Levan I Dadiani
Levan I Dadiani (also Leon; Georgian: ლევან [ლეონ] I დადიანი; died 1572) was a member of the House of Dadiani and ruler of Odishi, that is, Mingrelia, in western Georgia. He succeeded on the death of his father, Mamia III Dadiani, as eristavi ("duke") of Odishi and ex officio mandaturt-ukhutsesi ("Lord High Steward") of Imereti in 1533. Dadiani's break with the king of Imereti brought about his downfall and imprisonment in 1546. He was able to escape and regain his possessions, securing Ottoman support for his independence from Imereti.
Accession to power and break with the king of Imereti
Levan was a son of Mamia III Dadiani by his wife, Elisabed. He succeeded on Mamia's death in an expedition against the Circassians in 1533. These mountainous tribes from the North Caucasus continued to pose a challenge to Levan, but more immediate threat to his hold of power came from his overlords, the kings of Imereti, one of the three breakaway kingdoms of medieval Georgia. By the time of Levan's accession to power, the Dadiani had achieved significant autonomy and his contemporary king of Imereti, Bagrat III, was determined to bring the crown's recalcitrant subjects under control. Levan continued to be styled as eristavt-eristavi ("duke") of Mingrelia and mandaturt-ukhutsesi ("Lord High Steward") of Imereti, but by defying Bagrat's call to arms during a war waged by an alliance of Georgian rulers against the expanding Ottoman Empire in 1545, Levan reneged on his vestigial duties as a vassal to the king.
Levan
Levan can refer to:
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Levan (name)
Levan (Georgian: ლევანი) is a Georgian name.
Other forms of name Levan used in Georgian are: Levaniko (ლევანიკო) and Levancho (ლევანჩო)
It may refer to:
Royalty and nobility
People
Levan of Kartli
Levan (Georgian: ლევანი), also known by his Muslim name Shah-Quli Khan (born c. 1653 – 30 May 1709) was a Georgian royal prince (batonishvili) and the fourth son of the king of Kartli Shahnawaz (Vakhtang V). He was a titular king of Kartli in 1709.
In 1675, Levan was confirmed as a janisin (regent) of Kartli during the absence of his reigning brother, George XI (Gurgin Khan), at the Persian military service in Afghanistan. Summoned to Isfahan in 1677, he had to accept Islam and take the name Shah-Quli Khan. Thereafter he was appointed as naib of Kerman, Iran, and, as a commander of Georgian auxiliary forces, he secured the eastern provinces of the Persian empire from the rebellious Baluchi tribesmen from 1698 to 1701. For a short time in 1703, he was again a janisin for his absent brother in Kartli. As a reward for his military service the shah Husayn made Levan, in 1703, a divanbeg (chief justice) of Persia, and his son, Khusrau Khan, darugha (i.e., prefect) of Isfahan.
During his governance in Kartli, he patronised Catholic missioners in the Caucasus. He also encouraged scholarly activities in Georgia, and helped his cousin, Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani, to create a Georgian dictionary, which is still widely used in Georgia. Although officially a convert to Islam, Levan covertly remained Christian and composed the prayers to St John the Baptist, St Peter, St Paul and other Christian saints.
