| David VII დავით VII | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 David VII on a hunt. A miniature from Marco Polo's Livre des merveilles, c. 1410 (BNF Fr2810, f. 8r) | |||||
| King of Georgia | |||||
| Reign | 1247–1270 | ||||
| Coronation | 1245 at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral | ||||
| Predecessor | David VI | ||||
| Successor | Demetre II | ||||
| Born | 1215 | ||||
| Died | 1270 (aged 54–55) Tbilisi | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Jigda-Khatun Althun Gvantsa Kakhaberidze Esukan | ||||
| Issue | George Tamar Demetre II | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Bagrationi | ||||
| Father | George IV of Georgia | ||||
| Mother | Velistsikhian Aznauri's daughter[1] | ||||
| Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church | ||||
David VII, also known as David Ulugh (Georgian: დავით VII ულუ) (1215–1270), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king (mepe) of Georgia from 1247 to 1270, jointly with his namesake cousin, David VI, from 1247 to 1259, when David VI, revolting from the Mongol hegemony, seceded in the western moiety of the kingdom, while David VII was relegated to the rule of eastern Georgia. During his reign, Georgia went into further decline under the Mongol overlordship.
David was the son of the Georgian King George IV and a woman of non-noble. Because of this, he was considered an illegitimate son in the circles of the Georgian nobility, so his father was succeeded by his sister Rusudan. Since Georgia became a Mongol vassal in 1236 and no longer depended so much on the will of the local nobility, David's aunt, fearing that he would want to ascend the throne, sent her into captivity at the court of her son-in-law, Sultan Kaykhusraw II. Then she sent her son, also David, to the court of the great khan in Karakorum, so that he could be recognized as the heir to the Kingdom of Georgia. After the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243, which subdued the Sultanate of Rum to the Mongols, Kaykhusraw was forced to release David Ulu. Rusudan died in 1245. Still waiting for his son's return from the Mongolian court. A part of the Georgian nobility, thinking that David the son of Rusudan had died, proclaimed David Ulu as the king of Georgia. In order to control the country more easily, due to the apparent succession crisis, although the majority of the nobility did not side with the illegitimate son, the Mongols divided the Georgian nobles into two rival parties, each representing its own candidate for the crown. But there were also conflicts among the Mongols themselves, whereby David Ulu was supported by Baiju Noyan, the general and commander of Persia, and his contemporary brother Batu Khan, Khan of the Golden Horde.[2]
In the following years, both David Ulu and David Narin showed unwavering loyalty to the Mongols even after the change at the head of the Mongol Empire and the coming to power of the great Khan Mongke in 1251.[3][4] Georgia then came under the supreme rule of Batu Khan, who was given virtually independent rule over the western parts of the Mongol Empire by Mongke.[5] Having embarked on an expedition to the Middle East in 1253, Mongke's brother Hulegu Khan was particularly keen to exploit the political and religious divisions of that part of the world.[6][7] Attacking mostly Muslims, he tried to maintain the best possible relations with Georgians and Armenians.[8] Numerous Georgian-Armenian military units participated in the Mongol conquest of Alamut in 1256, where they were personally led by David Ulu, and of Baghdad in 1258, and in the skirmishes between Mongol leaders during the campaign.[9][10][11] From 1256, Georgia was a vassal of Ilkhanate.
By the Ilkhan request, David Ulu's army was dispatched to defend the fortifications of Siba against the Golden Horde in 1263. In 1265, the Georgian forces serving as a vanguard of the Ilkhanid army, defeated Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde, and expelled his troops from Shirvan. A heavy burden of Mongol dominance led to a political and economic crisis in the kingdom. As a result of a dispute with the royal court, the province of Samtskhe seceded and submitted directly to the Ilkhan rule in 1266. Thus, Georgia further disintegrated to form three separate political entities.
David VII Ulu died of a bowel infection at the age of 55 in the spring of 1270. He was buried at Mtskheta. He was succeeded by his son Demetre II.
He was married four times. His first wife, Jigda-Khatun, either a Mongol woman or a daughter of the Sultan of Rum, died in 1252. In the meantime (1249/50), he bigamously contracted a union with an Alan woman, Altun, whom he repudiated in 1252. His third wife Gvantsa, widow of the Georgian noble Avag Mkhargrdzeli and daughter of Kakhaber, eristavi (duke) of Racha and Takveri, was executed on the orders of Hulagu Khan in 1262. In 1263, David married Esukan, daughter of the Mongol Noyan Chormaqan.
He had two sons and two daughters, including:
