Origin of the Abkhaz people
The origin of the Abkhaz and their place among other nations of the world have long been interested in researchers. Written sources from which they draw their knowledge, not so lot. Yes, and archeology without relevant written data can not draw a true picture of the origin of the people. Opportunities are further narrowed ethnology and anthropology. Experts believe that the language is peculiar unwritten chronicle of the centuries-old memory of the people. She carries information about economic activities, way of life of distant ancestors, about their relationships with other peoples and many other interesting information. All this helps to understand the language a kaleidoscope of the peoples of the Caucasus, who, by virtue of the mountainous landscape, played preserving role in contrast to the divided steppes. Therefore, the Caucasus is united in its many faces and many faces in its unity, which must always be taken into account. Recognized - Abkhaz language is one of the oldest languages in the world. He, along with others closely related languages (Abaza, Ubykh, Adygei, Circassian, Kabardian) forms a Western Caucasian (Abkhaz-Adyghe) language group, numbering today a few million people.
The Abkhaz-Adyg language group is akin to its origin East Caucasian languages (Vainakh and Dagestan). Both of these groups form single Caucasian family of languages.
Kinship with the Hattians. The disintegration of the Abkhaz-Adyg proto-language into three main branches (Abkhazadygi-Ubykhi) began, as it is believed, about 5 thousand years ago. In modern science, the hypothesis about the kinship of the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages with the Hattians, whose speakers lived in Asia Minor (in the territory of modern Turkey), was widely recognized. Famous monuments of Maikop (up to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC) and megalithic (dolmens, cromlechs - second half of the 3rd millennium BC) indicate the direct connections of the ancient population of the Western Caucasus with the Minor and Western Asia, with the civilizations of the Ancient East. .) archaeological cultures. About traditional ties Abkhaz-Adygs with ancient oriental civilizations can be testified by well-known “Maikop”, “Esherskaya” epigraphic inscriptions. The signs of these texts reveal a certain similarity with both the letters found in Byblos (XIII century BC), in Phenicia, and with the signs of the Hittite hieroglyphic writing (II – I millennium BC).
The people who spoke the proto-language of the Abkhaz-Adygs, engaged in farming, raised cattle, made various handicraft products, worked on metals. This is confirmed by archaeological materials from Abkhazia. There is an opinion that the Hattians were the inventors of iron metallurgy and that their name iron fell into many languages of the world (from it, in particular, comes the Russian word "iron"). In favor of the fact that the speakers of the proto-language lived in approximately the same conditions in which the current Abkhaz-Adygs live and were formed within the territory of Western Caucasus, they say words like: “sea”, “coast”, “fish”, “mountain (wooded)”, “forest (deciduous)”, “forest (coniferous)”, “fir”, “beech”, “cornel”, “chestnut ", etc. Toponymic names also speak about the same. For example, the names of the rivers, which include the element "dogs" - water, river (Aripsa, Supsa, Akampsis, Apsar, Lagumpsa), as well as words with the name "kua" - "ravine", "beam", "river" and others And the archeology data of Abkhazia testifies to the continuity of local cultures in time and space before and after the mention of the ancient Abkhazian tribes in ancient written sources in the first centuries of our era.
Ecological niche and ethnogenesis of the ancient Abkhazians. In the origin of peoples, the role of natural conditions (features) should also be taken into account, i.e. geographical environment. For the history of the Abkhaz-Adygs, the preserving and differentiating processes that took place in the West Caucasus gorges and mountain passes were very important.
Language decays usually occur during the transfer of a part of the original language into another geographically isolated (by mountains, rivers) area - the so-called ecological niche.
