Principality of Guria
Encyclopedia
The Principality of Guria 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 ruled by a succession of twenty-two princes of the House of Gurieli
from the 1460s to 1829. The principality emerged during the process of fragmentation of a unified Kingdom of Georgia. Its boundaries fluctuated in the course of permanent conflicts with neighboring Georgian rulers and Ottoman Empire
, and the principality enjoyed various degrees of autonomy until being annexed by Imperial Russia in 1829.
) from the House of Vardanisdze
to which the Georgian crown attached the title of Gurieli
("of Guria") c. 1362.
In the 1460s, when the power of the Bagrationi Dynasty
of Georgia was on the decline, the Vardanisdze-Gurieli dynasty joined a rebellion of the great nobles of western Georgia, led by a royal kinsman, Bagrat
, who refused to accept the authority of King George VIII of Georgia
. In 1463, Bagrat and his allies met and defeated the king at the Battle of Chikhori
. As a result, George VIII lost all the western provinces, and Bagrat was crowned king of Imereti
, i.e., western Georgia. However, in return for their aid, the new monarch was obliged to create a vassal principality (samtavro
) for each of his major allies, including the Gurieli family which became semi-independent rulers of Guria with their seat at Ozurgeti
In 1491, Giorgi I Gurieli (1483–1512) was recognized as a sovereign prince. From this time on, the Gurieli also invested local bishop
s at Shemokmedi, Jumati, and Khinotsminda, nominally under the spiritual superintendence of the Georgian Orthodox Catholicos of Abkhazia. The polities of western Georgia fought one another for supremacy, particularly the Gurieli of Guria and Dadiani
of Mingrelia. They forged a temporary alliance and organized, in January 1533, an ultimately disastrous expedition against the piratical tribe of Zygii
in the north of Abkhazia. This setback enabled the king of Imereti to reassert his hegemony over Guria, but for a short time.
independence from Imereti, but faced much more serious threat from its newly emerged southern neighbor, the Ottoman Empire
, which imposed, in the 1540s, a naval blockade of Guria and annexed its southern provinces of Adjara
, Northern Chaneti (latter-day Lazistan
), and Machakheli
, which had earlier been acquired by Rostom Gurieli (1534–64). The situation became even more precarious after the allied army of Georgian dynasts suffered a defeat at the Battle of Sokhoista
. Mamia II Gurieli (1600–1625) managed to reconquer Adjara in 1609, but was eventually forced to renounce, on December 13, 1614, any claims to the region and pay annual tribute to the Sublime Porte. The incessant feudal wars in western Georgia resulted in the decline of Guria, which eventually succumbed to the vassalage of the neighboring principality of Mingrelia. Yet, several princes of Guria, most notably Giorgi III Gurieli
(1669–84), and Mamia III Gurieli
(1689–1714), managed to occasionally attain to the crown of Mingrelia and even of Imereti. The princely vassals of the Gurieli included the houses of Gugunava
, Machutadze
, Maksimenishvili, Nakashidze
, Tavdgiridze
, Shalikashvili
, Zedginidze, and Eristavi-Shervashidze.
During the early 18th century, Guria faced an increasing political and economic downfall due to the Ottoman encroachments as well as repeated occasions of civil strife. Attempts by the Gurian princes to enter into alliances with other Georgian rulers and Russia resulted in a series of Turkish punitive raids. By 1723, the Gurieli had lost Batumi
and Chakvi
to the Ottomans and the whole coastline of Guria had been garrisoned by the Turks. The Gurian support to the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) caused a severe reaction from the Ottoman government. Kobuleti
and the surrounding area were detached from Guria and subjected to Islamization
, an apostasy
being the surest way to escape slavery. The rest of Christian population had to move to safer regions of Georgia. This, combined with extensive slave trade and Turkish inroads, resulted in a virtual depopulation of several areas of Guria towards the late 18th century. The population of Guria was estimated by Güldenstädt
at 5,000, and by Reineggs at 6,000 families in the 1770s.
