. In order not to have difficulties, the father decided to raise his daughter to the throne during his lifetime. 1178 - in Uplistsikhe, he crowned her as his co-ruler. In the same year, at the initiative of Tsar George and Tamar, a meeting was convened at which a decision was made to introduce capital punishment for thieves and bandits. A special service of “thief seekers” was created.
The measures taken did not fail to affect: the number of robberies and thefts has sharply decreased. It is surprising that George, who previously thought only about military campaigns, took up this undoubtedly important, but far from battle business. Rather, it is possible to assume that these are Tamara's first initiatives in the state arena, albeit brought to life by her father.
George III died in 1184, leaving his daughter a legacy not only of the country, but also of strained relations with the clergy. Even under George, the Aznauri nobles, who had significant power in church affairs, began to demand the restoration of the immunity of the church, that is, to release church property from state taxes. The king was forced to make concessions to them, because he did not need internal squabbles at all, but as a result he strengthened the position of the clergy.
During the life of the king, the dignitaries of the darbazi (this was the name of the assembly of the highest spiritual and secular nobility, which represented a kind of parliament of ancient Georgia), willingly agreed that a woman could rule the country. “The fiend of the lion is the same, be it a male or a female,” they flattered the ruler, but as soon as Tamara was left alone, they immediately tried to wrest more power from her.
George III turned out to be perspicacious: after he was gone, a serious struggle unfolded around the throne. But through the efforts of the followers of Tamar, and first of all her mentor Rusudan, the young Queen Tamara took her place. She was under 20 that day.
Tamara began to feel the change in people immediately. Before she had time to mourn with dignity for her father, representatives of the darbazi came to her palace and, at the bottom, asked to accept power from their hands, as if she did not have it. It was made clear to Tamara: she will rule when they, the darbazi, wish it.
At the cost of heavy concessions - she had a chance to send people loyal to the throne and to appease the greedy clergy - she was crowned king again. The new Catholicos Mikael, who demanded for himself the post of the first vizier of the state for the support of the tsarina, kept putting spokes in the wheels, depriving Tamar of the opportunity to make independent decisions. In addition, her beloved, Tsarevich David Soslani, was removed from the yard.
How such a young woman managed to curb the hot Georgian husbands and power-hungry churchmen remains a mystery behind seven seals. One thing is clear - for this it was necessary to have outstanding personal qualities and, in addition to strength of character, also have cunning, cunning and intelligence.
Queen Tamara began her first state councils with rigid "personnel reshuffles." As an assistant, she called from Jerusalem the smartest scientist-theologian - Catholicos Nikolai Gulabridze, and, although she was not yet able to cope with the hated Patriarch Mikael, who, in addition, still held many government posts, Tamara carefully, gradually led the ship of her state to the right her channel.
She could be harsh, although she preferred confiscation of property and deprivation of titles with privileges to executions. In all of Georgia it was impossible to meet a single person who, with her knowledge, was subjected to violence. For 31 years of her reign, by her order, no one was punished even with a whip.
Wars in those days were fought constantly, and a woman at the head of the army is unconvincing. The Georgians needed a king - strong, well-born. However, the queen was not lucky with her first marriage. Her beloved was not with her, her husband was chosen at a meeting of nobles. They sorted out overseas sultans, Byzantine kings and Persian shahs and found Prince Yuri the Russian worthy.
After the death of his father, he left his native land and from that time found himself with a retinue in Byzantium. In vain did Tamara cry bitterly to the feudal lords: “How can one take such a rash step? We do not know about the behavior of this alien, nor about his deeds, nor about his military prowess, nor about his rights. Let me wait until I see its merits or demerits."
Judging by the lines of Shota Rustaveli, who may have been passionately in love with the queen, she was filled with regal dignity and feminine beauty. "Beads are Tamara's eyes, her body is a slender lens, her gaze is more terrible than God's punishment … the gait, the elegance of all movements are graceful, like a lioness, like a true queen." They said about Tamar that she had a manner of "regally freely throwing her eyes around her, had a pleasant conversation, was cheerful, but alien to any swagger, her speech delighted the ear and was devoid of any viciousness."
Many rulers wanted to achieve her hands - she was a tasty morsel for any crowned groom. Why, then, was the unlucky Russian prince chosen out of all? It is difficult to establish the truth now. According to one of the versions, Tamara's marriage was dictated by political considerations, according to the other - by the anger of Michael, who dreamed of harming the hated ruler and insisted on this marriage.
One thing is not clear: what benefits could be derived from an alliance with the disgraced and stupid prince? Yuri was the son of the famous Vladimir-Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, who was killed in a conspiracy. After the death of his father, nothing good fell on the prince in his homeland, and he and his retinue preferred to wander in a foreign land.
Tamar had a chance to come to terms with her imposed husband. However, the top of the nobility was very mistaken, believing that in gratitude for the throne, Yuri would become a pawn in their hands. The Russian prince was on his mind. He led the troops and won victories, but he drank, swore, and was headstrong for more than two years, so that soon everyone was impatient. In addition to drunkenness, Yuri was accused of sodomy, which Tamara used to break up with her unpleasant husband. “I must not rest under the shade of a defiled tree,” she declared and, having poured him a full measure of gold, sent him back to Byzantium, where he was sheltered.
