Grigol Dadiani

Grigol Dadiani (Georgian: გრიგოლ დადიანი; 1770 – 23 October 1804), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia from 1788 to 1804, with intermissions from 1791 to 1794 and in 1802 when his position was filled by his rivaling brothers. His rule was marred by the long-standing struggle between the Imeretian crown seeking to subdue Mingrelia and Mingrelian efforts to win full independence, a continuation of the conflict which had plagued western Georgia for centuries. Grigol's rapprochement with the expanding Russian Empire resulted in Mingrelia becoming, in 1804, a Russian subject with a degree of internal autonomy under the Dadiani dynasty, an arrangement which remained in place until 1856.

Grigol was the eldest son of Katsia II Dadiani by his third wife Anna Tsulukidze. In 1788, Grigol, then 18-year-old, succeeded on the death of his father as prince-regnant of Mingrelia. King David II of Imereti made use of his youth to advance his claims to Mingrelia and, notwithstanding important services rendered by Katsia II Dadiani, invaded the principality. Grigol took to Lechkhumi, a highland district disputed between Imereti and Mingrelia, whose loyalty then lay with Dadiani. King Heraclius II of Kartli–Kakheti intervened militarily and helped defeat David at Matkhoji in July 1789, thereby restoring Grigol to Mingrelia and securing the crown of Imereti for his grandson, Solomon II. This was followed by the 1790 treaty, which established a loose confederation of Georgian kings and princes. Grigol then married Heraclius's granddaughter Princess Nino, while Grigol's sister Mariam became Solomon II's wife.

The unresolved dispute over Lechkhumi, however, quickly led to a renewed conflict between Imereti and Mingrelia. In 1791, Solomon II of Imereti succeeded in ousting Grigol in favor of his own younger brother, Manuchar. Grigol fled to the Ottoman pasha of Akhaltsikhe. King Heraclius II's mediation failed and Grigol was detained on his arrival for negotiations in Kutaisi, Imereti's capital. He soon managed to escape with the help of his uncle, Giorgi Dadiani, and Kaikhosro Gelovani, governor-general of Lechkhumi, and entrenched himself in the fortress of Nogi in Mingrelia, which Solomon failed to take and fell back to Kutaisi. As a result, the king had to recognize Grigol as prince of Mingrelia, who, in his turn, conceded the fiefdom of Salipartiano to his estranged brother Manuchar, Solomon's protégé. Grigol, however, found his authority limited by rising influence of Kaikhosro Gelovani, whom he had murdered in 1799.

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