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Georgians

Georgian Kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia 600-150 BC. Copyrightİ2004 Andrew Andersen
Georgian Kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia 600-150 BC. Copyrightİ2004 Andrew Andersen
The Georgians (, kartvelebi) are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian people mainly centered in Georgia, but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries. Descending from some of the earliest settlers in the Caucasus, the nation of Georgia went through a complex process of ethnic consolidation and nation-making. It currently comprises a diverse set of local sub-ethnic communities, each with its characteristic traditions, manners and dialect or language. Of these subgroups, the Mingrelians, Lazs and the Svans are typically bilingual in their own language (Mingrelian-Laz and Svan) and Georgian. The latter, with its unique own alphabet and long written tradition going back to the 5th century, [1] is the language of literacy and education of all Georgians living in Georgia as well as the official language of that country. Ancient Georgians were known to Greco-Romans as Caucasian Iberians and Colchians. [2] [3]

The majority of Georgians are Christian, and mostly adhere to their national ancient autocephalous (since 4th century) Georgian Orthodox Church. Christianized in the early 4th century, Georgia is the second nation state to adopt Christianity in 327. There are Georgian Muslim communities in Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia?s autonomous republic of Adjara and community of Georgian Catholics.

Strategically located on the crossroads between East and West, the Georgian people have been influenced by many civilizations throughout history. They absorbed features of other cultures and married them to indigenous traditions to produce a rich culture which reached its high point of development in the Middle Ages. With their roots in the ancient tribal federations, the Georgians evolved into a highly structured feudal nation and by the early 11th century formed a unified kingdom which emerged as a dominant power in the Caucasus until the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Threatened by rivaling regional empires and plagued by incessant internal unrest, the Georgians remained more or less independent until the Russian annexation of Georgian polities early in the 19th century and regained national independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Contents

Etymology

Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi (??????????), their land Sakartvelo (??????????), and their language Kartuli (???????). According to legend, the ancestor of the Kartvelian people was Kartlos, the great grandson of the Biblical Japheth. Ancient Greeks (Strabo, Herodotus, Plutarch, Homer, etc.) and Romans (Titus Livius, Cornelius Tacitus, etc.) referred to early eastern Georgians as Iberians (Iberoi in some Greek sources) and western Georgians as Colchians.[4]

Origins

Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited the southern Caucasus and northern Asia Minor since the Neolithic period. [5] Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes. [6] Even the Bible makes mention of Tubal-cain, who is associated with proto-Georgian tribes. [7] Some European historians of the 19th century (eg, Humboldt, Krettschmer) as well as Georgian scholars (R. Gordeziani, S. Kaukhchishvili and Z. Gamsakhurdia) came to the conclusion that Proto-Kartvelians might be related linguistically and culturally to the indigenous (pre-Indo-European) peoples of ancient Europe including the Etruscans, Pelasgians and Proto-Basques.

The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Colchians and Iberians. [8][9] East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Moschians, Suanians and Colchians) established the first Georgian state of Colchis before the foundation of the Iberian Kingdom in the east. [10] According to the numerous scholars of Georgia, the formations of these two early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, resulted in the consolidation and uniformity of the Georgian nation [11].

Proto Georgian tribes:

  • Daiaeni in Assyrian sources and Taokhoi in Greek, lived in the northeastern part of Anatolia, a region that once was part of Georgia. This ancient tribe is considered by many scholars as ancestors of Georgians. The Georgians of today still refer to this region, which now belongs to present-day Turkey, as Tao-Klarjeti. Some people there still speak Georgian. [12]
  • Colchians in the ancient western Georgian(Mingrelian-Laz) Kingdom of Colchis. First mentioned in the Assyrian annals of Tiglath-Pileser I and in the annals of Urartian king Sarduri II. Also included western proto-Georgian tribe of the Moschians[13][14]
  • Iberians also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, in the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia. [15]

Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.[16][17]

Short History

Ancient Georgia

A second Georgian tribal union emerged in the 13th century BC on the Black Sea coast, creating the Kingdom of Colchis in the western Georgia.[18] The ancient Greeks knew western Georgia as Colchis, and it featured in the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who travelled there in search of the Golden Fleece. Since 2000 BC, north-western Colchis was inhabited by the Svan and Zan peoples of the Georgian tribes. In the eastern part of Georgia, there was a struggle for the leadership among the various Georgian confederations during the 6th ? 4th centuries BC which was finally won by the Kartlian tribes from the region of Mtskheta in Iberia. According to the Georgian tradition, the Kingdom of Kartli (known as Iberia in the Greek-Roman literature) was founded around 300 BC by Parnavaz I, the first ruler of the Parnavazid dynasty.Between 653 and 333 BC, both Colchis and Iberia were successfully surviving in fight against Median and later Persian Empire. At the end of the 3rd century BC, southern Iberia saw the armies of Alexander the Great who established a vast Greco-Macedonian empire to the south of the Caucasus.

