Darejan Dadiani (Georgian: დარეჯანი), also known as Daria (Georgian: დარია; Russian: Дарья Георгиевна, romanized: Darya Georgyevna; 20 July 1734 – 8 November 1807), was Queen Consort of Kakheti, and later Kartli-Kakheti in Eastern Georgia, as the third wife of King Heraclius II of Georgia. She was a daughter of Katsia-Giorgi Dadiani, a member of the princely house of Mingrelia. Darajan married Heraclius in 1750 and their marriage lasted 48 years until his death in 1798; the marriage produced 23 children. In the final years of her husband's reign, Darejan exerted significant influence on politics and court affairs. She was skeptical of the pro-Russian policies of Heraclius II and his successor, her step-son, George XII, whose progeny she tried to prevent from succeeding to the throne of Georgia. After the Russian annexation of Georgia, Queen Dowager Darejan was deported to Russia proper in 1803. She died in Saint Petersburg at the age of 73 and was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
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Early life and marriage
Darejan was born on 20 July 1734. She was a daughter of Prince Katsia-Giorgi Dadiani, a younger son of Bezhan Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia in western Georgia. She was 16 years old in 1750, when Heraclius, then reigning in Kakheti, chose her as his third wife, a year after his second wife, Princess Anna Abashidze, died. The marriage was negotiated on Heraclius's behalf by his relative, Princess Khoreshan Bagrationi (1705-1790), daughter of the late Jesse, King of Kartli and wife of Prince Jesse Amilakhvari (1688-1787). The bride was brought by Khoreshan and Saba, Bishop of Ninotsminda, to Surami, where Heraclius met her. The wedding was then lavishly celebrated at the court of Heraclius's father, Teimuraz II, King of Kartli, in Tbilisi. In 1762, Heraclius of Kakheti succeeded on his father's death as king of Kartli, thus uniting both eastern Georgian kingdoms into a single state.