Читать книгу Caucasian Legends - Abraam Abraamovich Gul'bat - Страница 8

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Bakarr the First ascended the throne after the death of his well-beloved and much-esteemed father, Mirian the Converter. Remembering the counsels of his dear, dear father, he turned all his glorious efforts towards converting and instructing those mountain inhabitants who had not submitted themselves to the peremptory orders of Mirian and had thus not appeared to be baptized with the rest of the grand old nation. Highly honorable in every way, simple in his manners, the ever-patient Bakarr finally succeeded in obtaining the long desired baptism of the wild unbelievers, without applying any forcible and dangerous measures. Having heard of his peacefulness of character, the Armenian Tsar thought it opportune to take the throne away from him and hand it over to Irdat, the son of the deceased Tsarevitch Revv and the Armenian Tsarevna Salomee. But Bakarr united all the qualities of a brave and excellent general with the greatest virtues of an earnest, peaceful Tsar. He therefore arranged an alliance with his dear nephew, the Persian King Kossrovve the Second, and jointly with him, in a fearful and hard-fought battle in the province of Djavakheta, completely defeated and destroyed the wretched Armenian army and turned it to disgraceful flight. The amply terrified Tsarevna Salomee begged the Emperor of Greece to be kind enough to explain to Bakarr that the Armenian Tsar had not acted upon her advice or desire.

Willing to let each one of his loving subjects approach and debate with him, Bakarr on the other hand did not consider it in accordance with his sublime merit to have the neighboring sovereigns mix in and begin to reason about his own family affairs, and therefore he briefly replied to the great Greek Emperor thus: “Until in the family of the Georgian Tsar Bakarr the First there proveth to be one who is unable and too weak to properly reign, the throne will belong to it, and the children of Revv ought not to bring forth the slightest pretensions.” To his ally, however, to Kossrovve the Second, he announced that the attack of the Armenian Tsar forced him to seriously look after the safety and education of the children of his brother and sister, whom Mirian willingly permitted to be married to Pkerose. Actually at the end of the war, the first active deed of Bakarr was the exact arrangement about the domains of Pkerose.

Instead of Rana from Bardave on, given to Pkerose by Mirian, he begged Bakarr to give him Sammshvillde, to which the Tsar fully consented, constructing a direct line as far as the entrance of the Christavstvo (province) of Abbots. Deeply moved by the great-heartedness of the Tsar, Pkerose accepted Christianity and was baptized with his whole nation, but Bakarr occupied himself with thoroughly settling the widow and children of his brother Revv.

He led them to Kouketka, and having made his way into Roustava, he handed over this country to the administration of his nephews Irdat and Bakourious with the title of kristaves, and under them their mother Salomee quietly lived in their company. This sovereign sacrificed his whole life to the betterment and thorough reforming of his great monarchy and distinguished himself by passionate uprightness. He considerably increased the churches and the church servants. By him was also founded the perfectly magnificent cathedral of Tsillkanny.

He died in the year three hundred and sixty-four and was buried by the side of his father Mirian. Before dying he also, just like Mirian, hung his royal crown on the marvellous cross of Saint Nina, touched his son and successor Mirdat the Second with it, and afterwards placed the crown on the head of his son and openly proclaimed him his rightful heir. This solemn custom was strictly observed by all Georgian Tsars. Although Bakarr made absolutely no new acquisitions, yet his short but most wise administration had firmly united together all decaying, poorer, and mutually inimical parts of his government, and finally confirmed the actual preponderance of Christianity over all other religions, and therefore his reign was considered one of the very best and most blissful.