1259), Dawith V. (1243-1272), Dimitri II. Thawdadebuli (1272-1289),
Wakhtang II. (1289-1292), Dawith VI. (1292-1308).--H. C.] There were two
princes of that name, David, who shared Georgia between them under the
decision of the Great Kaan in 1246, and one of them, who survived to 1269,
is probably meant here. The name of David was borne by the last titular
King of Georgia, who ceded his rights to Russia in 1801. It is probable,
however, as Marsden has suggested, that the statement about the King
_always_ being called David arose in part out of some confusion with the
title of _Dadian_, which, according to Chardin (and also to P. di
Castelli), was always assumed by the Princes of Mingrelia, or Colchis as
the latter calls it. Chardin refers this title to the Persian _Dad_,
"equity." To a portrait of "Alexander, King of Iberia," or Georgia Proper,
Castelli attaches the following inscription, giving apparently his
official style: "With the sceptre of David, Crowned by Heaven, First King
of the Orient and of the World, King of Israel," adding, "They say that he
has on his shoulder a small mark of a cross, '_Factus est principatus
super humerum ejus_,' and they add that he has all his ribs in one piece,
and not divided." In another place he notes that when attending the King
in illness his curiosity moved him strongly to ask if these things were
true, but he thought better of it! (_Khanikoff; Jour. As._ IX. 370, XI.
291, etc.; _Tim. Instit._ p. 143; _Castelli_ MSS.)

[A descendant of these Princes was in St. Petersburg about 1870. He wore
the Russian uniform, and bore the title of Prince Bagration-Mukransky.]

NOTE 2.--This fashion of tonsure is mentioned by Barbaro and Chardin. The
latter speaks strongly of the beauty of both sexes, as does Della Valle,
and most modern travellers concur.

NOTE 3.--This refers to the Pass of Derbend, apparently the Sarmatic Gates
of Ptolemy, and _Claustra Caspiorum_ of Tacitus, known to the Arab
geographers as the "Gate of Gates" (_Bab-ul-abwab_), but which is still
called in Turkish _Demir-Kapi_, or the Iron Gate, and to the ancient Wall
that runs from the Castle of Derbend along the ridges of Caucasus, called
in the East _Sadd-i-Iskandar_, the Rampart of Alexander. Bayer thinks the
wall was probably built originally by one of the Antiochi, and renewed by
the Sassanian Kobad or his son Naoshirwan. It is ascribed to the latter by
Abulfeda; and according to Klaproth's extracts from the _Derben