Darejan Dadiani, also known as Darya, was born on 20 July 1738. She was a daughter of Katsia-Giorgi Dadiani, a younger son of Bezhan Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia (Western Georgia).
When she was 12 years old, Heraclius (then reigning in Kakheti) chose her as his third wife, one year after the death of his second wife. The wedding was lavishly celebrated at the court of the groom's father, Teimuraz II, King of Kartli, in Tbilisi. In 1762, Heraclius of Kakheti succeeded his father as King of Kartli, thus uniting both eastern Georgian kingdoms in one state.
Between 1753 and 1782, Darejan had 23 children! She desired to secure the right of succession for her offspring against her husband's eldest living son of his second marriage, George, so she became involved in Georgian politics. During the last years of Heraclius' life, she became more involved and influential. In 1791, Darejan persuaded her husband to overturn the principle of primogeniture in favour of fraternal inheritance. Therefore, her sons would succeed Heraclius' son on the throne. When George ascended to the throne after his father's death, he overturned the will of the late King and declared it invalid on account of it being forced upon his father. This led to a further breakdown between George, his half-brothers and Darejan.
Relations with Russia were another conflicting issue between Darejan and her step-son. She was sceptical of Georgia's rapprochement with Russia especially after the Russians, bound by the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk to protect Georgia from external threat, left the Georgians to their own devices in the face of an invasion from Iran in 1795. She thought that the relationship with Russia brought no benefits to Georgia. The relations in the royal family hit rock bottom in July 1800, when George forced Darejan into confinement.
After George's death in December 1800, the Russian general Ivan Lazarev forbade the nomination of any heir to the throne. In 1801, Darejan applied to the tsar Alexander I to confirm her eldest son as he new King. However, the Russian government proceeded with the annexation of the Georgian kingdom and bringing the millennium of Bagratid rule in Georgia to an end. Darejan and her sons withdrew into opposition to the new regime. Eventually, the tsar ordered the deportation of all members of the royal family and resettled them in Russia.
Darejan, known to the Russians as Darya Georgyevna, settled in Saint Petersburg. She died there, on a rented house, on 8 November 1807, at the age of 69.
Relations with Russia were another conflicting issue between Darejan and her step-son. She was sceptical of Georgia's rapprochement with Russia especially after the Russians, bound by the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk to protect Georgia from external threat, left the Georgians to their own devices in the face of an invasion from Iran in 1795. She thought that the relationship with Russia brought no benefits to Georgia. The relations in the royal family hit rock bottom in July 1800, when George forced Darejan into confinement.
After George's death in December 1800, the Russian general Ivan Lazarev forbade the nomination of any heir to the throne. In 1801, Darejan applied to the tsar Alexander I to confirm her eldest son as he new King. However, the Russian government proceeded with the annexation of the Georgian kingdom and bringing the millennium of Bagratid rule in Georgia to an end. Darejan and her sons withdrew into opposition to the new regime. Eventually, the tsar ordered the deportation of all members of the royal family and resettled them in Russia.
Darejan, known to the Russians as Darya Georgyevna, settled in Saint Petersburg. She died there, on a rented house, on 8 November 1807, at the age of 69.
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| Darejan Dadiani (18th century) |
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