Tariel "Taia" Dadiani ( ka, ტარიელ ��აიადადიანი; ), of the

House of Dadiani The House of Dadiani ( ka, დადიანი ), later known as the House of Dadiani- Chikovani, was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Mingrelia. The House of Dadiani Th ...

, was

Prince of Mingrelia Principalities Princes and dukes of Guria * Kakhaber I Gurieli c. 1385–1410 *Mamia Gurieli c. 1450–1469 *Kakhaber II Gurieli 1469–1483 * Giorgi I Gurieli 1483–1512 *Mamia I Gurieli 1512–1534 *Rostom Gurieli 1534–1564 *Giorgi II Guriel ...

from 1793 to 1794 and in 1802 as a rival to his elder brother,

Grigol Dadiani Grigol Dadiani ( ka, გრიგოლ დადიანი; 1770 – 23 October 1804), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia from 1788 to 1804, with intermissions from 1791 to 1794 and in 1802 when his position was filled by his riva ...

, whose rule was marred by the long-standing struggle between the Imeretian crown seeking to subdue Mingrelia and Mingrelian efforts to win full independence, a continuation of the conflict which had plagued western Georgia for centuries. Tariel enjoyed the support of King

Solomon II of Imereti Solomon II ( ka, სოლომონ II) (1772 – February 7, 1815), of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was the last King of Imereti (western Georgia) from 1789 to 1790 and from 1792 until his deposition by the Imperial Russian government in 1810. H ...

, whom he joined in an uprising against the

Imperial Russian 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. The ...

encroachment in 1810.

Biography

Manuchar was a son of

Katsia II Dadiani Katsia II Dadiani ( ka, კაცია II დადიანი; died 1788), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia from 1758 to 1788. His rule was dominated by complicated relations with the Kingdom of Imereti, which claimed suzerainty ...

by his third wife Anna Tsulukidze. In 1791, King

, who sought to unite all of western Georgia under his authority, deposed Grigol Dadiani and replaced him by his more amenable brother Manuchar. Manuchar's positions was soon tattered by Grigol's continuing efforts to comeback and he had to seek refuge in neighboring

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

. Solomon then briefly installed Tariel as prince-regnant, but Grigol prevailed by 1794. With Solomon's renewed offensive in Mingrelia in 1802, Grigol was once again deposed and replaced by Tariel, but the king's success was short-lived. Grigol was able to resume his tenure and placed, in 1804, Mingrelia under the Russian protection. When Prince Grigol died in October 1804, his young son and successor Levan was placed under regency of the princess dowager Nino. Tariel, like his brother Manuchar, quickly withdraw in opposition to the new government, further exasperated by Nino's efforts to dispossess her opponents of their estates. By January 1810, Tariel and Manuchar had been in an open revolt. Tariel entrenched himself at the castle of Dzhgali. When a combined Mingrelian-Russian force moved against him, Tariel agreed to surrender provided his estates were confirmed to him. Princess Nino reneged on her promise and Tariel fled to Solomon II of Imereti, joining him in resistance to the Russians. After Solomon's defeat, Tariel moved to the highland province of

Lechkhumi Lechkhumi (Georgian: ლეჩხუმი, ''Lečxumi'') is a historic province in northwestern Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley. Now part of the Racha-Le ...

and, together with the nobleman Beri Gelovani, induced the locals to take to arms, but the disturbances were quickly contained through Nino's diplomacy. Tariel then joined Solomon in his exile in

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (''mkhare'') of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is situated on both banks of a small river Potskhovi (a left ...

, in the Ottoman territory and subsequently resided with his in-laws in

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Geography ...

. Eventually, he reconciled with his nephew Levan, who assumed full ruling powers after Nino was sidelined by the Russian authorities from the Mingrelian government. In 1833, Tariel led a mission to bring Levan's defiant nephew, Dimitri Sharvashidze of

Samurzakano Samurzakano ( ka, სამურზაყანო, ''Samurzak'ano'', ''Samurzaqano'') is a historical region in southeastern Abkhazia, in western Georgia.''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'', v. 9, p. 37, Tb., 1985. Populated by Samurzakania ...

, to justice, which ended in Dimitri being killed during a skirmish in

Chuburkhinji Chuburkhindji (Chuburkhinji; ka, ჭუბურხინჯი, ab, Хьацҳа or Ҷубурхьынџь) (known as Tzalamukhi ��ალამუხიuntil 1957) is a village in the Gali District of Abkhazia, Georgia. As is the case in the ...

Family

Tariel was married to a daughter of

Simon II Gurieli Simon II Gurieli (also Svimon; ka, სიმონ ��ვიმონII გურიელი, died 1792), of the western Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1788/89 to 1792. Biography Simon Gurieli was the eldest son of Giorgi ...

. He had six children, whose descendants still survive.

References

{{s-end House of Dadiani 18th-century people from Georgia (country) 19th-century people from Georgia (country)