Principality of Svaneti - Civil Strife and Russian Annexation

Civil Strife and Russian Annexation

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Svaneti fragmented into three political entities. The first, Lower Svaneti in the upper Ts'khenis-Ts'k'ali valley, dominated by the clans of Gelovani and Gardabkhadze, was gradually subjugated by the Dadiani princes of Mingrelia and came to be known as Dadiani Svaneti. The second, Upper Svaneti, lay along the upper reaches of the Enguri river for whose control the families of Richgviani and Dadeshkeliani vied. The latter clan emerged as the eventual winners by the 1720s and established their rule on the territory to the west of the Enguri, which henceforth came to be known as Dadeshkeliani Svaneti (Principality of Svaneti). The communities to the east of the Enguri seceded, however, and organized themselves into a confederation of clans which was deprived of any centralized government and was known as Free Svaneti.

In the 1820s, the Principality of Svaneti effectively split into two as a result of a blood feud between the rival Dadeshkeliani branches. Through the mediation by the princes of Mingrelia, both branches accepted nominal Russian suzerainty in 1833 as did the Free Svanetian communities in 1840. Nevertheless, they continued to run their affairs independently and did not allow Russian officials or church missions into the area until the late 1840s.

Continuing dynastic strife among the Dadishkeliani, their defiance to the Russian government, and vacillation during the Crimean War (1854-1856), however, led to direct Russian intervention. In 1857, Prince Alexander Baryatinsky, Viceroy of the Caucasus, ordered Svaneti to be subdued by armed force. The ruling prince of Svaneti, Constantine, chose to negotiate, but was ordered into exile to Erivan. On a farewell audience in Kutaisi, he quarreled with a local Russian administrator, Alexander Gagarin, and stubbed to death him and three of his staff. When captured, Constantine was summarily tried by court martial and shot. In 1858, the principality was abolished and converted into a district administered by a Russian-appointed officer (pristav). Several members of the Dadeshekeliani family were exiled to the remote Russian provinces and those who remained in Georgia were deprived of their autonomous powers.