for the Indian front. Meanwhile, in 1738, Teimuraz II, supported by the Qizilbashes, came back in his realm. He managed to suppress the anti-Iranian rebellion led by the influential Kartlian noble, Givi Amilakhvari, and consolidate his power in Kartli, thus de facto uniting eastern Georgian Kingdoms. In 1744, Nader Shah confirmed Teimuraz II and his son Heraclius II (1744–1762) as the kings of Kartli and Kakheti and allowed them to perform Christian coronations. Father and son were crowned at the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral on October 1, 1745 – the first Christian coronation of the eastern Georgian kings in over a century. In 1762, the Kakhetian Kingdom was united with the neighboring Georgian Kingdom of Kartli into the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under King Heraclius II. Following the Treaty of Georgievsk and the sack of Tbilisi by Agha Mohammad Khan, in 1801 the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was annexed to the Russian Empire. Russian suzerainty over Kakheti and the rest of Georgia was recognized by Qajar Iran in the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan. 1801–1917: Kakheti within the Russian Empire, uprisings, modernization, Georgian national awakening Loss of independence and establishment of the Imperial administration led to an imminent uprisings. In 1802, Kakhetian nobles revolted, insurgents planned to restore kartli-Kakhetian Kingdom. However, Russians quickly responded and crushed the rebellion. In 1810–1811, Kakheti suffered from poor harvests and plague, which led to food shortages and high prices. Despite the hardship, Russian officials forced the peasantry to sell their remaining produce to the state at a low price. As the Russian troops began requisitioning supplies, a peasant uprising flared up in the village of Akhmeta on January 31, 1812. The insurgents defeated Russians in the hard-fought battle of Bodbiskhevi, killing 2 officers and 212 soldiers, captured and slaughtered the entire Russian garrison of Signagi and later seized Telavi, Anaga, Dusheti, and Pasanauri. After some hesitations the rebels were supported by the local nobility and clergy. They proclaimed a prince Grigol Bagrationi, great-grandson of Heraclius II and grandson of George XII as the King of Kartli-Kakheti. The revolt soon spread to Kartli, and the Russian forces lost more than 1,000 men in clashes with the insurgents. The rebellion continued throughout 1812 until the superior Imperial army, led by governors of Caucasus – Italian-born Marquis de Paulucci and Nikolay Rtishchev finally defeated it and pacified the region by early 1813. In 1918–1921 Kakheti was part of the independent Democratic Republic