David Gurieli ( ka, დავით გურიელი, ''Davit' Gurieli''; russian: Давид Мамиевич Гуриель, ''David Mamiyevich Guriel''; 1818 – 23 August 1839) was a Georgian nobleman of the
House of Gurieli
The House of Gurieli () was a Georgian princely (''mtavari'') family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria, which was autonomous and later, for a few centuries, independent. A few ducal rulers of the dynasty ...
. He was the last titular
Prince of Guria
The Principality of Guria ( ka, გურიის სამთავრო, tr) 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 r ...
from 24 November 1826 to 9 September 1829, but he never actually ruled because of his young age and then due to the
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
occupation of his principality. He reconciled with the Russians and returned from his
Ottoman exile as a private citizen in 1832. He was subsequently trained as an officer of the
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
and served in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, where he died at the
battle of Akhulgo.
Accession and regency
David was the second child and only son of
Mamia V Gurieli Mamia V Gurieli ( ka, მამია V გურიელი; 1789 – 21 November 1826), of the House of Gurieli, became Prince of Guria, in western Georgia, in 1797. From 1797 to 1809, he was under the regency of his paternal uncle, Prince Kaikh ...
, Prince-regnant of Guria, and his wife, Princess
Sofia née Tsulukidze. He was born in 1818, the year when western Georgia was rocked by a rebellion against the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
of which Guria was a subject since 1811. Mamia maintained loyalty to Russia when the revolt spread to Guria in 1820, but the fighting and destruction plunged him into depression. He died on 21 November 1826, when David was eight years old. Three days later, the princess dowager Sofia declared her son the next ruler and herself the boy-prince's regent. The Russian viceroy, General
Aleksey Yermolov
Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov (russian: Алексе́й Петро́вич Ермо́лов, p=jɪrˈmoləf; – ) was a Russian Imperial general of the 19th century who commanded Russian troops in the Caucasian War. He served in all the Ru ...
, denounced the move as unilateral and invalid until it was approved by an Imperial decree. Eventually, at Yermolov's insistence, Sofia had to share power with the Regency Council presided by herself and consisting of the leading nobles of Guria.
Sofia, offended and indignant at what she saw was an infringement on Guria's autonomy, entered into secret negotiations with the
Ottoman government. She also had contacts with the Gurian political exiles who had fled to the Ottoman-controlled district of
Kobuleti
Kobuleti ( ka, ქობულეთი ) is a town in Adjara, western Georgia, situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. It is the seat of Kobuleti Municipality and a seaside resort, visited annually by Georgians and many former Soviet Unio ...
during the 1820 rebellion. When the Russian and Ottoman empires
went to war in April 1828, the Gurian elites became even more divided in their loyalties. A small, but vocal contingent led by Sofia and her chief adviser, Prince David Machutadze, advocated a break with Russia. Unlike
Imeretia
Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munici ...
and
Mingrelia
Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelian ...
, Guria did not raise a volunteer force to join Russian war efforts during the siege of the Ottoman fortress of
Poti
Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...
, immediately north of Guria. Furthermore, Sofie expelled Mingrelian
military posts from the shores of
Lake Paliastomi and replaced them with stronger Gurian patrols, opening a line of communications with Poti and causing the Russian commander-in-chief
Ivan Paskevich
Count Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich-Erevansky, Serene Prince of Warsaw (russian: Ива́н Фёдорович Паске́вич-Эриванский, светлейший князь Варшавский, tr. ; – ) was an Imperial Russian mi ...
to forewarn her of the consequences. Paskevich soon received reports that Sofia had clandestinely placed Guria under the sultan's protection and around 10,000 Ottoman troops were amassing close to the borders with Guria.
Exile and deposition
The fall of Poti to the Russian troops and Ottoman reverses in the Caucasus forced Princess Sofia to step back and write a letter to Paskevich, promising to marshal a Gurian force to aid the Russians in the conquest of Kobuleti and
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...
. Paskevich gave the regent two weeks to fulfill her promise and ordered General
Karl Hesse Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austria ...
to move into Guria with two battalions, ostensibly for cooperation with the Gurian forces. On the night of 1 to 2 October 1828, Sofie with her son David and the eldest daughter Ekaterina, accompanied by loyal nobles, fled Guria to Kobuleti. The Russian troops occupied Guria, seizing Sofia's two little daughters at the Gurieli castle of
Likhauri
Likhauri ( ka, ლიხაური) is a village in the Ozurgeti district of Guria in western Georgia.
References
* Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( ka, ქართული საბჭოთა ენც ...
, and repulsed an attack from the Ottoman territory on the frontier fort of St. Nicholas, inducing Sofia's flight from Kobuleti to
Trebizond. Sofia was declared deposed, her properties confiscated, and a provisional administration—consisting of four Gurian princes and chaired by the Russian colonel Kulyabka—was set up to run the principality, nominally, in the name of Prince David.
In the spring of 1829, Sofia, from her base at the Kintrishi glade, close to Guria, issued proclamations to the Gurians calling on them to resist the Russians and defend their rightful sovereign. Paskevich sent her several letters promising amnesty for her and her followers and respect for David's right to the princely title, if she broke with the Ottomans and immediately returned to Guria. In case of refusal, the Russian threatened to pronounce David "a traitor" and strip him of his right to rule. Paskevich's letters were intercepted by the Ottoman authorities and never reached the princess. His attempts to lure David back also failed. In the meantime, General Hesse took Kintrishi on 9 August 1829. Sofia, David, and their retinue narrowly escaped to Trebizond, where the princess, exhausted and demoralized, died on 7 September 1829 and was buried at the local Greek monastery of St. Sofia. On 9 September 1829, David was proclaimed deposed and Guria was directly annexed to the Russian Empire.
Return and death
The deposed prince and his eldest sister Ekaterine remained in the Ottoman Empire under the auspices of Prince Machutadze. On 25 January 1832, through the intercession of Paskevich's successor in the Caucasus,
Baron Rosen, the Gurian exiles were granted amnesty by
Tsar Nicholas I
, house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp
, father = Paul I of Russia
, mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire
, death_date =
...
and were allowed to their homeland as private citizens. On 15 September 1832, they landed at Guria's port of St. Nicholas. Rosen was impressed by David's manners and "moral qualities". The young Gurieli was granted a lifetime pension and sent to
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to be enlisted in the
Page Corps
The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...
, where he completed his education in 1838. He was commissioned as a
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
of the Tsesarevich's Ataman Cossack Regiment of the
Life Guards and sent to fight the Caucasian mountaineers led by
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil ( av, Шейх Шамил, Şeyx Şamil; ar, الشيخ شامل; russian: Имам Шамиль; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in ...
. He was killed in fighting on 23 August 1839, during the
siege of Shamil's stronghold of Akhulgo. Unmarried and with no issue, David was the last in the direct princely line of the Gurieli dynasty.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurieli, David
1818 births
1839 deaths
David Gurieli David Gurieli ( ka, დავით გურიელი, ''Davit' Gurieli''; russian: Давид Мамиевич Гуриель, ''David Mamiyevich Guriel''; 1818 – 23 August 1839) was a Georgian nobleman of the House of Gurieli. He was the las ...
Russian military personnel of the Caucasian War
Military personnel of the Russian Empire killed in action