George III of Guria

George III Gurieli (; 1652–1684), of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1664 to 1684 and King of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He was energetically involved in civil wars in western Georgian polities, which he sought to bring under his sway. He was killed in battle while trying to recover the lost throne of Imereti.

Biography Born in 1652, George was the eldest son of Kaikhosro I Gurieli and his wife, Khvaramze Goshadze. After the assassination of his father, George and his brother Malakia fled to the protection of the Ottoman pasha of Akhaltsikhe, whose help he exploiting in securing the princely throne of Guria after the overthrown of Demetrius Gurieli in 1664 (or 1668). According to the 18th-century Georgian historian Prince Vakhushti George was "powerful, brave, superb warrior, godless, bloodthirsty, and a merciless slave-trader". He successfully fought the piratical Abkhaz who raided the coast of Guria on more than one occasion.

Conflicts in Imereti and Mingrelia In 1672, George, with an extravagant bribe, bought the pasha's support against King Bagrat V of Imereti, with an eye on the king's beautiful wife Tamar, whom Gurieli admired as claimed by Prince Vakhushti. Bagrat was defeated by the allies at Kutaisi and made a prisoner, but released after the pasha extracted a greater bribe from him and became convinced that taking the fortress of Kvara—where Tamar had taken refuge—was a futile endeavor. Bagrat promptly avenged Gurieli, attacking and looting Guria that same year. Eventually, the two men reconciled; George married Bagrat's daughter Darejan in 1674 and offered him a shelter when Bagrat was deposed in favor of Archil II, son of Vakhtang V of Kartli, in 1678. to her previous husband Levan III Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia. Gurieli invoked his ties with the Ottoman government; the pasha of Erzurum arrived with troops and helped Bagrat reclaim his crown and wife in 1679. The defeated Dadiani managed to retain his principality at the expense of surrendering his only heir Manuchar as a hostage to George Gurieli. On Levan's death in 1680, Gurieli's claim to Dadiani's succession was rejected by the Mingrelians. George then executed Manuchar and attempted to seize Mingrelia by force, but failed.

All of George's children were born of his first marriage to Princess Tamar Chijavadze: Kaikhosro II Gurieli (1670–1689), Prince of Guria ; Mamia III Gurieli (died 1714), Prince of Guria and King of Imereti (1701, 1711–1712, 1713–1714); A daughter, who married Simon of Imereti in 1698; A daughter, who married Manuchar, son of Levan III Dadiani.