THORGVA PANKELI – THE HERO OF THE KOKHTASTAVI CONSPIRACY OR A TRAITOR TO THE GEORGIAN STATE!?

Abstract

There are historical figures in the historical past of Georgia, about whom we still have interesting facts and data, but their contribution and role in the construction of the Georgian state has not been studied in depth. On the contrary, their names and activities are forgotten and degraded. There are quite a number of such historical figures in the past history of Georgia, and among them is an interesting character from the 13th century – Torgva Pankeli, who is mentioned as the owner of Pankisi Castle.

Torgva Pankeli attracts our attention with his boisterous but mysterious adventure. He was there and took part in the Kokhtagori conspiracy against the Mongols. Then he stood up to the government and announced the disobedience of Pankisi Saeristavo(Kingdon). According to some reports, he was thrown from the cliff and killed by the orders of the Mongolian queen, Jigdakhatun and her servant Mestumre Jikuri.

In this way, Torgva Pankeli, the Feudal of Pankisi, a participant in the conspiracy of Kokhtastavi, the owner of Pankisi Castle, a close person of the aristocratic society of that time, himself a legendary person, mentioned in Georgian folklore as a hero, in fact one of the knights of that era dies as a traitor to the king and Queen Jigdakhatun gives him the death penalty. The verdict is handed down by the hand of the servantMestumre Jikuri. The chroniclers of that period are silent about this. However, this person is disgraced as a hero in folk tales and legends, and such an end of his life is very incomprehensible.

As a conclusion, we can write that in the middle of the 13th century, a radical change occurs not only in the internal and external affairs of the state, but also in the Georgian society. If after the death of Rusudan Queen, the heroes of the Kokhtastavi conspiracy played a very big role in the Georgian society, including Torgva Pankeli, whose name was mentioned in legends along with other heroes, during the period of the two reigns (during the reign of David Ulu and David Narin), due to the establishment of the Mongol rule, they were promoted to low positions by the government. Individuals and they decided the issues of protection of public order. Therefore, in this situation, we don’t have a variety of materials left by chroniclers about this hidden history, and in general, the central government is justified in the surviving sources around this fact