{{Short description|Georgian noble family}} {{Infobox royal house |surname = Gurieli |native_name = გურიელი |native_name_lang = |other_name = |coat of arms = [[File:Gerb Gurielovii.svg|220px]] <br><small>Coat of arms of the Gurieli royal dynasty</small> |image_size = |alt = |caption = |type = Nobility |country = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] |estates = |parent house =[[House of Vardanisdze]] |titles = *[[Principality of Guria]] |styles = |founded = |founder = |final ruler = |current head = |dissolution = <!-- {{End date|YYYY}} --> |deposition = |cadet branches = |notes = }}

[[File:Mamia Gurieli Pirince of Guria, Georgia 17th century.jpg|thumb|262px|Prince Mamia Gurieli of [[Guria]], 17th century. Painted by Don Christoforo de Castelli.]] The '''House of Gurieli''' ({{Lang-ka|გურიელი}}) was a [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] princely (''[[mtavari]]'') family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of [[Guria]], which was autonomous and later, for a few centuries, independent. A few ducal rulers of the dynasty also rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place of the hereditary [[Imeretinsky|Bagrationi]] kings of [[Kingdom of Imereti|Imereti]].

== History == Bearing a hereditary title for governors ([[Eristavi]]) of Guria since the mid-13th century, Gurieli (literally, "of Guria") was adopted as a dynastic name by the [[House of Vardanisdze|Vardanisdze family]] (ვარდანისძე), hereditary rulers of [[Svaneti]] (a highland province in western Georgia). The other notable branch of the Vardanisdze was the [[Dadiani]] (დადიანი) of [[Samegrelo]]. Both of these branches occasionally used double names: Gurieli-Dadiani or Dadiani-Gurieli.<ref>{{in lang|ka}} ქ. ჩხატარაიშვილი (K. Chkhataraishvili) "გურიელები" (''The Gurieli''), in: ქართული საბჭოთა ენციკლოპედია (''Encyclopaedia Georgiana''). Vol. 3: p. 314. Tbilisi, 1978.</ref>

The medieval Gurieli were vassals of the Georgian crown but, at the same time, seem to have paid some kind of homage ({{langx|el|προσκύνησις}}) to the rulers of the neighboring [[Empire of Trebizond]],<ref>[[Michael Panaretos]], ch. 95. Greek text and English translation in Scott Kennedy, ''Two Works on Trebizond'', Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 52 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2019), p. 47</ref> whose last emperor, [[David of Trebizond|David Komnenos]] (reigned from 1459 to 1461), is documented as having been 'gambros' of [[Mamia Gurieli|Mamia Vardanisdze-Gurieli]] (c. 1450 - 69), which is interpreted to mean that Mamia married his daughter or sister or close kinswoman. If the couple had issue, possibly the subsequent ruler Kakhaber (1469–83), the latter-day Gurieli would descend from several [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[List of Trapezuntine emperors|Trapezuntine emperors]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://w.genealogy.euweb.cz/byzant/byzant2.html | title=Byzant 2 }}</ref>{{sps|date=December 2024}}

In the 1460s, when the power of the [[Bagrationi dynasty]] of Georgia was on the decline, the Gurieli pursued a policy of separation and became virtually (formally acknowledged at times) independent rulers ([[mtavari]]) of the [[Principality of Guria]]<ref>The early modern foreign sources frequently referred to the Principality of Guria as ''Guriel'' after its ruling dynasty.</ref> in the mid-16th century,<ref>[[Ronald Grigor Suny|Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', p. 45. [[Indiana University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-253-20915-3}}.</ref> but were forced to pay tribute to the [[Ottoman Empire]], nominally recognizing also the authority of the princes of Mingrelia and [[Kingdom of Imereti|kings of Imereti]]. Throughout the following two centuries, the politics of the Gurieli dynasty were dominated by conflicts with the neighboring Georgian rulers, Ottoman encroachment, and repeated occasions of civil strife and palace coups.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, as many as four Gurieli rulers managed to be chosen kings of the whole Western Caucasus in place of hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imereti. Gurieli kings however are usually characterized as usurpers, or as counter-monarchs of a rival dynasty.

On several occasions powerful neighbors also managed to divert the rule of Guria to members of rival branches of the Gurieli dynasty.

