Queen Tamar and Shota Rustaveli: a romantic mystery of Georgian history. Brief biography of Shota Rustaveli

When exactly the great queen of Georgia Tamar, whom we usually call Tamara in the Russian manner, was born is unknown. According to historians, this woman was born around 1165

The mother of the future queen died early, and the girl was raised by her aunt Rusudan. She received an excellent education for her time, learned feminine wisdom, endurance and patience. When Tamar was nineteen years old, her father, King George III, anticipating his imminent death, crowned his only daughter, giving the throne to a woman for the first time in the history of Georgia.

Soon the father died, and the girl had to rule the country on her own. Tamar did this boldly and fairly, which earned her respect from her people. The news about the wise young queen spread to all nearby states.

Tamara was stately and graceful. Tall, of regular build, with dark, deep eyes, she carried herself proudly and with dignity. They said about the queen that she had the manner of “royally freely darting her gaze around her, had a pleasant tongue, was cheerful and alien to any swagger, speech delighting the ear, conversation alien to any depravity.”

There were various rumors about the perfection of the young queen; Byzantine princes, the Syrian Sultan and the Persian Shah sought her hand. Suitors began to come to Tamar, offering her their hearts and wealth. But she gave consent only to the son of Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky, Yuri. The marriage was dictated by political considerations, since the queen did not experience any feelings for the groom. The wedding took place in 1188, but it did not bring peace to the young woman. For two years, Tamar endured the drunkenness and debauchery of her husband, who also often beat his young wife. Having finally decided to divorce Yuri, she forced him to leave Georgia. The offended and angry prince headed to Constantinople to gather a large army and go to war against his wife. However, the war was lost, and Yuri returned to Rus' in disgrace.

The country of the Georgian queen flourished and in a short time became one of the richest powers of that time. Legends were made about Tamar, her beauty, generosity and wisdom were sung. Contemporaries called her a king (“mepe”), and not a queen (“dedopali”). The ruler built fortresses, roads, ships and schools. She invited the best scientists, poets, philosophers, historians and theologians. So one day the great Shota Rustaveli arrived at her palace.

The poet was born in Rustavi and was educated first in the monasteries of Georgia, then in Athens. It is believed that he immediately fell in love with the queen. Some believe that, responding to the poet’s feelings, Tamar became his mistress. However, judging by other sources, most likely the poet never achieved reciprocity, loving and honoring his queen in secret.

Shota became the queen's personal treasurer. But it was not financial matters that worried the poet. He wanted to glorify his beloved Tamar in a poem. The poem “The Knight in the Tiger's Skin” became one of the most outstanding works of the Middle Ages. In it, the lover Shota sang the ideals of love, friendship, nobility, honor and virtue. The poet saw all these high qualities in his great ruler.

It is believed that the poet copied the prototype of the main character of Nestan-Darejana’s poem from his beloved queen. In order to hide his feelings and not bring a shadow of doubt to his beloved, Rustaveli specially moved the action of the poem to India and Arabia. But in every line of the masterpiece one can discern the image of the beautiful, majestic Queen Tamar and the feelings of the unfortunate poet, intoxicated with unrequited love.
The pearls of her rosy lips
under the ruby cover
Even the stone is broken
with a soft lead hammer!

Royal braids - agates,
The heat on the cheeks is brighter than Lalov's.
He drinks nectar,
who sees the sun?

Shota RUSTAVELI

It's time for Tamara to think about heirs. She decided to marry a trusted man who had known her since childhood. Her second husband was the brave Ossetian commander Prince Soslani, who took the name David in Georgia. Noble and infinitely loving his wife, he brought her long-awaited happiness. A year after the wedding, the queen gave birth to a son, who was named George. A year later, daughter Rusudan was born.

Shota Rustaveli no longer dreamed of Tamara; he decided to leave Georgia forever. He went to Palestine, where he took monastic vows at the Monastery of the Holy Cross.

Tamara 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, Tamara 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 Tamara was buried next to him.

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

Now Tamara 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.

