Real Casa di Georgia: febbraio 2018

The Kingdom of Imereti (Georgian: იმერეთის სამეფო) 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, Imereti was considered a separate kingdom within the Kingdom of Georgia, to which a cadet branch of the Bagration royal family held the crown beginning in 1260 by David VI after he revolted against the Mongolian ruleand fled to Abkhazia. This was due to the Mongolian conquest of the 13th century which decentralized and fragmented Georgia, forcing the relocation of governmental centers to the provinces. Imereti was conquered by Giorgi the Brilliant, who was subject to the Mongols, and united with the east Kingdom of Georgia.^[1] From 1455 onward, however, the kingdom became a constant battleground between Georgian, Persian, and Turkish forces until it was annexed into Russia completely in 1810. Throughout the course of that time, Mingrelia, Abkhazia and Guria princedoms declared their independence from Imereti and became their own governments. In Azerbaijani Turkic the name of the region is changed to "baş açıq" which literally means "without a head scarf".^[2]

First House of Imereti[edit]

David I (1258–1293)
Constantine I (1293–1326)
Michael (1326–1329)
Bagrat I (1329–1330)
Vacant (1330–1387)
Alexandre I (1387–1389)
George I (1389–1396)
Constantine II (1396–1401)
Demetrius I (1401–1455), only recognized as Duke by Alexander I of Georgia

Second House of Imereti[edit]

Demetrius II (1446–1452)
Bagrat II (1463–1478)
Alexander II (1478–1510)
Bagrat III (1510–1565)
George II (1565–1585)
Leon (1585–1588)
Rostom (1588–1589, 1590–1605)
Bagrat IV (1589–1590)
George III (1605–1639)
Alexander III (1639–1660)
Bagrat V (1660–1661, 1663–1668, 1669–1678, 1679–1681)
Vakhtang Tchutchunashvili (1661–1663)^[3]
Archil (1661–63, 1678–79, 1690–91, 1695–96, 1698)
Demetre (1663–1664)^[3]
George IV (1681–1683)^[3]
Alexander IV (1683–1690, 1691–1695)
Simon (1699–1701)
George V (1696–1698)^[3]
Mamia (1701–02, 1711, 1713)^[3]
George VI (1702–1707)^[3]
George VII (1707–11, 1712–13, 1713–16, 1719–1720)
George VIII (1716)^[3]
Alexander V (1720–1741, 1741–1746, 1749–1752)
George IX (1741)
Mamuka (1746–1749)
Solomon I (1752–1766, 1768–1784)
Teimuraz (1766–1768)
David II (1784–1789, 1790–1791)
Solomon II (1789–1790, 1792–1810)

1. Bagrationi dynasty – The Bagrationi dynasty is a royal family that reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, this line is often referred to as the Georgian Bagratids. The common origin with the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty has been accepted by scholars, the family, in the person of Ashot I, the great-grandson of the presiding prince of Armenia Ashot III Bagratuni, gained the principate of Iberia at the end of the 8th century. His descendants restored, in 888, the Georgian monarchy and united various native polities into the Kingdom of Georgia, which prospered from the 11th to the 13th century. This period of time, particularly the reigns of David IV the Builder, the dynasty persisted within the Russian Empire as an Imperial Russian noble family until the 1917 February Revolution. The earliest Georgian forms of the name are Bagratoniani, Bagratuniani and Bagratovani. These names as well as the Armenian Bagratuni and the modern designation Bagratid mean the children of Bagrat or the house of/established by Bagrat. A successor, Guaram, was installed as a prince of Kartli under the Byzantine protectorate. Thus, according to version, began the dynasty of the Bagratids. This tradition enjoyed a general acceptance until the early 20th century, the Jewish origin, let alone the biblical descent, of the Bagratids has been discounted by modern scholarship. Adarnase’s son, Ashot I, acquired the principality of Kartli in 813, although certain, the generation-by-generation history of the Bagrationi dynasty begins only in the late 8th century. The Odzrkhe line, known in the annals as the Bivritianis. They cannot, however, be considered the ancestors of the later Bagratids who eventually restored Georgian royal authority. In 813, the new dynasty acquired, with Ashot I, despite the revitalization of the monarchy, Georgian lands remained divided among rival authorities, with Tbilisi remaining in Arab hands. The sons and grandsons of Ashot I established three separate branches – the lines of Kartli, Tao, and Klarjeti – frequently struggling with each other, the Kartli line prevailed, in 888, with Adarnase I, it restored the indigenous Georgian royal authority dormant since 580. In spite of repeated incidents of dynastic strife, the continued to prosper during the reigns of Demetrios I, George III. With the death of George III the main line became extinct. The invasions by the Khwarezmians in 1225 and the Mongols in 1236 terminated Georgia’s golden age, the struggle against the Mongol rule created a dyarchy, with an ambitious lateral branch of the Bagrationi dynasty holding sway over western Georgia

