Vakhtang I Gorgasali (; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king (mepe) of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter of the 6th century.
He led his people, through an ill-fated alliance with the Byzantine Empire, into a lengthy struggle against Sasanian Iranian hegemony, which ended in Vakhtang's defeat and weakened the kingdom of Iberia. Tradition also ascribes to him the reorganization of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the foundation of Tbilisi, Georgia's modern capital.
Dating Vakhtang's reign is problematic. Ivane Javakhishvili assigns to Vakhtang's rule the dates while Cyril Toumanoff suggests the dates , and Manana Sanadze suggests . Furthermore, Toumanoff identifies Vakhtang with the Iberian king Gurgenes known from Procopius' Wars of Justinian.
Vakhtang is a subject of the 8th or 11th century vita attributed to Juansher, which intertwines history and legend into an epic narrative, hyperbolizing Vakhtang's personality and biography. This literary work has been a primary source of Vakhtang's image as an examplary warrior-king and statesman, which has been preserved in popular memory to this day.
By the Middle Ages, he emerged as one of the most popular figures in Georgia's history and has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as The Holy and Right-Believing King Vakhtang () and is commemorated on . The name may indeed be derived from Iranian *warx-tang (vahrka-tanū)—"wolf-bodied", a possible reflection of the wolf cult in ancient Georgia. Beginning in the late 13th century, numerous Georgian princes and kings took the name Vakhtang.
Early reign
thumb|upright|left|Monument to Vakhtang I in Sno
Beyond the Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali (hereinafter LVG), the medieval Georgian sources mention Vakhtang only briefly, yet do so with a respect rarely afforded to the pre-Bagratid Georgian monarchs.
Church affairs
Returning to Iberia, Vakhtang took up a series of measures aimed at strengthening the royal authority. Resenting Persia's encroachments on his independence, Vakhtang reversed his political orientation and effected a rapprochement with the Roman government. He married Helena (Elene), "daughter" (possibly relative) of Emperor Zeno, and received permission from Constantinople to elevate the head of the church of Iberia, the bishop of Mtskheta, to the rank of catholicos, whom he sent, together with twelve newly appointed bishops, to be consecrated at Antioch. These rearrangements did not pass smoothly and the king had to overcome opposition, especially in the person of Mikel, the deposed bishop of Mtskheta. Javakhishvili explains this conflict on account of doctrinal differences between the Monophysite Vakhtang and Diophysite Mikel, a presumption supported by Toumanoff, who points out that the change of prelate and his subordination to Antioch could "only imply acceptance of Zeno's formulary of faith", i.e., the moderately Monophysite Henotikon of 482. On his part, another Georgian historian, Simon Janashia, argues that Vakhtang was inclined towards Diophysitism while Mikel adhered to Monophysitism.
War with Persia
thumb|Ruins of Ujarma, once an Iberian stronghold under Vakhtang
By espousing a pro-Roman policy, Vakhtang further alienated his nobles, who sought Iranian support against the king's encroachments on their autonomy. In 482, Vakhtang put to death his most influential vassal, Varsken, vitaxa of Gogarene, a convert to Zoroastrianism and a champion of Iran's influence in the Caucasus, who had executed his Christian wife, Shushanik, daughter of the Armenian Mamikonid prince Vardan II and a hero of the earliest surviving piece of Georgian literature. By this act, Vakhtang placed himself in open confrontation with his Iranian suzerain. Vakhtang called on the Armenian princes and the Huns for co-operation. After some hesitation, the Armenians, under Vardan's nephew Vahan Mamikonian, joined forces with Vakhtang. The allies were routed and Iberia was ravaged by Iranian punitive expeditions in 483 and 484, forcing Vakhtang into flight to Roman-controlled Lazica (modern-day western Georgia). After Peroz's death in the war with the Hephthalites in 484, his successor Balash reestablished peace in the Caucasus. Vakhtang was able to resume his reign in Iberia, but did not betray his pro-Roman line. If Toumanoff's identification of Procopius’ Gurgenes with Vakhtang is true, the king might have ended his reign in 522 by taking refuge in Lazica, where he possibly died around the same time. Gurgenes’ family members—Peranius, Pacurius, and Phazas—had careers in the Roman military.
Family
According to the LVG, Vakhtang was survived by three sons. Dachi, Vakhtang's eldest son by his first marriage to the Iranian princess Balendukht (who died at childbirth), succeeded him as king of Iberia and had to return to Iranian allegiance. Two younger sons by Vakhtang's second marriage to the Roman lady Helena (Elene)—Leon and Mihrdat—were enfeoffed of the southwestern Iberian provinces of Klarjeti and Javakheti in which Leon's progeny—the Guaramids—traditionally followed a pro-Roman orientation. Both these lines survived in Iberia into the 8th century, being succeeded by their energetic cousins of the Bagratid family.
Will of Vakhtang
Before his death, the wounded King Vakhtang left the following will to his son Dachi and to the Georgians:
He also called on Georgians not to abandon ties with the Byzantine Empire:
Legacy
Vakhtang entered a pantheon of Georgian historical heroes already in the Middle Ages. In popular memory, his image has acquired a legendary and romantic façade. Vakhtang is a subject of several folk poems and legends, extolling the king's perceived greatness, enormous physical strength, courage and devoutness to Christianity.
Vakhtang has been credited with the foundation of several towns, castles, and monasteries across Georgia, including the nation's capital Tbilisi, where a street and a square bear his name, and a 1967 monument by the sculptor Elguja Amashukeli tops the Metekhi cliff. A legend has it that when King Vakhtang was in the forest, his falcon chased a pheasant. The bird fell into a hot water spring and the king and his servants saw the steam come out of the water. Surprised by the abundance of hot water, Vakhtang gave orders to build a city on this site and named it "Tbilisi", that is, "the site of warm springs".
Vakhtang was officially included in the Georgian Orthodox calendar — and a church built in his honor in the city of Rustavi—early in the 1990s, but he had presumably been considered a saint long before that.
The Vakhtang Gorgasali Order, created in 1992, is one of the highest military decorations in Georgia.