Malakia Gurieli ( ka, მალაქია გურიელი; ), of the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

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 ...

, was

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 1684 to 1685 and again in 1689. A younger son of

Kaikhosro I Gurieli Kaikhosro I Gurieli ( ka, ქაიხოსრო I გურიელი; died 1660), of the House of Gurieli, was Principality of Guria, Prince of Guria from 1626 to 1658. He was installed by Levan II Dadiani, Principality of Mingrelia, Prince of ...

, he succeeded on the death of his brother

Giorgi III Gurieli Giorgi III Gurieli ( ka, გიორგი III გურიელი; died 1684), 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 ...

in 1684, only to be overthrown and blinded by his nephew

Kaikhosro II Gurieli Kaikhosro II Gurieli ( ka, ქაიხოსრო II გურიელი; died 1689), of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria, in western Georgia, from 1685 to 1689. He vied for the control of Guria with his uncle, Malakia Gurieli, who he h ...

. Briefly restored through the Ottoman intervention in 1689, he was deposed by Guria's nobility for incompetence. Malakia entered the priesthood and became Bishop of Shemokmedi.

Biography

Malakia Gurieli was a younger son of Kaikhoshro I Gurieli, Prince of Guria, by his wife Khvaramze Goshadze. On the murder of Kaikhosro by the nobleman Machutadze in 1660, Malakia and his elder brother Giorgi fled to the protection of the Ottoman pasha of Akhaltsikhe, whose help Giorgi eventually exploiting in securing the princely throne of Guria after the death of

Demetre Gurieli Demetre Gurieli ( ka, დემეტრე გურიელი, died ), of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1658 to 1668 and King of Imereti from 1663 to 1664. His rule in Guria as well as in Imereti were result of coups and part o ...

in 1668. In 1684, Giorgi was killed at the battle of Rokiti against King

Alexander IV of Imereti Alexander IV ( ka, ალექსანდრე IV, ''Alek'sandre IV'') (died 1695), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Imereti (western Georgia) from 1683 to 1690 and again from 1691 to 1695. Reign A natural son of Bagrat V of Imereti, he ...

and Malakia was placed as his successor by the victorious king. Next year, Giorgi's son Kaikhosro returned from his exile in Akhaltsikhe with troops provided by Yusuf Pasha of Akhaltsikhe; Malakia was dethroned and, in his turn, retired to Akhaltsikhe. The pasha attempted the reconciliation between the two Gurieli, but Kaikhosro reneged on his promise not to harm Malakia and had his uncle captured and blinded. This offended the pasha, who had the

bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

Şavşat Şavşat ( ka, შავშეთი, tr) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region, between the cities of Artvin and Kars on the border with Georgia at the far eastern end of Turkey. History According to Rayfield, in 790 ...

assassinated Kaikhosro in 1689. Malakia was restored as Prince of Guria, but his rule did not last long. The Gurians, who regarded Malakia incompetent, bribed the pasha of Akhaltsikhe and secured his support in deposing Malakia in favor of his another nephew,

Mamia III Gurieli Mamia III Gurieli ( ka, მამია III გურიელი), also known as Mamia the Great Gurieli (დიდი გურიელი, ''Didi Gurieli'') or the Black Gurieli (შავი გურიელი, ''Shavi Gurieli'') (died 5 J ...

. Malakia took the

monastic vows Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

and was made by Mamia Gurieli bishop of Shemokmedi, a position he occupied until 1703, when he was replaced with the archbishop Ioane.

References

{{s-end 17th-century people from Georgia (country) House of Gurieli Blind royalty and nobility 18th-century people from Georgia (country)