Levan III Dadiani

Last updated April 17, 2019

Levan III Dadiani (Georgian :ლევან III დადიანი), born Shamadavle (შამადავლე) (died 1680) was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1661 to 1680. His reign unfolded against the background of a series of civil wars in western Georgian polities, in which Levan III was an opponent of King Bagrat V of Imereti to whom he lost a battle and his own wife.

Georgian is a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians. It is the official language of Georgia. Georgian is written in its own writing system, the Georgian script. Georgian is the literary language for all regional subgroups of Georgians, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages: Svans, Mingrelians and the Laz.

The Principality of Mingrelia, also known as Odishi, 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 (Prince), it remained independent until it became subject to Imperial Russia in 1803. The principality ultimately came to an end when Prince Niko Dadiani was deposed, and the principality abolished, by Russia in 1867. Prince Niko officially renounced his rights to the throne in 1868.

The House of Dadiani was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia) or Odishi.

Early life

Shamadavle was a son of Iese, brother of Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia. In 1661, he was installed by King Vakhtang V of Kartli as Prince of Mingrelia after evicting his relative, Vameq III Dadiani. Upon his enthronement, Shamadavle assumed the name of his uncle, Levan, and married Vakhtang's niece, Tamar.^[1]

Levan II Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and ruler of the Principality of Mingrelia in western Georgia.

Vakhtang V born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni was the King of Kartli from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vassal wali for the Persian shah. He is also known under the name of Shah Nawaz, which he assumed on being obliged outwardly to conform to Islam.

Vameq III Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1658 until being deposed in 1661. He was also briefly King of Imereti in 1661. He assumed both Mingrelian and Imeretian thrones and lost them during a messy civil war in western Georgian polities and was killed by assassins while hiding in a refuge of the mountains of Svaneti.

Civil wars

In 1663, Levan attempted to make use of palace intrigues plaguing the kingdom of Imereti and attacked King Bagrat IV, who was married to Tamar's elder sister Tatia. Levan was defeated and made prisoner. While in captivity, he was forced to divorce Tamar, whom Bagrat took as his new wife. Instead, the prince of Mingrelia was convinced to marry Bagrat's sister, Tinatin, the former wife of the nobleman Goshadze, whom Levan suspected of adultery with his daughter. Levan was set free, but he remained deeply offended by the loss of his wife; hence, his enmity with Bagrat perpetuated.^[1]^[2]

In October 1672, Levan survived an invasion by an Ottoman force, which plundered Mingrelia, but failed to take the Rukhi fortress, where the Mingrelian prince had entrenched himself. The episode was witnessed and described in his travelogue by the French traveller Jean Chardin. By 1678, Levan again became involved in an Imeretian civil war, rendering his support to Bagrat V's rival, Archil, son of Vakhtang V of Kartli. When Bagrat was briefly deposed, the queen Tamar was arrested and sent back to Levan in Mingrelia. Next year, Bagrat reconquered Imereti with the Ottoman auxiliaries, then raided Mingrelia, and retook his wife. Levan was only able to resume his government with the help of Giorgi Gurieli, Prince of Guria, whom he surrendered his son and heir, Manuchar, as a hostage to prove loyalty. His reign was further disturbed by the marauding raids by the Abkhaz on the Mingrelian borders.^[2]

The Ottoman Empire, historically known in Western Europe as the Turkish Empire or simply Turkey, was a state that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror.

Jean Chardin, born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book The Travels of Sir John Chardin is regarded as one of the finest works of early Western scholarship on Persia and the Near East in general.

Archil, of Bagrationi dynasty, king of Imereti in western Georgia and of Kakheti in eastern Georgia (1664–75). After a series of unsuccessful attempts to establish himself on the throne of Imereti, Archil retired to Russia where he spearheaded the cultural life of a local Georgian community. He was also a lyric poet.

Levan III Dadiani died in 1680. His heir, Manuchar, was murdered by Giorgi Gurieli as part of his ultimately failed design to seize control of Mingrelia. Levan III was, thus, succeeded by his natural son, Levan IV.^[2]

Levan IV Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia from 1681 until 1691, when he was forced to abdicate and retire to Constantinople, where he died. A natural son of the preceding Levan III Dadiani, he was the last of the First House of Dadiani to rule Mingrelia, a principality in western Georgia. The succeeding dynasty were the Chikovani, who assumed the surname of Dadiani and continued to rule Mingrelia until 1867.

Children

Levan III Dadiani had three children, two sons and a daughter.^[3]

Manuchar (c. 1663 – 1680), Levan III's only son of his marriage with Princess Tamar. As a young boy, he was betrothed to Darejan, daughter of King Archil of Imereti, but the marriage was never consummated.
Levan IV Dadiani, Levan's son by a concubine and his successor as Prince of Mingrelia.
Mzekhanum, Levan's only daughter, was married to Prince Katsia Chikovani, Lord of Lechkhumi.

