TheHouse of Cholokashvili (Georgian:ჩოლოყაშვილი,Russian: Чолокаевы) was an oldGeorgian noble family. It claimed an exotic foreign lineage and first appeared in the eastern Georgian province, and laterkingdom, ofKakheti in 1320. They were enfeoffed of the office of Prince-Master of the Palace of Kakheti and produced several notable members from the 16th century into the 20th.[1]
Traditional genealogical accounts have it that the family's ancestor was aGenoese officer who moved, in the 14th century, from aCrimean colony toDagestan where he was dubbed by locals asCholagh "for the multitude of sheep and cattle he possessed". Cholagh is said to have quarreled with the local tribesmen and fled into neighboring Georgia through theDerbend road in 1320. KingGeorge V of Georgia welcomed Cholagh and granted him an apanage and the princely title of the extinct family of Irubakidze inKakheti.[2]
The family played an important role in later-day Georgia and intermarried with the Kakhetian branch of theBagrationi dynasty. They were considered one of the 2 "undivided" houses of Kakheti. Their fiefdom — Sacholokao (საჩოლოყაო) — was annexed toImperial Russia along with east Georgia in 1801, and the family became mediatized as Russian nobility (Russian:Чолокаевы, Cholokaev; or Челокаевы, Chelokaev). The family briefly held theDuchy of Aragvi from 1747 to c. 1753.