2. Kingdom of Imereti – The Kingdom of Imereti 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. This was due to the Mongolian conquest of the 13th century which decentralized and fragmented Georgia, Imereti was conquered by Giorgi the Brilliant, who was subject to the Mongols, and united with the east Kingdom of Georgia. From 1455 onward, however, the became a constant battleground between Georgian, Persian, and Turkish forces until it was annexed into Russia completely in 1810. Throughout the course of time, Mingrelia, Abkhazia and Guria princedoms declared their independence from Imereti. In Persian - Azeri nomenclature the name of the region is changed to baş açıq which literally means without a head scarf

3. Alexander II of Imereti – Alexander II was a king of Georgia in 1478 and of Imereti from 1483 to 1510. In 1478, his father Bagrat VI died and Alexander became king of Georgia, Alexander was expelled from the kingdom by a rival prince Constantine II. Alexander retired to the western provinces of Racha and Lechkhumi. Alexander recovered Imereti after Constantine’s defeat at the hands of Qvarqvare II Jaqeli, a powerful atabeg of Samtskhe, in 1483, in 1488, Alexander took advantage of the Ak Koyunlu Turkoman invasion of Kartli, and seized control of Imereti. In 1491, Constantine had to recognise his rival as independent sovereign, peace between the two Georgian kingdoms did not last long, and in August 1509, Alexander invaded Kartli, taking its western regions as well as the fort-city of Gori. News that Imereti had been raided by the Ottomans at Alexander’s absence made the king to return to Kutaisi, in 1483, Alexander II married a woman named Tamar who died on March 12,1510. Alexander died on April 1,1510 and was buried with his wife at the Gelati Monastery near Kutaisi and they were survived by four children, Bagrat III, who succeeded Alexander as king of Imereti. Prince Vakhtang, sometime in opposition to his brother Bagrat III, prince Giorgi, who was married to a woman named Ana. Princess Tinatin, who was married Spiridon Beenashvili, anonymous princess, who was married twice, secondly to Giorgi, son of Rostom Gurieli. Kings of Imereti at the Royal Ark website

4. Alexander III of Imereti – Alexander III, of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Imereti from 1639 to 1660. Alexander succeeded upon the death of his father, George III of Imereti, in one of the battles, Dadiani captured and blinded Alexander’s energetic brother Mamuka, bringing the king to the edge of despair. Alexander’s father-in-law, Teimuraz I of Kakheti, who had fled the Saffavid Persian invasion of his country to Imereti, attempted to mediate the conflict, both Mingelian and Imeretian rulers sought Russian support in their cause. Envoys from Moscow visited Mingrelia in 1639/40, though without achieving any positive results, in response to an appeal from Alexander, another embassy arrived in the Imeretian capital of Kutaisi in 1651, and, on October 9, Alexander took an oath of fealty to Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich. As the Russian were still too far from South Caucasus, this move had no effect on the course of events. It was not until Levan’s death in 1657 that Alexander was able to avenge his earlier setbacks and he immediately marched into Mingrelia, subdued its nobles and installed his own nominee, Vameq, as prince-Dadiani. In 1659, he interfered in the Principality of Guria. Thus, for a time, the authority of the crown of Imereti was reestablished throughout western Georgia. His first wife was Tamar, daughter of Mamia II Gurieli and he married secondly, in 1629, Nestan-Darejan, daughter of Teimuraz I of Kakheti. All of his children were born of the first marriage, Bagrat V, princess Tinatin, who was married to the certain nobleman Goshadze and then to Levan III Dadiani. David Marshall Lang, The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, new York, Columbia University Press,1957