There is an opinion that the original homeland of the Abkhaz-Adygs was the Colchis ecological niche and the northeastern regions of Asia Minor adjacent to it, where in the second - the beginning of the first millennium BC. er the Abkhaz-Adyg family of Kashka-Abeshla lived (most likely they spoke Hatti language). At the same time, perhaps, there was a movement along the coast through the East Black Sea corridor (the road) and through the passes of the direct linguistic ancestors of the Circassians to the northern slopes of the Western Caucasus. The ancestors of the Ubykh Zikhs at the same time occupied a niche between the Gagra Range and Tuapse, associated with the neighboring territories by hard-season paths. The Praabkhazian tribes, as the primary part of the community, continued to dwell in Colchis, where ancient authors found them in the person of the Apsils, Abasgians and Sanigs. Experts believe that cultural advances from Kolchis along the Black Sea coast to the East Transcaucasia and the northern slopes of the Central Caucasus reach a peak in the 9th – 8th centuries. BC. This time coincides with the heyday of the Kolchian-Koban Metallurgical Province. As for the ancient Kartvel tribes: Kardu - Karty, Kulkha-Kolkhs, Lusha-Lazy, etc., they, there is an opinion, even before the beginning of the first millennium BC. er lived in the north-eastern regions of Asia Minor. And only then did these tribes advance through the gorge of the r. Chorokhi along the coast or along the gorge. Chickens in the Colchis ecological niche. The historical plausibility of such an option can indicate the primacy of the Transcaucasus before the beginning of the first millennium BC. er Pre-Caucasian Caucasus "Hurrito-Urartu" an element related to the East Caucasian languages (Nakh-Dagestan).
Speaking about the origin of the Abkhaz people, it is important to always remember that from the moment of the settlement of the Western Caucasus, man has traditionally been dominated by southern influences - from Asia Minor. From there, in ancient times, the carriers of the Abkhaz-Adyg pryazyk advanced into the Western Caucasus valleys. Considering the geographical factor and many other things, one should not forget that no nation can develop independently, without interacting with other, neighboring nations. The Abkhaz are no exception.
Bridge between Europe and Asia. The territory inhabited by the Abkhazians has always served as a kind of bridge between the North Caucasus and the Black Sea coast. The second direction of communications was determined by the sea, along the shores of which the ships moved in the direction of Asia Minor and the Crimea. In this regard, we can recall such seaside civilizations, such as, for example, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Genoa, with whom the ancient ancestors of the Abkhazians were also in close contact (by the way, in the village of Tamysh, a clay model of a boat was found in the layer of the 8th century BC.). An important role was also played by the fact that the base of the triangle of the space occupied by the Abkhaz was open to influences from the southeast, from which the foothill "Abkhaz road" led by the merchants and conquerors led. Perhaps, in the late Middle Ages, this path was protected by the Great Abkhazian (Kelasur) wall, which can be indicated by its configuration, architectural features of the towers and curtins themselves, (the fortress wall between the towers), as well as the accompanying archaeological material.
Geniochian union of tribes and its components. The population of Abkhazia and adjacent regions, as evidenced by ancient written sources, was in the I millennium BC. er quite powerful and at the same time motley union of the Geniochian tribes. However, they were close to each other in terms of language and culture. At least, the ancient cities of Dioscuriad (present-day Sukhum) and Fasis (present-day Poti) were on the land of the Geniokhs.
In the first centuries of our era, the Geniochian alliance broke up into smaller ancient Abkhazian tribes: Sanigi, Abasgi, and Apsils (the latter gave the Abkhaz the self-name Apsua). In the VI century AD of the Apsils stood out by the Misimians. At this time, the ethnopolitical border between the ancient Abkhaz and ancient Kartvel beings (Lazy) passed approximately along the r. Ingur. It was the same in the 7th - early 8th centuries, before the formation of the Abkhazian kingdom. In the I – VI centuries. All the above-mentioned Abkhazian tribal associations were early class state formations (“principalities” or “kingdoms”) —Sanigiyu, Apsiliyu, Abasgiyu and Misimiyu (from the 6th century). They became the basis of the formation of the Abkhazian (Abbasian) principality, and then of the Abkhazian kingdom (VIII century). This was facilitated by the rallying of the ancient Abkhazian tribes, which led to the creation of a single Abkhazian feudal nation - a common ancestor of both the Abkhazians and the Abazins (this process could begin as early as the 7th century, and maybe a little earlier, after the official adoption of Christianity in Abkhazia in 30–50 years VI in). It should be remembered that during the “kingdom of Abkhazians and Kartlians”, at the end of the XII century, the royal court was well known and respected the language of the ancestors of modern Abkhazians (apsaras - apsua).
