Kingdom of Imereti
A family legend recorded by Prince Ioann of Georgia in his genealogical treatise holds it that the Jap'aridze descended from the Mongol ("Chingisid") officer in Racha called Jap'ar whose scions later converted to Georgian Orthodox Christianity and were ennobled by the kings of Georgia. They possibly held the Duchy of Racha between the disappearance of the Kakhaberidze and the establishment of the Chkhetidze (1273-1488). The Jap'aridze formed several lines: a princely one in the Kingdom of Imereti, and a petite noble branches in the kingdoms of Kartli, Kakheti, and Imereti.