Georgian Queen Tamara. The Golden Age of Georgia: the reign of the legendary Queen Tamara. David - a reliable shoulder

If scientists invented a time machine, you would hardly want to visit Georgia in the 11th century. A bloody war with the Byzantine Empire that ended in defeat, civil strife, the invasion of the Turks and unbearable tribute - these are the realities of this time. However, everything changed with the accession of Tamara to the throne. The reign of the wise and fair queen is rightly called the “golden age” of Georgia, a period of brilliant rise. The great achievements of the ruler eventually turned into legends and myths.

Biography of Queen Tamara

The ascension of a woman to the throne in the 12th century is an extraordinary phenomenon both for Russia and for the whole world. The heirs and the elite, as a rule, prevented such an outcome of events in every possible way. However, Tamara’s father, George III, was not initially going to hand over the reins to his daughter. He was the guardian of David, the son of his older brother, and cherished the idea that the young man would become the next ruler. However, fate decreed otherwise - civil strife broke out, and David disappeared. Either he was killed, or he disappeared under a false name. Historians are still arguing about his fate.

In 1178, George III made Tamara his co-ruler. He decided not to tempt fate by guessing what obstacles the nobility would build in her path after his death. The king did not place any special hopes on his daughter, but in vain. Firstly, she was well educated. Secondly, she had the talent of a diplomat. Considering that Georgia was surrounded by the Muslim world, this was a necessity. Thirdly, Tamara combined seemingly incompatible qualities: mercy, purely feminine gentleness and at the same time the unbending will of a military leader, the desire to go to the victorious end.

A fragile, shy girl, when necessary, stood her ground to the last. When praising these qualities in poems, the Georgian people often went too far, which makes it difficult to objectively assess Tamara’s personality. Thus, praising the queen, Georgian chroniclers claimed that she prohibited the use of corporal punishment and the death penalty. “During the reign of Tamar, there was not a single person who, with her knowledge, was subjected to violence, and no one who was subjected to punishment, except for cases of application of the old law, which was laid down for robbers - hanging from a tree,” wrote Basili Ezosmodzgvari (XIII century ) in the work “The History of Queen Tamar”. Meanwhile, this information does not correspond to historical reality. Punishments were applied, although rarely.

Queen Tamara. (wikipedia.org)

Tamara gained fame as a great ruler thanks to her conquests. After her father's death, she was re-crowned. Wasting no time, the queen got down to business: she reformed the army according to the feudal system, introduced a system of military districts and military service; soldiers were trained in their craft before being sent to the battlefield. Particular attention was now paid to reconnaissance.

Tamara understood that a Turkish attack on Georgia was inevitable: the location of the kingdom was too favorable. She chose offensive tactics. This was a bold step, because the number of Turkish troops significantly exceeded the number of Georgian ones. However, strict discipline and experienced military leaders did their job, and the Georgian army defeated the Turks in Southern Armenia. The list of conquests during the 27 years of the reign of the legendary queen is impressive: almost the entire Caucasus, former Byzantine provinces, several Iranian cities. Tamara's troops successfully repelled the attacks of the united Muslim army. The Georgian kingdom has never been so powerful. Alas, not a trace of this power will remain when the most dangerous enemy comes - the Mongols.

The territory of Georgia at the beginning of the 13th century. (wikipedia.org)

How Tamara fought with her ex-husband

The queen's first marriage was unsuccessful. Her wife was chosen by the religious elite. Of course, he had to profess Orthodoxy. The choice fell on Georgy (Yuri), the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky. Unlike his father, George did not possess the talent of a commander and politician. He preferred taverns, booze and women (according to some legends, men) to battles. Tamara quickly became disillusioned with her husband and two and a half years later demanded a divorce. You have to understand that divorce was unthinkable back then. However, the church agreed. Perhaps the reason for this was the reforms started by Tamara at the beginning of her reign. She placed people devoted to her at the head of the church, who were not seen in extorting money and abusing their power. In addition, churches were exempt from duties, and generous funds were allocated from the treasury for their existence. The queen also secured the support of the elite - she significantly expanded the powers of the councils of the nobility. The lower strata of the population were also satisfied with their lot; they were freed from heavy taxes.

The Georgian church canonized Tamara as a saint. (wikipedia.org)

So, no one interfered with Tamara’s divorce. And here the most interesting thing begins: the queen sent George into exile, providing him with a large sum of money. The act is noble. The rejected husband went to Constantinople, and then returned to Georgia with his army to take revenge. Tamara had to fight with her ex-husband. True, the army devoted to her quickly expelled the unlucky husband from the borders of the kingdom.

Legends attribute numerous lovers to the beautiful Tamara. But this is nothing more than artistic fiction, a kind of attribute of a romantic image. One thing is certain: the young widow was looking for a husband on her own. Her chosen one was the Ossetian prince David-Soslan. There were no disagreements with the second spouse; in addition, he was a talented military leader.

Reign of Queen Tamara

Tamara, among other achievements, was a patron of the arts, literature and science. It should be noted that the cultural heritage of Georgia in the 12th century was unique. The kingdom was located at the intersection of trade routes, and the culture amazingly combined Christian and Persian traditions. However, after numerous enemy raids, the vast property was seriously damaged.