Hello, dear readers of the Sprint-Response website. Today we traditionally continue to add new materials to the section for answers from TV games. Today there is another TV game on Channel One. A text review of the game, as well as all questions and answers in today's game, can be found by following the link above.

In the meantime, we will consider the twelfth question, assigned to the players of the first part of the game: Alexander Rosenbaum and Leonid Yakubovich. Unfortunately, the players could not give the correct answer to this question, so it turned out to be the last one in their game today. But they still did not leave empty-handed, because they won a fireproof sum. The fireproof amount was 200 thousand rubles.

The question concerned the position of the famous poet, whose name is Shota Rustaveli. The players had to say what position Shota Rustaveli held at the court of Queen Tamara. This is what the original question sounds like. And the correct answer will traditionally be highlighted in blue.

What position did Shota Rustaveli hold at the court of Queen Tamara?

Shota Rustaveli(Georgian შოთა რუსთაველი, about 1172-1216) - Georgian statesman and poet of the 12th century. He is considered the author of the textbook epic poem “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” (translated as “The Knight in the Leopard’s Skin”).

Tamara(1166-1213) - queen of Georgia, with whose name one of the best periods in the history of Georgia is associated - the “golden age of Georgian history.”

Shota Rustaveli studied in Greece, then was a treasury officer Queen Tamara(his signature was found on a deed of 1190). This was the time of Georgia's political power and the flourishing of lyric poetry at the magnificent court of the young queen, with signs of medieval knightly service.

Thus, it is already clear to us which of the answer options is correct.

treasurer
court poet
chief vizier
ambassador

When exactly the great queen of Georgia Tamar, whom we usually call Tamara in the Russian manner, was born is unknown. According to historians, this woman was born around 1165

Tamar was stately and graceful. Tall, of regular build, with dark, deep eyes, she carried herself proudly and with dignity. They said about the queen that she had the manner of “royally freely darting her gaze around her, had a pleasant tongue, was cheerful and alien to any swagger, speech delighting the ear, conversation alien to any depravity.”

Royal braids - agates,
The heat on the cheeks is brighter than Lalov's.
He drinks nectar,
who sees the sun?

Shota RUSTAVELI

Shota Rustaveli no longer dreamed of Tamara; he decided to leave Georgia forever. He went to Palestine, where he took monastic vows at the Monastery of the Holy Cross.

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

Now Tamara 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.

Original post and comments at

In the history of Georgia there are individuals whose life path is of interest not only to historians, but also to ordinary people. One of them is Shota Rustaveli, whose activity and creativity dates back to the 12th century, when the Georgian kingdom, under the control of Queen Tamara, experienced its heyday.

If you type the phrase “biography of Shota Rustaveli” into a search engine, you will find little information. Even the date of his birth and death is not precisely known. However, some information was still preserved.

Childhood and origins

Historians and biographers have not come to a clear opinion in what year the author of “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger” was born. Some call it 1160, while other sources indicate the year 1172.

Not only the date of birth is controversial, there is no reliable information about the origin of Shota Rustaveli. Some historians claim that he was born into a wealthy and influential family. There is no clear evidence of this - Shota did not advertise his origin.

A more plausible version is that Rustaveli’s family lived in poverty and in early childhood he was given to be raised by rich nobles (most researchers of the poet’s life are sure that these were Bagrationi).

Shota received a good education, he studied at the Meskheti monastery, then continued his studies in Greece (where exactly is unknown). He studied the works of Plato and the work of Homer, and also became acquainted with the literary heritage of Persia and the Arab people. He had an excellent command of several languages, including Latin and Greek, and was versed in rhetoric and theology.

The poet's surname also became the subject of controversy. Historians connect its origin with the area where Shota was born - the village of Rustavi. But in those days in Georgia there was more than one settlement with that name. Others adhere to the theory that this was the nickname of his father, the owner of the Rustavi Majorate.

Shota Rustaveli himself in his immortal work says that he belongs to the Meskhi ethnic group. Historians suggest that Shota thought so because he communicated with representatives of this nationality and they had a considerable influence on him.

Literary heritage

The main legacy of Shota Rustaveli is the work “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger.” This is not the only literary work of the poet, but it is the only one that has survived to this day. The manuscript was rewritten several times and has reached us only in an edited version.

