Vardan Dadiani (died 1213) was a Georgian

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 and the forefather of 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 :...

, the princely dynasty of Samegrelo

Principality of Mingrelia

The Principality of Mingrelia was a historical state in Georgia ruled by the Dadiani dynasty. Established as an independent Principality in 1557 by Levan I Dadiani as a hereditary mtavari , it remained independent until it became subject to Imperial Russia in 1803...

 (Mingrelia). He was a prominent courtier of Queen Tamar of Georgia

Tamar of Georgia

Tamar , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was Queen Regnant of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. Tamar presided over the "Golden age" of the medieval Georgian monarchy...

, but fell out of favor after leading an abortive rebellion in support of Tamar's disgraced former husband George the Rus' in 1191.

In royal service

A descendant of his namesake the 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...

("duke") 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 contemporary of King George II of Georgia

George II of Georgia

George II , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1072 to 1089. He was a son and successor of Bagrat IV and his wife Borena of Alania...

 (r.

Reign

A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...

 1072–1089), Vardan belonged to the Marushiani-Vardanisdze

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...

 dynasty and is one of the earliest members of this family to be mentioned under the surname Dadiani, possibly after the familial castle of Dadi. Vardan was appointed msakhurt-ukhutsesi ("Lord High Chamberlain") of Georgia and granted Odishi, that is, Samegrelo

Samegrelo

Samegrelo/Samargalo or Megrelia, Mingrelia is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi.It is inhabited by the Megrelians, an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians.-Geography and Climate:...

, as a fief by Tamar upon her ascension as Queen Regnant of Georgia in 1184. In 1186 or 1187 Vardan fought with distinction in the victorious campaign against the Ildenizid state

Atabegs of Azerbaijan

The Ildegizids, Eldiguzids or Ildenizids, also known as Atabegs of Azerbaijan were a Turkic dynasty of Kipchak origin which controlled most of northwestern Persia/eastern Transcaucasia, including Arran, most of Azerbaijan, and Djibal...

 in Arran

Caucasian Albania

Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...

, masterminded by Asat Grigolisdze, lord of Gishi

Kis, Shaki

Kiş is a village and municipality in the Shaki Rayon of Azerbaijan. It is located approximately 5 km north of Shaki. It has a population of 6,244.- History:...

, during which the Georgians raided Beylagan and the Araxes plain.

In rebellion

Vardan's downfall came with the abortive rebellion raised by the nobles of western and southern Georgia on behalf of the exiled ex-consort of Queen Tamar, George the Rus' (Yuri Andreyevich), in 1191. By that time, Vardan had been one of the most influential dignitaries in Georgia, being in possession of Orbeti and Kaeni in the eastern part of the kingdom in addition to the vast lands in the west, from the Likhi mountains

Likhi Range

Likhi Range or Surami Range is a mountain range in Georgia, a part of the Caucasus mountains. It connects the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus ranges....

 to Nikopsia, that is, "the whole of Svaneti, Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

, Saegro

Egrisi

Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...

, 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:...

, Samokalako, Racha

Racha

Racha is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains...

, Takveri and Argveti

Argveti

Argveti , also Argwet’i or Margweti , is a historic district in Imereti, western Georgia.The area lay on the historic Iberian-Lazican frontier, i.e., between what are now eastern and western parts of Georgia...

". He brought these lands as well as the Sanigi and "Keshigi" (Circassians) over to the rebels' cause and crowned George as king of Georgia at the royal palace of Geguti

Geguti

Geguti is a Georgian medieval royal palace, now in ruins, at the omonymous village, 7 km south of the city of Kutaisi, Georgia.The ruins of the Geguti palace complex occupy the area of over 2,000 m2 along the Rioni River...

 near Kutaisi

Kutaisi

Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...

. Tamar's loyal amirspasalar

Amirspasalar

Amirspasalar was the commander in chief of the medieval Georgian army and one of the highest officials of the Kingdom of Georgia, commonly rendered as Lord High Constable in English...

(constable) Gamrekeli Toreli defeated Vardan's army at the Niali plain in Javakheti

Javakheti

Javakheti is a historical region of the nation of Georgia, in the southeastern part of the country's Samtskhe-Javakheti province. Today it comprises the Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda municipal territories. It was historically bordered in the west with both sides of the Mtkvari river, in the north,...

 and forced the rest of the rebels, including George the Rus', into surrender. As a result, Vardan lost the office of Lord High Chamberlain and the fief of Kaeni, both of which were then conferred upon the queen's loyal noble Ivane Mkhargrdzeli. Thereafter, Vardan Dadiani played no significant role in the country’s political life and died around 1213. His descendants continued to flourish in western Georgia, eventually producing two important princely dynasties, those of 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 :...

 and Gurieli

Gurieli

Gurieli was a Georgian noble family and a ruling dynasty 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...

.