Twenty Dadiani mtavari ruled Samegrelo across 334 years — seven lost power by deposition, forced removal or abdication
Asked:
“List the ruling princes (mtavari) of Samegrelo from the Dadiani house, Columns: name, years of rule, father, how rule ended, sources.”
The rows cover all 20 male ruling princes of the Dadiani house, from Levan I's accession in 1533 to Niko I's abdication on 4 January 1867, when Mingrelia was incorporated into the Russian Empire. Pre-princely dukes (eristavi) and the regent Ekaterine are excluded by scope; six rulers had interrupted or repeated reigns, kept here as separate segments. Many secondary pages mirror Wikipedia, so corroborating sources are broader than they are fully independent.
reign ended in death in officereign ended by deposition or forced removalreign ended by abdicationtitular only / de facto government (1840–1846)
Rule ended violently or under duress for 7 of 20 princes — Liparit III, Vameq III, Levan IV, Giorgi IV, Manuchar II and Tariel were deposed or forced out, and Niko I abdicated; the other 13 died holding the title, including Bezhan I, murdered by Ottoman agents in 1728. wikiwand.com
Six reigns were interrupted and resumed: Levan I (1546–c.1550 and 1568), Giorgi III, Mamia IV, Giorgi IV, Grigol I (three periods) and Tariel — the brothers Giorgi III and Mamia IV alternated the throne twice between 1572 and 1590. alchetron.com
After 11 May 1840 the formal title and actual government split: Levan V remained titular prince until his death in 1846 while his son David governed as de facto co-prince, becoming formal prince only in 1846–1853. owiki.org
Niko I reigned 1853–1867 in minority under his mother Ekaterine's regency; she was not a dynastic ruling prince and gets no row. He renounced the hereditary title on 4 January 1867. owiki.org
The twenty ruling princes
Name
Years of rule
Father
How rule ended
Sources
Data: 20 ruling princes of the Dadiani house of Samegrelo (Mingrelia), 1533–1867, compiled from a 22-row candidate table, a 19-row chronology and 444 page-level ruler records across many hosts; scope excludes pre-princely eristavi (Mamia III, Shamadavle, Vameq II), the regent Ekaterine, and one false-positive row (Mamuka II). Bars measure years holding the princely title; approximate dates (c.1550, brief 1802 episodes) drawn at nominal year. Sources trimmed to up to four per ruler for space; many mirror Wikipedia.