House of Kakhaberisdze

Kakhaberisdze (Georgian: კახაბერისძე; pl: "Kakhaberisdzeeb"i, კახაბერისძეები, literally "sons of Kakhaber") were a noble family ("didebuli"’s) in medieval Georgia ruling over the northwestern provinces of Racha and Lechkhumi (Takveri) from the early 11th to the late 13th centuries.

The dynastic name came from Kakhaber, son and successor of Rati of the Baghvashi ducal house who had established himself in Racha, ca 990s. By the year 1184, when Tamar of Georgia ascended the throne Kakhaber II possessed also Takveri (Lechkhumi) and had the title of Grand Duke ("eristavt-eristavi") of Racha and Takveri. It was him who, together with Archbishop Anton of Kutaisi, placed the crown upon Tamar’s brow on a ceremony held at the Gelati Monastery. Later he seems to have been in moderate opposition to the Georgian crown. His descendant and probably a grandson, Kakhaber III Kakhaberisdze, helped David VI Narin, an anti-Mongol Georgian king, to establish himself as a virtually independent ruler in western Georgia, 1259. He later revolted unsuccessfully against the king and sided with the Mongols, but had subsequently to take shelter at Abaqa Khan’s court. Pardoned by David in the 1270s, he plotted again. He was blinded and put in prison, his sons expelled to Constantinople, and his duchy abolished in circa 1278. Thereafter the main line disappeared from history, but several of its branches survived.

Dukes of Racha
* Rati (early 11th century)
* Kakhaber I (died 1088)
* Niania (1088-1120)"1120-1175 – unknown duke(s)"
* Kakhaber II (1175-1210)"1210-1245 – unknown duke(s)"
* Kakhaber III (1245-1278)

References

*"Soviet Georgian Encyclopedia", Tbilisi, 1980: vol. 5, p. 448