The Kartvelologist

The Kartvelologist” is a bilingual (Georgian and English) peer-reviewed, academic journal, covering all spheres of Kartvelological scholarship. Along with introducing scholarly novelties in Georgian Studies, it aims at popularization of essays of Georgian researchers on the international level and diffusion of foreign Kartvelological scholarship in Georgian scholarly circles.


“The Kartvelologist” issues both in printed and electronic form. In 1993-2009 it came out only in printed form (#1-15). The publisher is the “Centre for Kartvelian Studies” (TSU), financially supported by the “Fund of the Kartvelological School”. In 2011-2013 the journal is financed by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation.





The Path of "The Man in a Panther-Skin" to England and English Historical Sources

 

This paper examines the information emerging in the English historical literature and primary sources concerning the origin of Shah Abbas’ Georgian Christian wives, which has not yet been discussed in Georgian historical writing. Specifically, Eng­lish diplomat and traveller Sir Anthony Sherley, at the end of the 16th century, and Sir Thomas Herbert, an English attaché to Iran in the early 17th century, note in their books published in the 17th century that Abbas married the daughters of King Si­mon of Kartli and King Alexander of Kakheti (around the six­teenth and seventeenth centuries).

 English historical writings and sources indicate that the English diplomat Sir Anthony Sherley and his colleagues were assisted by the Christian wives of the Shah at the end of the 16th century. This statement reinforces the view that the story of the MPS known to a group of the early 17th-century English playwrights, and Shakespeare himself, became known through the cooperation of prominent ethnic Georgians, promoted at the Court of Abbas, with Sir Anthony Sherley.

 


keywords:The Man in a Panther-Skin, Thomas Herbert, English dramaturgy, Shah Abbas Category: SCHOLARLY STUDIES Authors: ELGUJA KHINTIBIDZE