Principality of Guria The Principality of Guria ( , " guriis samtavro " ) was a historical state in Georgia . Centered on modern - day Guria , a southwestern region in Georgia , it was located between the Black Sea and Lesser Caucasus , and was ruled by a succession of twenty - two princes of the House of Gurieli from the 1460s to 1829 . The principality emerged during the process of fragmentation of a unified Kingdom of Georgia . Its boundaries fluctuated in the course of permanent conflicts with neighboring Georgian rulers and Ottoman Empire , and the principality enjoyed various degrees of autonomy until being annexed by Imperial Russia in 1829 . Early history . Since the 13th century , Guria , one of the provinces of the Kingdom of Georgia , was administered by hereditary governors ( eristavi ) from the House of Vardanisdze to which the Georgian crown attached the title of Gurieli ( " of Guria " ) c . 1362 . In the 1460s , when the power of the Bagrationi Dynasty of Georgia was on the decline , the Vardanisdze - Gurieli dynasty joined a rebellion of the great nobles of western Georgia , led by a royal kinsman , Bagrat , who refused to accept the authority of King George VIII of Georgia . In 1463 , Bagrat and his allies met and defeated the king at the Battle of Chikhori . As a result , George VIII lost all the western provinces , and Bagrat was crowned king of Imereti , i . e . , western Georgia . However , in return for their aid , the new monarch was obliged to create a vassal principality ( samtavro ) for each of his major allies , including the Gurieli family which became semi - independent rulers of Guria with their seat at Ozurgeti In 1491 , Giorgi I Gurieli ( 1483 – 1512 ) was recognized as a sovereign prince . From this time on , the Gurieli also invested local bishops at Shemokmedi , Jumati , and Khinotsminda , nominally under the spiritual superintendence of the Georgian Orthodox Catholicos of Abkhazia . The polities of western Georgia fought one another for supremacy , particularly the Gurieli of Guria and Dadiani of Mingrelia . They forged a temporary alliance and organized , in January 1533 , an ultimately disastrous expedition against the piratical tribe of Zygii in the north of Abkhazia . This setback enabled the king of Imereti to reassert his hegemony over Guria , but for a short time . Under the Ottoman Empire . From the mid - 16th century , the princes of Guria enjoyed a de facto independence from Imereti , but faced much more serious threat from its newly emerged southern neighbor , the Ottoman Empire , which imposed , in the 1540s , a naval blockade of Guria and annexed its southern provinces of Adjara , Northern Chaneti ( latter - day Lazistan ) , and Machakheli , which had earlier been acquired by Rostom Gurieli ( 1534 – 64 ) . The situation became even more precarious after the allied army of Georgian dynasts suffered a defeat at the Battle of Sokhoista . Mamia II Gurieli ( 1600 – 1625 ) managed to reconquer Adjara in 1609 , but was eventually forced to renounce , on December 13 , 1614 , any claims to the region and pay annual tribute to the Sublime Porte . The incessant feudal wars in western Georgia resulted in the decline of Guria , which eventually succumbed to the vassalage of the neighboring principality of Mingrelia . Yet , several princes of Guria , most notably Giorgi III Gurieli ( 1669 – 84 ) , and Mamia III Gurieli ( 1689 – 1714 ) , managed to occasionally attain to the crown of Mingrelia and even of Imereti . The princely vassals of the Gurieli included the houses of Gugunava , Machutadze , Maksimenishvili , Nakashidze , Tavdgiridze , Shalikashvili , Zedginidze , and Eristavi - Shervashidze . During the early 18th century , Guria faced an increasing political and economic downfall due to the Ottoman encroachments as well as repeated occasions of civil strife . Attempts by the Gurian princes to enter into alliances with other Georgian rulers and Russia resulted in a series of Turkish punitive raids . By 1723 , the Gurieli had lost Batumi and Chakvi to the Ottomans and the whole coastline of Guria had been garrisoned by the Turks . The Gurian support to the Russians during the Russo - Turkish War ( 1768 – 1774 ) caused a severe reaction from the Ottoman government . Kobuleti and the surrounding area were detached from Guria and subjected to Islamization , an apostasy being the surest way to escape slavery . The rest of Christian population had to move to safer regions of Georgia . This , combined with extensive slave trade and Turkish inroads , resulted in a virtual depopulation of several areas of Guria towards the late 18th century . The population of Guria was estimated by Güldenstädt at 5 , 000 , and by Reineggs at 6 , 000 families in the 1770s . Under Imperial Russia . The latter - day princes of Guria firmly chose a pro - Russian orientation . During the Russo - Turkish War ( 1806 – 1812 ) , on June 19 , 1810 , Mamia V Gurieli ( 1803 – 26 ) accepted Russian suzerainty , receiving insignia of investiture from the Tsar . Guria joined the empire as an autonomous principality , retaining its self - governance and a local code . Very desirous of adopting European customs and habits , Mamia initiated a series of reforms and modernized administration , economy , and education . He remained loyal to the Russian crown even in 1820 , when his uncle , Kaikhosro , joined the rebellion in Imereti and Guria , which broke out spontaneously in protest to the Russian mistreatment of Georgian church and heavy taxation . When Mamia died on October 26 , 1826 , his underage son , David succeeded him on the throne under the regency of Princess Dowager Sophia . Anxious to secure her autonomy from the Russian government , she sided with the Turks during the Russo - Turkish War ( 1828 – 1829 ) . On September 2 , 1829 , the Russian authorities deposed David and forced Sophia into exile to Turkey . Guria was annexed to the Russian Empire , first under a provisional governance , and then , in 1840 , as the Ozurgeti uyezd within the Kutais Governorate .