Accession and early reign In 1758, upon the death of his father, Katsia succeeded him as
Prince of
Mingrelia under the name Katsia II Dadiani. He inherited a principality precariously situated between the crown of
Imereti, which he formally recognized as his suzerain, and the
Ottoman Empire, which controlled the coastline of the
Black Sea. Despite the royal edict of 1757, the trade of Mingrelian slaves to
Trebizond and
Constantinople remained particularly active. At the same time, Katsia II demonstrated his independence by nationalizing the cultivation of tobacco in the provinces of
Tsalenjikha and Djgali, which had previously been under Ottoman monopoly. The continual unrest within and around Mingrelia forced Dadiani to move his court frequently from village to village. During these displacements, he developed close relations with the peasantry of his principality, often accepting their hospitality personally. , King of
Imereti King
Solomon I, viewing the victory at Khresili as an opportunity to consolidate his power, convened on 4 December 1759 a legislative assembly in
Kutaisi composed of the leading noble and ecclesiastical figures of western Georgia, attended by Katsia II and the major nobles of Mingrelia. Over the course of a month, the assembly enacted numerous socio-economic and religious reforms, reorganizing the
Catholicate of Abkhazia as an executive branch of the royal government, re-establishing the Eparchy of Kutaisi (under direct royal control), and exempting the Church from taxation. The most significant reform adopted by the assembly was an agreement between the king, Katsia II, and Prince
Mamia IV of Guria to prohibit the slave trade throughout western Georgia. On 5 December, Katsia II formally recognized Solomon I before the assembly as the “undisputed sovereign” of all western Georgia. Following the Assembly of 1759, Katsia II pursued a policy of conciliation with the other Georgian monarchs—a rare instance of
South Caucasian unity after centuries of internal conflict. In 1760, he joined Solomon I and Duke Rostom of
Racha in providing a 15,000-man contingent to assist King
Heraclius II of Kartli-Kakheti in his invasion of
Ganja. In November 1765, Katsia divorced the
Abkhazian noblewoman Darejan
Sharvashidze to marry Princess Elisabeth, sister of Heraclius II, thereby strengthening this intra-Georgian alliance.
Conflict with Solomon I The alliance between the Georgian rulers changed in 1765, when an
Ottoman army of 40,000 soldiers invaded western
Imereti, overthrew the Prince of
Guria despite Katsia's military intervention, and threatened
Mingrelia. To prevent the devastation of his principality, Dadiani allowed the Ottomans to encamp in Mingrelia during the winter, from where they prepared for a full invasion of Imereti. In the spring of 1766, the Turks, under the command of General Hasan Pasha, entered the kingdom with the support of Mingrelia and captured the citadel of Sveri. Within weeks, they reached the capital,
Kutaisi, deposed King
Solomon, and proclaimed his cousin
Teimuraz as King of Imereti. After the Ottoman withdrawal, Katsia Dadiani,
George V of Guria, and Rostom of
Racha continued to support Teimuraz. The alliance between Mingrelia and the
Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti soon collapsed following the death of Elizabeth Orbeliani, after which Katsia refused to return her “very rich dowry.” Despite his deposition, Solomon remained in Imereti, waging a fierce guerrilla campaign against the usurper with the aid of
Lezgin mercenaries. In 1767, the dethroned king regained his crown, and thanks to the intervention of
Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire refrained from aiding Teimuraz. On 28 January 1768, Katsia Dadiani, Teimuraz, and Rostom of Racha were defeated by Solomon and his army of Lezgins at the battle of Chkheri. Upon regaining power, Solomon attacked the
Duchy of Racha in 1769. Fearing that the next royal campaign would target
Lechkhumi—a Mingrelian county bordering Racha—Katsia supported Duke Rostom with an Abkhazian detachment. Rostom, however, was defeated and took refuge in Mingrelia, while his duchy was officially annexed to the Kingdom of Imereti. The king continued consolidating his authority, expanding the influence of his allied clans, which alarmed Katsia. In 1769, Dadiani renounced the 1759 pact that had recognized Solomon's sovereignty, to which the king responded by officially abolishing the Principality of Mingrelia—though this remained only
de jure. This political dispute soon escalated into open warfare. The chronicler Iovane Khojevani provides detailed accounts of Katsia II's raids across the Imeretian frontier, particularly around
Khoni. Prince
Archil, the king's brother, led royal forces against Dadiani in 1769–1770, employing Lezgin mercenaries. In 1770, he ravaged the village of Kvitiri near
Kutaisi, while the capital itself was repeatedly evacuated in fear of Mingrelian assaults. Katsia II only ceased his raids temporarily when faced with the threat of an Imeretian invasion of Mingrelia. During this period, Ottoman influence grew significantly among the regional nobility.
