Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
David was a son of King Giorgi IV Lasha by a non-noble woman. Fearing that he would pretend to the throne, his aunt, Queen Rusudan held him prisoner at the court of her son-in-law, the sultan Kaykhusraw II for nearly seven years, and sent her son David to the Mongol court to get his official recognition as heir apparent. Following Kaykhusraw’s defeat by the Mongols, David, son of Giorgi, was set free in 1242. In 1246, he was selected as king by the Georgian nobles who believed that his cousin David VI, son of Rusudan, had died in 1244. Following the coronation at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta, he was sent to the Great Khan Güyük Khan to receive an official recognition. Held at Karakorum for five years, he met his cousin David there. Finally, Güyük Khan recognized David (Lasha Giorgi’s son) as senior joint sovereign and appointed another David (Rusudan’s son) junior co-ruler. Thereafter known as David VII Ulu (i.e. "the senior") and David VI Narin (i.e. "the junior"), the cousins ruled jointly for years.