During Tamara's reign, monasteries and churches were built in all corners of the country, their walls were painted by the best masters. The ruler surrounded herself with poets and writers, who in the process of their creativity formed the norms of the Georgian language.

Many legends tell about the romantic relationship between Tamara and the outstanding poet Shota Rustaveli

Shota Rustaveli. (wikipedia.org)

And indeed, between the lines of his poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger” one can read reckless love. Tamara clearly favored the poet and appointed him state treasurer. But researchers say that there was no romantic connection between the queen and the poet. In general, information about Rustaveli’s biography is scanty and contradictory. There are several versions of the last years of his life, ranging from monastic tonsure and ending with marriage to a beautiful Georgian woman.

The great ruler died between 1209 and 1213. The place of her burial is unknown. Tamara still remains a favorite heroine of Georgian folklore, and not only Georgian folklore. Every nationality of the Caucasus has a couple of stories about Tamara, a fair and brave queen.

"...I need skill, language and heart to sing about her. Give me strength, inspiration! The mind itself will serve her..."

Shota Rustaveli "The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger"

She came from the Bagration dynasty and was the daughter of George III and Queen Burdukhan, daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan. She was raised by her highly educated aunt Rusudan. Contemporary poets of the queen praised her intelligence and beauty. They called her not a queen, but a king, a vessel of wisdom, a smiling sun, a slender reed, a radiant face; they glorified her meekness, hard work, obedience, religiosity, and enchanting beauty. There were legends about her perfections that have survived in oral transmission to our times. Byzantine princes, the Sultan of Aleppo, and the Shah of Persia sought her hand. Tamara's entire reign is surrounded by a poetic aura.

There are names known to every resident of the former great country - the USSR. These include the name of the legendary Queen Tamara (1166-1209). Back at school we were told about the cruel ruler of Georgia who lived in the Daryal Gorge. We learned about her from the inspired poem by M.Yu. Lermontov. Every night the Caucasian beauty feasted with a new lover - a young man who idolized her - and every morning the bloody corpse of her lover was taken by the waves of the mighty Terek.

Sh. Rustaveli wrote about Tamara:

"...The lion, serving Tamar the queen, holds her sword and shield. I, the singer, what deed should serve her? The royal braids are agates, the heat on the cheeks is brighter than lalov. He who sees the sun drinks in nectar. Let us sing to Tamar the queen , revered sacredly! I once dedicated wonderfully composed hymns to her. My pen was a reed, my ink was a lake of agate. Whoever listened to my creations was struck down by a damask blade..."

But in historical works, and even novels, a different Tamara appears. This is a wise ruler, whose memory is preserved in the Caucasus in the form of numerous fortresses preserving peace in mountain gorges. There is another Tamara, not a queen, but a faithful friend, who carried throughout her life a great love for her childhood friend, the warlike Alan Soslan, who received the Christian name David after baptism. Romantic legends about Queen Tamara have also reached our time. One of them, the most recent, haunts historians. Tamara ruled Georgia and her own court in Mtskheta with a firm, sometimes cruel hand, often causing discontent among individual feudal lords who were accustomed to viewing their fiefdoms as independent principalities. It was unusual for the freedom-loving Georgian nobility to submit to a “weak” woman.
After the death of the queen, the relatives, not without reason, feared desecration of her remains. To prevent this from happening, four absolutely identical oak coffins were made. The deceased queen was placed in one of them, and the bodies of women similar to her were placed in the other three. At night, four processions secretly left the royal palace and went in different directions. The locations of all four burials are still unknown. They kept their secret in a very simple way. Participants in each procession, after returning to Mtskheta, were surrounded by soldiers and mercilessly hacked to pieces. The foresight of the queen's entourage, who covered the body of their mistress, went further. They were not sure that any of the killed participants in the funeral processions in the last minutes of their lives did not report where the coffin was hidden. A special detachment of warriors most devoted to the queen destroyed those warriors who eliminated the participants in the funeral processions.

The coffin with the body of Queen Tamara was searched for eight centuries. All places that could become the last refuge of the legendary ruler were carefully examined: the royal cemetery of Gelati in Mtskheta, the monastery on the slopes of Mount Kazbek, caves in the Kasar Gorge and many others. All searches ended in failure. Gradually, archaeologists and amateur searchers gave up trying to find the resting place of the queen or at least one of the three women killed after her death.

But scientists early abandoned the opportunity to reveal one of the historical secrets. There is a place in Georgia where one of the coffins can be kept. The supposed burial place of Queen Tamara remains in Georgia, with which Russia today has strained relations. But sooner or later, countries that have lived together for hundreds of years must make peace, and then such an expedition will become a reality. In the winter of 1967, athletes from the Moscow Geological Exploration Institute, under the guidance of their coach, master of sports in mountaineering Eduard Grekov, climbed the peaks in the Georgian corner area. The first overnight stay was in the kosh, located in the upper reaches of the Kistinka River. As often happens, the excitement from the dark beauty of the mountains surrounding the gorge and the spectacle of the fast river carrying its waters to the Terek kept them awake, and they listened half the night to the trainer’s stories about his adventures in the mountains. Among others, we heard a story that was directly related to Queen Tamara.

