#08.12.13

Mural of Tamar from the church of Dormition in Vardzia (c. 1184-1186)

Tamar the Great ruled over Georgia together with her father between 1178 and 1184, and ruled alone between 1184 and 1213. She was the first female ruler of Georgia. The Georgian Orthodox church later declared her a saint, though she was called a saint even in her own lifetime.

Tamar’s father, George III of Georgia, ascended to the throne after his father’s death in 1156. This happened during a period which included a lot of disagreements surrounding the monarchy. For instance, George’s elder brother had forced their father to abdicate in 1154, but died shortly after himself. In 1177 the Georgian nobles rose against George III, declaring his elder brother’s son, Demna, the king. This revolt was crushed, and in 1178 Georg III declared Tamar his heir and co-ruler, hoping to avoid any disputes after his death.

Though George III was not completely successful in avoiding disagreements surrounding his successor, Tamar was able to neutralize her opponents. In 1185 she married a Rus’ prince, Yuri (the Rus were a people, possibly descending from Swedish Vikings). The marriage was pushed onto her by the nobles, and in 1187 she divorced him, having now gained enough power to do so. Yuri was then expelled from the country, and Tamar managed to stop his two coup-attempts between 1187 and 1191. In 1191 she married David Soslan, an Alan prince (Alania was a neighbouring country to the north).  Though David was a co-ruler, Tamar continued to be the main ruler.

During Tamar’s reign Georgia expanded I’s borders, and brought in new amounts of treasure, described in the saying “the peasants were like nobles, the nobles like princes, and the princes like kings». Tamar’s reign is considered the height of the Georgian Golden Age, not only because of the territorial expansion, but because the culture bloomed, with new cathedrals being built and the important Georgian poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”, which was dedicated to Tamar.

After her death, Tamar was succeeded by her son George IV, and later her daughter Rusudan. The location of her burial is unknown, but one theory is the family burial grounds at the Gelati monastery (a UNESCO world heritage site). Another theory is that her son George IV brought her remains to Jerusalem, so she would be buried in the holy land. After her death she remained an important figure, and she was several places fused with local deities. 

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