Having accepted [[Imperial Russia]]n sovereignty in 1810, the dynasty continued to enjoy some autonomy in their home affairs until 1829, when the Russian authorities deposed [[David Gurieli|Prince David]], the last Gurieli, and annexed the Principality of Guria.<ref>[[David Marshall Lang|Lang, David M.]] (1957), ''The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy: 1658-1832'', p. 52. [[New York City]]: [[Columbia University Press]].</ref> With the death of David in 1839, his cousin David Gurieli (1802–1856), and his descendants ({{langx|ru|Гуриели, Гуриеловы}}) were confirmed in the Russian nobility with the princely title of (''[[knyaz]]'') by the Emperor's ''ukase'' of 1850.

== Princes-regnant of Guria == * c. 1385–1410 – [[Kakhaber I Gurieli|Kakhaber I]]; son of [[George II Dadiani]]; ''eristavi'' of Guria and Svaneti * c. 1410–1430 – George I; son of Kakhaber I * c. 1430–1450 – Mamia I; son of George I * c. 1450–1469 – [[Mamia Gurieli|Mamia II]]; son of Liparit I Dadiani * 1469–1483 – [[Kakhaber II Gurieli|Kakhaber II]]; possibly son of Mamia II by his Trapezuntine wife * 1483–1512 – [[George I Gurieli|George I (II)]]; son of Kakhaber II; sovereign prince from 1491 * 1512–1534 – [[Mamia I Gurieli|Mamia I (III)]]; son of George I * 1534–1564 – [[Rostom Gurieli|Rostom]]; son of Mamia I * 1564–1583 – [[George II Gurieli|George II (III)]]; son of Rostom; deposed * 1583–1587 – [[Vakhtang I Gurieli|Vakhtang I]]; son of George II * 1587–1600 – [[George II Gurieli|George II (III)]]; restored * 1600–1625 – [[Mamia II Gurieli|Mamia II (IV)]]; son of George II * 1625 – [[Simon I Gurieli|Simon I]]; son of Mamia II; deposed, died after 1672 * 1625–1658 – [[Kaikhosro I Gurieli|Kaikhosro I]] (III); son of Vakhtang I * 1659–1668 – [[Demetrius Gurieli|Demetrius]]; son of Simon I; deposed, died 1668 * 1669–1684 – [[George III Gurieli|George III (IV)]]; son of Kaikhosro I * 1685–1689 – [[Kaikhosro II Gurieli|Kaikhosro II (IV)]]; son of George III ** [[Malakia Gurieli|Malakia]]; son of Kaikhosro I; rival prince 1685; deposed * 1689–1712 – [[Mamia III Gurieli|Mamia III (V)]]; son of George III; deposed ** Malakia; restored as rival prince 1689; deposed, died after 1689 * 1712 – [[George IV Gurieli|George IV (V)]]; son of Mamia III; deposed * 1712–1714 – Mamia III (V); restored * 1714–1716 – George IV (V); restored; deposed * 1716 – [[Kaikhosro III Gurieli|Kaikhosro III (V)]]; son of Mamia III; deposed, died after 1751 * 1716–1726 – George IV (V); restored * 1726–1756 – [[Mamia IV Gurieli|Mamia IV (VI)]]; son of George IV; deposed, died 1778 * 1756–1758 – [[Giorgi V Gurieli|George V (VI)]]; son of George IV; abdicated * 1758–1765 – Mamia IV (VI); restored; deposed * 1765–1771 – George V (VI); restored; deposed * 1771–1776 – Mamia IV (VI); restored; abdicated * 1776–1788 – George V (VI); restored; abdicated * 1788–1792 – [[Simon II Gurieli|Simon II]]; son of George V; died 1792 * 1792–1797 – [[Vakhtang II Gurieli|Vakhtang II]]; son of George V; deposed, died after 1814 * 1797–1826 – [[Mamia V Gurieli|Mamia V (VII)]]; son of Simon II ** [[Kaikhosro IV Gurieli|Kaikhosro]], brother of Svimon II, regent 1797–1809 * 1826–1829 – [[David Gurieli|David]]; son of Mamia V; deposed, died 1839 ** Sophia, mother of David, regent 1826–1829

== References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:House of Gurieli| ]] [[Category:Noble families of Georgia (country)|Gurieli]] [[Category:Families from Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Russian noble families|Gurieli]] [[Category:Foreign relations of the Empire of Trebizond]] [[Category:Georgian-language surnames]]