Around 1963-1964, a tragedy occurred on the Georgian Military Road, near the high-mountain village of Kazbegi. At a sharp turn, the driver was unable to hold the car, and it, along with four passengers, fell into the Terek gorge. The mountain rescue team that arrived at the scene had to lift the bodies of the dead travelers onto the road. While descending down the climbing rope, one of the rescuers saw under the ledge of the rock a dark opening of the entrance to the cave, blocked by a forged rusty lattice. Attempts to “pump up” to the exit were unsuccessful. The rescuers did not have a cat with which to cling to the grate, so the exploration of the cave was postponed until better times. But they never came. The following year, all participants in the rescue work died while climbing one of the peaks.

Eduard Grekov learned about the mysterious cave from the head of the rescue team. Both had heard about the mysterious burial of Queen Tamara and believed that the coffin with her remains was hidden behind that forged lattice. But the head of the detachment died, and Grekov soon moved to Moscow and was no longer in the mood for expeditions with dubious hope of success.

So the cave found in the Terek Gorge is still waiting for enthusiasts who, perhaps, will be able to unravel the last secret of the legendary Queen Tamara.

Tamara died not yet an old woman, as historical sources testify, from some serious and long illness, leaving behind two children - a son, George, named after his grandfather, and a daughter, Rusudan. This happened around 1207. She spent the last years of her life in the cave monastery of Vardzia. missus queen had a cell connected through a window with the temple, from which she could offer prayers to God during Divine services.

Tamar died on January 18, 1212 from a serious illness. She was buried in the family crypt in Gelati. Several centuries later, the crypt was opened, but the queen’s remains were not found there. According to legend, when the great ruler was living her last days, she asked that the place of her burial be hidden from people. Tamar did not want her tomb to be found and desecrated by Muslims, who, over many years of struggle, were unable to defeat the Georgian queen. Apparently, Tamar’s ashes were secretly taken out of the monastery, and no one knows where he rests now.

One way or another, chronicles were discovered in the Vatican, according to which the Georgian ruler was allegedly buried in Palestine, in the ancient Georgian monastery of the Holy Cross. As if she so passionately wanted to visit this monastery, but due to numerous wars she did not have time to do this, and therefore bequeathed to take her there after her death. Perhaps, in eternity, Tamar wanted to remain with her faithful poet.

The death of Rustaveli is also shrouded in legends. All that is known for sure is that one day the headless body of a Georgian poet was found in a small cell of the monastery. The killer was never found.

Many years later, a fresco depicting an old man was discovered in Jerusalem. It is believed that this is the face of the great Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. No evidence was found that the Georgian Queen Tamar was buried next to him.

Apparently, the poet decided that the one whose life always belonged to the world, to the bustle of state affairs, should unite in another dimension with his Muse.

I’ll sing about love, but you won’t listen.

The stars will play with rays.

And the desert is like a tender mother,

He will open his arms to me!

I'm leaving - sorry!

No offensive rewards

I will complete my creation:

But it will be confirmed

Our grandchildren will be grandchildren -

May your name be glorified!

This is what the Russian poet Ya. Polonsky wrote about the love of Tamara and Shota Rustaveli.

After the death of Tamar, Georgia began to quickly lose its power. Years of prosperity gave way to the difficult years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, then Turkey seized power over the country.

Now Tamar has been canonized. There are numerous legends about her. In particular, they say that at night she appears to the sick and treats them of serious illnesses. Kings rule over the people, and the best of them serve their subjects as their masters. The queen's sleepless nights passed in long prayers, like those of a schema-nun, and her tears—sometimes transparent, like a diamond, sometimes bloody, like a ruby—flowed down like streams of peace onto the earth. Her prayer was the flame that the demons feared: just as wild animals are afraid of a lit torch, just as wolves cannot approach the fire of a fire and only howl piercingly from afar.

Unfortunately, historical sources are very contradictory and this mystery has not yet been resolved. But something else is important - the people’s memory of the great queen and the gratitude of her descendants.

Queen Tamara and her husband Georgy Andreevich.

There is no corner in Georgia where the name of Queen Tamar is not pronounced with blessing. The queen knew that the enemies of Christ would want to take revenge on her after death, and therefore she bequeathed to bury her secretly, so that the grave would forever remain hidden from the world. Georgia fulfilled her will. Her grave was preserved from the Mohammedans and the Mongols, and from those vandals who tear up and desecrate the tombs of their kings. The whole country mourned the queen, the whole people felt orphaned. It seemed that the glory and greatness of Georgia were embodied in the person of the queen, and now formidable trials lay ahead. At night, ten detachments left the gates of the castle where Queen Tamar died. Everyone carried a coffin, ten coffins were secretly buried in different places. No one knew which of them contained the queen’s body.

And yet, two more or less coherent legends about Tamarina’s grave have survived. One is Georgian, the other is European.

According to the first, the queen bequeathed to bury her secretly, hiding her final refuge from friends and enemies, so that in the event of an invasion of infidels, which she foresaw, to avoid outrage. Nine funeral carts set off in nine directions, and nine boxwood coffins were buried in nine provinces of a fairly vast kingdom. Sometimes temperamental Georgians go even further and claim that after this, nine young brothers, who performed the “rite” and were devoted to the queen even on the other side of life, pierced each other with swords, so as not to inadvertently give away the secret. But this is perhaps too much...