Subsequently, the ancestors of the modern Abazin (Tapanta), crossing the spurs of the Main Caucasus Range, settled in the valleys of the North Caucasus devastated from the Mongol invasion. The resettlement of another Abazin tribe, Ashkharians, who call themselves Apsua, i.e. Abkhazians, happened even later. Therefore, the speech of the Ashkharians, unlike the Tapants, is less different from the Abkhaz. In a word, the Abkhaz and Abazins actually speak close dialects of a single Abkhaz-Abazin language.
So today we can present in brief a rather complicated process of the origin of the Abkhaz people, one of the most ancient peoples of the world.
GENUESIANS, OR ITALIANS IN ABKHAZIA
In the XIII – XV centuries. Genoa, a powerful republic led by the Doge, occupied the leading place in international Black Sea trade. In Kaffa (present-day Theodosia), its main colony was laid, and in 1280 the Oziumium of Gazaria (derived from the name of the Khazars) was opened to control all the Black Sea colonies. But in 1453, after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, Genoa was forced to transfer its customs rights to region private credit "Bank of St. George."
The appearance of the Genoese in Abkhazia was not accidental. In the XIII century, as you know, the disintegration of the “kingdom of the Abkhaz and the Kartli” into separate kingdoms and princedoms began. At the same time, the Mongols interested in the intermediary trade provided the Genoese with great support.
Genoese trade settlements. Their trade settlements (trading posts) appeared in many points of Abkhazia: Kakari (modern Gagra), Santa Sofia (St. Sophia - modern Alahadzy), Petsonda (modern Pitsunda), Сavo di Bucso (Boxwood quarry - modern Gudauta) , Nikoff (modern Athos), Sevastopolis - San Sebastian (St. Sebastian - modern Sukhum), Olaguana (goes back to the Italian "lagoon" - the bay - Cape Kodor), Сavo Zizibar (Adzubzhinsky quarry), Tamans - San Tommaso (St. Tommaso - modern Tamysh) and San Angelo (St. Angel - lower reaches of the Ingur). In short, the main points of contact of the Genoese with the local population were port cities of Abkhazia. They stood in easy-to-navigate places where the trade routes passed from ancient times. The center of activity of the Genoese here was the city of Sevastopolis. It housed the residence of the head of all Italian settlements in the Caucasus. The first mention of the Genoese in Abkhazia dates back to 1280, when a certain Bezano bought a ship called “Mugetto” from Balari in Sevastopolis. This purchase was issued by a notary in place. Consequently, the Genoese could appear here even earlier, say, in the 50s – 60s of the 13th century. Sevastopolis was especially attractive to them because ships could spend the winter at the pier. On the red flag of the city was depicted a white palm. And its population was traditionally mixed along ethnic and religious lines. Was in the city and the Catholic community. Therefore, the Pope established a bishopric in Sevastopolis in 1318. All this caused a mixed reaction from the residents of the city. Thus, the bishop of Sevastopolis Herald then complained to the Archbishop of Canterbury that the local Orthodox priest and people, with the participation of Muslims and Jews, "threw 15 gravestones" and a cross in a Catholic cemetery. After all, a prerequisite for the self-government of the Genoese was their church with its own cemetery. Most likely, it was the church of Sa-Mato (St. Matthew) on the Sukhumi mountain. Local rulers and merchants, of course, were not interested in competition. Therefore, the Genoese had to conclude a special agreement with them in order to establish their settlement in Sevastopolis. This event occurred in 1354, when the Genoese fleet completely destroyed the navy of competing Venetians and began to dominate the Black Sea alone.
