Archil of Kakheti

Saint Archil the Martyr was a Georgian prince of Kakheti, in eastern Georgia, in the eighth century, killed about 786 for refusing to accept Islam. He is canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church, which commemorates him on 21 June (4 July New Style).

The sources

His life is known from the medieval collection of Georgian chronicles called "The Life of Kartli". One part of it, the history of about 800 by Pseudo-⁠Juansher, ends with a brief account of Archil's rule, while "The Martyrdom of Archil", a short text of uncertain date (between the early ninth and the late eleventh century), inserted just after the chronicle, concerns only his martyrdom.

His rule

Archil was of the former royal dynasty of Iberia (Kartli), the Chosroid family, and a son of Prince Stephen of Kakheti (685 to 736). His rule coincided with the Arab conquests in the Caucasus. The expedition of 735 to 737 of Marwan ibn Muhammad forced Archil and his brother Mirian to flee west, through Egrisi, into Abasgia, where they joined Leon I, ruler of the land, in the defence of Anacopia against the Arabs. Returning to Kakheti, Archil began a programme of reconstruction and Christianization of his pagan mountain subjects. The Georgian texts also tell of the rise of the Bagratids, the future royal dynasty, in his time.

Martyrdom

About 786 eastern Georgia was struck by a new Arab invasion, led by Khuzayma ibn Khazim, appointed again by the caliph al-⁠Hadi as viceroy of the Arab-⁠held Caucasus. In an impossible situation, Archil pleaded for peace. Khuzayma promised him gifts if he accepted Islam, but the prince refused and was condemned to prison. Then the viceroy learned that Archil was a descendant of the Chosroid kings, who were said to know where a treasure of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius was hidden, left when he evacuated the Caucasus in the 620s. According to the Russian source, ibn Khazim tried to turn him to Islam, promising to make him "general" and "king", and when he saw the futility of his efforts he ordered his head cut off.

Family

He was survived by two sons, Juansher and Iovane (John), and four daughters: Guarandukht, Mariam, Mirandukht and Shushan. After his death Iovane fled to Egrisi, while Juansher remained in Kakheti and later married Princess Latavri of the Bagrationi dynasty of Tao-⁠Klarjeti.