Vakhtang of Imereti

Vakhtang Tchutchunashvili (Georgian: ვახტანგ ჭუჭუნაშვილი) (died 1668) was a Georgian nobleman who ruled the crown of Imereti, western Georgia, in the years of 1660–1661 and 1668.

Biography

In 1660, the Queen Dowager Darejan, the widow of Alexander III of Imereti, deposed and blinded her stepson, the legitimate king Bagrat V. Darejan then married Tchutchunashvili, a petty Georgian noble who claimed to be of Bagration descent, whom she installed as king of Imereti. Deposed by Prince Vameq III Dadiani of Mingrelia and other nobles with Ottoman support, Darejan and Vakhtang fled to Akhaltsikhe, in the Ottoman-held Georgian province. Tchutchunashvili was restored by the pasha of Akhaltsikhe in 1668. According to various accounts, he was murdered with his wife Darejan at the palace of Kutaisi.