the Kingdom was a vassal of the successive dynasties of Persia and to a much shorter period Ottoman Empire but enjoyed intermittent periods of greater independence, especially after 1747.

Formally under the vassalage of the Safavid dynasty, Levan of Kakheti was desirous to diminish foreign influence over Georgia, stealthily sending Kakhetian detachments to his son-in-law Simon I of Kartli against the Qizilbashes in the 1560s. Alexander II, the astute son of