The Tsulukidze are a Georgian

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...

 noble family, known in the western part of the country since 1451. According to a traditional account, they were elevated to a princely dignity (tavadi

Tavadi

Tavadi , "prince", lit. "head/chief" [man], from tavi, "head", with the prefix of agent -di) was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as prince...

) by King George III of Imereti

George III of Imereti

George III , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Imereti from 1605 to 1639. George succeeded on the death of his brother, Rostom of Imereti, but his authority was seriously challenged by the energetic prince of Mingrelia, Levan II Dadiani, whose increasing influence over the western Georgian...

 in 1605.

Under the western Georgian kings 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...

, the Tsulukidze served as Constables of Lower Imereti and had a fiefdom in Racha

Racha

Racha is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains...

, with a familial burial ground at the Nikortsminda Cathedral

Nikortsminda Cathedral

Nikortsminda Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox Church, located in Nikortsminda, Racha region of Georgia.Nikortsminda was built in 1010-1014 during the reign of Bagrat III of Georgia and was repaired in 1634 by the King Bagrat III of Imereti. Three-storied bell-tower next to the Cathedral was built...

. The Tsulukidze were involved in a series of civil wars which plagued Imereti until the eventual annexation by the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 in 1810. The family was confirmed as princes (knyaz

Knyaz

Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....

) of the Russian Empire in 1850.

The Tsulukidze family produced several notable political and military leaders from the 17th century into the 20th, including General Varden Tsulukidze

Varden Tsulukidze

Varden Tsulukidze was a Georgian military commander and anti-Soviet resistance leader.Of a noble family, Tsulukidze served in the Imperial Russian army and was promoted to the rank of major-general in World War I...

 and the Marxist revolutionary Alexander Tsulukidze

Alexander Tsulukidze

Alexander "Sasha" Tsulukidze was a Georgian social-democratic revolutionary and journalist.Born in Khoni, western Georgia , Sasha came from a prominent princely family. His father belonged to the old Imeretian noble house of Tsulukidze and his mother to that of Shervashidze...

.