Saint Nino is credited for conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327.
Saint Nino is credited for conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327.
Between the early 2nd century, BC and the late 2nd century AD, both Colchis and Iberia, together with the neighbor countries, became an arena of long and devastating conflicts between major local powers Rome, Armenia, and the short-lived Kingdom of Pontus. As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns of Pompey and Lucullus, the Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia came under direct Roman rule. However, during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, Caucasian Iberia became a long lasting ally of the Roman Empire. The former Kingdom of Colchis was re-organized by the Romans into the province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati.

Eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia became one of the first states in the world to convert to Christianity in 327 AD, when King of Iberia Mirian II established it as the official state religion. In the middle of the 4th century, both Lazica (former Kingdom of Colchis), and Iberia, adopted Christianity as their official religion. At the end of the 5th century, Prince Vakhtang I Gorgasali orchestrated an anti-Persian uprising and restored Iberian statehood proclaiming himself the King. The armies of Vakhtang launched several campaigns against both Persia and the Byzantine Empire.

Medieval Georgia

Kingdom of Georgia during the reign of Queen Tamar.
Kingdom of Georgia during the reign of Queen Tamar.
The first decades of the 9th century saw the rise of a new Georgian state in Tao-Klarjeti. Ashot Courapalate, of the royal family of Bagrationi, liberated from the Arabs the territories of former southern Iberia. The first united Georgian monarchy was formed at the end of the 10th century when Curopalate David invaded the Earldom of Kartli-Iberia. Three years later, after the death of his uncle Theodosius the Blind, King of Egrisi-Abkhazia, Bagrat III inherited the Abkhazian throne. In 1001, Bagrat also included Tao-Klarjeti (Curopalatinate of Iberia) into his domain as a result of David?s death. In 1008-1010, Bagrat King of the Abkhazs and Tao-Klarjeti annexed Kakheti and Ereti thus becoming the first King of the united Georgia both eastern and western. In 1008 all Georgian principalities were united into the unified Kingdom of Georgia (1008-1466) under the Bagrationi dynasty. This dynasty was established by Ashot I (Ashot the Great) in the end of the 8th century.

The struggle against the Seljuk invaders in Georgia was led by the young King David IV of the Bagrationi royal family who inherited the throne in 1089 at the age of 16 after the abdication of his father George II Bagrationi. In 1121, Seljuk Sultan Mahmud declared Jihad on Georgia and sent a strong army under one of his famous generals Al-Ghazee to fight the Georgians. Although significantly outnumbered by the Turks, Georgians managed to defeat the invaders at Didgori battle and in 1122 took over Tbilisi to make it Georgia?s capital. As a result, mostly Christian-populated Ghishi-Kabala area in western Shirvan (relic of once prosperous Albanian Kingdom) was annexed by Georgia while the rest of already Islamized Shirvan became Georgia?s client-state. That same year a big portion of Armenia was liberated by David?s troops and fell into Georgian hands as well. Thus, in 1124, David also became the King of Armenians incorporating Northern Armenia into Georgian Crown lands. In King David died leaving Georgia with the status of a strong regional power. In Georgia, King David is called Agmashenebeli (English: the builder).

Queen Tamara of Georgia
Queen Tamara of Georgia
However, the most glorious sovereign of Georgia of that period was definitely Queen Tamar (David?s great-granddaughter). The reign of Queen Tamar was the peak of Georgia?s might in the whole history of the nation.

The Trebizond Empire was heavily dependent of Georgia for more than two hundred years. In 1210, Georgian armies invaded northern Persia (modern day Iranian Azerbaijan) putting part of the conquered territory under Georgian protectorate. That was the maximal extent of Georgia throughout her history. Queen Tamar was addressed as "The Queen of Abkhazians, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and Armenians, Shirvan-Shakhine and Shakh-in-Shakhine, The Sovereign of the East and West." Georgian historians often refer to her as "Queen Tamar the Great." The period between the early 12th and the early 13th centuries and especially, the era of Tamar the Great, can truly be considered as the golden age of Georgia. Besides the political and military achievements, it was marked by the development of Georgian culture including the architecture, literature, philosophy and sciences. The Golden age of Georgia left a magnificent legacy of great cathedrals, brilliant romantic poetry and literature, and the epic poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin - revered by all Georgians since its creation for its artistic and philosophical virtue, the glorification of the ideals of universal solidarity between humans, and the values of chivalry, honour, compassion and romantic love. This Golden Age was interrupted at its peak by the Mongol Invasion in the 13th century AD. After that time, the Georgian feudal state entered an era of decline punctuated by short-lived ascents.

