Vameq III Dadiani

Vameq III Dadiani (also Vamiq; Georgian: ვამეყ [ვამიყ] III

დადიანი; died 1661) was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of
Vameq III
Dadiani, from 1658 until being deposed in 1661. He was also
briefly King of Imereti in 1661. He assumed both Mingrelian and
Imeretian thrones and lost them during a messy civil war in
western Georgian polities and was killed by assassins while
hiding in a refuge of the mountains of Svaneti.

Contents
Prince of Mingrelia
King of Imereti
Family
References

Prince of Mingrelia
Vameq III by Teramo Castelli

Vameq was born into the Lipartiani family, a younger line of the Prince of Mingrelia
Dadiani dynasty of Mingrelia, which held the fief of Salipartiano Reign 1658—1661
in hereditary possession. Vameq was a son of Giorgi II Lipartiani Predecessor Liparit III Dadiani
by his first wife Ana, probably his cousin and a daughter of
Giorgi III Dadiani.[1] Vameq succeeded to lordship of Successor Levan III Dadiani
Salipartiano in 1618. In 1657, after the death of his relative,
Died 1661
Levan II Dadiani, Vameq prevented his rival Liparit III Dadiani
from becoming Mingrelia's next ruler. To his cause, Vameq was Spouse Elene Gurieli
able to enlist support of King Alexander III of Imereti, but had to Dynasty House of Dadiani
concede the border territory Levan II Dadiani had seized from
Father Giorgi II Lipartiani
Imereti as well as much of Levan's treasury. At the decisive battle
of Bandza in June 1658, Vameq defeated his rival and secured the Mother Ana Dadiani
throne of Mingrelia.[2][3] Religion Georgian Orthodox
Church
King of Imereti Khelrtva

In 1660, Alexander III's death occasioned a multifaceted civil war

in Imereti, in which the dowager queen Darejan seized power and
made her new husband, an insignificant nobleman, Vakhtang,
king. The Imeretians revolted: the nobles of Lower Imereti invited
Vamiq, while those of Upper Imereti appealed to King Vakhtang V of Kartli. Vamiq took Darejan and his
husband prisoner, blinding the latter, and then declared himself king of Imereti in 1661. Darejan begged
Vakhtang V of Kartli for help, offering the Imeretian throne to him. The king of Kartli invaded, but stuck a
deal with Vameq, dividing Imereti. The agreement was to be cemented by a marriage of Vamiq's daughter to
Vakhtang's son, Archil. However, Vameq—anxious that the marriage could eventually be used by Archil as a
pretext to lay claim to Imereti—disrupted the agreement and opted for a local son-in-law, Prince Bezhan
Gogoberidze. He, further, carried all of Imereti's royal treasury, twelve wagonloads, with him to Mingrelia,
together with the captive queen Darejan.[3]

Vakhtang of Kartli responded by recruiting Demetre Gurieli, Prince of Guria, and the Upper Imeretian nobility
to kill Gogoberidze. He then occupied Imereti and invaded Mingrelia, capturing Vameq's family and treasury,
and forcing the defeated Dadiani into flight to the mountains of Svaneti. Vakhtang installed a loyal prince in
Mingrelia, Levan III Dadiani, and then had Vameq assassinated in his mountainous refuge.[3]

Family
Vameq Dadiani was married to Elene, daughter of Mamia II Gurieli and Tinatin Jaqeli. He fathered three
children:[1]

Bagrat (died 1661);

Giorgi III Lipartiani, who lost the hereditary fiefdom of Salipartiano to the Chikovani and fled to
Russia in 1662;
Darejan, wife of Prince Bezhan Gogoberidze.

References
1. Grebelsky, P. Kh.; Dumin, S.V.; Lapin, V.V. (1993). Дворянские роды Российской империи.
Том 4: Князья Царства Грузинского [Noble families of the Russian Empire. Vol. 4: Princes of
the Kingdom of Georgia] (in Russian). Vesti. pp. 46–47.
2. Bagrationi, Vakhushti (1976). Nakashidze, N.T. (ed.). История Царства Грузинского (http://dsp
ace.nplg.gov.ge/bitstream/1234/3067/1/Istoria_Carstva_Gruzinskogo.pdf) [History of the
Kingdom of Georgia] (PDF) (in Russian). Tbilisi: Metsniereba. pp. 39. 142.
3. Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. London: Reaktion Books.
pp. 213–215. ISBN 1780230303.

Vameq III Dadiani

House of Dadiani
Born: ? Died: 1661

Regnal titles
Preceded by Prince of Mingrelia Succeeded by
Liparit III Dadiani 1658–1661 Levan III Dadiani

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