Editing Tamar of Georgia (section)

=== Feudal monarchy ===
[[File:Tamar's fresco at Betania.jpg|thumb|left|150px|A fragment of the early 13th-century fresco of Queen Tamar from Betania.]]
Georgia's political and cultural exploits of Tamar's epoch were rooted in a long and complex past. Tamar owed her accomplishments most immediately to the reforms of her great-grandfather David IV (r. 1089–1125) and, more remotely, to the unifying efforts of [[David III of Tao|David III]] and [[Bagrat III of Georgia|Bagrat III]] who became architects of a political unity of Georgian kingdoms and principalities in the opening decade of the 11th century. Tamar was able to build upon their successes.<ref>{{harvnb|Rapp|2003|p=413}}.</ref> By the last years of Tamar's reign, the Georgian state had reached the zenith of its power and prestige in the [[Middle Ages]]. Tamar's realm stretched from the [[Greater Caucasus]] crest in the north to [[Erzurum]] in the south, and from the [[Zygii]] in the northwest to the vicinity of [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]] in the southeast, forming a pan-Caucasian empire, with the loyal Zachariad regime in northern and central Armenia, Shirvan as a vassal and Trebizond as an ally. A contemporary Georgian historian extols Tamar as the master of the lands "from the Sea of Pontus [i.e., the [[Black Sea]]] to the Sea of [[Gorgan|Gurgan]] [i.e., the [[Caspian Sea]]], from [[Speri (region)|Speri]] to [[Derbend]], and all the Hither and the Thither Caucasus up to [[Khazars|Khazaria]] and [[Scythia]]."<ref>{{in lang|ka}} Shengelia, N., [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/ic/DGL/work/SIN/sin%203+/nawili%201/5/2.htm#_ftnref75 საქართველოს საგარეო პოლიტიკური ურთიერთობანი თამარის მეფობაში] ("Foreign Relations of Georgia during the reign of Tamar"), in Melikishvili (1979).</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Salia|1983|pp=177–190}}.</ref>

The royal title was correspondingly aggrandized. It now reflected not only Tamar's sway over the traditional subdivisions of the Georgian realm, but also included new components, emphasizing the Georgian crown's hegemony over the neighboring lands. Thus, on the coins and charters issued in her name, Tamar is identified as:<ref>{{harvnb|Rapp|2003|p=422}}; {{harvnb|Eastmond|1998|p=135}}; {{harvnb|Lordkipanidze|Hewitt|1987|p=157}}.</ref>
{{Quote frame|By the will of God, King of Kings and Queen of Queens of the [[Kingdom of Abkhazia|Abkhazians]],<ref>In the Middle Ages, the terms "Abkhazia" and "Abkhazians" were predominantly used in a wider sense, covering, for all practical purposes, the whole of western Georgia. It was not until the 15th/16th century, after the fragmentation of the unified Georgian kingdom, that these terms resumed their original, restricted sense, referring to the territory that corresponds to modern-day [[Abkhazia]] and to the [[Abkhaz people|ethnic group]] living there. [[Vasily Bartold|Barthold, Wasil]] & [[Vladimir Minorsky|Minorsky, Vladimir]], "Abkhaz", in ''[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'', Vol. 1, 1960.</ref> [[Kartli|Kartvelians]],<ref>"Kartvelians", the modern self-designation of the Georgians, originally referred to the inhabitants of the core central Georgian province of [[Kartli]] (''[[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]]'' in [[Ancient Greek literature|Classical]] and [[Byzantine literature|Byzantine Greek sources]]). By the early 9th century, the Georgian literati had expanded the meaning of "Kartli" to other areas of medieval Georgia held together by religion, culture, and language ({{harvnb|Rapp|2003|pp=429–430}}).</ref> [[Arran (Caucasus)|Arranians]], [[First Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakhetians]], and [[Armenians]]; [[Shirvanshah]] and [[Shahanshah]]; [[autocracy|Autocrat]] of all the East and the West, Glory of the World and Faith; Champion of the [[Messiah]].|align=center}}

[[File:Tamar of Georgia Fals. Tiflis mint.jpg|thumb|A copper coin with Georgian and Arabic inscriptions featuring Tamar's [[monogram]] (1200).]]
The queen never achieved autocratic powers and the noble council continued to function. However, Tamar's own prestige and the expansion of ''[[Georgian feudalism|patronq'moba]]'' – a Georgian version of [[feudalism]] – kept the more powerful dynastic princes from fragmenting the kingdom. This period marked the apex of Georgian feudalism.<ref>{{harvnb|Suny|1994|p=43}}.</ref> Attempts at transplanting feudal practices in the areas where they had previously been almost unknown did not pass without resistance. There was a [[Rebellion in Pkhovi and Didoya|revolt]] among the mountainers of [[Pkhovi]] and [[Tsez people|Dido]] on Georgia's northeastern frontier in 1212, which was put down by Ivane Mkhargrzeli after three months of heavy fighting.<ref>{{harvnb|Tuite|2003|pp=7–23}}.</ref>

With flourishing commercial centers now under Georgia's control, industry and commerce brought new wealth to the country and the court. Tribute extracted from the neighbors and war booty added to the royal treasury, giving rise to the saying that "the peasants were like nobles, the nobles like princes, and the princes like kings."<ref>{{harvnb|Suny|1994|p=40}}.</ref><ref name="CMH-624-5">{{harvnb|Toumanoff|1966|loc="Armenia and Georgia", pp. 624–625}}.</ref>