IMERITIA, a district in Transcaucasia, extends from the left bank of the Tzhenys-tzkalys to the range of hills that separate it from Georgia on the east, and is bounded on the south by Akhalzikh. Anciently a part of Colchis, and included in Lazia during the Roman empire, Imeritia was nominally under the dominion of the Greek emperors. In the early part of the 6th century it became the theatre of wars between Justinian and Chosroes, and was devastated by subsequent hostile incursions, reviving only on becoming united to Georgia. It flourished until the reign of Queen Thamar, but after her death (1212) the country became impoverished through strife and internal dissensions. Reunited to Georgia, it became known in 1259 as Imier, whence Imeritia (1469). In 1621 was made the earliest appeal to Russia for aid; in 1650 the first Russian envoys were received at Koutais, the capital; and in 1769 a Russian force expelled the Turks. In 1804 the monarch declared himself a vassal of Russia, and in 1810 the little kingdom was definitively annexed to that empire. Imeritia, Mingrelia, and Gouria, provinces not officially recognized as distinct, are now included in the Russian government of Koutais. See Georgia.