In 1633, alarmed by the political purges within the Iranian ruling élite, Daud fled to Georgia, where he apparently encouraged his brother-in-law Teimuraz I to renew his rebellion against the Safavid overlordship.

Daud claimed that one of his brothers was actually the son of the late shah Abbas I and that he, having 30,000 troops under his command, had already conquered all of Fars, Bahrain, Lar, Hormuz, Khuzestan, Arabestan, and Hoveyzeh.

Teimuraz refused to surrender Daud in exchange of the shah's parole and allowed him a free passage to the Ottoman possessions.

His brother and nephews were annihilated, and Daud's sons castrated on the shah's order, thus largely ending the career of this illustrious Iranian Georgian family.

Beyond his military and administrative career, Daud Khan commissioned several building projects and patronized Catholic missioners in Georgia and Ganja.