“The Knight in Tiger Skin” by Shota Rustaveli

The work consists of three parts:

Introduction, where the poet praises Tamara and asks the Almighty for help;
the main part dedicated to the theme of love and friendship;
conclusion, denouement of relations.

The action in the poem takes place over a vast territory, and it mentions fictional peoples and animals. But at the same time, the situation in Georgia during Rustaveli’s life is described. Researchers believe that the poet based the work on folk art. In this vein, he is compared to Shakespeare and Goethe.

The poem is about the daughter of Tsar Rostevan, who, having no sons, decides to transfer the crown to her. The girl, Tinatin, is secretly in love with her father’s military leader, Avtandil. Avtandil and the king, while hunting, one day meet a man dressed in a tiger skin. He interested Rostevan and he wanted to know his story. But the stranger disappeared and Avtandil, at the request of his beloved, went in search of him.

He eventually finds the stranger and learns his sad story. He was in love with the daughter of the ruler of Hindustan, but they were separated and now the lover is looking for the princess. Avtandil is inspired by the story of Tariel (the stranger) and decides to help him in his search. Together they experienced many adventures, as a result of which the lovers were reunited.

Government activities and personal life

Shota was appointed treasurer of Georgia on the instructions of Queen Tamara, with whom the poet was in love. After writing the poem, he was appointed royal librarian and presented with a golden pen - a sign of gratitude for his contribution to the literary heritage.

However, this did not last long. Tamara heard about the poet’s tender feelings and flew into a rage. Rustaveli had to flee to Jerusalem.

Another reason for the escape is Tamara’s marriage to the prince of Ossetia. As a result of this union, children were born and Shota was unable to observe the happiness of his beloved with another.

He was sheltered in the Monastery of the Holy Cross. In gratitude for the warm welcome, Shota decorated the walls of the monastery with stunning frescoes, including his self-portrait. The work was destroyed at the beginning of the 21st century.

The poet's death is shrouded in mystery. Its date is not known for certain, as is the reason. Legend has it that Tamara ordered him to translate a poem given to her by the Persian ruler. The poet complied with the order, but refused the money, and a week later his headless body was discovered.

But these are unconfirmed legends. Researchers are inclined to believe that Rustaveli’s life ended in the monastery, which is confirmed by the gravestone installed in the kharma.

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What position did Shota Rustaveli hold at the court of Queen Tamara?

treasurer
court poet
chief vizier
ambassador

Why does Shota bear the name Rustaveli? He himself writes his surname “Rustveli” in the final and introductory stanzas. Of course, he could shorten his surname and write Rustveli instead of Rustaveli; in many places in his poem he writes the name of King Rostevan in abbreviated form Rosten, and this technique should not raise doubts if we had evidence that Shota’s surname comes from the name of the village of Rustavi.

But this is wrong, and Shota’s real name is Chakhrukhadze. Where did the surname that he himself writes - Rustveli - come from?

The answer in the game is Treasurer

After the dissolution of Tamara's marriage to Yuri, the latter, as you know, rebelled. Despite the fact that all supporters of Yuri (George) went over to Tamara’s side after the suppression of the uprising, she began to thoroughly cleanse the state apparatus. The first to suffer, of course, was Abulasan, the owner of Rustavisi, where the troops of Prince Yuri were located. His estate was taken into the treasury and, on a general basis, came under the management of Shota, who was soon appointed treasurer of the queen. After the uprising was pacified, Yuri was taken prisoner along with his troops. He himself was then sent overseas, apparently to the same Byzantium, and his troops were returned to their place, in Rustvisi.

When exactly the great queen of Georgia Tamar, whom we usually call Tamara in the Russian manner, was born, is unknown. According to historians, this woman was born around 1165.

The mother of the future queen died early, and the girl was raised by her aunt Rusudan. She received an excellent education for her time, learned feminine wisdom, endurance and patience. When Tamar was not even twenty years old, her father, King George III, anticipating his imminent death, crowned his only daughter, giving the throne to a woman for the first time in the history of Georgia.