Shalva of Ksani

Holy Martyr Shalva of Ksani was duke (eristavi) of the Duchy of Ksani in Georgia and one of the leaders of the Kakhetian uprising of 1659 against Persian rule. He died a martyr on 18 September 1662. He was the son of Shanshe I, Duke of Ksani, put to death on the orders of his own brother Jesse, and the husband of Ketevan, daughter of Zaal, Duke of Aragvi; they had two sons and a daughter.

After the suppression of the uprising, Shalva, with Bidzina Cholokashvili and his cousin Elizbar, went to the Shah of Persia to ask forgiveness and prevent a new enemy invasion. According to tradition, King Vakhtang V, who had converted to Islam, consented to their being handed over to the Shah. Brought before him in bonds, they answered the usual questions by saying that they were Christians; neither promises nor threats nor torments could shake them. Shalva and Elizbar were beheaded after cruel torments before the eyes of Bidzina; he was dressed in women's clothes in disgrace, paraded through the city on a donkey, and then tortured and beheaded.

The bodies of Shalva and Elizbar were later brought home and buried at Ikorta Monastery, the ancestral monastery of the Dukes of Ksani. The Georgian Orthodox Church canonized them, and their feast is observed on 18 September (1 October in the new style).