Kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti

Origins

Around 1010 Kvirike III became chorepiscopus of the Principality of Kakheti, which had already absorbed the Principality of Hereti, and later took the title king of the Kakhs and Rans. His realm, centred on Telavi, was overrun by Bagrat III, who was uniting the rest of Georgia, but regained its independence after Bagrat's death in 1014.

Rule and society

Kvirike III, called the Great, was a strong ruler and builder who allied with neighbours against the Georgian kings. The kingdom lived from the vineyards and pastures of the Alazani valley and controlled routes towards Shirvan. Aghsartan I submitted to the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan in 1068 and outwardly converted to Islam to keep his throne.

Decline and legacy

Seljuk overlordship weakened the kingdom, and in 1104 nobles of Hereti handed King Aghsartan II to David IV, who annexed it to the Kingdom of Georgia. Kakheti re-emerged as a separate kingdom in 1465.