Travel Diary: Two Legendary Women Of Georgia (Part 2)

In the prequel we concluded talking about Queen Tamar of Georgia.

Why there is a lot of history in my travelogue?

To me travelling is journey to past and present to build a hopeful future for all. In world, where history mostly mentions ‘men who led’, history of Georgia is different – Two legendary women paved the way for Georgia to the future.

First one is Queen Tamar, who was the queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213 CE. She is considered one of the greatest of medieval Georgia”s monarchs, and she presided over its greatest territorial expansion, taking advantage of the decline of other major powers in the region. Tamar was the first female monarch of Georgia. In history, there was lot of resistance she had went through, including the clash with the aristocracy and the clergy of her time.

Her marriage was hot issue in the power politics of Georgian kingdom. The nobility proposed Yuri Andreyevich Bogolyubsky, duke-in-exile. This choice was supported by Catholicos Mikel and Tamar”s aunt, Rusudan, who was a powerful figure at court. However, the two did not get along well and Yuri was reputedly debauched; in frustration, Tamar requested and was granted an annulment.

Tamar chose her own men to fill the top positions in Georgia, including interior minister and commander-in-chief. Especially, the Mkhargrdzeli brothers, Zakare and Ivane, they became important as advisors and military commanders. Then, she married someone of her own choosing: the Ossetian prince David Soslan (also given as Davit Soslan).

Her life was eventful and it wrote history of the nation.

Despite all resistance, she ruled the nation because of the place she secured in the hearts of Georgian people; as they say in the modern world: because of the power of common people. You would not find great fortress or palaces of her, but two common names of Georgian people are Tamar and Nino, until now.

The second heroine of our travel story is St. Nino born in 280 c. According to the widely circulated accounts, she belonged to a Greek speaking Roman family from Kolastra, Cappadocia, and was a relative of Saint George and came to Georgia (ancient Iberia) from Constantinople.

My tour guide told me the story of St. Nino on our way to Kakheti, Eastern Georgia. According to his account, she performed miraculous healings and converted the Georgian queen, Nana and eventually the pagan king Mirian. He was lost in darkness and blinded on a hunting trip and found his way only after he prayed to “Nino”s God”. Later, Mirian declared Christianity as the official religion of his kingdom (c. 327) and Nino continued her missionary activities until her death.

Our tour guide explained story to us as it happened yesterday. She is a great legend in the collective memory of Georgia. We visited her tomb at Kakheti. While I was standing beside her tomb, I had the feeling that I could hear the legendary story echoing in valley of a great lady who inspired generations.

While I our way to kakheti I met a Hindi actor…  another legend, Raj Kapoor.

I said it. More about Raj Kapoor and Georgia next time.

(Riyas T Razack is a writer and traveller based out of West Asia)