Giorgi IV Dadiani

Under Levan III Dadiani, Katsia attained to lordship of Salipartiano, a key fiefdom in Mingrelia, and exerted significant influence in the principality.

[1] Giorgi Dadiani attempted to make his positions more secure by forging an alliance with the Imeretian prince Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze, who usurped the crown of Imereti in 1702.

Dadiani married Abashidze's daughter Tamar, having repudiating his earlier union with Princess Sevdia Mikeladze, the mother of his several children.

Dadiani then proceeded, with the instigation of his new wife, to confiscate estates of the Mikeladze family, who lent support to Abashidze's arch-rival, George VII of Imereti.

Amid ongoing power struggle, Dadiani's own brother Iese, lord of Lechkhumi, married to Giorgi VII's aunt Mariam, switched sides, but this cost him his possessions in 1703.

Giorgi Lipartiani with his wife Sevdia as depicted in a fresco in the Martvili Monastery .