After the brothers reconciled in 1799, Manuchar was appanaged with Salipartiano, which he lost to his nephew Levan, a new Prince of Mingrelia, in the wake of Grigol's death in 1804.
In 1791, King Solomon II of Imereti, who sought to unite all of western Georgia under his authority, deposed Grigol and replaced him by a more amenable Manuchar.
Manuchar was eventually ousted from Mingrelia and fled to Abkhazia in 1794, but Grigol was able to buy the Abkhaz ruler Kelesh Bey's loyalty by granting him the fort of Anaklia.
In a renewed conflict between Imereti and Mingrelia in 1802, Solomon again attempted to enlist Manuchar, but the latter eventually stood by his brother's side.
Manuchar saw this as an opportunity to advance his claims to the Mingrelian throne and petitioned the Russian authorities to confirm him as the next ruler of Mingrelia or, at least, to leave Salipartiano in his possession.