But Yuri did not accept the divorce. He collected a huge army from the Greeks, to which some of the Georgian ill-wishers of the ruler joined, and set out to conquer Georgia. In the outbreak of war, the ex-husband was joined by the enemies of the queen - local feudal lords, eager to avenge Tamar for the deprived privileges. Yuri occupied Kutaisi and was crowned in the Geguti palace, his supporters raided deep into the country, but still managed to suppress the rebellion. This time, Queen Tamara herself led the troops and, showing remarkable talent for a commander, defeated her husband on the outskirts of Tbilisi. She took pity on her ex-husband and simply expelled him from the country. They say that Yuri did not give up so easily and decided on a second run. The result was just as dire.
In the end, the queen had enough power in her hands to be with the one to whom the heart was drawn, and not with the one who was imposed by the nobility. Since childhood, there was only one man for her - David, the son of the Ossetian king, who, like Tamara, was raised by Rusudan. Their marriage turned out to be extremely happy and harmonious. Since that time, the name of Tamara has been closely associated with the name of David. Thanks to him, Tamara won all the loudest victories and fought brilliant battles. She herself did not take part in the battles: they say, this is not a woman's business, but the faithful Field Marshal Zakhari and her beloved husband David skillfully led the troops, and the ruler inspired them to win. This tandem was invincible.
Now, fearing no one, Georgia has launched an offensive policy. Pali Tabriz, Erzurum, won a brilliant victory over the Sultan of Ardabil. And what is the won battle of Shamkhor worth? The Persian king Abubakar gave the campaign a religious character, having overshadowed his numerous army with the sacred Muslim banner, but suddenly suffered a crushing defeat. Tamara brought the defeated Muslim shrine as a gift to the heavenly queen - the Khakhul icon of the Mother of God, which was kept in the Gelati monastery. Caring about Georgia, dear to her heart, she did not forget about Byzantium and the Orthodox Slavic countries - she sent help to Christians languishing in captivity, built beautiful monasteries and temples.
As a wise queen, Tamara did not count on her own military talents, but she was able to create a perfect Georgian army. The whole country was divided into 9 districts. Each district had an eristav (governor) and a spasalar (warlord). At the court of the ruler, a well-trained standing army of sixty thousand was kept on a decent salary. So, if necessary, the militia united with professionals and Queen Tamara had one of the most powerful armies of that era at her disposal. And if we add to this the strictest discipline that the tsarina established in the troops, and the fact that she personally acted as the inspirer and organizer of victories, then such an army could be considered invincible.
War trophies and a huge tribute from the conquered territories made Georgia the richest country in the medieval world, but the wise queen generously turned treasures into new fortresses, monasteries, roads, bridges, ships, schools … Tamara understood that her subjects should be given a good education if she wanted, so that her undertakings were continued by descendants and that Georgia becomes one of the strongest powers in the world.
She made sure that the quality of education in Georgian schools was unusually high - even in our time, the volume of the then school curriculum is striking: theology, philosophy, history, Georgian, Greek and Hebrew languages, interpretation of poetic texts, the study of polite conversation, arithmetic, astrology, writing poetry …
This amazing woman was truly ahead of her time. She can also be called the “godmother” of Georgian culture. The best musicians, poets and philosophers were gathered at the court of the ruler. Queen Tamara received unspeakable pleasure from long philosophical disputes, and no ball could compare for her with a poetry tournament in which the best poets competed.
The queen spent the last years of her life in the Vardzia cave monastery. Tamar lived there in a cell, connected through a window with the temple, from which she could offer prayers to God during services. She suffered greatly from a painful incurable disease, from which she died in 1213. All Georgia was crying for her. The ashes of Saint Tamara were laid for several days in the cathedral in Mtskheta, and then buried in Gelati - in the ancestral tomb of the Bagrationi.
But where in reality her relics lie, no one knows. Knowing that the enemies of Christ would want to take revenge on her after death, she bequeathed to bury herself in secret. Therefore, at night from the gates of the castle, where Queen Tamara died, 10 detachments left. Each carried a coffin, 10 coffins were secretly buried in various places. Nobody knew which of them was the body of the ruler.
According to one legend, she was buried in the Gelati monastery. According to another, she was buried in the Holy Cross Monastery in Jerusalem, as she made a promise to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but during her lifetime she could not do this, and the new Tsar George Lasha fulfilled her mother's cherished desire.
After the death of the queen, Georgia began to rapidly lose its power. Prosperity was replaced by the difficult years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, then Turkey seized power over the country. Thus ended the "golden age" of Georgia.
Now Queen Tamara is canonized. Numerous legends still tell about her. In particular, they say that at night she is sick and heals them from serious illnesses. And today Tamara remains a Georgian pride, a world-famous ruler. It is not for nothing that there is a custom in Georgia - to give a poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" to a girl for a wedding: the queen, whom Shota Rustaveli considered the ideal, is still an example for Georgian women.
D. Grigorova