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Giorgi III Gurieli, of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1669 to 1684 and King of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He was energetically involved in civil wars in western Georgian polities, which he sought to bring under his sway. He was killed in battle while trying to recover the lost throne of Imereti.

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Levan I Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and ruler of Odishi, that is, Mingrelia, in western Georgia. He succeeded on the death of his father, Mamia III Dadiani, as eristavi ("duke") of Odishi and ex officio mandaturt-ukhutsesi of Imereti in 1533. Dadiani's break with the king of Imereti brought about his downfall and imprisonment in 1546. He was able to escape and regain his possessions, securing Ottoman support for his independence from Imereti.

Giorgi III Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1572 to 1573 and again from 1578 until his death. He was a son and successor of Levan I Dadiani.

Mamia IV Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1573 to 1578 and again from 1582 until his death. He was a younger son of Levan I Dadiani.

Manuchar I Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1590 until his death. A younger son of Levan I Dadiani, he succeeded on the death of his elder brother, Mamia IV Dadiani.

Giorgi IV Dadiani was Prince of Mingrelia from 1691 to 1704 and from 1710 to 1715. Giorgi's accession to rulership, following his ouster of the First House of Dadiani, inaugurated Mingrelia's second Dadiani dynasty, stemming from the Chikovani clan. Giorgi was also known as Lipartiani (ლიპარტიანი) by virtue of having Salipartiano as a fief from 1682 to 1715. Giorgi was actively involved in a series of civil wars that plagued the western Georgian polities. He was eventually deposed by his own son and placed under house arrest.

Mamia I Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1512 until his death in 1534. Succeeding on the death of his father Giorgi I Gurieli, Mamia became involved in the conflict between the two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti in 1520; by force of arms, he compelled David X of Kartli to agree on peace with Levan of Kakheti, his son-in-law. Mamia Gurieli's 1533 campaign, jointly with his namesake Prince of Mingrelia, against the homebase of Circassian pirates ended in a fiasco, with Mamia being captured and ransomed later that year.

Rostom Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1534 until his death in 1564. Alongside his royal suzerain, Bagrat III of Imereti, Rostom fought against the expanding Ottoman Empire to which he lost parts of his principality. Rostom's relations with Bagrat III subsequently deteriorated over his support to the king's defiant vassal, Levan I Dadiani.

Giorgi II Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1564 to 1583 and again from 1587 to 1600. Succeeding on the death of his father Rostom Gurieli, Giorgi's rule over his small principality, located in southwest Georgia, was a period of conflict with the neighboring Dadiani of Mingrelia and increasing assertiveness of the Ottomans whom Gurieli submitted in 1581. His reign was interrupted, from 1583 to 1587, by a Mingrelian invasion, but Giorgi was able to resume the throne with Ottoman support.

Mamia II Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1600 until his death at the hands of his own son Simon in 1625. Mamia's rule over his small principality, located in southwest Georgia, saw efforts to rebuff encroachments of the Ottoman Empire, with which he was forced to make peace in 1614, conceding the loss of territories and placing Guria under the obligation of paying tribute.

Kaikhosro I Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1626 to 1658. He was installed by Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, in place of his deposed predecessor Simon I Gurieli. In his turn, Kaikhosro was overthrown and expelled by King Alexander III of Imereti. His comeback to Guria, in an Ottoman-supported endeavor, concluded with his assassination by a Gurian nobleman.

References

1 2 Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 215–216. ISBN 1780230303.
1 2 3 Bagrationi, Vakhushti (1976). Nakashidze, N.T., ed. История Царства Грузинского [History of the Kingdom of Georgia](PDF) (in Russian). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. pp. 144– 147.
↑ Grebelsky, P. Kh.; Dumin, S.V.; Lapin, V.V. (1993). Дворянские роды Российской империи. Том 4: Князья Царства Грузинского[Noble families of the Russian Empire. Vol. 4: Princes of the Kingdom of Georgia] (in Russian). Vesti. pp. 46–47.

Regnal titles
Levan III Dadiani House of Dadiani Born: ? Died: 1680
Preceded by Vameq III Dadiani	Prince of Mingrelia 1661–1680	Succeeded by Levan IV Dadiani

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[rayfield-1] 1 2 Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 215–216. ISBN 1780230303.

[Vakh-2] 1 2 3 Bagrationi, Vakhushti (1976). Nakashidze, N.T., ed. История Царства Грузинского [History of the Kingdom of Georgia](PDF) (in Russian). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. pp. 144– 147.

[DRRI4-3] Grebelsky, P. Kh.; Dumin, S.V.; Lapin, V.V. (1993). Дворянские роды Российской империи. Том 4: Князья Царства Грузинского[Noble families of the Russian Empire. Vol. 4: Princes of the Kingdom of Georgia] (in Russian). Vesti. pp. 46–47.