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'Giorgi Saakadze' (1570 – October 3, 1629) was a Georgian military commander. Holding a post of mouravi (governor) of Tbilisi for years, he was dubbed the 'Great Mouravi' (''Didi Mouravi'') and was known to Persians as 'Mourav Beg'. Occasionally serving in the Persian and Ottoman armies, he was actively involved in the Georgian liberation wars against the both empires.
He was the son of Siaush Saakadze, a baron (''aznauri'') of the Kartlian realm. Well educated at languages and military science, he served to King Simon I in his struggle against the Ottoman invasion in the 1590s. Promoted further under King Giorgi X (1600-1606), he became one of the most powerful nobles during the reign of Luarsab II, who would marry Saakadze’s sister Makrine in 1611. Appointed as governor (mouravi) of Tbilisi, Tskhinvali, and Dvaleti in 1606, he launched a series of measures to make the Kingdom of Kartli more stable and defensible against the Ottoman and Persian aggression. In June 1609, he routed an Ottoman invasion force at the Battle of Tashiskari. His increasing influence and prestige offended a party of Georgian nobles who convinced Luarsab II in Saakadze’s treachery, and attempted to kill him on May 20, 1612. He survived, however, and fled to Persia where he was welcomed by Shah Abbas I. Converted to Islam, he became an eminent figure at the Persian court and was regularly consulted on Georgian affairs.
In 1619, Abbas appointed him advisor to Simon II of Kartli and in 1620 entrusted both with the suppression of anti-Persian opposition. In 1623, as a Persian general, he took part in the campaigns against Kandahar and Baghdad.

In 1625, Shah Abbas sent him as a chief of staff to the Persian general Qarciha-Khan sent to suppress finally Kartlian resistance. However, Saakadze turned against the Persians this time, and lead a popular uprising that ended in crushing victory of the Georgians at the Battle of Martqopi on March 25, 1625. He invited the exiled King Teimuraz I to return home and proclaimed him king of Kartli and Kakheti. In retaliation, Shah Abbas executed Saakadze’s son Paata who had been left as a hostage in Isfahan. Later the same year the Georgians suffered a bitter defeat in the Battle of Marabda, but Saakadze refused to surrender and organized successful guerilla warfare. The Georgian desperate resistance and the loss of 60,000 soldiers frustrated the Shah's plans to convert Georgia into a Muslim khanate, and he had to compromise recognizing Teimuraz as king. But the rivalry between the Georgian leaders soon led to a civil war between Saakadze and Teimuraz I. The former’s defeat at the Battle of Bazaleti (1626) forced him into exile in Istanbul, where he was received with great honors and was appointed governor of the Konya vilayet. As an Ottoman general, he fought Persians at Erzurum (1627-1628), and in Meskheti (1628). In 1629, Saakadze decided to return to Georgia once again to try to unite all Georgians against the foreign conquerors. On his way home, Saakadze together with his son Avtandil, and 40 Georgian officers were captured and executed by an order of Grand Vizier Ekrem Hüsrev Pasha.

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★ History of Iranian-Georgian relations