Appointed as hereditary eristavi (dukes) of Odishi (Samegrelo) in reward for their military services, the family had become the most powerful feudal house in western Georgia by the 1280's.

At that time, the branches of the family governed also Svaneti, Guria, and Bedia.

In 1542 AD, Duke Levan I Dadiani became hereditary Prince (mtavari) of Mingrelia and established himself as an independent ruler.

The original dynasty of Dadiani thus went extinct into what genealogists have termed the House of Dadiani-Chikovani.

[2] Prince Niko Dadiani officially renounced his rights to the throne in 1868.