11 April 2003, 13:13
Irakly the Second
Georgian czar, statesman, and military commander.
From the Kakhetian dynasty of Bagrations. Born November 7 (18), 1720, in the city of Telavi. Czar of Kakhetia since 1744, of Kartli-Kakhet kingdom (East Georgia) since 1762.
Strived to reunite scattered Georgian possessions into a centralized state free of Irano-Turkish domination and to widen Georgia's influence in Transcaucasia. Signed the Georgievsky Treaty of 1783 about Russia's patronage over East Georgia.
Irakly the Second's interior policy was directed at raising production powers of the country, struggle with the system of large seigneuries (satavado), and organization of defense; one of many activities was creating a permanent army (morige) in 1773. Irakly the Second paid special attention to the situation of Georgian rural areas, settlement of awaiting lands, and limiting the feudalists' omnipotence by legal norms. Sale of serfs without land and sale of family serfs without family was prohibited during Irakly the Second's rule. State schools and seminaries were founded in Tbilisi in 1756 and Telavi in 1782.
Irakly the Second deceased in Telavi on January 11 (22), 1798.
The extensive program of Georgia's renaissance conceived by Irakly the Second was not realized completely due to the lack of financing and internal unity in the country with the feudal reaction in the background.
