George III of Guria

Giorgi III Gurieli (Georgian: გიორგი III გურიელი) (died 1684), of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was a prince of Guria from 1664 to 1684 and a de facto king of Imereti (as George IV) from 1681 to 1683. He succeeded his father, Kaikhosro I, as prince of Guria and secured his throne through paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. He was energetically involved in the civil wars in western Georgia. After the death of King Bagrat V of Imereti, his father-in-law, in 1681, Giorgi seized the crown of Imereti and took his own mother-in-law, the widowed queen Tamar, as wife. He was deposed, in 1683, by the Ottoman-backed coup in favor of Bagrat's son Alexander IV. Gurieli retaliated by mounting a revolt of nobility against Alexander, involving Shoshita III, Duke of Racha, Giorgi Lipartiani, regent of Mingrelia, the princes Chijavadze and the nobles of Lechkhumi. But Alexander found a major support in Prince Paata Abashidze. Giorgi Gurieli was defeated and killed at the Battle of Rokiti in 1684.

References

• (Russian) Вахушти Багратиони (Vakhushti Bagrationi) (1745). История Царства Грузинского: Жизнь Имерети.
• David Marshall Lang, The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, 1658-1832. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957.