doors for Russia to break its agreements and fully annex Georgia. Biography Youth George Bagrationi was born on October 9, 1746, son of King Heraclius II of Kakheti and his second wife, Queen Ana (herself a daughter of the influential prince Zaal Abashidze). He was the royal couple's fourth child, his elders being princes Vakhtang and Solomon and Princess Rusudan, the latter having died in her childhood. George grew up during a tumultuous time that saw the slow unification of Eastern Georgian states, his father ruling over Kakheti and his grandfather Teimuraz II leading the Kingdom of Kartli. He was raised at the royal court, in the shadow of his half-brother Vakhtang, who was appointed Duke of Aragvi by their father at 9 years old. His youth was marked by several family tragedies. Queen Ana died in December 1749 when George was only 3. Vakhtang, the presumptive heir of Heraclius II and considered by many to be the hope for a Georgian reunification, died in February 1756. His second brother Solomon died in 1765. In 1762, shortly after the death of King Teimuraz II, Heraclius II proclaimed the unification of the Georgian states east of the Likhi Range and was crowned King of Kartl-Kakheti in Mtskheta. A young George and the royal family lived from then on in the new capital, Tbilisi, while the Prince Castle of Telavi was rebuilt by the king. Heir With the death of Prince Solomon in 1765, George became the oldest surviving son of the royal family and thus, the presumptive heir to his father's crown. One year later, Heraclius II decided to formalize the future of his dynasty, following the failure of Prince Paata Bagrationi of Mukhrani's rebellion. Seeking more responsibility within the country, George asked for the governorship of the Armenian province of Pambak, where he launched a program of repopulation of the region, devastated by centuries of invasion. George was officially named Heir to the Throne of Two Georgias in 1766. As an apanage, he received large swaths of territories in southern Georgia, at the border with neighboring Persia and largely populated by Armenians and Turkmens, as well as the title of "Lord of Ksani, Tianeti, Aghja-Qala, Lore, and Pambak". This secured George's position as his step-mother, Queen Darejan, increased her influence within the royal court in favor of her own children. One of them, Prince Levan, received the title of Duke