Samuel (died 861), of the Donauri

Donauri

Donauri was a Georgian noble family to which belonged two ruling princes of the eastern province of Kakheti in the ninth century, and which gave origin to the latter-day noble family of Vachnadze, and, possibly, to that of Babadishvili ....

 family, was a prince and chorepiscopus of Kakheti

Kakheti

Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

 in eastern Georgia

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...

 from 839 to 861. After the death of his predecessor Vache

Vache of Kakheti

Vache was a prince and chorepiscopus of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 827 to 839. He came of the Kvabulidze clan and was installed by the Gardabanian community after the death of his predecessor Grigol. He was succeeded by Samuel.- References :...

, Samuel was elected as prince by the Gardabani

Gardabani

Gardabani is a town in the Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli, and the centre of the Garbabani district, located 39 km south of Georgia's capital Tbilisi.As of 2002, its population was 19,900 people. The town is roughly 70% Azeri-populated...

an nobility who dominated the politics of Kakheti at the time. He was allied with the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 emir of Tiflis

Emirate of Tbilisi

The Emirs of Tbilisi ruled over the parts of today’s eastern Georgia from their base in the city of Tbilisi, from 736 to 1080 . Established by the Arabs during their invasions of Georgian lands, the emirate was an important outpost of the Muslim rule in the Caucasus until recaptured by the...

 in the revolt against the Caliphate

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

 and hence Kakheti became targeted by the Arab punitive expeditions led by Khalid b. Yazid (840–42) and Bugha the Turk (853–54). Samuel was succeeded by his nephew, Gabriel

Gabriel of Kakheti

Gabriel , of the Donauri family, was a prince and chorepiscopus of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 861 to 881. He succeeded on the death of his uncle Samuel. His reign was marked by the vigorous religious building spearheaded by the Kakhetian-born priest Illarion the Georgian...

.