Gurieli
Encyclopedia
Gurieli was a Georgian
noble family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria
which was autonomous and later for a few centuries independent, as well as a few ducal rulers of the dynasty rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place of hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imeretia.
Initially a hereditary title of governors (eristavi
) of Guria since the mid-13th century, Gurieli (literally, "of Guria") was adopted as a dynastic name by the Vardanisdze family
(ვარდანისძე), hereditary rulers of Svaneti
(a highland province in western Georgia). The other notable branch of the Vardanisdze was the Dadiani
(დადიანი) of Mingrelia. Both of these branches occasionally used double names: Gurieli-Dadiani or Dadiani-Gurieli.
The medieval Gurieli were vassals to the Georgian crown, but, at the same time, seem to have paid some kind of homage to the rulers of the neighboring Empire of Trebizond
, whose last emperor, David Komnenos
(reigned from 1459 to 1461), is documented as having been 'gambros' of Mamia Vardanisdze-Gurieli (c. 1450 - 69), which is interpreted that Mamia married his daughter or sister or close kinswoman. If the couple had issue, possibly the subsequent ruler Kakhaber (1469–83), the latter-day Gurieli should have descended from several Byzantine
and Trapezuntine emperors.
In the 1460s, when the power of the Bagrationi Dynasty
of Georgia was on the decline, the Gurieli pursued a policy of separation and became virtually (and even formally acknowledged in occasions) independent rulers (mtavari
) of the Principality of Guria
in the mid-16th century, but were forced to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire
, nominally recognizing also the authority of the princes of Mingrelia and kings of Imereti
. Throughout the following two centuries, the politics of the Gurieli dynasty were dominated by the conflicts with the neighboring Georgian rulers, Ottoman inroads, and repeated occasions of civil strife and palace coups.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, as many as four Gurieli rulers managed to get chosen kings of the whole Western Caucasus in place of hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imeretia. Gurieli kings (ephemeral as some of their royal reigns were) however are usually characterized as usurpers, or as rival dynasty of counter-monarchs.
Powerful neighbors also in several occasions managed to change the rulership of Guria itself to other members of the Gurieli dynasty, there were rivalling branches of the family itself.
Having accepted Imperial Russian sovereignty in 1810, the dynasty continued to enjoy some autonomy in their home affairs until 1829, when the Russian authorities deposed David, the last Gurieli, and abolished the Principality of Guria. With the death of David in 1839, the main male line went extinct. His cousin, David Gurieli (1802–1856), and his descendants were confirmed in the dignity of Prince (knyaz
) by the Tsar’s decree
of 1850.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
noble family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria
Guria
Guria is a region in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 143,357 and Ozurgeti is a regional capital.-Geography:...
which was autonomous and later for a few centuries independent, as well as a few ducal rulers of the dynasty rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place of hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imeretia.
Initially a hereditary title of governors (eristavi
Eristavi
Eristavi was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine strategos and normally translated into English as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province...
) of Guria since the mid-13th century, Gurieli (literally, "of Guria") was adopted as a dynastic name by the Vardanisdze family
House of Vardanisdze
The House of Vardanisdze was an aristocratic family in medieval Georgia, listed among the Great Nobles of the realm.The family is presumed to have branched off from another eminent Georgian feudal clan of the Marushisdze, a hypothesis supported by the abundance of the name Marushiani in the...
(ვარდანისძე), hereditary rulers of Svaneti
Svaneti
Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...
(a highland province in western Georgia). The other notable branch of the Vardanisdze was the Dadiani
Dadiani
Dadiani was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo.- The House of Dadiani :...
(დადიანი) of Mingrelia. Both of these branches occasionally used double names: Gurieli-Dadiani or Dadiani-Gurieli.
The medieval Gurieli were vassals to the Georgian crown, but, at the same time, seem to have paid some kind of homage to the rulers of the neighboring Empire of Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
, whose last emperor, David Komnenos
David of Trebizond
David Megas Komnenos was the last Emperor of Trebizond from 1459 to 1461. He was the third son of Emperor Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene....
(reigned from 1459 to 1461), is documented as having been 'gambros' of Mamia Vardanisdze-Gurieli (c. 1450 - 69), which is interpreted that Mamia married his daughter or sister or close kinswoman. If the couple had issue, possibly the subsequent ruler Kakhaber (1469–83), the latter-day Gurieli should have descended from several Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and Trapezuntine emperors.
In the 1460s, when the power of the Bagrationi Dynasty
Bagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
of Georgia was on the decline, the Gurieli pursued a policy of separation and became virtually (and even formally acknowledged in occasions) independent rulers (mtavari
Mtavari
Mtavari was a feudal title in Georgia usually translated in English as prince.The earliest instances of the use of mtavari are in the early Georgian hagiographic texts dated to the 5th century. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, the title mtavari, along with tavadi, was synonymous with eristavi,...