Abkhazia in XIV - XVI centuries
At the same time, the first consul Ambrogio di Petro was sent to Sevastopolis. When he was a notary and court clerk. The trial was carried out according to the laws adopted in Genoa. All officials were paid from Kaffa. The Consul of Sevastopolis had one percent of the imported and exported goods. He lived in the Sukhum fortress, where multi-temporal buildings remained. Archaeologists have identified here a powerful cultural layer of the Genoese time (monochrome and multicolor irrigation dishes, lamps, glass, etc.). Local Abkhaz feudal lords sometimes looted the rich Italian neighborhoods of the city. Such conflicts are usually settled through diplomatic negotiations and, of course, expensive gifts from the Italians. It is known that the Genoese quarters of Sevastopolis were destroyed at least several times - in 1373–1375 and 1453–1455.
The population of the Italian quarters in Sevastopolis lived apart and entered into trade relations with the locals.
Abkhazia at the beginning of the 15th century In 1404, Johannes de Galonifontibus described this ethno-linguistic picture of the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Beyond Circassia, he reported, is “Abkhazia, a small hilly country”, which has “its own language”, to the south of Abkhazia, “towards Georgia”, there is “the country of Mingrelia” and they have “their own language”, and Georgia is on south of Mingrelia and has "its own language."
Money turnover. At that time in the Black Sea region the basis of the monetary system was silver. The most common were silver coins - "Aspra-baricata" (Golden Horde) and "Aspra-Comninata" (Trapezuntskaya). In addition to them, “kirmaneuli” (the distorted Georgian name of Trabest Emperor Manuel I) was used. In documents of 1386, the “Sevastopol aspra” is also mentioned, which had a much higher sample during the currency crisis than the silver Golden Horde coin. But this coin was more rare in comparison with others and, perhaps, satisfied the increased by that time demand for the local merchants trading in the Black Sea region (the documents mention, for example, “avasg” Otorogius "and nameless" avasg).
Trade. In the XIII – XV centuries. The main product that came through the Black Sea ports from the East to Western Europe was silk. It was imported from Central Asia, Northern Iran, Transcaucasia, from distant China. At that time, three former Trans-Caucasian branches of the Great Silk Road, which then connected Genoa with the Golden Horde, again earned money through Abkhazia.
One of the most important export items was wood, which was in great demand in the Mediterranean. There were even special "lumberjacks", specially bought up forest areas intended for logging. They were very much appreciated: precious boxwood, “iron” and “mahogany”, ship and construction wood.
They also took grain and wine. Kaff even introduced a special tax on the import of wines from Sevastopolis, which was then abolished. In great demand in Western Europe were used in the sea raw skins and leather. The Genoese, most likely on a concession basis, began to exploit the lead mines in the valley of the r. Gumista, near Sevastopolis. Great demand in Europe was used: dried and salted fish, salmon caviar, wax, skins of foxes and martens, sheep, cotton, saffron,
fruits, silver containing ore, medicinal herbs from Abkhazia, etc.
Italian documents contain information about the import into Abkhazia of salt from the Crimea and various spices from China and India. But the main product of trade in the East and the West was cloth. Part of the transit goods, of course, could also settle in the ports of Abkhazia, especially in Sevastopolis. At this time, Abkhazia received the necessary goods mainly by sea and had more lively contacts with the outside world than with the inner regions of Transcaucasia. Maritime trade primarily brought profit to local authorities, which further increased their desire for independence. Maritime trade could then become the impetus for the subsequent transformation of the Abkhazian principality into an independent one. At the same time, it negatively influenced the development of local handicraft production, which could not stand the foreign competition of the Mediterranean.
The turnover of Sevastopolis, for example, in 1378 was 12,000 somm, which was a rather large sum for those times - 2628 kg. silver. True, then it was a peak.
"Living goods". One of the most important sources of income for feudal lords (Genoese and local) was the “living commodity” (slaves), which traders delivered to the Golden Horde and all the slave markets in the Mediterranean.
