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Abuleti (Georgian: აბულეთი) was a Georgian feudal lord of the Abuletisdze family and commander under the kings David IV and Demetrius I. He was also governor of Ani from 1124 to 1126.

Biography

Abuleti was a loyal Kakhetian nobleman, founder of the Abuletisdze family and commander of the Georgian king David IV.

In 1110, Abuleti, together with George of Chqondidi, Theodore and Ivane I Orbeli, retaliated against the Seljuk settlement and recaptured the city of Samshvilde, which was added to the royal dominions, without a major battle. Following this capture, the Seljuks abandoned much of their occupied territories, allowing Georgian troops to capture Dzerna [ka].

In 1124, King David IV captured Ani and exiled emir Abu'l-Aswar and his eight sons to Abkhazia. King David IV appointed Abuleti and his son Ivane as governors of Ani. In 1126, Abu l-Aswar's son, Fadl, acquired troops from the Seljuk Sultan Ahmad Sanjar which he used to besiege Ani. As David IV's successor, King Demetrius I, did not send reinforcements to relieve Ani, Abuleti, learning of David IV's death and afraid of Turkish danger, surrendered Ani to Fadl.

After the surrender of Ani, Abuleti and Ivane fled to Dmanisi. He is last heard of in 1131, when Abuleti's son Ivane plotted with King Demetrius' pretender half-brother Vakhtang to kill the king. Abuleti denounced his own son to the king, who reacted with determination: Ivane was beheaded and Vakhtang was blinded, as a result of which the latter died.

References

1. Rayfield 2012, p. 89.
2. Samushia 2015, p. 29.
3. Metreveli 2011, p. 66.
4. Brosset 1849, p. 359.
5. Minorsky 1953, p. 84.
6. ^ Baumer 2021, p. 288.
7. Minorsky 1953, pp. 84–85.
8. Rayfield 2012, p. 99.
9. Baumer 2023, p. 18.
10. Hacikyan et al. 2002, p. 491.

Bibliography

• Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78023-070-2.
• Minorsky, Vladimir (1953). Studies in Caucasian History. New York: Taylor’s Foreign Press. ISBN 0-521-05735-3.
• Baumer, Christoph (2021). History of the Caucasus. Vol. 1: At the Crossroads of Empires. I.B. Tauris.
• Brosset, Marie-Félicité (1849). Histoire de la Géorgie depuis l'Antiquité jusqu'au XIXe siècle. Volume I [History of Georgia from Ancient Times to the 19th Century, Volume 1] (in French). Saint-Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences.
• Metreveli, Roin (2011). Saint David the Builder (in Georgian). Vol. 13. Tbilisi: Saoǰaxo Bibliot̕eka. ISBN 9789941425509.
• Samushia, Jaba (2015). Illustrated history of Georgia. Tbilisi: Palitra L. ISBN 978-9941-21-755-5.
• Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Basmajian, Gabriel; Franchuk, Edward S.; et al., eds. (2002). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the eighteenth century. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814330231.
• Baumer, Christoph (2023). History of the Caucasus. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780755636303.