Sefer Ali-Bey Shervashidze (also known by the

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

of Giorgi Shervashidze) was a prince of the Principality of Abkhazia in 1810–21. He was the youngest son of Kelesh Ahmed-Bey Shervashidze. After Kelesh Ahmed-bey was killed by his heir, Aslan-Bey (or, according to George Hewitt by Sefer-bey himself, together with Nino Dadiani and the Russian military administration), Sefer Ali-Bey was forced to hide out in neighboring

Mingrelia Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelian ...

under the protection of the Mingrelian princess regent Nino. With the help of the Mingrelian nobility, Sefer Ali-Bey tried unsuccessfully, to usurp the throne of Abkhazia. In 1809, Shervashidze asked the Tsarist Russian Empire to take Abkhazia under its protection, with the condition that Ali-Bey be established as the new ruler of the Principality. After decisive Russian victories during the

Second Russo-Turkish War The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

, the Russian forces were able to expel pro-Turkish Abkhazians as well as the remaining Turkish forces from the region. Tsar Alexander I established Sefer Ali-Bey Shervashidze as the new ruler of Abkhazia on 17 February 1810. He died in 1821 and was buried at the Lykhny Church.

References

* ''Georgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia.'' 1983. Book 10. p. 689. Year of birth missing 1821 deaths Abkhazian former Muslims Princes of Abkhazia Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Islam House of Shervashidze {{abkhazia-bio-stub