Parnaoz tried to challenge the recently established Imperial Russian rule in Georgia and in 1804 headed an unsuccessful insurrection of the Georgian mountaineers in the course of which he was arrested and deported to Russia.

George reversed the rule of succession approved in 1791 by Heraclius under the influence of Queen Darejan, requiring the king's successor to pass the throne not to his offspring, but to his eldest brother.

Parnaoz joined his brothers, Iulon and Vakhtang, in blocking the roads to the capital city of Tbilisi in an attempt to rescue their mother, Queen Dowager Darejan, who had been forced by George XII into confinement at her own palace in Avlabari.

The arrival of additional Russian troops under Major-General Vasily Gulyakov in September 1800 in Tbilisi made George XII's position relatively secure and the rebellious princes withdrew to the provinces.

A Russian detachment, commanded by Captain Novitsky and guided by the loyal Georgian prince Giorgi Amirejibi, hurried from Tskhinvali and surprised Iulon's sleeping men at the Imeretian border.

Nesvetayev foiled Parnaoz's attempt to prevent the fall of Stepantsminda to the Russians, defeated his forces at Sioni, and, pursuing the retreating prince down to the Terek valley, quickly seized his main base at Ananuri.