But here is a European legend: at the beginning of the 13th century, a certain knight of De Bois wrote from the East to the Archbishop of Besançon in France: “Now listen to the news, amazing and important. I learned from rumors, and then established the truth of this matter through trustworthy ambassadors, that from Iberia Christians called Georgens (Georgians - Ed.), with countless cavalry and infantry, inspired by God's assistance, very heavily armed, came out against the infidel pagans and with a quick onslaught they had already taken three hundred fortresses and nine large cities, of which they captured the strong and turned the weak into ashes. Of these cities, one, located on the Euphrates, is considered the most famous and rich of all pagan cities (meaning Erzurum. - Ed.). The owner of that city was the son of the Babylonian Sultan... The above-mentioned are coming to liberate the land of sacred Jerusalem and conquer the entire pagan world. Their noble king is sixteen years old, he is similar to Alexander in courage and virtue, but not in faith (the author means that Alexander the Great was a pagan, and the Georgian king, in this case Lasha, George, is a Christian. - Ed.). This young man is carrying with him the bones of his mother, the powerful Queen Tamara, who during her lifetime made a vow to visit Jerusalem and asked her son: if she dies without having been there, to take her bones to the Holy Sepulcher. And he, remembering his mother’s request... decided to transport her remains, whether the pagans wanted it or not.”

The mountaineers have a legend that when troubles and sorrows increase, Queen Tamar will come to Georgia again, sit again on her golden throne and console the people. But Queen Tamar, reigning not on earth, but in heaven with her spirit and love, never left Georgia and will never leave it.

Which was at one time the permanent resting place of Queen Tamara. And the question may arise (and, we hope, it did) - who is this Queen Tamara? How would I find out all about Queen Tamara? At least, this question arose for the author - since he is familiar with Queen Tamara primarily from the film “12 Chairs” and Father Fyodor’s dream. Accordingly, you need to figure it out.

Everything about Queen Tamara is, of course, said loudly. It would be more correct to say “a little bit about everything about Queen Tamara.” Well, for those who want to go deeper, the Internet can help :) And we’ll start from the beginning.

Queen Tamara came from the Bagration dynasty and was the daughter of George III and Queen Burdukhan, daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan. She was raised by her highly educated aunt Rusudan. Contemporary poets of the queen praised her intelligence and beauty. They called her not a queen, but a king, a vessel of wisdom, a smiling sun, a slender reed, a radiant face; they glorified her meekness, hard work, obedience, religiosity, and enchanting beauty. There were legends about her perfections that have survived in oral transmission to our times. Byzantine princes, the Sultan of Aleppo, and the Shah of Persia sought her hand. Tamara's entire reign is surrounded by a poetic aura.

It all started with the fact that King George III of Georgia, to whom God did not give male heirs, decided to transfer the throne to the eldest of his daughters, Tamar. Moreover, to do this during your lifetime in order to stop the machinations of ill-wishers. It is unknown what King George felt as a father when he doomed his young daughter to such a difficult fate, but as a ruler he turned out to be wise and perspicacious: after his death in 1184, a serious struggle unfolded around the throne. But through the efforts of Tamar’s followers, and first of all her paternal aunt Rusudan, the young queen took her destined place. She was not even twenty that day.

The young queen instantly felt a change in those around her. Before she had time to mourn her father with dignity, representatives of the church and the nobility came to her Isani palace and humbly asked to accept power from their hands, as if she did not have it. Tamara was made clear: she would rule when they, the didebuls (that was the name of the assembly of the highest spiritual and secular nobility, which represented a kind of parliament of ancient Georgia), wished it.

At the cost of heavy concessions - she had to send away people loyal to the throne and appease self-interested churchmen - she was crowned king a second time. The new Catholicos Michael, who demanded the position of first vizier of the state for the support of the queen, constantly put spokes in the wheels, depriving him of the opportunity to make independent decisions. In addition, their beloved, Tsarevich David Soslani, the only surviving representative of the Bagratids, from the Ossetian branch, was removed from the court. And suddenly another blow - the feudal lords decided that it was time for the queen to walk down the aisle.

Wars at that time were fought constantly, and a woman leading an army was not serious. We need a king, strong, well-born. They went through overseas sultans, Byzantine kings and Persian shahs, and found only Prince Yuri of Russia, the son of the famous Andrei Bogolyubsky, worthy. After the death of his father, he left his native land and since then has been with his retinue in Byzantium. In vain Tamara sadly appealed to the feudal lords: “How can you take such a rash step? We know neither about the behavior of this stranger, nor about his deeds, nor about his military prowess, nor about his rights. Let me wait until I see its merits or demerits.” The Didebuls sent an ambassador to Yuri, and soon he brought a stately and strong man.

When they saw him, everyone liked him, and the queen had to share a bed with her forced husband. But the nobility were greatly mistaken, believing that, in gratitude for the throne, Yuri would become a pawn in their hands. The Russian prince turned out to be a tough nut to crack. True, he led troops and won victories, but he drank, cursed, and was self-willed for more than two years so that everyone’s patience soon ran out. They poured him a full measure of gold and sent him royally back to Byzantium.

