Tamar the Great reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty, her position as the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right was emphasized by the title mepe ("king"), afforded to Tamar in the medieval Georgian sources.
Odishi was a historical district in western Georgia, the core fiefdom of the former Principality of Mingrelia, with which the name "Odishi" was frequently coterminous. Since the early 19th century, this toponym has been supplanted by Mingrelia (Samegrelo).
The Battle of Basiani was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljukid Sultanate of Rum in the Basiani Valley, 60 km north-east of the city of Erzurum in what is now northeast Turkey. The date of the battle has been debated, but recent scholarship tends to favor the years 1203 or 1204. According to modern Turkish historians, the site of the battle is usually identified as the castle of Micingerd (Mazankert).
The Shaddadids were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty. who ruled in various parts of Armenia and Arran from 951 to 1199 AD. They were established in Dvin. Through their long tenure in Armenia, they often intermarried with the Bagratuni royal family of Armenia.
The Kingdom of Georgia, also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in c. 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar the Great from the 11th to 13th centuries. Georgia became one of the pre-eminent nations of the Christian East and its pan-Caucasian empire and network of tributaries stretching from Eastern Europe to Anatolia and northern frontiers of Iran, while also maintaining religious possessions abroad, such as the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem and the Monastery of Iviron in Greece. It was the principal historical precursor of present-day Georgia.
Dgebuadze was a Georgian noble family from the province of Mingrelia. In the 19th century, they served to the Dadiani princes of Mingrelia as governors (mouravi) of the canton of Salipartiano. According to the historian Cyril Toumanoff, they were accepted among the princely nobility of the Russian Empire in 1903.
The Timurid invasions of Georgia were eight invasions between 1386 and 1403 of the Kingdom of Georgia in the Caucasus by the Timurid Empire. Led by Timur, the Timurids ultimately conquered Georgia and made it a tributary state. However, Georgia, a Christian monarchy, was allowed to retain its independence and remain Christian.
Zakare II Zakarian or Zakaria II Mkhargrdzeli, was an Armenian Court official of the Kingdom of Georgia, holding the office of amirspasalar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Georgian army for Queen Tamar of Georgia during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was a member of the Zakarid dynasty, and ruler of feudal lands in the Kingdom of Georgia.
Bediani was a medieval title, or a territorial epithet, of the Dadiani, the ruling family of Mingrelia in western Georgia, derived from the canton of Bedia, in Abkhazia, and in use from the end of the 12th century into the 15th. Bediani was occasionally used as a praenomen. The extent of the fief of Bedia is difficult to define; by the latter half of the 17th century, the Shervashidze of Abkhazia had supplanted the Dadiani in that area.
Giorgi I Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi in western Georgia from the late 13th century until his death.
Mamia I Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi in western Georgia from 1323 until his death.
Giorgi II Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi in western Georgia from 1345 until his death.
Liparit I Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi, latter-day Mingrelia, in western Georgia from 1414 until his death. Under his rule, Mingrelia became largely independent from the disintegrating Kingdom of Georgia in the 1460s.
Shamadavle Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi (Mingrelia) in western Georgia from 1470 until his death. He succeeded his father Liparit I Dadiani and continued his predecessors' efforts to garner more autonomy as the united Kingdom of Georgia was approaching to its end.
Vameq II Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi (Mingrelia) in western Georgia from 1474 until his death.
Liparit II Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi, that is, Mingrelia, in western Georgia from 1482 until his death.
Mamia III Dadiani was a member of the House of Dadiani and eristavi ("duke") of Odishi, that is, Mingrelia, in western Georgia from 1512 until his death. Mamia was a son and successor of Liparit II Dadiani, who had emerged as a semi-independent ruler in the process of dissolution of the Kingdom of Georgia. Mamia was culturally active in Abkhazia and continued his predecessors' efforts to secure borders against the North Caucasian mountainous tribes of Zygia. His naval expedition against them and landing in Zygia ended in a fiasco and Mamia was killed in battle.
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.
The Battle of Rukh was fought in 1779 between the combined armies of the Kingdom of Imereti, and the Principalities of Mingrelia and Guria against the Ottoman Empire.
