The Kingdom of Imereti was established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagration when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Imereti was considered a separate kingdom within the Kingdom of Georgia, to which a cadet branch of the Bagration royal family held the crown beginning in 1260 by Davit VI, King of Georgia.
This was due to the Mongolian conquest of the 13th century which decentralized and fragmented Georgia, forcing the relocation of governmental centers to the provinces. From 1455 onward, however, the kingdom became a constant battleground between Georgian, Russian, Persian, and Turkish forces until it was annexed into Russia completely in 1810. Throughout the course of that time, Mengrelia, Abkhazia and Guria princedoms declared their independence from Imereti and became their own governments.