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{{Infobox officeholder
|name            = David Soslan
|image           = 
|caption         = 
|succession      = [[King Consort]] of Kingdom of Georgia
|reign           = c. 1187/1189 – c. 1207
|reign-type = Tenure
|coronation      = 
|spouse          = [[Tamar of Georgia]]
|issue           = [[George IV of Georgia]] <br>[[Rusudan of Georgia]]
|house           = [[Bagrationi dynasty]]
|father          = Jadaron
|birth_date      = 
|birth_place     = 
|death_date      = 1207
|death_place     = 
|place of burial = 
|signature       = David Soslan signature.svg
|signature_type = [[Khelrtva]]
|religion        = [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]
|}} 
'''David Soslan''' ({{lang-ka|დავით სოსლანი}}) (died 1207) was a prince from [[Alania]] and second husband of [[Tamar of Georgia|Queen Tamar]], whom he married in c. 1189. He is chiefly known for his military exploits during Georgia's wars against its Muslim neighbors.

==Origins==
[[File:David Soslan geneaology.JPG|thumb|250px|David Soslan's genealogy suggested by Prince [[Vakhushti]].<ref name="Alans"/>]]
David Soslan was a member of the royal house which ruled [[Alania]] (Ovseti or Oseti in the Georgian sources; hence, the modern designation of [[Ossetia]]),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYtCAAAAYAAJ|title=Hommage universel: actes du congrès de Shiraz 1971, et autres études rédigées à l'occasion du 2500e anniversaire de la fondation de l'empire perse|last=Duchesne-Guillemin|first=Jacques|date=1974|publisher=Bibliothèque Pahlavi|isbn=9789004039025|pages=294|language=en}}</ref> an [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox Christian]] kingdom in the North Caucasus, and frequently intermarried with the [[Bagrationi dynasty]] of Georgia. An anonymous chronicler, writing during the reign of [[George IV of Georgia|George IV Lasha]] (son of Tamar and David Soslan; 1212–1223), ascribes to Soslan a Bagratid ancestry.<ref name="gippert">{{cite book|last=Gippert|first=Jost|title=Haptacahaptaitis: Festschrift for Fridrik Thordarson on the Occasion of His 77th Birthday|year=2005|publisher=Novus Forlag|location=Oslo|isbn=82-7099-403-0|page=77|editor=Haug, Dag |editor2=Welo, Eirik|editor-link1=Dag Haug|chapter=Onomastica Nartica: Soslan – Sozyryqo}}</ref>  A version of his Bagratid origin found further development in the works of the 18th-century Georgian scholar Prince [[Vakhushti Bagrationi]]: He considered Soslan to be a descendant of [[George I of Georgia]] (1014–1027) and his Alan wife [[Alda of Alania|Alde]] who were the parents of [[Demetrius of Anacopia|Demetrius]] (Demetre), an unfortunate pretender to the Georgian crown whose son, David, was forced by [[Bagrat IV of Georgia]] to flee to Alania. According to Vakhushti, David and his descendants - Aton and Jadaron - married into the Alan ruling family and became "kings of the Osi" [''i.e''., Alans]. This Jadaron is said to have been Soslan's father.<ref name="Alans">Alemany, Agustí (2000), ''Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation'', p. 321. Brill Academic Publishers, {{ISBN|90-04-11442-4}}.</ref> While this account is considered credible by the modern scholars such as Mariam Lordkipanidze<ref>Lordkipanidze, Mariam (1987), Georgia in the XI-XII Centuries, p. 155. Tbilisi: Ganatleba</ref> and [[Cyril Toumanoff]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |authorlink=Cyril Toumanoff |editor=Hussey J. M. |editor-link=Joan M. Hussey |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Medieval History |title=Armenia and Georgia |year=1966 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=4 |location= Cambridge |oclc=716953 |page=623}}</ref> the issue of Soslan's origin still remains uncertain.

A passage from the 13th-century anonymous Georgian ''Histories and Eulogies of Sovereigns'' relates that David was under the patronage of Tamar's paternal aunt [[Rusudan, daughter of Demetre I of Georgia|Rusudan]] and came of "the descendants [ძენი; literally, "sons"] of Ephraïm, which are Osi, handsome and strong in battle." The Georgian scholar [[Korneli Kekelidze]] suggested that David Soslan's family – the "Ephraïmids" – might have claimed descent from the biblical [[Ephraim]], and compared this family legend to that of the Bagratids who considered themselves descendants of David, the second king of the [[Israelites]].<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Дондуа, В. Д., Бердзнишвили, М. М. [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/ic/DGL/work/Jizn_carici_tamar/primechanie.htm Жизнь царицы цариц Тамар (Примечания).]</ref>