The slave trade was subject to certain rules. Bills of exchange were drawn up, which indicated the names of the seller and the buyer, the age of the slave, gender, ethnicity and cost. These acts were certified by a notary. Such acts helped to find out that most of the slaves came from the northern and northeastern Black Sea region. Abkhazians were among the slaves brought from the Black Sea coast. Usually they were prisoners or poor tribesmen. Slaves were brought from Sevastopolis to Kaffa, one of the main centers of the slave trade in the Black Sea region. The earliest act is dated May 3, 1289. On this day, 30-year-old Abkhazian Venala appears among the slaves sold. In the chronicles there is information that entire neighborhoods in Genoa, Venice, etc. were occupied by people from the Caucasus and the Black Sea. Under normal conditions and attitudes, it would be quite possible to trace the fate of some of our ancestors, some of whom later, of course, received freedom in a foreign land or bought it back.
Material culture. It is usually considered, with an eye on the slave trade and other reasons, that this period in the history of Abkhazia is not the most successful. In fact, everything was far from it. It was then that the construction of a large number of serfs and civil buildings, arched bridges (like Besletsky), churches, etc. began. Italian architecture is pronounced, for example, in the 14th century Genoese tower. inside the fortress of Anakopia and lower in the coast. There is a similar tower in Tamysh. Usually such large towers are located in the center of a small space, enclosed by fortress walls.In the fortress architecture, they are called donjons with prominent semicircles in the corners and corresponding loopholes-decorations. If you look at the feudal castles in the mountains of Abkhazia of that time, you can see a lot of similar with the buildings of the coast. It is important to know that the doors of the houses and the chests were locked with the help of keys and locks made according to European designs. This is a sign that our ancestors have accumulated a lot of good, which had to be protected from thieves. Moreover, the locks and keys found during the excavations within the precincts of Sevastopolis, Tsebelda fortress and in the pile of the Aylag-Abyk temple are diverse and complex in terms of manufacturing technology and are not inferior to the Italian.
The estate cemetery of the XIII – XV centuries is also rich in things. near the castle of Bagrat. It found local pithos (large jugs for wine) with stucco rollers, glazed ceramics, iron weapons (broadswords), numerous imported vessels of blue Venetian glass, a thimble from Egypt, a silver blackened front ring for stringing a bowstring, the same pendants, carnelian beads, articulated scissors, saw. The abundance of things that accompanied the departed indicates a certain revival in the local Christian environment of traditional ideas about the afterlife. Materials from the Genoa period (XIII – XV centuries) from Abkhazia can serve good help for the interpretation and dating of similar materials of Genoa itself and vice versa.
After the Turkish capture of Constantinople in Sevastopolis in the second half of the 15th century, the Turkish fleet appeared for the first time. After some time, the Genoese had to leave Abkhazia.
Abkhazia in the XV – XVII centuries.
Abkhazia in the XV century. In 1403, the army of Timur (Tamerlane), the famous commander and the Central Asian emir, invaded Western Transcaucasia. As a result, 700 villages were destroyed and Kutaisi was captured. The territory of Abkhazia proper did not suffer from foreign invasion again. The Abkhaz rulers Shervashidze (Chachba) took advantage of the situation. They always sought to free themselves from dependence on the part of the Megrelian principality of Sabediano and, if necessary, to restore their power over southern Abkhazia (Tskhum and Bedian voivodship). According to sources, Shervashidze did not obey all orders of Dadiani. ” Therefore, in 1414 a bloody battle took place between them. As a result, the Mingrelian ruler of Mamia II was killed, and his militia scattered. The East Georgian Tsar Alexander I intervened in the matter, having come to the aid of Megrelia. The combined Kartvelo-Megrelian army entered Abkhazia, and Shervashidze again had to submit.
In the sources of the XV century. rulers of Megrelia are called “kings”, and Shervashidze - "dukes" (correspondence with the duke of Burgundy). From the coastal points of the principality Sabediano, located on the territory of modern Abkhazia, it is necessary to name the trading harbor at the mouth of the river Kelasur. On the Italian maps of the second half of the 15th century. it is listed as “Porto megrelo”, and Sevastopolis for some time lost its economic importance due to the elimination of the Genoese colonial system on the Black Sea coast.
