Sefer Ali-Bey Shervashidze

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Sefer Ali-Bey Shervashidze (also known by the Christian name of Giorgi Shervashidze) was a prince of the Principality of Abkhazia from 1810-21. He was the youngest son of Kelesh Ahmed-Bey Shervashidze. After Sefer Ali-Bey’s brother, Aslan-Bey, killed his father to take over the throne of Abkhazia, Sefer Ali-Bey was forced to hide out in neighboring Mingrelia under the protection of the Mingrelian Princes. 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 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.

References

• Georgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia. 1983. Book 10. p. 689.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Sunday February 24, 2008 at 07:58:47 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation