obnoxious building, that the muezzin, to save his life, was forced to descend, and he never again repeated the same experiment. Such being the state of religious feeling, it might be supposed that no Georgian would have ventured to apostatize from the faith of his fathers, and yet we are told on indisputable authority[1] that the greater part of the Georgian nobility professed outwardly the Mahomedan religion.
The royal family of the Bagratides asserted its descent from King David of Israel,[2] and sat on the throne of Georgia from the sixth century of the Christian era, the conquerors of the principality respecting the claims of the reigning house, and merely requiring tribute. Under the Turks, the princes of Georgia were allowed to maintain the profession of the Christian faith, and the same liberty was at first accorded to them by their Persian masters. But on the death of a Georgian Czar, his two sons disputed his succession, and appealed for assistance or arbitration to the Persian Shah. The demand of the younger brother came first to Ispahan, and he was promised the inheritance of his father on the condition of his becoming a Mussulman. On these terms
- ↑ Sir John Chardin, Plenipotentiary of King Charles II. to the Dutch States.
- ↑ Transcaucasia, by Baron Haxthausen, p. 121.
"In the year 575 of our era., the first of the Bagratide family ascended the throne, and his successors retained the government until 1800, when they ceded it to Russia."—Idem.
"The Bagratians were descended from Abraham by the line of Isaak. The first of this family who came to Armenia was Shumbat, during the captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. One of his posterity was the celebrated Bagarat, who lived in the reign of Valarsaces; and, in consequence of his exalted virtue and eminent services, ennobled by that prince by the title of Bagarat the Bagratian. All members of his family from this time were universally known by the title of Bagratians."—History of Armenia. By Father M. Chamich.
