That year, what initially began as a protest against the Russian government's encroachment on the church in Imereti, escalated into a full-scale rebellion, involving nobles and peasants alike.
Prince David was killed in battle; Rostom was captured and deported to Russia's interior; Vakhtang fled to the Ottoman Empire, bringing with him his younger brother, Tariel.
The document is a sultan's firman confirming a new vassal ruler in Imereti, but the name field is left blank, apparently due to the lack of a suitable candidate at that time.
Khomeriki conjectures that the Ottomans, vying with Russia for influence in western Caucasus, recognized the exiled Imeretian prince as a legitimate ruler of his country.
In his last years, Vakhtang attempted to negotiate with the Russian authorities his safe return to Imereti, but he died, in December 1850, in the small town of Pulathane (now Akçaabat, Turkey).