Vameq I Dadiani ( ka, ვამეყ I დადიანი; died 1396) was a member 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 ...

and ''

eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

'' ("duke") of

Odishi Odishi ( ka, ოდიში) 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 su ...

in western Georgia from 1384 until his death. Vameq succeeded on the death of his father, Giorgi II Dadiani, as duke of Odishi (latter-day Mingrelia) in 1384. According to the early 18th-century Georgian historian

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''G ...

, Vameq's status was confirmed by King

Bagrat V of Georgia Bagrat V the Great (, ) (died 1393) from the Bagrationi dynasty was the son of the Georgian king David IX of Georgia by his wife Sindukhtar Jaqeli. He was co-ruler from 1355, and became king after the death of his father in 1360. Life A fair ...

. Like his father, Vameq also had the title of ''mandaturt-ukhutsesi'' ("Lord High Steward") 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 ...

. During Vameq's tenure, Georgia was subjected to a series of invasions by the

Turco-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventuall ...

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

, of which the kingdom's northwestern provinces were largely spared. The ''eristavi'' Giorgi, a scion of the former kings of Imereti, took advantage of this and proclaimed himself an independent king in 1389. Many of the western Georgian nobles' reaction to this move was hostile and Giorgi launched a campaign against Dadiani, hoping his victory over the strongest of the western Georgian nobles would bend others into submission. He was defeated and killed in a battle with Vameq, who then invited King

George VII of Georgia George VII ( Georgian: გიორგი VII) (died 1405 or 1407) was king of Georgia from 1393 to 1407 (alternatively, from 1395 to 1405). George was the son of the king Bagrat V and his first wife Elene of Trebizond (died of bubonic plagu ...

to reoccupy Imereti. Vameq's military exploits are also celebrated in an inscription from the Khobi Cathedral, according to which, Dadiani led a victorious campaign against the

Zygii The Zygii ( grc-gre, Ζυγοί, ''Zygoí'') or Zygians were described by Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis. He wrote: ''And on the sea lies the Asiatic side of the Bosporus, or the Syndic territory. After this latter, one comes to the ...

and reduced the fortresses of Gagari (modern

Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Abkhaz and Russian: Гагра) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular he ...

) and Ugagi. Thence he removed a large collection of marble columns, capitals and fragments of the ambo. These pieces of stonemasonry, some of them of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

origin and dating from the 5th century, were used to construct a chapel in the Khobi Cathedral. Vameq was also a benefactor to another major regional cathedral, that of

Tsalenjikha Tsalenjikha ( ka, წალენჯიხა, also transliterated as Tsalendjikha and Tzalenjikha) is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region of western Georgia (country), Georgia with the population of 3,847 (2014). It is located on the river Cha ...

, which was frescoed by the

Constantinopolitan la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

artist Kyr Manuel Eugenikos at Vameq's behest. Vameq died in 1396 and was succeeded by his son, Mamia II.

References

{{s-end 14th-century people from Georgia (country) House of Dadiani 1396 deaths