The latter-day princes of Guria firmly chose a pro-Russian orientation. During the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), on June 19, 1810, Mamia V Gurieli (1803–26) accepted Russian suzerainty, receiving insignia of investiture from the Tsar. Guria joined the empire as an autonomous principality, retaining its self-governance and a local code. Very desirous of adopting Europe
an customs and habits, Mamia initiated a series of reforms and modernized administration, economy, and education. He remained loyal to the Russian crown even in 1820, when his uncle, Kaikhosro, joined the rebellion in Imereti and Guria, which broke out spontaneously in protest to the Russian mistreatment of Georgian church and heavy taxation. When Mamia died on October 26, 1826, his underage son, David succeeded him on the throne under the regency of Princess Dowager Sophia. Anxious to secure her autonomy from the Russian government, she sided with the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829). On September 2, 1829, the Russian authorities deposed David and forced Sophia into exile to Turkey. Guria was annexed to the Russian Empire, first under a provisional governance, and then, in 1840, as the Ozurgeti uyezd
within the Kutais Governorate.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. Centered on modern-day Guria
Guria
Guria is a region in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 143,357 and Ozurgeti is a regional capital.-Geography:...
, a southwestern region
Mkhare
Mkhare is a subdivision in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as region.The country is divided, according to the Presidential decrees from 1994 to 1996, into regions on a provisional basis until the secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are resolved...
in Georgia, it was located between the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and Lesser Caucasus
Lesser Caucasus
Lesser Caucasus is one of the two main mountain ranges of Caucasus mountains, of length about 600 km....
, and was ruled by a succession of twenty-two princes of the House of Gurieli
Gurieli
Gurieli was a Georgian noble family and a ruling dynasty of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria which was autonomous and later for a few centuries independent, as well as a few ducal rulers of the dynasty rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place...
from the 1460s to 1829. The principality emerged during the process of fragmentation of a unified Kingdom of Georgia. Its boundaries fluctuated in the course of permanent conflicts with neighboring Georgian rulers and Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and the principality enjoyed various degrees of autonomy until being annexed by Imperial Russia in 1829.
Early history
Since the 13th century, Guria, one of the provinces of the Kingdom of Georgia, was administered by hereditary governors (eristaviEristavi
Eristavi was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine strategos and normally translated into English as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province...
) from the House of Vardanisdze
House of Vardanisdze
The House of Vardanisdze was an aristocratic family in medieval Georgia, listed among the Great Nobles of the realm.The family is presumed to have branched off from another eminent Georgian feudal clan of the Marushisdze, a hypothesis supported by the abundance of the name Marushiani in the...
to which the Georgian crown attached the title of Gurieli
Gurieli
Gurieli was a Georgian noble family and a ruling dynasty of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria which was autonomous and later for a few centuries independent, as well as a few ducal rulers of the dynasty rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place...
("of Guria") c. 1362.
In the 1460s, when the power of the Bagrationi Dynasty
Bagrationi Dynasty
The Bagrationi dynasty was the ruling family of Georgia. Their ascendency lasted from the early Middle Ages until the early 19th century. In modern usage, this royal line is frequently referred to as the Georgian Bagratids, a Hellenized form of their dynastic name.The origin of the Bagrationi...
of Georgia was on the decline, the Vardanisdze-Gurieli dynasty joined a rebellion of the great nobles of western Georgia, led by a royal kinsman, Bagrat
Bagrat VI of Georgia
Bagrat VI , a representative of the Imeretian branch of the Bagrationi royal house, was a king of Imereti from 1463, and a king of Georgia from 1465 until his death.-Life:...
, who refused to accept the authority of King George VIII of Georgia
George VIII of Georgia
George VIII was a king of Georgia, though already fragmentised and dragged into a fierce civil war, from 1446 to 1465...