5. Constantine I of Imereti – Constantine I, from the House of Bagrationi, was king of the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti from 1293 to 1327. A son of the Georgian king David VI Narin and his wife, Tamar Amanelisdze, Constantine succeeded to the throne of Imereti upon his fathers death in 1293. In vain did the nobles of Imereti try to reconcile the brothers, the great nobles took advantage of the situation to assert their autonomy. Giorgi I Dadiani, Duke of Mingrelia, subjugated much of the duchy of Tskhumi, the Shervashidze entrenched in Abkhazia, the Gurieli in Guria, and Vardanidze in Svaneti, showing little subservience to the royal authority. Constantine died amid these disturbances in 1327, having had no children, Constantine is known to have restored Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem to the Georgian ownership in 1305. He also had the monastery refurbished and repainted and his contributions are emphasized in a document instituting the Agape feast, in his own lifetime, on 21 May, the feast day of Constantine the Great. Constantine might have been a royal person depicted on a fresco in Ienashi in Upper Svaneti. His links to that region is known from a charter issued by Constantine to the Svan Goshkoteliani clan

6. Dmitry Bagration-Imeretinsky – Prince Dmitry Bagration-Imeretinsky was a Georgian royal prince of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Imereti. He was born to Prince George of Imereti and Princess Darejan Eristavi of Racha, major General of Imperial Russian Army. A graduate of the Page Corps, participant of Russo-Turkish War and November Uprising in 1830. He commanded the Uhlan and Hussar troops, since 1833 commander of Courland Dragoons. Awarded with Order of St. Anna, Order of Saint Stanislaus, Order of the Red Eagle, in 1842 he married Olga Valerianovna Strzhemen-Stroinovskaya and had 2 children, Aleksandr Dmitry He died on 6 November 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He is buried at Alexander Nevsky Lavra on Lazarevskoe cemetery

7. George II of Imereti – George II, of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Imereti from 1565 to 1585. George II succeeded on the death of his father, Bagrat III, with his ascend to the throne, George found himself involved in the civil war among the princes of western Georgia. He sided with his vassal, George II Gurieli, Prince of Guria, against Levan I Dadiani. The latter allied himself with the kings cousin Prince Khosro, Varaz Chiladze and other Imeretian nobles, the king won a victory at Ianeti and, together with the prince of Guria, took control of Mingrelia. Levan fled to Istanbul and, with an Ottoman support, resumed the throne, later, the two princes forged an alliance and revolted against the king. The western Georgian princes became engulfed into the havoc of feudal warfare, mounting and disbanding alliances, in addition to the civil strife, the Ottomans also increased their pressure upon the Kingdom of Imereti. George II was married three times, the identity of his first wife is unknown, she may have been an anonymous daughter of Mamia I Gurieli. He married secondly to Rusudan Shervashidze and thirdly to Tamar, daughter of Prince Shermazan Diasamidze and he had six sons, Prince Alexander, born of Georges first marriage. Prince Bagrat, born of Georges second marriage and he married, in 1573, a daughter of Levan I Dadiani, with no known issue. Levan, born of Georges second marriage, King of Imereti, Prince Alexander, born of Georges third marriage. Prince Mamia, born of Georges third marriage, Prince Rostom, born of Georges third marriage

8. George VII of Imereti – George VII, of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was King of Imereti in the periods of 1707–11, 1712–13, 1713–16, and 1719–1720. In October 1711, a revolt deposed him in favor of Mamia III Gurieli who forced George to retire to Kartli. Later, with the support of the Turkish pasha of Akhaltsikhe, he defeated Mamia at the Battle of Chkhara in June 1712, George succeeded in garnering the Ottoman support, and regained the crown in 1719. Yet, his proved to be short-lived, in February 1720. George VII was married four times and his first wife was Rodam, daughter of George XI of Kartli whom he married in 1703 and divorced in 1712. George then married his wife, Tamar, a daughter of Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze, ex-wife of Prince Giorgi Nizharadze. He was then married to Tamar, daughter of Papuna II, Duke of Racha. In 1716, George married his fourth and last wife Tamar, George VII was the father of four sons and four daughters, Alexander V of Imereti, born of Georges first marriage with Rodam of Kartli, King of Imereti. Mamuka of Imereti, born by Rodam, King of Imereti, princess Tamar, born by Rodam, married to Prince David Abashide. Princess Tuta, born by Rodam, married to Prince Papuna Chichua, anonymous daughter, born by Rodam, married to Mamuka, Prince of Mukhrani. George IX of Imereti, born of Georges fourth marriage with Tamar Gurieli, princess Ana, born by Tamar Gurieli, married to Zaal, Eristavi of Guria. Prince Rostom, born by Tamar Gurieli, David Marshall Lang, The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, 1658-1832. New York, Columbia University Press,1957, donald Rayfield, Edge of Empires, A History of Georgia

