Shalva Akhaltsikheli

Shalva Akhaltsikheli
Shalva Akhaltsikheli
Duke (Eristavi) of Akhalkalaki
In office ?–1226
Preceded by	Kakha II Toreli
Succeeded by	Gamrekeli III Toreli
Mechurchletukhutsesi
In office 1212–1222
Preceded by	Abulasan
Succeeded by	Ivane I Jaqeli
Mandaturtukhutsesi
In office 1202/3–1215
Preceded by	Zakare II Zakarian
Succeeded by	Shahnshah Zakarian
Personal details
Born	Unknown
Died	1227
Children	Pharadavla Akhaltsikheli
Military service
Battles/wars	Battle of Shamkor Battle of Basiani Siege of Kars Battle of Garni

Shalva Akhaltsikheli (Georgian: შალვა თორელი-ახალციხელი) (died 1227) was a Georgian military commander, and a Court official of the Kingdom of Georgia holding the offices of Mechurchletukhutsesi (Lord High Treasurer) and Mandaturtukhutsesi (Lord High Mandator). He was member of the House of Toreli-Akhaltsikheli. He was also the duke (eristavi) of Akhalkalaki.

Together with his brother Ivane, Shalva was in command of vanguard traditionally composed of the Meskhetian troops from south Georgia. In the battle of Shamkor against the Eldiguzids in 1195, he captured a war banner sent by the Caliph to the Muslim army which was then donated to the revered icon of Our Lady of Khakhuli.

Local Meskhetian forces under Shalva Akhaltsikheli, Ivane Akhaltsikheli and Sargis Tmogveli had been blockading Kars intermittently for some years, and Queen Tamar decided to send a special army under David Soslan and brothers Zakare and Ivane Zakarian to assist their efforts.^[1][2] In 1206–1207, the Georgians besieged Kars and pressed hard on those within. The emir of Kars asked the Shah-Armens for help, but its rulers did not provide any assistance. After the long siege, the emir of Kars, seeing that no assistance was coming, decided to hand over his domain to Georgians in exchange for a large amount of money and a fiefdom for him.^[3] Tamar appointed Shalva's brother, Ivane Akhaltsikheli as the ruler of Kars.^[1]

When the Khwarazmid shah Jalal al-Din Mangburni surged into the Caucasus in 1225, Shalva and his brother Ivane were again placed in charge of the vanguard of the Georgian army commanded by atabeg Ivane Mkhargrdzeli. There was some enmity between Ivane and the two Akhaltsikheli brothers. This was possibly the reason why Mkhargrdzeli did not allow his army to fight in the battle of Garni. The two brothers did battle and were routed. Shalva was wounded and captured and his brother Ivane was killed while retreating to the mountains. Having spent some time in honorary captivity, Shalva was put to death for not apostatizing to Islam at Jalal al-Din's order. Subsequently, he was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church which commemorates him on June 17/June 30 (O.S.).^[4]

Shalva is traditionally believed to be praised in a patriotic Georgian folk ballad Shavlego, which was particularly popular during the national mobilization against the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

• Ibn al-Athīr, Izz ad-Dīn (2010). Donald S. Richards (ed.). The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athīr for the Crusading Period from al-Kāmil fī'l-ta'rīkh. Part 3 - The Years 589-629/1193-1231: The Ayyubids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace. Ashgate. ISBN 9780754669524.
• Asatiani, Nodar; Janelidze, Otar (2009). History of Georgia: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. Publishing House Petite. ISBN 9789941906367.
• Allen, William (2023). A History of the Georgian People: From the Beginning Down to the Russian Conquest in the Nineteenth Century. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000855302.