. In 1463, Bagrat and his allies met and defeated the king at the Battle of Chikhori
Battle of Chikhori
The Battle of Chikhori was fought between the armies of King George VIII of Georgia and the rebellious nobles led by a royal kinsman Bagrat in 1463...
. As a result, George VIII lost all the western provinces, and Bagrat was crowned king of Imereti
Kingdom of Imereti
The Kingdom of Imereti was established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagration 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...
, i.e., western Georgia. However, in return for their aid, the new monarch was obliged to create a vassal principality (samtavro
Mtavari
Mtavari was a feudal title in Georgia usually translated in English as prince.The earliest instances of the use of mtavari are in the early Georgian hagiographic texts dated to the 5th century. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, the title mtavari, along with tavadi, was synonymous with eristavi,...
) for each of his major allies, including the Gurieli family which became semi-independent rulers of Guria with their seat at Ozurgeti
Ozurgeti
Ozurgeti is a town and the regional administrative centre of Western Georgian province of Guria, former Macharadze or Makharadze . Population of Ozurgeti: 21,009...
In 1491, Giorgi I Gurieli (1483–1512) was recognized as a sovereign prince. From this time on, the Gurieli also invested local bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s at Shemokmedi, Jumati, and Khinotsminda, nominally under the spiritual superintendence of the Georgian Orthodox Catholicos of Abkhazia. The polities of western Georgia fought one another for supremacy, particularly the Gurieli of Guria and Dadiani
Dadiani
Dadiani was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo.- The House of Dadiani :...
of Mingrelia. They forged a temporary alliance and organized, in January 1533, an ultimately disastrous expedition against the piratical tribe of Zygii
Zygii
The Zygii has been described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis.He wrote:...
in the north of Abkhazia. This setback enabled the king of Imereti to reassert his hegemony over Guria, but for a short time.
Under the Ottoman Empire
From the mid-16th century, the princes of Guria enjoyed a de factoDe facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
independence from Imereti, but faced much more serious threat from its newly emerged southern neighbor, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, which imposed, in the 1540s, a naval blockade of Guria and annexed its southern provinces of Adjara
Adjara
Adjara , officially the Autonomous Republic of Adjara , is an autonomous republic of Georgia.Adjara is located in the southwestern corner of Georgia, bordered by Turkey to the south and the eastern end of the Black Sea...
, Northern Chaneti (latter-day Lazistan
Lazistan
Lazistan was the Ottoman administrative name for the sanjak comprising the Laz or Lazuri-speaking population on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. However, its boundaries did not coincide with the Laz-speaking area...
), and Machakheli
Machakheli
Machakheli , is a historical geographical area and long valley along the river Machakhlistskali between Turkey and Georgia. There are 23 settled villages in this valley....
, which had earlier been acquired by Rostom Gurieli (1534–64). The situation became even more precarious after the allied army of Georgian dynasts suffered a defeat at the Battle of Sokhoista
Battle of Sokhoista
The Battle of Sokhoista was fought between the Ottoman and Georgian armies at the Sokhoista field in what is now northeastern Turkey in 1545. It was the last attempt of the separate Georgian dynasts to fight as one unit against the Ottoman expansion, but ended in their decisive defeat...
. Mamia II Gurieli (1600–1625) managed to reconquer Adjara in 1609, but was eventually forced to renounce, on December 13, 1614, any claims to the region and pay annual tribute to the Sublime Porte. The incessant feudal wars in western Georgia resulted in the decline of Guria, which eventually succumbed to the vassalage of the neighboring principality of Mingrelia. Yet, several princes of Guria, most notably Giorgi III Gurieli
Giorgi III Gurieli
Giorgi III Gurieli , of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was a prince of Guria from 1664 to 1684 and a de facto king of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He succeeded his father, Kaikhosro I, as prince of Guria and secured his throne through paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. He was energetically...
(1669–84), and Mamia III Gurieli
Mamia III Gurieli
Mamia III "the Great", of the Gurieli, also known as the Black Gurieli was Prince of Guria from 1689 to 1714 and King of Imereti in 1701-02, 1711 and 1713....
