Tamar of Mukhrani

Tamar (; died 1683) was a Georgian princess of the House of Mukhrani who was married, successively, to three sovereigns of western Georgia—Levan III Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, then King Bagrat V of Imereti, and finally, Giorgi III Gurieli, Prince of Guria. Tamar's marriages were part of political intrigues and accompanying wife swaps characteristic for the Georgian history of that century. Family background and first marriage Tamar was a daughter of Constantine I, Prince of Mukhrani, by her wife Darejan, daughter of Prince Ghuana Abashidze. She was, thus, a brotherly niece of Vakhtang V Shah-Nawaz, King of Kartli in eastern Georgia. Both eyewitnesses, such as the French traveler Jean Chardin, and historians, such as the 18th-century royal Prince Vakhushti, characterize Tamar as being exceptionally beautiful as well as passionate and seductive. Tamar's first marriage was occasioned by a military campaign of her uncle, Vakhtang V, into the western Georgian polities in the course of which, in 1661, he replaced King Bagrat V of Imereti with his own son, Archil, and Vameq III Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, with his protégé, Levan III Dadiani. Levan was given Tamar in marriage, but the couple became soon estranged from each other. Although Levan was in love with his wife, neither him nor Tamar was faithful. Second marriage The union was terminated after Levan's adventurous attack on Bagrat V upon his restoration in Imereti, in 1663, ended in disaster. Levan was captured and imprisoned in the Imeretian capital of Kutaisi. Bagrat V, who had earlier been blinded by his imperious stepmother Darejan, was married to Tamar's elder sister Tatia. A chain of intrigues ensued. The Imeretian courtiers induced Bagrat's sister, Tinatin, to seduce and marry the captive Mingrelian prince Levan, while Bagrat was convinced to discard Tatia and marry her more beautiful sister, Tamar. Simon, Catholicos of the Imeretian church, granted two divorces on the same day. Levan was set free, but he was still in love with Tamar and his enmity with Bagrat perpetuated. In 1678, Vakhtang's son Archil again expelled Bagrat from Kutaisi, forcing Tamar into flight to the Skande castle where she was captured and sent back to Levan in Mingrelia. Next year, Bagrat reconquered Imereti with the Ottoman troops, then raided Mingrelia and retook his wife. Despite this, Bagrat had to tolerate Tamar's adultery.