Abkhazia in the XVI century. During the XVI century. Abkhazia to one degree or another remained vassal in dependence on the Megrelian principality. In one deed of gift, Mamia III Dadiani (1512–1533) states that he donates to the Pitsunda temple "in Abkhazia, the villages Aytarna, Aruha and Rabitsa" located around Pitsunda and "Mount Aytarna with black olives". This certificate was repeatedly confirmed by his successors until the year 1590. This "gift" of its controversial always caused dissatisfaction on the part of Shervashidze.
The Megrelian prince tried to establish himself in the northern part of Abkhazia (Dzhigetii Georgian sources). However, the Abkhaz, led by Tandiya Inal-ip, took the side of the Djik. As a result of the battle, Mamia III Dadiani and three bishops died, many were captured. The Abkhaz Catholicos had to redeem both the living and the dead. However, at the end of the XVI century. The Abkhaz feudal lords, on the contrary, successfully supported the Mingrelian prince in his internecine struggle against the Gurian prince. In short, the power of Dadiani and Shervashidze changed, expanding and narrowing at the expense of each other. But the main population on the territory of Abkhazia at that time remained the indigenous Abkhaz, which ensured its identity in the 17th century.
Abkhazia gains independence. This happened around 1615, and in 1621 Levan II Dadiani married the daughter of Abkhazian ruler Puto Shervashidze Tanuria, “who, apart from natural beauty, had all the virtues of a woman of her last name: in embroidery, reading, writing, in generosity and courtesy, not having their own kind. With this nobility, she attracted her subjects. ”
After some time, Levan contacted his uncle's wife, a beautiful and insidious Nestan Darejan, and decided to formalize a relationship with her by legal marriage. But this was hampered by a legitimate Abkhaz wife with two sons from him. It was necessary to find a good reason for divorce. Without thinking twice, he accused her of adultery - marital infidelity - and dealt with it in the most cruel way: he disfigured his face and then expelled him from the yard. According to another, even more brutal version, Levan “grabbed her with her sons, put her in gun barrel and fired, scattering her body to pieces. "
Without waiting for the legal revenge of Puto Shervashidze, Levan was the first to attack Abkhazia at the head of a large army. At the same time, he wanted to restore power over the Abkhazian principality. Putov Shervashidze, caught off guard, failed to offer resistance and with his entourage went to the mountains, where he was hiding in the Mchishta rock castle. Levan brutally devastated Abkhazia, came back and married his aunt. Uncle he put in a dungeon, where he killed.A secret conspiracy was organized against Levan himself, in which one Abkhaz was the main executor. But his dagger inflicted only a minor wound on the Megrelian prince. Levan again attacked Abkhazia and led Puto Ш shervashidze to formally express obedience in the form of a tribute to "the known number of hunting dogs and falcons that were carried out in this country." In fact, the Abkhaz feudal lords continued to remain independent and more than once attacked their recent winner.
The internecine war between the Abkhaz and Mingrelian feudal lords continued for thirty years. She wore a cruel character. So, the Abkhaz prince during one of his raids into Megrelia burned a wooden church there. Levan summoned him to negotiate, but the Abkhaz prince demanded three hostages for this - the sons of the most distinguished Megrelian nobles. But Levan did not keep his word. During the meeting, he immediately grabbed the Abkhaz prince and ordered him to cut off his head, and release his retinue. Upon learning of this, the spouse of the treacherously murdered Abkhaz prince immediately ordered the execution of all the hostages.
On one of the campaigns of Levan II Dadiani in Abkhazia (circa 1647), the inscription on the icon of Sts. Georgy from the Ylor temple, which said: “When we came out against Shervashidze in Zupu (Lykhny), on this side of the Mutsu river (apparently, Mchishta) was devastated (everything), once again attacked Zupu, on this side of the r. Kapoeti (r. Bzyb) completely burned everything up and ruined it and where they were only fortifications, they took it and destroyed it.
