The
Second Kingdom of Kakheti (,
k'axetis samepo; also spelled Kaxet'i or Kakhetia) was a
late medieval/
early modern monarchy in
eastern Georgia, centered at the
province of
Kakheti, with its capital first at
Gremi and then at
Telavi. It emerged in the process of a tripartite division of the
Kingdom of Georgia in 1465 and existed, with several brief intermissions, until 1762 when Kakheti and the neighboring Georgian kingdom of
Kartli were merged through a dynastic succession under the Kakhetian branch of the
Bagrationi dynasty. Through most of its turbulent history, Kakheti was
tributary to the
Persians, whose efforts to keep the reluctant Georgian kingdom within its
sphere of influence resulted in a series of military conflicts and deportations.