However, Yuri did not accept the divorce. He gathered a huge army from the Greeks, which was joined by some of the Georgian ill-wishers of the queen, and set out to conquer Georgia. This time, Tamara herself led the troops and, showing the remarkable talent of a commander, defeated her husband on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

In world history, the era of Tamar is the time when a bloody dawn breaks over the world: in the East, in the steppes of Mongolia, Temujin is plotting his future empire, having already become Genghis Khan. The third crusade is raging in the West, and the formidable Saladin, having defeated the knights of Europe at Lake Tiberias, enters Jerusalem. In the North, in the Dnieper steppes, the Novgorod-Seversk prince had just made his ill-fated campaign, and one of his brilliant contemporaries composed the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” about it; Rus' is fragmented, and in half a century it will become easy prey for Batu’s army...

Whereas in Georgia there is dawn. Like any woman, Tamara managed to recover from emotional wounds and for the second time she is trying to find happiness in marriage. Who became her new chosen one? This was a man she knew from early childhood and his name was David. He was the son of an Ossetian king and, like Tamara, was raised by his aunt Rusudan.

Some historians claim that Queen Tamara fell in love with him as a girl, but one thing is clear to us - their marriage turned out to be extremely happy and harmonious. Since then, the name of Tamara has been closely associated with the name of David. Thanks to him, Tamara won all the loudest victories and fought brilliant battles. She herself did not participate in the battles, this is not a woman’s business, but the faithful field marshal Zachary and her beloved husband David led the troops, and Queen Tamara was the inspirer of victories. Such a tandem was invincible.

War trophies and huge tribute from the occupied territories made Georgia the richest country in the medieval world, but the wise ruler turned the resulting treasures into new fortresses, monasteries, roads, bridges, ships, and schools. Tamara understood that her subjects needed to be given a good education if she wanted her endeavors to be continued by her descendants and for Georgia to reach a high global level. She made sure that the quality of education in Georgian schools was unusually high and even today the volume of the school curriculum is amazing: theology, philosophy, history, Greek, Hebrew, interpretation of poetic texts, the study of polite conversation, arithmetic, astrology, poetry writing .

This unique woman was truly ahead of her time. She can also be called the “godmother” of Georgian culture. The best musicians, poets, and philosophers were gathered at the queen's court. Tamara received unspeakable pleasure from long philosophical debates, and no ball could compare for her with the competition between the best poets.

The weakening of the Byzantine Empire opened the way for Georgia to the southeastern shores of the Black Sea. This territory was mainly inhabited by tribes of Georgian origin. The Georgian army occupied the coastal cities: Trebizond, Limnia, Samsun, Sinop, Kerasunt, Kotiora, Heraclea. The Trabizonian Empire was formed, headed by Alexius Komnenos, a representative of the house of Komnenos raised in Georgia (overthrown from the imperial throne in Byzantium). The Trabizonian Empire found itself in the Georgian sphere of influence.

David Soslan died in 1206. In the same year, Queen Tamar placed her son George-Lasha on the throne as co-ruler.
In 1210, a campaign was made in Iran. The campaign turned out to be particularly successful: the Georgians took many cities and penetrated deep into Iran. The army, loaded with large booty, could not advance further forward and turned back. This campaign once again demonstrated the military power of Georgia.

Tamar spent the last years of her life in the cave monastery of Vardzia. The queen had a cell connected through a window with the temple, from which she could offer prayers to God during divine services. In 1213, Queen Tamar died (there are versions that she died in 1207 or 1210). According to the chronicler of Tamara's era, she was buried in Gelati. There is also an opinion that her ashes were subsequently transported to the Jerusalem Cross Monastery. The Georgian Church canonized Queen Tamar and set May 1 (14) as her day of remembrance.

In general, the reign of Queen Tamara is still a “golden age” for Georgia. The state is strong and powerful. For almost 20 years, the queen has been waging successful wars with large and small opponents: with the atabek of Iranian Azerbaijan Abubekr, with Byzantium, with the Turks, with the rulers of Armenia, with the population of the rebellious mountainous provinces of her own country and adjacent territories. As a result of such an active foreign policy, the Northern Caucasus, Eastern Transcaucasia, Southern Azerbaijan, Armenia, the southern coast of the Black Sea were in varying degrees of dependence on Georgia of the 12th century...

So, all about Queen Tamara

The mysterious Queen Tamara is one of the unique women in world history who determined the further spiritual development of their people. After her reign, the best architectural monuments remained. Fair, honest and wise, she established a strong political position for her country by conquering territories that do not belong to present-day Georgia. The period of her reign will forever remain in history under the name “Golden Age”. Georgia at that time owes its economic, cultural and political prosperity entirely to its queen.

Inheritance

Some facts from Tamara’s life today remain not fully disclosed. The years of her life are still disputed by historians, but Queen Tamara was supposedly born in 1166. The girl’s parents came from a noble family: the mother was the daughter of an Alan king, and the father belonged to the famous Bagration family and was the ruling king at the time of the child’s birth.

When Tamara was ten years old, unrest began in Georgia aimed at overthrowing the power of her father George III. The uprising was led by the son of one of George’s brothers, Demeter, and his father-in-law Orbeli, who at that time was the commander-in-chief of the Georgian troops. When the rebellion was suppressed by the current king, the need for a coronation ceremony became obvious.

