Levan grew up in
Kakheti under his grandfather King
Alexander II, but at the age of fourteen became prince of Mingrelia when his father
Manuchar I fell from a horse and died while hunting. Initially, Levan ruled under the regency of his uncle,
Giorgi I Lipartiani. In the 1620s, Levan allied with the
Principality of Abkhazia and
Principality of Guria against
George III of
Imeretia after George's son
Alexander accused his wife Tamar of adultery and divorced her, sending her back to her father,
Mamia II Gurieli. The alliance was further cemented when Levan's sister
Mariam married Mamia's son
Simon and Levan married
Seteman Sharvashidze's daughter Tamunia. However, the alliance was shattered when Levan accused Tamunia of adultery, cut off her ears and nose and cast her from Mingrelia. He then invaded and looted
Abkhazia, poisoned his two sons by Tamunia, then abducted and married Darejan Chiladze, the wife of his uncle and former regent, Giorgi I Lipartiani. He then repeatedly raided Imeretia and Abkhazia, confiscating livestock. While a common practice amongst the
Mongols and
Seljuks, Levan was the first to in the
Caucausus to extensively take hostages for ransom, making raiding a profitable venture. When
Simon murdered his father and ascended to the
Gurian throne in 1625, Levan demanded his sister back. Instead, Simon released Levan Dadiani's disgraced vizier Paata "Tsutski" Tsulukidze, who had been handed by Dadiani to Mamia Gurieli for custody. Tsulukidze and Gurieli plotted Levan's murder, but Dadiani survived their
Abkhaz assassin and had Tsulukidze
strangled and quartered, firing the remains from a cannon. Thereafter, he exploited the patricide committed by Simon as a
casus belli and invaded Guria. Simon resisted, but was defeated at
Lanchkhuti and taken prisoner. Levan had him blinded and replaced with
Kaikhosro I Gurieli, the son of
Vakhtang I Gurieli. Simon's wife and son were taken to Mingrelia. Levan allied with Sultan
Murad IV of the
Ottoman Empire trading Turkish cavalry for smelted iron, slaves and wool. In 1633, he allied to
Rostom of Kartli, who married his sister
Mariam. The alliance pleased the
Persian shah
Safi, who sent 1.5 tons of silver as a wedding present.
George III of Imereti attempted to intercept Levan on his way to the marriage, but was defeated and taken prisoner. In 1646 he destroyed the walls of
Kutaisi with cannon fire and plundered the country. He blinded
Prince Mamuka of Imereti, who had been planned as the future king to unite Georgia, for resisting his actions. This prompted
King Rostom of Kartli to solemnly curse him. George III's successor,
Alexander III took an oath of fealty to Tsar
Alexis of Russia in hopes of ending Levan's devastation. However the Russian were still too far from South Caucasus and this move had virtually no effect on the course of events. Throughout Levan's forty-six year reign he was known for practicing various forms of barbarity, mutilation and torture. He normalized the practice of holding prisoners for ransom, making war more profitable among warlords in western Georgia. He also encouraged commerce from foreign merchants and was known as a competent administrator. He spurred the practice of goldsmithing and used large amounts of wealth for the decoration of churches and monuments. In March 1657, while despairing over his remaining son's corpse, he struck himself with a staff and dropped dead. He would be succeeded by his nephew
Liparit III. == Marriages and issue ==