In 1946, the North Ossetian archaeologist Evgeniya Pchelina announced that, during the digs at the Nuzal chapel in the Ardon Gorge, [[North Ossetian ASSR]], she discovered the tomb allegedly belonging to David Soslan whom she identified with the certain Soslan mentioned in the Georgian [[asomtavruli]] inscription in the chapel, and suggested that David Soslan might have been a member of the Tsarazon family ({{lang-os|Цæразонтæ}}), a heroic clan from Nuzal known to the Ossetic oral folk tradition.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Пчелина, Е. Г. «Нузальская церковь – место погребения Давида Сослана». Растизинад №115: 1946.</ref> The hypothesis has not been accepted by most Georgian scholars, but enjoys much currency among the Ossetian historians.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [[Vasily Abaev|Vaso Abaev]].[http://www.alanica.ru/article/18.htm The origin of the Ossetian family names of Сærazontæ and Æghuzatæ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727024231/http://www.alanica.ru/article/18.htm |date=2011-07-27}}</ref>

==Marriage==
[[File:GEORGIA, Kingdom. T’amar. Queen Regnant, 1184-1213. Æ Fals (26mm, 6.65 g, 3h). Dated Year 420 of the Paschal cycle (AD 1200).jpg|thumb|A coin issued in the name of Tamar and David in 1200]]
Tamar married David Soslan at the Didube Palace near Tbilisi between 1187 and 1189 after she divorced her first husband, the [[Rus' (people)|Rus']] prince [[Yuri Bogolyubsky]]. As the [[Armenia]]n chronicler [[Mkhitar Gosh]] reports in his ''Ishatarakan'' ("Memorabilia"), Tamar "married a man from the Alan kingdom, her relative on the mother’s side, whose name was Soslan, named David upon his ascension to the [Georgian] throne".<ref>David, like other biblical names, was favored by the Bagratids because of their Davidic claim. As for Soslan, this is the name of one of the main heroes of the [[Nart]] epic, but alternative, though tentative, explanations have also been proposed; for example, [[Nikolay Marr]] regards it as being derived from the ethnonym "Os-Alani", while [[Vasily Abaev]] suggests a possible [[Turco-Mongol]] origin from [[Nogai language|Nogai]] suslan – "to have a threatening look".</ref>

In contrast to Yuri who was a candidate of the powerful nobles party, David was Tamar's personal choice.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} David, a capable military commander, became Tamar's major supporter and was instrumental in defeating the rebellious nobles rallied behind Yuri. Tamar and David had two children. In 1191, the queen gave birth to a son, George&nbsp;– the future king [[George IV of Georgia|George IV (Lasha)]]&nbsp;– an event widely celebrated in the kingdom. The daughter, [[Rusudan of Georgia|Rusudan]], was born c. 1193 and would succeed her brother as sovereign of Georgia.

David Soslan's status as Tamar's husband, as well as his presence in art, on charters and on coins, was strictly dictated by the necessity of male aspects of kingship, but he remained a subordinate ruler who shared the throne with Tamar but had no independent authority, his power being derived from his reigning spouse.<ref>Eastmond, Antony (1998), ''Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia'', pp. 135-7. Penn State Press, {{ISBN|0-271-01628-0}}.</ref>

David energetically supported Tamar's expansionist policy and was responsible for Georgia's military successes in a series of conflicts of those years.<ref>Vasiliev, A. A. The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204-1222). ''Speculum'', Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1936), p. 13.</ref> Medieval Georgian sources praise his handsomeness, military talents, valor, and devotion to Tamar. In the 1190s, David Soslan led the Georgian raids against [[Barda, Azerbaijan|Barda]], Erzurum, [[Gegharkunik, Gegharkunik|Geghark'unik']], [[Beylaqan]] and [[Ganja (city)|Ganja]]. His victories over the Ildegizids of [[Atabegs of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] at [[Battle of Shamkor|Shamkor]] (1195) and the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuqids]] of [[Sultanate of Rum|Rüm]] at [[Battle of Basian|Basian]] (1202) secured the Georgian positions in the eastern and western Caucasian marches, respectively. He died shortly thereafter, c. 1207.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkEOAQAAMAAJ|title=Women in World History: Sul-Vica|last=Commire|first=Anne|last2=Klezmer|first2=Deborah|date=2002|publisher=Yorkin Publications|year=|isbn=9780787640743|pages=144|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-roy}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Yury Bogolyubsky]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Georgian consorts|Consort of Georgia]]|years=c. 1187/1189 – c. 1207}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ghias ad-din]]}}
{{end}}

{{Wikipedia|David Soslan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:David Soslan}}
[[Category:Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Georgian kings consort]]
[[Category:Alanic people]]
[[Category:1207 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:12th-century people from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:13th-century people from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:12th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:13th-century Iranian people]]