Gurju Khatun
| Gürcü Hatun | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Coin of Sultan Kaykhusraw II. The sun is thought to represent Gürcü Hatun and the lion the sultan. | |||||
| Queen consort of Sultanate of Rum | |||||
| Tenure | ?–1246 | ||||
| Born | Kingdom of Georgia | ||||
| Spouse | Kaykhusraw II Pervâne | ||||
| Issue | Kayqubad II | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Bagrationi dynasty (by birth) Seljuq dynasty (by marriage) | ||||
| Mother | Rusudan of Georgia | ||||
| Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church (by birth).. later reverts to Islam. | ||||
Gürcü Hatun (Georgian: გურჯი-ხათუნი) (fl. 1237-1286) was a Georgian royal princess from Bagrationi dynasty and Queen consort of Sultanate of Rum being favorite wife of sultan Kaykhusraw II.[1] After his death in 1246 she married the Anatolian strongman Pervane. She was the mother of sultan Kayqubad II and patron to Rumi.
Her title Gürcü Hatun means "Georgian Lady" in Turkic languages.
She was born as Tamar (Georgian: თამარი) and had a biblical name popular in Kingdom of Georgia and was named after her grandmother Queen Tamar the Great.[2]
Gürcü Hatun was the daughter of Queen Rusudan of Georgia and the Seljuk prince Ghias ad-din, a grandson of Kilij Arslan II.
She was a sister of King David VI of Georgia.
Like most Georgians, Tamar initially remained an Eastern Orthodox Christian but is known to have converted to Islam at a later point, with no further information on how the conversion came about. It is said that the sun on the Seljuk coins of that time symbolizes Tamar, while the lion stands for the sultan himself. This emblem, known as shir-u hurshid (Lion and Sun), later became widespread in the Islamic world (though its origins date back to much earlier times). After the death of Kaykhusraw in 1246, the government of the sultanate was seized by the Pervane Mu‘in al-Din Suleyman who married Gürcü Hatun.
She is known to have patronized science and art, and to have been on friendly terms with the famous Sufi poet Rumi in particular. She also sponsored the construction of the poet’s tomb in Konya.[3]
References
- ^ Cosmopolitanism and the Middle Ages, John M. Ganim, 51
- ^ ჯაველიძე ე., ქართული საბჭოთა ენციკლოპედია, ტ. 4, გვ. 579-580, თბ., 1979 წელი.
- ^ H. Crane "Notes on Saldjūq Architectural Patronage in Thirteenth Century Anatolia," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, v. 36, n. 1 (1993), p. 18.
External links
- რატომ გააწკეპლინა გურჯი ხათუნის მეუღლემ მოლა ნასრედინი და რატომ განარისხა რუსუდან მეფე მისმა ქალიშვილმა ეკა სალაღაია, 2010-06-03
- What is behind the sun and lion figure?
- A listing of her Bagrationi ancestors
- Marek, Miroslav. "An ancestry chart of her". Genealogy.EU.
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