House of Dadiani: Difference between revisions

 

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* [[Niko Dadiani, Prince of Megrelia|Niko I Dadiani]] (1857–1903)

* [[Niko Dadiani, Prince of Megrelia|Niko I Dadiani]] (1857–1903)

* [[Niko II Dadiani]] (1903–1919), son of Niko I Dadiani

* [[Niko II Dadiani]] (1903–1919), son of Niko I Dadiani

* Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani (1919–1924), son of Prince Grigori [Gita] Dadiani, first cousin of [[Niko I Dadiani]]

* Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani (1919–1924), son of Prince Grigori [Gita] Dadiani first cousin of [[Niko I Dadiani]]

* Prince Grigori Dadiani (1924–1976), son of Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani

* Prince Grigori Dadiani (1924–1976), son of Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani

* Prince Butkhuzi Dadiani (1976–1989), elder son of Prince Grigori Dadiani

* Prince Butkhuzi Dadiani (1976–1989), elder son of Prince Grigori Dadiani

Noble family from Western Georgia

The House of Dadiani (Georgian: დადიანი [dadiani]), later known as the House of Dadiani-Chikovani,^[1] was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Mingrelia.

The first data about the family dates back to 1046. Presumably, the Dadiani descended from a certain Dadi, of the House of Vardanisdze.

Appointed as hereditary eristavi (dukes) of Odishi (Samegrelo) in reward for their military services, the family had become the most powerful feudal house in western Georgia by the 1280’s. At that time, the branches of the family also governed Svaneti, Guria, and Bedia.

In 1542, Duke Levan I Dadiani became hereditary Prince (mtavari) of Mingrelia and established himself as an independent ruler. His descendant, Prince Levan III Dadiani, was forced to abdicate in 1691 and Dadiani’s relatives from the House of Chikovani, hitherto Princes of Salipartiano, inherited the title of Princes of Mingrelia and the surname of Dadiani. The original dynasty of Dadiani thus went extinct into what genealogists have termed the House of Dadiani-Chikovani.^[1]

Accepting Russian sovereignty in 1802, the Dadiani were elevated to the dignity of Prince of the Russian Empire (Russian: Дадиани) and enjoyed significant independence in their home affairs.

Russia led a de facto annexation of Samegrelo in 1857, but Samegrelo retained its nominal existence until January 4, 1867, when Niko Dadiani, the last Prince of Samegrelo, was deposed and the principality was abolished.^[2]

Prince Niko Dadiani officially renounced his rights to the throne in 1868.^[3]

In the late 18th century, in the Hungarian part of the Holy Roman Empire, emerged a newly nobilitated family named Dadányi de Gyülvész. In order to improve their genealogy during the nineteenth century this family invented the legend that a Mingrelian ancestor, George Dadiani, had fled to Hungary because of a conflict with his brother, Grigol Dadiani. However, when asked about the proof, members of the family stated that an iron safe containing the documents that would have proved their ancestry had been lost during a robbery in Hungary. According to this legend, the Dadányi family from Hungary were an offspring of the Dadiani Princes of Mingrelia, while in fact, they descended from the Moschopolitan merchants of Aromanian ancestry.^[4]

• Niko I Dadiani (1857–1903)
• Niko II Dadiani (1903–1919), son of Niko I Dadiani
• Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani (1919–1924), son of Prince Grigori [Gita] Dadiani (first cousin of Niko I Dadiani)
• Prince Grigori Dadiani (1924–1976), son of Prince Grigori [Koki] Dadiani
• Prince Butkhuzi Dadiani (1976–1989), elder son of Prince Grigori Dadiani
• Prince Levanti Dadiani (1989–present), current Head of the Princely House of Mingrelia, cadet son of Prince Grigori Dadiani
• Prince Nicolas Dadiani (b. 1947), heir apparent, great-great-great-grandson of Tariel Dadiani