Since the girl in the family grew up without brothers and sisters, George decided to leave the throne to Tamara after his death. It was against Georgian tradition for a woman to occupy the throne. Since 1178, the daughter became co-ruler of her father George III. Their first joint decision was the adoption of capital punishment for bandits and thieves, and the creation of a special group to search for them.

6 years after Tamara entered the political affairs of her state, the death of George III occurs and the question of re-coronation and the expediency of the young lady’s accession to the throne becomes a privileged society. The girl was favored by the fact that the Georgian land had previously been chosen by the apostolic lot of the Mother of God and a woman was sent to spread Christianity there - Thus, the blessed Queen Tamara finally took the throne.

First government reforms

The reign of Queen Tamara began with the liberation of the church from taxes and quitrents. Talented people were elected to the positions of ministers and military leaders. One of the chroniclers noted that under her rule, farmers grew to a privileged class, nobles became nobles, and the latter turned into rulers.

Tamara included Archbishop Anton of Chkondidi among her close friends, to whom she immediately granted the Samtavis diocese and the city of Kisiskhevi. The position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief went to one of the brothers of the famous Armenian family Mkhargrdzeli - Zacharias. The younger brother Ivane headed the palace household. The princes recognized Christianity, professed by the so-called faith of the Armenians, and revered Orthodoxy. Chroniclers note that Ivane later learned the crookedness of the Armenian faith and still accepted Christianity.

The girl distinguished herself with diplomacy in resolving the issue of changing the political system of Georgia. A certain Kutlu-Arslan organized a group that demanded the creation of an independent body at the royal court. The elected representatives of the contrived organization were supposed to resolve all state issues without Tamara herself being present at the meetings. The queen only had an executive function. The arrest of Kutlu-Arslan excited his followers, and then diplomatic negotiations with the conspirators subordinated the latter to Tamara. The program to restructure government affairs, led by Kutlu-Arslan, failed.

Godly deeds

Tamara celebrated the beginning of her career by convening a church council. The same act during the years of his reign was marked by her grandfather David the Builder. The insightful mistress did this for the spiritual unification of the people. She gathered everyone who listens to the word of God: bishops, monks, clergy, and invited the wise Nikolai Gulaberisdze from Jerusalem, who, together with Archbishop Anthony, led the council.

Before the start of the council, Holy Queen Tamara gave a speech in which she called on everyone to live unitedly and according to the interpretations of the Bible. In a monologue, she addressed the holy fathers with a request to give a helping hand to all those who have lost their way on the spiritual path. She asked the rulers of the Holy Church for instructions, words and teachings, promising in return decrees, deeds and teachings.

Merciful to the poor, generous, heavenly patroness of temple builders, Georgia, warriors, benefactor - such was Queen Tamara. The icon with the face of a girl still helps those praying in protecting their family, home from misfortunes, in unbelief, and in healing physical and mental illnesses.

The church council was also marked by the choice of the groom. So, the courtiers turned to their fathers for advice on where to look for Tamara’s husband. The mentors recommended going to the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality in Rus'.

Marriage

Queen Tamara was endowed with not only mental but also physical beauty. Of course, there is no photo of the girl, but the memories of contemporaries point to her well-built body, shy look, rosy cheeks and dark eyes.

When the question arose about the need for an heir and commander, a candidate for husband was immediately chosen. Russian Prince Yuri Andreevich could not resist the beauty of the young girl. He was from the noble Bogolyubsky family, revered Orthodoxy and was outwardly a very attractive young man. After arriving in Tbilisi for the bride's viewing of his future wife, he decided to immediately celebrate the wedding. However, the prudent Tamara was against such a rush. The courtiers and bishops dissuaded the queen from bad thoughts and the wedding took place. Under the leadership of Yuri, although there were victorious battles in Georgia, after two years of mental suffering, the girl decided to divorce. The former husband of Queen Tamara was sent to Constantinople with part of the acquired wealth. He then appeared again in the girl’s life, when Yuri came to Georgia with a Greek army with the goal of returning the lost throne, but, like the previous time, he was defeated, after which he disappeared without a trace.

Raised on the concepts of the Gospel, the queen had a hard time with the divorce. And thoughts of a new marriage, which her status required, were generally unacceptable.

Happy marriage

Queen Tamara had natural beauty and charm (historical photographic sketches are proof of this), so many princes wanted to take the vacant place of her husband next to the extraordinary woman. And only the Ossetian king Soslan-David was lucky enough to become Tamara’s second husband. It was no coincidence that the courtiers nominated him as a husband; he was raised by Rudusan, who was the queen’s aunt. Historians have also suggested that the dynastic marriage was a strategic move by the Georgian nobility. At that time, the state needed allies, and the Ossetian kingdom was distinguished by its powerful military potential. That is why the privileged layers of society immediately made a decision and recognized Soslan-David as co-ruler of Georgia.

Their union not only brought peoples closer together, but also made the state powerful and prosperous. They ruled the country in harmony. Why did God send them a child? When the people learned that Queen Tamara and David Soslan were expecting their first child, everyone began to pray for the birth of a boy. And so it happened, they had a son who looked like his grandfather. And they gave him the same name - George. A year later, a girl, Rusudan, was born into the royal family.

