The Holy Queen Tamara came from the Bagratid family (Bagrationi) and was the only daughter of Tsar George III. When she turned 18, George III crowned her king, and after his death in 1184, 24-year-old Queen Tamara became the sovereign ruler of the Georgian kingdom. Distinguished by her high piety, intelligence and beauty, Queen Tamara wisely ruled the state, gaining the love of the entire people. Contemporaries called her the king ("mape"), not the queen ("deadopali"). "I am the father of the poor and the judge of widows," she said.

During her reign, there was not a single case of capital punishment or corporal punishment; in her administration, she was strictly guided by the commandments of the angels. An agreement has been established between the Church and the state. Under her high authority, Holy Queen Tamara managed to unite the highlanders of Abkhazia, Imereti and Kakheti. She herself, in military armor, marched in front of her troops against the Muslims and fearlessly defeated them. During all her campaigns, she was patronized by the Holy Archangel Michael; his image was seen by Saracen captives over the throne of Tamara. The rebellious Muslim mountaineers humbled themselves before her name and whole tribes accepted Holy Baptism. The Muslims trusted her so much that they agreed to give the keys to the besieged city of Kars only to her.

Following the example of her great-grandfather, the holy King David the Restorer, the holy Queen Tamara built temples and monasteries. To this day, churches and crosses erected during her reign have been preserved on the inaccessible cliffs of the Caucasus; similar shrines are located on the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas. The reign of the holy and blessed Queen Tamara became a "golden age" in the history of Georgia. She was the patroness of writing and literature.