Western Georgia in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The conflict between Katsia II and
Solomon I unfolded within a much broader geopolitical context. In 1768, war broke out between
Russian Empire and the
Ottoman Empire, making
Georgia one of the fronts of the confrontation. Following the example of his eastern neighbor
Heraclius II, Solomon allied himself with Orthodox Russia against the Muslim enemy, while Katsia, in opposition to the central authority, became a natural ally of the Turks. Russian plans for an early intervention in Imereti were abandoned due to Katsia's raids. On 3 October 1769, Russo-Imeretian troops laid siege to the citadel of
Shorapani, a Turkish stronghold in the heart of Imereti. In response, Suleiman
Pasha of Akhaltsikhe gathered Katsia, Manuchar II
Sharvashidze, Prince of
Abkhazia, and forces from
Trebizond to launch a joint invasion of the small kingdom. Solomon was forced to abandon the siege and, on 20 December, engaged Katsia's 9,000 troops, defeating them and ordering pursuit of the Mingrelians. The king ravaged Mingrelia and temporarily captured Katsia. In early 1770, Heraclius II sent his son
George and Catholicos
Anton I to western Georgia to reconcile Dadiani and Solomon and unite them against the Turks, securing a fragile truce. Nevertheless, Katsia refused to assist the Georgians at the
Battle of Aspindza on 20 April. Following Heraclius II's victory at Aspindza, he sent Katsia II a gold and silver sword as both a symbol of triumph and a warning against any pro-Ottoman sympathies in Mingrelia. After the Russian general
Tottleben returned to Georgia in March 1770, Katsia sent an emissary to his base at
Tskhinvali to pledge allegiance to Empress
Catherine II. Together, Russian and Mingrelian forces expelled the Turks from Rukhi and
Anaklia. Tottleben then acted as mediator between Katsia and Solomon; the latter agreed to the alliance only in exchange for an increase in Russian troops stationed in Imereti. Relations between Tottleben and Solomon broke down on 3 October, when the Russian general decided to besiege the port city of
Poti against the king's advice. Tottleben encouraged a renewal of hostilities between Mingrelia and Imereti, and, with the help of Mingrelian, Abkhazian, and Gurian forces, he began the siege of Poti later that month. The operation proved a strategic mistake. Despite Solomon's efforts to resist Ottoman reinforcements, the region's estuaries created harsh conditions; Russian soldiers complained of Katsia II's lack of commitment, and on 1 February 1771, Tottleben learned of the treason of the new Abkhazian prince
Zurab Sharvashidze, forcing him to withdraw his troops. The Poti debacle and Tottleben's encouragement of Katsia's rebellion led the Russian government to recall the general. Negotiations between Katsia II and Solomon soon began in the village of Matkhodji under the mediation of Catholicos Joseph of Abkhazia. During these talks, the king demanded recognition of his suzerainty and the province of
Lechkhumi. However, the negotiations, which lasted until 1773, were fruitless. Mingrelia subsequently joined Russian forces under General Nikolai Sukhotin, Tottleben's successor, when he resumed the siege of Poti in April 1771. Half of the Russian army perished from malaria, and Sukhotin withdrew from western Georgia in October, accusing Katsia of insufficient support. In 1772, the Turks launched another invasion of Imereti, supported by Prince Kaikhosro
Abashidze, while Dadiani remained neutral. In 1773, responding to a political and military alliance between Imereti and Kartli-Kakheti, Katsia Dadiani and Zurab of Abkhazia allied with the Pasha of Akhaltsikhe. That same year, Catholicos Joseph's mediation was replaced by the direct intervention of Heraclius II between Imereti and Mingrelia. The negotiations failed, and Solomon led his army against Katsia, who prepared his cavalry to resist the Imeretian invasion. Russian Captain Yazikov, then in Georgia to investigate Tottleben's conduct, described the situation as follows: “If I had not warned Solomon in the name of the emperor, he would have destroyed Dadiani, for Solomon is now stronger and all of Imereti is in his hands.” In January 1774, Suleiman of Akhaltsikhe assembled 3,700 men for a final invasion of Imereti, requesting Katsia II's assistance. Solomon urgently appealed to Heraclius for help in threatening the Mingrelian prince. Heraclius II mobilized his army, forcing Katsia to remain out of the conflict, and Solomon inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans at the
Battle of Chkheri. The events of January 1774 brought Katsia back to the Georgian side. However, Heraclius II's failed embassy to Russia, which sought permanent military support, prevented a joint offensive by Kartli-Kakheti, Imereti, and Mingrelia into Anatolia. The
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed on 21 July 1774, ended the Russo-Turkish War. Article XXIII of the treaty freed Mingrelia from any threat of Ottoman annexation while making the region a
de jure protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty also granted the Ottomans the right to return to the citadels of Rukhi and Anaklia, though this right was never exercised.