The fight against Islam: the Battle of Shamkhor

The ruler's political course was aimed at fighting Muslim countries, which was supported by the predecessors of the throne: George III and David the Renewer. Twice the Middle East tried to conquer Georgian lands, and both times the warriors of these countries were defeated.

The first offensive campaign was organized by the Baghdad caliph, in whose hands both the religious and royal power of all Muslims was concentrated. He subsidized a coalition organization directed against the growing Christian state. The troops were led by Atabag Abubekr, and their concentration was so quiet that only when the Muslims took up their positions in Southern Azerbaijan did Queen Tamara learn about the offensive.

Georgian forces were inferior in power to the enemy. But the power of prayer also saved this people. When Georgian troops advanced to meet Abubekr’s army, the queen and the residents did not stop praying. The ruler's order consisted of performing continuous litanies, confessing sins and demanding that the rich give alms to the poor. The Lord heeded the prayer and in the Battle of Shamkhori in 1195 the Georgians won.

As a trophy, David brought his wife the banner of the Caliphate, which the mistress transferred to the monastery for the icon of Our Lady of Khakhul.

Battle of Basiani

With the victory in Shamkhor, the country's authority on the world stage increased. One Sultan Ruknadin from Asia Minor could not recognize the power of Georgia. Moreover, he had plans to take revenge on the Georgian people for the defeat of the Turkish troops, which they won during the reign of David the Builder.

Ruknadin sent an insulting letter to the queen, in which he demanded that Tamara change her Christian faith to Islam. The angry mistress instantly gathered an army and, trusting in God’s help, escorted it to the Vardzia monastery complex, where, kneeling before the icon of the Mother of God, she began to pray for her army.

The Rum Sultan, experienced in military battles, could not believe that the Georgian Queen Tamara would launch an offensive. After all, the number of Muslim military personnel this time exceeded the Georgian army. Victory again went to the commander and Tamara’s husband, Soslan-David. One battle was enough to defeat the Turkish army.

The victory at Basiani helped to implement the strategic plans of the royal court to create a new state neighboring Georgia in the West. Thus, the Kingdom of Trebizond was created with the Christian faith. In the 13th century, almost all the states of the North Caucasus were subjects of Georgia.

Culture during the reign of the queen

The stable economic condition of the country has become the basis for the development of culture. The name of Queen Tamara is associated with the Golden Age of Georgia. She was the patroness of literature and writing. The following monasteries served as cultural and educational centers: Iversky, Petritsonsky, on Chernaya Gora and others. Translation and literary-philosophical work was carried out in them. In Georgia at that time there were the Ikaltoi and Gelati academies, after graduating from which people spoke Arabic, Persian, and knowledge of ancient philosophy.

The poem “The Knight in Tiger Skin,” which belongs to the heritage of world literature, was written during the reign of Tamara and dedicated to her. conveyed in his creation the life of the Georgian people. The legend begins that there lived a king who had no son-heir, and, feeling the end of his days approaching, he elevated his daughter to the throne. That is, a situation identically repeating the events of the time when the throne was transferred to Tamara.

The queen founded the Vardzia Cave Monastery, which has survived to this day, as well as the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Monastery.

Successful military offensives and tribute from conquered countries helped replenish Georgia’s budget, which was aimed at the construction of architectural monuments and the development of Christianity.

Vardzia

Churches, residential cells, chapels, baths, refectory rooms - all these premises are carved into the rock and make up a monastery complex in southern Georgia called Vardzia, or the Temple of Queen Tamara. Construction of the cave complex began during the reign of George III. The monastery was assigned a defensive purpose from the Iranians and Turks.

The premises of the fortress are 50 meters deep and the height of an eight-story building. Today, secret passages and the remains of the irrigation system and water supply system have been preserved.

In the center of the cave, a temple was built under the queen in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its walls are decorated with picturesque paintings, including images of Tamara and her father. The frescoes of the Ascension of the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Mother of God are of historical and artistic value.

The earthquake, the capture of the complex by the Persians, Turks, and the Soviet era left their mark on the existence of the monastery. Now it is more of a museum, although some monks lead their ascetic lives in it.

Queen Tamara: the story of the last years of her life

Chronicles date the death of Soslan-David to 1206. Then the queen thought about transferring the throne to her son and made George her co-ruler. Living according to the laws of God, she felt her death approaching. Queen Tamara died of an unknown illness. She spent her last years in Vardzia. The date of death remains an unsolved mystery, but is believed to be 1212-1213.

It is unknown where the mistress is buried. The chronicle indicates the Gelati Monastery as the place where the queen's body rests in the family crypt. According to other legends, Tamara, feeling the discontent of Muslims who might desecrate the tomb, asked for a secret burial. There is an assumption that the body rests in the Cross Monastery (Palestine). It turns out that the Lord heard her desire, hiding the holy relics.

In the Orthodox Church, Queen Tamara is canonized. Remembrance Day in the new style falls on May 14.

There is a belief that when suffering and grief in the world grows, she is resurrected and comes to the aid of people to console them.

Faith in God, wisdom, modesty are the traits on which Tamara created the economic and political system of Georgia. Its course of development was based on humanity, equality and the absence of violence. Not a single death penalty was carried out during her reign. Tamara gave a tenth of government revenues to the poor. Orthodox countries, churches and monasteries received her help.

