The Kingdom of Western Georgia ( ka, დასავლეთ საქართველოს სამეფო, tr) was a

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' independent fragmented part of the

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...

that emerged during the Mongol invasions of the realm, led by King

David VI Narin David VI Narin ( ka, დავით VI ნარინი, tr) (also called ''the Clever'') (1225–1293), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1245–1293. From 1259 to 1293, he ruled the kingdom of Imereti under the name David ...

in 1259 and later followed by his successors. Over the decades, the monarchy would fall into chaos and transform into a federation of autonomous principalities unruly of the central or regional royal power and authority. Most of the occasions, realm would be reannexed into unified fold by the eastern Georgian kings. Nevertheless, the unified Georgian realm would ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

collapse Collapse or its variants may refer to: Concepts * Collapse (structural) * Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept * Collapsing manifold * Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects * Collapsing user interface elements ** ...

in 1490, and western Georgia would secure an independent future under the name of

Kingdom of Imereti The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Im ...

, that will exist til 1810.

Name of the realm

The question of the contemporaneous name of the realm between 1259 to early 1400s remains without a concrete answer because from the end of the 15th century, Western Georgia extended from the modern-day city of

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

in the north to Trebizond in the south and the

Likhi Range Likhi Range ( ka, ლიხის ქედი, tr) or Surami Range ( ka, სურამის ქედი, tr) is a mountain range in Georgia, a part of the Caucasus mountains. It connects the Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus ranges and be ...

in the east. The chronology of the adoption of this name for this state is not clear and it is plausible that some monarchs before 1490 fragmentation would style themselves as "Kings of Imereti", however, it may well be an anachronism and that an actual change of the title would happen much later. Indeed, upon 1259 independence pushed by King David VI Narin, he would continue to be styled as David VI, king of united Georgia. Modern historians, such as the former head of the historical department of the

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

, Professor Nodar Asatiani justifies the naming of the realm as the Kingdom of Western Georgia until the 15th century, demonstrating that the rulers of that fragmented state considered themselves a legitimate line of the Georgian kings who protected the Georgian nation during the Muslim invasions and were fiercely fighting for the unity. French historian

Marie-Félicité Brosset Marie-Félicité Brosset (24 January 1802 – 3 September 1880) was a French orientalist who specialized in Georgian and Armenian studies. He worked mostly in Russia. Early life and first works Marie-Félicité Brosset was born in Paris int ...

also attributes the creation of the distinctive kingdom of Imereti under that name to the first coronation of King Bagrat VI in 1463.Brosset (1856) p. 210

List of kings

, 1259-1293 *

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

(son), 1293-1327 *

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

(brother), 1327-1329 * Bagrat I (son), 1329-1330 1330-1386: Reunification of Georgia *

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

(son of Bagrat I), 1387-1389 *

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria ( fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

(brother), 1389-1392 1392-1396: Reunification of Georgia * Constantine II (son of Bagrat I), 1396-1401

References

Bibliography

* Brosset, Marie-Félicité (1849) Histoire de la Géorgie, depuis l'Antiquité jusqu'au XIXe siècle - 1re partie,

Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

* Brosset, Marie-Félicité (1856) Histoire de la Géorgie depuis l'Antiquité jusqu'au XIXe siècle, Histoire moderne II, Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, . *

Rayfield, Donald Patrick Donald Rayfield OBE (born 12 February 1942, Oxford) is an English academic and Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London. He is an author of books about Russian and Georgian literature, and about Josep ...

(2012) Edge of Empires, a History of Georgia. Londres: Reaktion Books. . * Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux (1999) Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhazes, en Colchide, en Géorgie, en Arménie et en Crimée, Volume 1, Soukhoumi, Adegi Graphics LLC, {{ISBN, 1-4212-4702-X 1259 establishments in Europe 1401 disestablishments in Europe 13th-century establishments in the Kingdom of Georgia 14th century in the Kingdom of Georgia 15th-century disestablishments in the Kingdom of Georgia