Zupuar and Sukhuar Arshani (Marshania) attacked us on the Kapoeti River, which we defeated. Some of them we destroyed, others were captured and returned as victors. ”
But the Abkhaz ruler "did not want to conclude (with Levan) neither peace nor truce and ended the war when he learned of the death of his barbarian son-in-law."
Riddle of the Kelasur wall. In life, Levan still had to go to defensive policy. A number of researchers attributed to him the construction of the Kelasur (Great Abkhaz) wall. It is now established that this wall consisted of 280 towers, four garrison fortifications and their connecting walls and cliffs with a total length of 58 km. The wall, representing a complex system of natural and artificial frontiers, can be traced from modern Sukhum to Ingur, forming a line of defense up to 100 km. Perhaps this interesting monument of fortification art has two construction periods: the earlier - the wall in the XIII – XV centuries. guarded the piedmont road from Megrelia to Abkhazia, which was once called the Abkhaz Road in the Georgian chronicles, and later, the 17th century. It may have been restored, but not built by Levan Dadiani.
Levan II died in 1657. The situation of the Megrelian principality worsened all the time thereafter, and from the beginning of the 60s feudal strife in the Western Transcaucasus became more acute.
The Abkhaz feudal lords immediately took advantage of this situation, managing to achieve complete independence. Thus, Patriarch Macarius did not consider the Abkhazian principality a part of feudal Georgia.
In the 70s of the XVII century. raids on Megrelia more intensified. Eyewitnesses wrote that "Megrelia is not ..." and that "fear ... is so great that people run from their own shadows, taking it for Abkhaz."
In those years, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheus testified that "the Abkhazians devastated Mokva, Zugdidi and the entire side from Dioscuria to Gypius" (the Tchenis-Tskali river in Western Georgia). Moreover, Dadiani was “unable to drive out the Abkhazians”.
As the archaeological excavations in Tsebelda showed, several late medieval churches were destroyed in the second half of the 17th century. For example, the monastery church of sv. George was set on fire, the corner supports collapsed. The throne of the Abkhaz Catholicos was moved from Pitsunda to Gelati, near Kutaisi. But the old tradition has long been preserved. Every new Catholicos had to visit Pitsunda at least once in his life in order to hold a divine service.
People suffered first of all from feudal strife. The winners destroyed houses, took the masters into captivity, and then sold them or kept them as slaves until ransom. The only winners were feudal lords and Turkish slavers.
Border on the river Ingur. In the late 1970s, the Megrelian principality was in an even worse position. Sarek Shervashidze (son of the sovereign Prince Sustar) together with his brother Kvapu in the early 80s XVII century. seized the territory of the Megrelian principality to the river. Ingur. This time it was not just a raid by Sarek Shervashidze, he decided to settle here and even declared himself a Mingrelian Mtavar. Sarek repeatedly invaded and for the Ingur, trying to master the lands there. He was highly respected among the neighboring Alanian (Ossetian) rulers. This did not prevent his uncle Zegnak from invading Sarek’s possessions.
After the death of Zegnak, the territory of Abkhazia was divided between his sons: Djikeshia got the area between the Kodor and Aalydzga rivers, and the Kvapu - between the Aalydzga and Ingur rivers. Senior, Growth remained the main owner of the rest of Abkhazia.
In the Abkhaz-Mingrelian war of the XVII century. On the side of the Abkhaz, representatives of the North Caucasian peoples took an active part: jigits, Abazins, Kabardians. This largely determined the victory of Shervashidze over Dadiani. So, in 1680, Dalom and Tsabalom (Kodor Valley) were captured by the native of Ahchipsow (now Krasnaya Polyana) Prince Khrips Eschou-ipa Marshania, whose relatives and descendants continued to head places all mountain societies.
As a result of all these events, the ethnic boundary between the Abkhaz and the Kartvelas, which was held before the beginning of the second millennium AD er along the river Ingur, has been restored. It acquired simultaneously the state political status, which has been preserved for more than 300 years.
rincipality of Lezgians"
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