(1689–1714), managed to occasionally attain to the crown of Mingrelia and even of Imereti. The princely vassals of the Gurieli included the houses of Gugunava
Gugunava
Gugunava was a Georgian noble family possibly descending from the medieval house of Liparitid-Orbeliani. They were established in the Principality of Guria, and were officially confirmed in the princely rank by the Imperial Russian decree of 1850...
, Machutadze
Machutadze
Mach'utadze was a Georgian noble family known from 1412/1442 in the Principality of Guria where they served as Mayors of the Palace at the Gurieli court. Under the Russian rule, the family was received among the knyaz of the Russian Empire in 1850....
, Maksimenishvili, Nakashidze
Nakashidze
The Nakashidze was a noble family in Georgia, one of the princely houses hailing from the province of Guria. In the Principality of Guria, they held the hereditary office of Receivers of Ambassadors. After the Russian annexation of Guria , the family was received among the princely nobility of the...
, Tavdgiridze
Tavdgiridze
Tavdgiridze is a Georgian noble family, known since the 14th century. They hailed from the southern provinces of Georgia which fell under the Ottoman rule in the 16th century. This forced many of the Tavdgiridze to relocate to relatively safer areas such as Kartli, Imereti, and Guria...
, Shalikashvili
Shalikashvili
Shalikashvili is a Georgian noble family, originally from Samtskhe in southwest Georgia. With several notable members from the 16th century to the 20th, their descendants have survived in the United States Shalikashvili is a Georgian noble family, originally from Samtskhe in southwest Georgia....
, Zedginidze, and Eristavi-Shervashidze.
During the early 18th century, Guria faced an increasing political and economic downfall due to the Ottoman encroachments as well as repeated occasions of civil strife. Attempts by the Gurian princes to enter into alliances with other Georgian rulers and Russia resulted in a series of Turkish punitive raids. By 1723, the Gurieli had lost Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
and Chakvi
Chakvi
Chakvi is a resort town in Georgia by the Black Sea coast.In July 2007 the $600,000 Chakvi radar station was constructed through oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District. It serves both the commercial and military port.- References :...
to the Ottomans and the whole coastline of Guria had been garrisoned by the Turks. The Gurian support to the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) caused a severe reaction from the Ottoman government. Kobuleti
Kobuleti
Kobuleti is a town in Georgia's southwestern region of Ajaria. It is situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Kobuleti is a sea resort, visited annually by Georgians and many former Soviet Union residents. From the 17th century into the 19th, Kobuleti was a fiefdom of the Tavdgiridze...
and the surrounding area were detached from Guria and subjected to Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
, an apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
being the surest way to escape slavery. The rest of Christian population had to move to safer regions of Georgia. This, combined with extensive slave trade and Turkish inroads, resulted in a virtual depopulation of several areas of Guria towards the late 18th century. The population of Guria was estimated by Güldenstädt
Güldenstädt
Güldenstädt is surname of:* Johann Anton Güldenstädt , Baltic German Russian naturalist* Güldenstädt's Redstart...
at 5,000, and by Reineggs at 6,000 families in the 1770s.
Under Imperial Russia
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an customs and habits, Mamia initiated a series of reforms and modernized administration, economy, and education. He remained loyal to the Russian crown even in 1820, when his uncle, Kaikhosro, joined the rebellion in Imereti and Guria, which broke out spontaneously in protest to the Russian mistreatment of Georgian church and heavy taxation. When Mamia died on October 26, 1826, his underage son, David succeeded him on the throne under the regency of Princess Dowager Sophia. Anxious to secure her autonomy from the Russian government, she sided with the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829). On September 2, 1829, the Russian authorities deposed David and forced Sophia into exile to Turkey. Guria was annexed to the Russian Empire, first under a provisional governance, and then, in 1840, as the Ozurgeti uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
within the Kutais Governorate.