House of Shervashidze

The Shervashidze, called Chachba in Abkhaz, were the princely family that ruled Abkhazia from the late Middle Ages until 1864. Originally governors under the Georgian kings and the Dadiani of Mingrelia, they became independent princes as Georgia broke up, and many converted to Islam under Ottoman influence. Keleshbey Chachba strengthened their rule around 1800, and Russia ended it by deposing the last prince, Mikhail, in 1864.