) of the Principality of Guria
Principality of Guria
The Principality of Guria was a historical state in Georgia. Centered on modern-day Guria, a southwestern region in Georgia, it was located between the Black Sea and Lesser Caucasus, and was ruled by a succession of twenty-two princes of the House of Gurieli from the 1460s to 1829. The...
in the mid-16th century, but were forced to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, nominally recognizing also the authority of the princes of Mingrelia and kings of Imereti
Kingdom of Imereti
The Kingdom of Imereti was established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagration when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Imereti was considered a separate kingdom within the Kingdom of Georgia, to which a cadet branch of the Bagration royal family held...
. Throughout the following two centuries, the politics of the Gurieli dynasty were dominated by the conflicts with the neighboring Georgian rulers, Ottoman inroads, and repeated occasions of civil strife and palace coups.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, as many as four Gurieli rulers managed to get chosen kings of the whole Western Caucasus in place of hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imeretia. Gurieli kings (ephemeral as some of their royal reigns were) however are usually characterized as usurpers, or as rival dynasty of counter-monarchs.
Powerful neighbors also in several occasions managed to change the rulership of Guria itself to other members of the Gurieli dynasty, there were rivalling branches of the family itself.
Having accepted Imperial Russian sovereignty in 1810, the dynasty continued to enjoy some autonomy in their home affairs until 1829, when the Russian authorities deposed David, the last Gurieli, and abolished the Principality of Guria. With the death of David in 1839, the main male line went extinct. His cousin, David Gurieli (1802–1856), and his descendants were confirmed in the dignity of Prince (knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
) by the Tsar’s decree
Ukase
A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
of 1850.
Prince Gurieli
- c. 1385–1410 – Kakhaber I; son of Giorgi II Dadiani; eristavi of Guria and Svaneti
- c. 1410–1430 – Giorgi I; son of Kakhaber I
- c. 1430–1450 – Mamia I; son of Giorgi I
- c. 1450–1469 – Mamia II; son of Liparit I Dadiani
- 1469–1483 – Kakhaber II; possibly son of Mamia II by his Trapezuntine wife
- 1483–1512 – Giorgi I (II); son of Kakhaber II; sovereign prince from 1491
- 1512–1534 – Mamia I (III); son of Giorgi I
- 1534–1564 – Rostom; son of Mamia I
- 1564–1583 – Giorgi II (III); son of Rostom; deposed
- 1583–1587 – Vakhtang I; son of Giorgi II
- 1587–1600 – Giorgi II (III); restored
- 1600–1625 – Mamia II (IV); son of Giorgi II
- 1625 – Svimon I; son of Mamia II; deposed, died after 1672
- 1625–1658 – Kaikhosro I (III); son of Vakhtang I
- 1659–1668 – Demetre; son of Svimon I; deposed, died 1668
- 1669–1684 – Giorgi III (IV)Giorgi III GurieliGiorgi III Gurieli , of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was a prince of Guria from 1664 to 1684 and a de facto king of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He succeeded his father, Kaikhosro I, as prince of Guria and secured his throne through paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. He was energetically...
; son of Kaikhosro I - 1685–1689 – Kaikhosro II (IV); son of Giorgi III
- Malak'ia; son of Kaikhosro I; rival prince 1685; deposed
- 1689–1712 – Mamia III (V); son of Giorgi III; deposed
- Malak'ia; restored as rival prince 1689; deposed, died after 1689
- 1712 – Girogi IV (V); son of Mamia III; deposed
- 1712–1714 – Mamia III (V); restored
- 1714–1716 – Giorgi IV (V); restored; deposed
- 1716 – Kaikhosro III (V); son of Mamia III; deposed, died after 1716
- 1716–1726 – Giorgi IV (V); restored
- 1726–1744 – Mamia IV (VI); son of Giorgi IV; deposed, died 1778
- 1744 – Giorgi V (VI); son of Giorgi IV; abdicated, died after 1744
- 1744–1792 – Svimon II; son of Giorgi V; deposed
- 1778–c. 1780 – Kaikhosro IV (VI); son of Giorgi V; abdicated, died after 1820
- c. 1780–1792 – Svimon II; restored
- 1792–1803 – Vakhtang II; son of Giorgi V; deposed, died after 1814
- 1803–1826 – Mamia V (VII); son of Svimon II
- Kaikhosro, brother of Svimon II, regent 1803-1809
- 1826–1829 – Davit’; son of Mamia V; deposed, died 1839
- Sophia, mother of Davit’, regent 1826-1829