Vakhtang I Gurieli
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| Vakhtang I Gurieli | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Guria | |
| Reign | 1583–1587 |
| Predecessor | George II |
| Successor | George II |
| Died | 1587 |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
|
| House | Gurieli |
| Father | Unknown |
| Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church (Catholicate of Abkhazia) |
Vakhtang I Gurieli (Georgian: ვახტანგ I გურიელი; died 1587), of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1583 to 1587. He ruled Guria, a small state in southwestern Georgia, as a client of Mamia IV Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, who had deposed George II Gurieli. Vakhtang was one of the sponsors of the Shemokmedi Monastery, Guria's principal cathedral.
The ancestry of Vakhtang Gurieli is poorly documented. Prince Vakhushti's chronicle, one of the principal sources on Georgia's early modern history, refers to him as being "of a Gurieli stock", without elucidating his parentage. Contemporary documents suggest Vakhtang might have been a son of Rostom Gurieli and brother of George II Gurieli, a genealogy accepted in mainstream Georgian scholarship. On the other hand, the historian Cyril Toumanoff regarded him as a son of George II Gurieli.[1]
Vakhtang was installed as prince-regnant of Guria by the neighboring ruler, Mamia IV Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, who had invaded Guria and expelled his brother-in-law George II Gurieli in 1583. Prior to his accession, Vakhtang was in possession of the canton of Kobuleti. George Gurieli fled to Constantinople to solicit the Ottoman support. He was in the Ottoman-controlled town of Gonio in 1587, when Vakhtang died, enabling George to reclaim Guria with the help of the Ottoman government.[2][3] Vakhtang was buried at the Transfiguration Church in the Shemokmedi Monastery, which he had built.