- Shalva of Akhaltsikhe
Shalva of Akhaltsikhe, St (Georgian: შალვა ახალციხელი, "Shalva Akhaltsikheli") (died 1227; commemoration day on
June 17 /June 30 (O.S.)) was a Georgian general executed by theKhwarezmia n invaders for having refused to serve them and to denounceChristianity .He was a member of influential noble family having
Akhaltsikhe in hereditary possession. UnderTamar of Georgia , he held top posts of Lord High Treasurer and Lord High Mandator consecutively. He was titled as Grand Duke ("eristavteristavi") and served as a governor general in the southern province ofJavakheti .Shalva distinguished himself particularly in the
Battle of Shamkor against the Seljuk atabek ofAzerbaijan , 1195, when he fought in vanguard and captured a war banner of theCaliph . In 1206/1207, he together with Sargis of Tmogvi commanded a Georgian army that tookKars from the Seljuk Turks. At theBattle of Basian (1203) Shalva and his brother Iwane were put in command ofMeskheti an vanguard and played a decisive role in the Georgian victory. The brothers commanded a Georgian vanguard again in theBattle of Garni against theKhwarezmians , 1225. The battle was lost however. Iwane fell on the battlefield and Shalva, grievously wounded, was captured. ShahMingburnu offered him a position in his army provided he would convert intoIslam . Shalva refused however and was martyred in June 1227.According to traditional accounts, Shalva is praised in a Georgian folk song, "Shavlego" [http://georgian-music.com/index.php3?sc=25 "(listen)"] . The song became especially popular in the late 1980s when it was used virtually as an unofficial anthem of Georgian national movement against the Soviet rule.
See also
*
Akhaltsikheli External links
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103860 Orthodox Church in America] website
* [http://www.orthodoxy.ge/tsmindanebi/shalva_akhaltsikheli.php Georgian Orthodoxy] (Georgian)
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