Erekle II

(1720 or 1721–1798) was a Georgian monarch reigning as the king of Kakheti from 1744 to 1762, and of Kartli and Kakheti from 1762 until 1798. As penultimate king of the united kingdoms of Kakheti and Kartli in eastern Georgia, his reign is regarded as the swan song of the Georgian monarchy. Heraclius established himself as a de facto independent ruler and attempted to modernize the government, economics, and military. Under the pressure of internal and external menaces to Georgia’s precarious independence he placed his kingdom under the formal Russian protection in 1783. However, this move did not prevent Georgia from being devastated by the Persian invasion in 1795.