Principality of Mingrelia

The Principality of Mingrelia, also called Odishi or Samegrelo, was a Georgian state of the Dadiani dynasty on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. It emerged from the non-aggression pact and treaty by which Konstantine II of Kartli, Alexandre of Kakhetia and Qvarqvare II, the atabeg of Samtskhe, divided Georgia into three kingdoms and a clutch of principalities, and Mingrelia became an independent principality in 1557, with Levan I Dadiani as its hereditary prince, or mtavari. The Dadiani had long ruled the country as hereditary governors before the break-up of the Georgian monarchy made them sovereign, and their seat at Zugdidi became the centre of a court that minted its own rare coins. It stayed independent until 1803, when it accepted the patronage of Imperial Russia in return for protection against its stronger neighbours, Imeretia and Abkhazia, and the principality finally ended when Russia deposed Prince Niko in 1867, who formally renounced the throne the next year, turning the land into a Russian district until 1917.