9. George Imeretinsky – Prince George Imeretinsky was a Georgian royal prince of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Imereti. He was born to Prince Mikheil Imeretinsky on May 17,1872 in Moscow, a graduate of the Page Corps. Page of Honour to the Emperor of Russia in 1892, lieutenant colonel, retired as lieutenant colonel in 1905. George went into exile in the United States following the Russian Revolution in 1917 and he married Lidya Nikolaevna Klimova and had 3 children, George Constantine Mikheil He died on March 26,1932 and is buried at Serbian Orthodox Cemetery in Los Angeles, US

10. Bagrat III of Imereti – Bagrat III, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a King of Imereti from April 1,1510, to 1565. In 1512, the Ottomans invaded Imereti through its southern neighbor Samtskhe, despite this setback, Bagrat now decided to deliver a blow to the Ottoman positions in southern Georgia. In 1535, he invaded the principality of Samtskhe, which was exploited by the Turks as a portal for their incursions into inner Georgian lands. At the Battle of Murjakheti near Akhalkalaki, Bagrat defeated and captured Qvarqvare V Jaqeli, prince-atabeg of Samtskhe, at the request of Qvarqvare’s son Kaikhosro, the Ottoman army invaded Imereti, only to put to flight by Bagrat and his ally Rostom, prince of Guria. The prince of Mingrelia, Levan I Dadiani, however, defied Bagrat’s call to arms, and later sided with the Ottomans, even traveling to Istanbul, in 1545, Bagrat and his ally Luarsab I of Kartli suffered a bitter defeat at the Battle of Sokhoista in 1545. As a result, Samtskhe wrested of Bagrat’s control, and came under the Ottoman hegemony, in the following years, the principalities of Mingrelia and Guria also asserted their de facto independence from the crown of Imereti, further reducing the royal power. In 1555, in the Treaty of Amasya, the Ottoman and Persian empires divided Georgia, Bagrat attempted to disrupt the Turco-Persian deal by pushing claims to the town of Surami which lay in the Persian zone in eastern Georgia. The move brought to nothing, however, and Bagrat was forced to pay tribute to the Ottomans and he died in 1565 and was succeeded by his son, George II. Bagrat was married to a woman named Elene who died in 1565. He had four sons and two daughters, George II, King of Imereti, Prince Teimuraz, father of King Bagrat IV of Imereti. Princess Tamar, queen consort of Luarsab I of Kartli, anonymous daughter who married Prince Ramaz Bagration-Davitishvili

11. Imeretinsky – Imeretinsky is a title and later the surname of the Georgian royal family branch of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Kingdom of Imereti. Solomon II of Imereti was the last Georgian king of Kingdom of Imereti until it was annexed by Russian Empire in 1810, the name Imeretinsky derives from Russian, originally and literally meaning of Imereti. Princess Nino Bagration, former head of House of Imereti and she supported the claims of Prince Nugzar Bagration-Gruzinsky on the Georgian throne. Prince David Bagration, another head of House of Imereti

12. Alexander Imeretinsky – Alexander Konstantinovich Bagration-Imeretinsky was a Georgian royal prince and a General of the Russian Imperial Army. Alexander Imeretinsky was born in Moscow Gubernia on 24 September 1837 to a Georgian royal family of Bagrationi and his father, Prince Constantine of Imereti was a head of the royal house of the former Kingdom of Imereti and a Major General in Russian army. Imeretinsky graduated from Page Corps in Saint Petersburg, since 1855 he served in Russian Imperial Guard. He took part in the Caucasian War against Chechens and Dagestanis then studied at the Nicholas General Staff Academy and he took part in submission of Polish January Uprising in 1863, then became the chief of staff of Russian Army in Warsaw. Since 1867 he is a Major General, since 1869 the Commander of the Warsaw Military District, during the Russo-Turkish War Imeretinsky was the Commander of the Second Infantry Division taking part in the Battle of Lovcha and the Siege of Plevna. After the storming of Plevna he became a Lieutenant General, in 1879 he became the chief of Petersburg Military District. In 1881-1886 he became the Military Procurator-in-Chief of Russia (responsible among other things for the investigation and persecution of the organizers of murder of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, since 1882 he became a member of State Council of Imperial Russia. In 1897 he replaced Pavel Andreyevich Shuvalov as the Governor-general of Warsaw and he was a supporter of Polish-Russian cooperation, and thought that Poles would voluntarily integrate themselves into the Russian Empire if given the choice and fair treatment. For that reason he removed some restrictive laws, such as one that forbade use of the Polish language in schools and he also gave permission to erect a monument to Adam Mickiewicz, the great Polish poet. He was criticized for his stance by certain Russian and Polish factions. After Polish Socialist Party in 1898 published a critical of Imeretinskys liberal policy, it gained much notoriety

