Krusiński Jan Tadeusz

Krusiński Jan Tadeusz (b. 1675, Poland – d. 1756, village of Zbrzyź [ძბზეჟიუ], Ukraine), Polish traveler, missionary, and chronicler. Jesuit priest. In 1707–1725/1728, he operated in Persia, where he served as procurator to the Catholic Bishop of Isfahan. He is the author of five extensive works written about Safavid Persia, which contain notable information regarding 17th–18th-century Georgia and the Georgians. The most important among them is The Tragic History of the Persic War [Tragica vertentis belli Persici historia / "Tragikuli revolutsia sparsetis istoriashi"], published in Lviv in 1740.

Krusiński writes regarding the Georgians: "To distinguish them from the Western Iberians (Spaniards), the Georgians are called Eastern Iberians, as acknowledged by most authors." Krusiński describes the habits of the Georgians. According to his observations, the Georgians were steadfast followers of Christianity and were distinguished by talent in the military sphere. According to Krusiński, Shahanshah Soltan Hoseyn I entrusted Vakhtang VI, the exemplary punishment of the Dagestanis who had rebelled against Persia; in 1720, Vakhtang VI set out on campaign with an army of 40,000 men. However, he subsequently halted this campaign.

In March 1722, following the death of Rostom (brother of Vakhtang), commander of the Shahanshah's personal guard, in battle with the Afghans, Shahanshah Soltan Hoseyn I granted this position to Prince Bakar, son of Vakhtang, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Kartli. Bakar assembled 4,000 warriors and prepared to depart for Persia, but his parents persuaded him otherwise. Certain information regarding Georgia preserved in Krusiński's work is entirely unique, as analogous information has not survived in other historical sources.

თხზ.: Tragica vertentis belli Persici historia per repetitas clades ab anno 1711 ad annum 1728 vum continuata, post Gallicos, Hollandicos, Germanicos ac demum Turcicos authoris typos auctior [...] Accessit ad eandem Historiam Prodromus iteratis typis subjectus, wyd. Lwow, 1740.

ლიტ.: ზედგენიძე გ., რა იცოდნენ ევროპელებმა XVI–XVIII საუკუნეებში საქართველოს შესახებ, ქართული დიპლომატია, წელიწდეული, ტ. 3, თბ., 1996; ჯავახიშვილი ნ., ვახტანგ VI-ის მოღვაწეობის ასახვა საზოგადოებრივ აზროვნებაში (ზოგიერთი ასპექტი), „ახალი და უახლესი ისტორიის საკითხები“, 2015 № 16.

N. Javakhishvili