Return under Imeretian Influence and Battle of Rukhi The end of the
Russo-Turkish War strengthened the position of
Solomon I, who prioritized the reunification of western Georgia. In 1774, Katsia II met with Catholicos Joseph of Abkhazia — a gesture symbolizing recognition of the latter's religious supremacy for the first time since 1769. Solomon I annulled his 1769 decree abolishing the
Principality of Mingrelia, opening the way for negotiations. The two leaders met in
Khoni, but Katsia, fearing Solomon's centralizing ambitions, failed to reach an agreement with the king. In 1776, war broke out between Imereti and Mingrelia. Solomon invaded the principality and captured the citadel of Gordi. He defeated Lord Paghaveli and broke through Dadiani's defensive lines, forcing Katsia to accept a peace agreement that made Solomon the suzerain of Mingrelia. The
Sublime Porte, dissatisfied with its declining influence in western Georgia, devised a new plan to invade Imereti, this time seeking support from
Circassian tribes and
Abkhazian princes. Abkhazia at this time was divided among several members of the
Sharvashidze family, the eldest of whom,
Zurab, was officially supported by Katsia II in his control over the central part of the region. However, the Ottomans enlisted
Kelesh Ahmed-Bey Sharvashidze, Zurab's nephew, to lead an anti-Mingrelian revolt. The power of Kelesh Ahmed Bey compelled both Zurab and Levan Sharvashidze, Count of
Samurzakano and a long-standing ally of the Dadiani, to join the Ottoman cause. The Abkhazians were soon joined by tribes from Jiketi,
Ossetia, and Circassia, as well as Şahin Giray, Khan of Crimea. The Abkhazian uprising resulted in the loss of all Mingrelian influence over Samurzakano in 1779 and threatened the destruction of the remainder of Mingrelia. In 1780, Dadiani appealed to Solomon I for assistance, who agreed in exchange for a renewed oath of allegiance. By March, Abkhazian forces reached the banks of the
Enguri River, the natural border between Abkhazia and Mingrelia, while Solomon arrived with Imeretian and
Gurian troops. Solomon's intervention was carefully calculated: not only did it force Mingrelia once again to acknowledge Imereti's suzerainty, but it also prevented an Ottoman invasion of Imereti that would have followed the conquest of Mingrelia. Solomon, Katsia, and
George V of Guria met in
Bandza and advanced together toward the citadel of Rukhi to form a defensive line. The
Battle of Rukhi, fought in March 1780, is described in detail by the royal chronicler
Besiki Gabashvili, who witnessed the conflict and praised the heroism of Solomon, Katsia, and George Dadiani, the prince's son. Niko Dadiani, historian of the Principality of Mingrelia, refers to it as a “bloody battle” that ended in a decisive Georgian victory. Solomon commanded the allied left flank, while Katsia led the remaining forces. The Abkhaz-Circassian troops, armed with Ottoman muskets and supported by a fierce cavalry, were defeated, and many were taken prisoner. The Battle of Rukhi effectively ended Ottoman ambitions in Mingrelia until the
Crimean War. == Last years ==