A son of King George III of Imereti, he was a leading commander in a series of wars with Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, who captured Mamuka in 1647 and had him blinded.

Prince Mamuka and his father-in-law Bezhan Chkheidze took refuge with Yusuf I, an Ottoman pasha of Akhaltsikhe, and lived there, at times raiding Imereti and Guria, until being summoned by Rostom, the childless king of Kartli, to become his adopted son and heir apparent.

His horse stumbled when Mamuka speared down a fleeing enemy horseman and the prince fell off on the ground, being captured and brought in chains to Dadiani.

Teimuraz I, the Kakhetian king-in-exile, who was related by kinship to both the king of Imereti and the prince Dadiani, attempted to negotiate Mamuka's release, but Levan refused.

Alexander III complained to Rostom and the latter, with the consent of his wife Mariam, sister of Levan Dadiani, solemnly cursed the prince of Mingrelia.