13. Prince Mamuka of Imereti – Mamuka, died 1654) was a member of the Bagrationi dynasty of Imereti, a kingdom in western Georgia. A son of King George III of Imereti, he was a commander in a series of wars with Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia. At one point in the 1630s, Mamuka had been considered by the childless king Rostom of Kartli as his heir apparent, Mamuka was a son of King George III of Imereti by his wife Tamar, and a younger brother of Georges successor, Alexander III. Both these kings were perpetually harassed by their expansionist neighbor, Levan II Dadiani, an able soldier praised by the Georgian chroniclers for his bravery, Mamuka played a prominent role in the war with Dadiani. Levan attempted to win over Mamuka by marrying the prince with his daughter, instead and he had a son, Archil, whose son, Mamuka, was the last known descendant of this family. In 1634, George III fell into the Mingrelian hands and Alexander had to pay a ransom, the plot collapsed when an assassin mistook a royal bath servant for the king and had to flee, leaving the servant wounded. Rostom refrained from publicizing the incident and, through a private letter, Chkheidze and his numbers remained in Kartli to continue their struggle with Rostom. By 1647, Mamuka was again in Imereti, leading resistance to Levan II Dadianis renewed offensive, riding his favorite buckskin horse, he spread terror among the Mingrelians. Mamuka still hurried to charge the Mingrelians, putting them into flight and his horse stumbled when Mamuka speared down a fleeing enemy horseman and the prince fell off on the ground, being captured and brought in chains to Dadiani. Teimuraz I, the Kakhetian king-in-exile, who was related by kinship to both the king of Imereti and the prince Dadiani, attempted to negotiate Mamukas release, during yet another outbreak of hostilities with Imereti, Dadiani had Mamuka blinded in prison. Alexander III complained to Rostom and the latter, with the consent of his wife Mariam, sister of Levan Dadiani, Mamuka remained in captivity and in 1654 died, being mourned in Imereti and Kartli

14. Michael of Imereti – Michael, from the House of Bagrationi, was king of the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti from 1327 to 1329. Michael was a son of the Georgian king David VI Narin and his wife, Tamar Amanelisdze, in the latter case, Michael might have been named after his Byzantine ancestor, the emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Michael opposed accession of his brother, Constantine I, on the death of their father in 1293. In a subsequent internecine war, Michael seized control of the provinces of Racha, Lechkhumi, Michael sought to resubjugate to the crown the great nobles and provincial dynasts, who had asserted greater autonomy for themselves in the reign of Constantine I. His efforts were of limited success, all he could achieve was the pledge from the eristavi to pay tribute and provide troops for a royal army

15. Solomon I of Imereti – Solomon I, of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was King of Imereti from 1752 to 1766 and again from 1768 until his death in 1784. Solomon was a son of Alexander V of Imereti by his second wife Tamar née Abashidze and he immediately launched a series of stringent measures against the renegade nobles and slave trade from which they profited in conjunction with the Ottoman authorities. In 1752, the opposition staged a coup, but Solomon quickly regained the crown. The same year, he forged an alliance with his kinsman, Heraclius II, the Ottoman raid continued into the 1760s until they drove Solomon from his capital at Kutaisi in 1765 and placed his cousin, Teimuraz on the throne. In 1768, Solomon managed to stage a comeback, but his kingdom remained occupied by the Turks, the same year, another Russo-Turkish broke out, and in May 1769, Solomon traveled to Tbilisi to meet with Heraclius II. After the war was over, Solomon was able to force his autonomist vassals, princes of Mingrelia and Guria, into submission, having crushed the Ottoman-sponsored invasion from Abkhazia in 1779, he made a series of forays into the Turkish-controlled southwestern Georgian lands. He died in March 1784 and was buried at the Gelati Monastery and he was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church on 22 December 2016, his feast day set for 23 April. Solomon I was married three times, first, to Princess Tinatin Shervashidze, second to Princess Mariam, daughter of Otia Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia and he had five children, three sons and two daughters, Prince David, born of Solomons first marriage to Tinatin Shervashidze. Prince Alexander, born by Mariam Dadiani and he led a revolt against Solomon in 1778. Princess Darejan, born by Mariam Dadiani and she married, in 1768, Prince Kaikhosro Abashidze. Their son, Ivane Abashidze, was a pretender to the throne of Imereti in 1820, Princess Mariam, born by Mariam Dadiani. She married Prince Elizbar Eristavi of Ksani