Holy Martyr Shalva of Akhaltsikhe (+1227)

Shavleg, thy black chokha, O Shavleg, thou hast soaked in blood, O Shavleg, the leggings became thee, O Shavleg, fighting the foe became thee, O Shavleg, thou hadst no need of help, O Shavleg, Shavleg, thy black chokha, O Shavleg.

The holy martyr Shalva of Akhaltsikhe was an outstanding warrior even in the host of the holy King Tamar (commemorated 1 May). For his loyalty, courage and valour the great King Tamar appointed him lord of Akhaltsikhe. After the victory at Shamkor he carried off the Caliph’s banner as a sign of the invincibility of Christianity, and offered it, together with a great deal of other spoil, to the Theotokos of Khakhuli.

For his selfless service King Tamar granted Saint Shalva the office of mandaturtukhutsesi. By the sovereign’s command, at the battle of Basiani (1204) the mandaturtukhutsesi Shalva led the victorious Georgian host together with his brother, Ivane of Akhaltsikhe.

In the reign of Saint Tamar’s daughter Rusudan, Jalal ad-Din invaded Georgia with a vast army. Rusudan called a general levy and set the aged atabeg Ivane at the head of the Georgians gathered for war.

At the village of Garnisi six thousand Georgians stood against two hundred thousand Muslims. The command of the vanguard was entrusted to the brothers Shalva and Ivane of Akhaltsikhe, distinguished for their courage and valour, while the atabeg Ivane stayed back with the main force to deliver the decisive blow.

The small host of the men of Tori and Javakheti fearlessly engaged the countless enemy, and the brothers fought without sparing themselves, but in vain they waited for help: “The atabeg Ivane would not help, which they say he did out of envy and not out of fear. O envy, beginning of all evils!” writes the Chronicler. The Georgians were defeated; four thousand Georgians perished in this unequal battle; Ivane of Akhaltsikhe himself was slain, while Shalva was taken captive and brought to Jalal ad-Din.

Jalal ad-Din rejoiced to see the warrior famed throughout the world; he received the Georgian mandaturtukhutsesi with honour, even granted him cities to govern, and promised him a still greater “gift” in exchange for changing his faith.

“To deny the true God is impossible for me. Cease these promises, which are of no use to me, for a divine desire has appointed me a soldier of Christ,” the saint answered boldly.

For a long time Jalal ad-Din tried to bend the virtuous knight to lawlessness, and when he could achieve nothing, he ordered him to be tortured to death. During the torments Shalva said joyfully: “Rejoice, O Shalva, for together with thy garment thou strippest off the old man of the flesh and art set free from corruptible delights… Let us endure, Shalva, death for Christ, which ‘is appointed once unto every man’.”

After many torments the martyr, more dead than alive, was thrown into prison, where “he finished the course of martyrdom, and so Christ God, who had strengthened him, took to Himself that great tower of godliness, His soldier, crowned with the crown of righteousness” (+1227).