Vakhtang III

Vakhtang III
King of Georgia
Reign	1302–1308
Predecessor	David VIII of Georgia
Successor	David VIII of Georgia
Born	1276
Died	1308
Spouse	Ripsime
Dynasty	Bagrationi dynasty
Father	Demetrius II of Georgia
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church

Vakhtang III (Georgian: ვახტანგ III) (1276–1308), of the dynasty of Bagrationi, was the king of Georgia from 1302 to 1308. He ruled during the Mongol dominance of Georgia.

A son of Demetrius II of Georgia by his Trapezuntine wife, Vakhtang was appointed, in 1302, by the Ilkhan Ghazan as a rival king to his brother David VIII, who had revolted against the Mongol rule. Vakhtang, however, controlled only the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and parts of the southern and eastern provinces of the kingdom. After an unsuccessful offensive against David's guerrillas, the brothers agreed to rule the kingdom jointly. However, Vakhtang was destined to spend most of his reign as a commander of the Georgian and Armenian auxiliaries in endless Mongol campaigns, particularly against Damascus (1303) and Gilan (1304).

Family

Vakhtang III married Ripsime. The 18th-century Georgian Chronicle mentions her as a niece of Shabur. They had two known sons:

• Demetre, ruler of Dmanisi.
• Giorgi, ruler of Samshvilde.

Ancestry

Family of Vakhtang III
16. David Soslan 8. George IV of Georgia 17. Tamar of Georgia 4. David VII of Georgia 2. Demetre II of Georgia 10. Kakhaber IV Kakhaberidze 5. Gvantsa Kakhaberidze 1. Vakhtang III of Georgia 24. Manuel Komnenos 12. Alexios I of Trebizond 25. Rusudan of Georgia 6. Manuel I of Trebizond 26. John Komnenos Axouchos 13. Theodora Axouchina 3. Theodora Megale Komnena 7. Irene Syrikaina

References

• Ivane Javakhishvili. History of the Georgian nation. v. 3; Tbilisi, 1982: 147-150 (in Georgian)