She said her last words to God, in which she entrusted Georgia, the people, her children and herself to Christ.

Orchestra composition: 3 flutes, oboe, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, war drum, cymbals, bass drum, tom-tom, 2 harps, strings.

History of creation

The initial idea for the poem based on Lermontov's poem arose under the impression of Balakirev's trips to the Caucasus in 1862 and 1863. “...Of all things Russian, Lermontov has the strongest effect on me...” he wrote from Essentuki to Stasov. “We coincide in many ways, I love the same nature as Lermontov, it has the same strong effect on me... and there are many more strings that Lermontov touches that resonate in me.” Among the poetic heritage of Lermontov (1814-1841), the composer was especially attracted by a poem written under the impression of an ancient Georgian legend the poet heard in the Caucasus: “When the great Queen Tamara still reigned in Georgia, she had a depraved, dissolute sister (Daria) ... Finally, Fearing shame, Tamara locked her in the Daryal Tower. No matter who passed through the gorge, everyone here began to call the scoundrel into the fortress, and then these unfortunates were killed, and to this day their souls rush in a line along the Daryal gorge, and when the wind howls in the Devdoraki gorge, it is the tortured who groan and cry about their sins poor people of the Caucasus."

In reality, there has never been a queen or princess Daria in Georgia. Apparently, this name arose in legend from the name of the gorge - Daryal. The 17th century Georgian queen Darejan is similar to Daria depicted in the legend. One must think that folk memory replaced the name of Daria with Tamara, the heroine of many folk tales. Lermontov wrote his ballad shortly before his untimely death, in 1841.

In the deep gorge of Daryal,
Where the Terek rummages in the darkness,
The ancient tower stood
Turning black, on a black rock.

In that tower, high and cramped,
Queen Tamara lived
Beautiful as a heavenly angel
Like a demon - insidious and evil.

And there, through the fog of midnight,
The golden light shone,
He threw himself into the traveler's eyes,
He beckoned for a night's rest.

On a soft down bed,
Decorated in brocade and pearls,
She was waiting for a guest. Hissed
There are two cups of wine in front of her.

Hot hands intertwined
Lips touched lips,
And passionate, wild sounds
They were heard there all night -

As if that tower was empty
One hundred ardent youths and wives
We agreed on a night wedding,
For the funeral feast.

But just the morning glow
Threw its beam across the mountains,
Instantly darkness and silence
They reigned there again.

Only the Terek in the Daryal gorge,
Thundering, breaking the silence:
Wave upon wave ran over,
The wave was catching up with the wave.

And with a cry the silent body
They were in a hurry to carry it away...
There was something white in the window then,
It sounded from there: “Sorry!”

And it was such a tender farewell,
That voice sounded so sweet
Like the delights of a date
And he promised the caresses of love...

The poem, many years later, when the finished score was published, was fully reproduced in it.

The creation of music lasted for many years. In 1866, Balakirev often played themes intended for “Tamara” to his friends. The composition proceeded very slowly, and was soon completely interrupted by the severe crisis that struck the composer in the early 70s. Only in 1876, at the insistence of Glinka’s sister L. Shestakova, Balakirev began writing again. However, years of silence have taken their toll: the composer is no longer confident in his abilities and knowledge. On every occasion he turns to his former student Rimsky-Korsakov, often putting aside what he has already written. Only in 1882 was the work finally completed. “Tamara,” the score of which Balakirev dedicated to Liszt, was first performed on March 7 (19), 1882 in St. Petersburg under the baton of the author. She did not gain wide popularity among the Russian public, but she was highly appreciated abroad, in particular in Paris. There it was performed twice in the Lamoureux Concerts. The French composer, connoisseur and researcher of folk songs Bourgault-Ducoudray wrote to Balakirev: “When I listen to “Tamara”, it seems to me that I am inhaling the fragrance of exotic flowers. You truly feel transported to a new world, and the deep poetry that marks your work reveals to us essences completely different from those with which we Westerners are familiar.”

Music

The poem is consistently programmatic. It begins with a slow introduction: the gloomy sounds of low strings against the background of the continuous roar of timpani, depicting the scene of action (a musical picture that conveys the content of the first quatrain of Lermontov’s poem). Next, a short motive, first in the timbre of a cor anglais, and then repeated by an oboe, conveys Tamara’s voice. After a short transition, the main part of the poem begins - Allegro moderato ma agitato - the first theme of which, distinguished by a bright oriental flavor and depicting the image of the legendary queen, sounds passionately in the rich timbre of the violas, intertwined with echoes. Another melody emerges, flexible, meandering, based on Turkic-Iranian melodies. The central place of the poem is occupied by the orgy scene, in which the themes of Caucasian dances are heard. They are so original and colorful that they seem authentic folk, although the composer assured that he did not directly use any of the many melodies he recorded. An oriental, whimsically winding melody playing with alterations dominates. It is first heard on tall wooden instruments, which emphasizes the oriental flavor, against the background of a characteristic accompaniment imitating a drum, and then is repeated many times, changing. The colorful, passionate picture ends with an epilogue (Andante), which concludes the form with music similar to the introduction, and at the same time embodies the last lines of the poem.