Although the surname is given in a standard Georgian form (particularly, the typical –dze suffix meaning "a son"), in the 12th century the family is said to have derived its original name from Shirvanshahs, a dynasty of Shirvan. According to the medieval The Georgian Chronicles, the Shirvanese princes were granted the possessions in the province of Abkhazia after David IV, one of Georgia's greatest kings, extended his kingdom to Shirvan in 1124.[citation needed]
Anchabadze disputes this genealogy and argues that Sharvashidze was a local dynasty (they had another purely Abkhazian name Chachba or Çaçba) that had invented a foreign ancestry which is not unusual in feudal genealogies.
The first representative of the dynasty assumed the princely powers under the authority of the Georgian kings circa 1325. It was not, however, until the final decomposition of the unified Georgian feudal state in the late 15th century, when the Abkhazian princes obtained their full independence, only to soon become vassals of the Ottoman Empire.
Signature of Giorgi Sharvashidze in Georgian language, Prince of Principality of Abkhazia
In the late 18th century, the Sharvashidze princes embraced Islam, but shifted back and forth across the religious divide, as the Russians and Ottomans struggled for controlling the area. The pro-Russian orientation prevailed, and Abkhazia joined Imperial Russia in 1810 while the Sharvashidzes (Russian: Шарвашидзе) were confirmed in the Russian princely rank in accordance with the Russo-Georgian Treaty of Georgievsk.
According to Nikoloz Sharvashidze (Head of the House of Sharvashidze) the elder descendants of the Aslan-Bey branch of the family live in Georgia, while the junior branch is said to have gone extinct in Turkey. Nikoloz is currently a student at the University of Texas at Austin in the McCombs School of Business and as such resides in Austin, Texas.
The House of Inal-Ipa
Coat of arms of the House of Inal-Ipa, a cadet branch of the Shervashidze dynasty that separated in the early 18th century
The Inal-Ipa family is a prominent princely cadet branch of the House of Shervashidze. Following an internal division of lands in the early 18th century, the descendants of Prince Inal, the youngest son of the Abkhazian ruler Dgeshia Shervashidze, adopted the patronymic surname Inal-Ipa (literally "sons of Inal") to distinguish their unique lineage. Over the generations, the two families maintained deep territorial and political alliances solidified through high-profile strategic marriages; notably, the sovereign Ruler of Abkhazia, Kelesh-bey Shervashidze, married Afiza-khanum of the Inal-Ipa as his fourth wife, while Prince Levan Shervashidze of Samurzakan later married Princess Mariam Inal-Ipa. Throughout their history, the Inal-Ipa branch was cataloged among the highest tier of the regional noble peerage (atawad), operating alongside families like the Anchabadze and Emukhvari within the direct paternal cluster and administrative domain of the Shervashidze princes. Following the annexation of the Caucasus, the Russian Empire formally integrated the Inal-Ipa house into its imperial aristocracy, officially validating their ancient status. By decree of the Russian Imperial Senate, the family was formally recognized and confirmed in the hereditary title of Prince (Knyaz), the highest non-royal noble tier within the empire. To preserve their unique ancestry, the Heraldry Department recorded their exact hyphenated name configuation (Inal-Ipa) and registered them directly into the state's titled nobility rolls.
The House of Dzapsh-Ipa
Coat of arms of the House of Dzapsh-Ipa, a cadet branch of the Shervashidze family
According to family lineage and Abkhazian history, the House of Dzapsh-Ipa is also considered a cadet branch of the ruling House of Chachba (Shervashidze). During the mid-18th century, when the Ottoman Empire exiled the ruling Abkhazian prince Manuchar Chachba and his brothers, the Dzapsh-Ipa family heavily strengthened their position. They seized control of the coastline of Central Abkhazia, surrounding Sukhum, and took over local administration and revenues. When the Chachba family returned from exile, they found the Dzapsh-Ipa clan too powerful to defeat militarily. To maintain peace and secure their alliance, Prince Zurab Chachba married his nephew, the future ruler Kelesh Ahmed-Bey Shervashidze, to a Dzapsh-Ipa princess. Backed by the influential Dzapsh-Ipa family, they successfully launched a popular uprising in 1771 to expel the Turks from Sukhum. The family remained deeply intertwined with the region's elite. Princess Mariam Dzapsh-Ipa was the first wife of Kelesh Ahmed-Bey, making her the mother of Aslan-Bey Shervashidze, who ruled the Principality of Abkhazia in the early 19th century. However, the family's immense influence waned over time due to conflicts with the supreme rulers. Historical letters note that the absolute authority of the ruling Chachba house eventually dismantled the Dzapsh-Ipa family's power base after punishing members who defied the central ruler. During the 19th-century forced displacement of Caucasian Muslims to the Ottoman Empire, members of the family relocated to modern-day Turkey.
While a significant portion of the clan chose migration or were exiled to the Ottoman Empire during the Muhajirism (like Esma Dzapsh-Ipa), other branches of the family remained in the Caucasus, submitted to Russian imperial rule, and successfully integrated into the Russian nobility. • The family was legally confirmed as part of the Russian aristocracy under the category of princely houses originating from the independent Caucasian principalities. They held the official title of Knyaz. In official Russian imperial rosters and genealogical registers (as well as the Russian Nobility Association records), they are explicitly listed as an authenticated Abkhazian princely family (sometimes noted alongside their Georgian-variant name, Zepishvili).
Gravestone of the last ruler of principality of Abkhazia Mikheil Sharvashidze (Khamut-Bay) in Georgian language, in Georgian alphabet made by son of Mikheil Sharvashidze - Giorgi Sharvashidze
↑The Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Moscow, Russia: 1994. Думин С. В., Гребельский П. Х. Дворянские роды Российской Империи. — Москва, 1994 p. 265
↑(in Russian) Stanislav Vladimirovich Dumin. Pyotr Grebelsky. The Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Moscow, Russia: 1994. Думин С. В., Гребельский П. Х. Дворянские роды Российской Империи. — Москва, 1994
12Derluguian, Georgi M. (1998). Crawford, Beverly; Lipschutz, Ronnie D. (eds.). The Myth of "ethnic Conflict": Politics, Economics, and "cultural" Violence. International and Area Studies, University of California at Berkeley. p.264. ISBN9780877251989.
↑Dumin, Stanislav V.; Chikovani, Yuri K. (1998). Dvorianskie rody Rossiyskoy imperii. Tom 4: Kniazya Tsarstva Gruzinskogo (Noble Families of the Russian Empire. Volume 4: Princes of the Kingdom of Georgia) (in Russian). Moscow: Likominvest.
↑Lakoba, Stanislav (1999). "Abkhazia: History, 18th Century–1917". In Hewitt, George (ed.). The Abkhazians: A Handbook. Richmond, Surrey: The Curzon Press – via Abkhaz World.
(in English)Georgi M. Derluguian, The Tale of Two Resorts: Abkhazia and Ajaria Before and Since and the Soviet Collapse. In: The Myth of "Ethnic Conflict": Politics, Economics, and "Cultural" Violence, edited by Beverly Crawford and Ronnie D. Lipschutz. University of California Press/University of California International and Area Studies Digital Collection, Edited Volume #98, pp.261–292, 1998
(in Russian) Stanislav Vladimirovich Dumin. Pyotr Grebelsky. The Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Moscow, Russia: 1994. Думин С. В., Гребельский П. Х. Дворянские роды Российской Империи. — Москва, 1994