Modern history

In the 19th century, Georgia, on the verge of annihilation by its powerful southern rivals, was annexed by the Russian Empire. A few decades later, Georgian society produced a modernist nationalistic elite under the guidance of Ilia Chavchavadze, which united Georgian society around the dream of the restoration of their once glorious state. In 1918, this dream was fulfilled and the Democratic Republic of Georgia was established. This democratic experiment was short-lived, as in 1921 a Bolshevik government was installed with the support of the invaded Red Army. The first years of independence after the dissolution of the USSR were characterized by political instability and civil conflicts. The first wave of reforms initiated in 1995 was only partially successful. Political corruption resulted in economic decline and institutional inefficiency, which led to grave political crisis. In November 2003, the "Rose Revolution - a mass non-violent public disobedience campaign - forced the government, which had tried to falsify elections, to resign. A new wave of systemic reforms started after the election of the new Government.

Population and geographical spread

Georgians in their traditional costumes
Georgians in their traditional costumes
The total population of Georgians in the world is estimated to be around 6,000,000.

  • Around four million Georgians live in Georgia (where they comprise 83% of the population),
  • In Turkey, Georgians form the majority in parts of Artvin Province east of the Çoruh River in Shavsheti (???????) region (Upper Machakheli in the north of Borçka district, Imerkhevi in the north of ?av?at district, and Murgul district) and in individual villages along the Çoruh valley of Livana (??????) vicinity in the territory of the ancient Georgian regions of Tao-Klarjeti (Klarjeti (????????) is presently a village renamed officially as Bereket in Ardanuç district), southwards to the district of Yusufeli (Kiskim) in Amier-Tao (????????) subregion. They also live as Chveneburi (?????????) muhajirs in various provinces. Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, the prime minister of Turkey, pronounced his Georgian origins during a visit to Georgia in 2004.[19] The total population of people of Georgian descent in Turkey is estimated to be from 200,000 to 1,500,000.
  • In Iran, 50,000-300,000 (numbers are not totally known). Modern Georgian immigration to Iran can be traced back to ethic tensions within the Russian Empire. The fall of Democratic Republic of Georgia and the onset of World War I pushed many ethnic Caucasians towards Iran. Cold War politics proved conflicting to Georgians in Iran. While Georgian immigrants wanted to stay in Iran, Soviet Georgian leadership wanted to repatriate them to Georgia. Moscow, however, clearly preferred to keep them in Iran. The Soviet Georgian plans were abandoned only after Stalin realized that his plans to obtain influence in northern Iran foiled by both Iranian stubbornness and United States pressure in Iran. Today, up to 75,000 Georgian Iranians (??????????) live in the twin cities of Fereydan and Fereydoon Shahr where a Georgian Dialect is spoken (Phreidnuli- Similar to Eastern Georgian Dialects). Other Towns such as Najaf Abad, as well as in many other larger Iranian cities, especially Esfahan, Tehran, Shiraz, and Karaj bolster significant Georgian populations. Up to 200,000 full and partial Georgians live in the coastal town of Mazandaran. Moreover, there are up to 5 million people with (partial) Georgian descent (300,000 Georgians were settled in Iran in the 17th century).
  • 14,900 in Azerbaijan, according to official numbers.[20] Most Georgians (known as Ingilos) in Azerbaijan reside in the Kakhi, Belokani and Zakatala districts, which had been known as Hereti until the 15th century and administered by the Georgian kings until the 17th century. These rayons were once part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia and part of Georgia under the Transcaucasian SFSR until 1931 when they were transferred to Azerbaijan.[21] Georgia maintains no claims against Azerbaijan over these territories as of present.
  • Around 200,000 in Russia and another 200,000 throughout the former Soviet Union republics in Europe and Asia.
  • 200,000 in other countries, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
  • There are some 1,000 Georgians in Argentina, in the provinces of Mendoza and Rio Negro. In Rio Negro, Georgian people and their descendants are at the "hippietown" of El Bolson and in the Andes valleys zone (Colonia Rusa in the Alto Valle).
  • Other countries: Over 18,000 Georgians in Brazil, over 12,000 in Japan, 3,500 in Singapore, an estimated 1,000 in Mexico, and 100 Georgians in the Philippines.

Ethnographic subdivisions

Georgian youth in traditional costumes
Georgian youth in traditional costumes
The largest ethnic group within the broader Georgian ethnicity is the ???????? (transliterated kartveli, plural: ??????????, kartvelebi), which comprises the majority of the population of Georgia. The other major subdivisions within the Georgian ethnicity include: the Mingrelians (???????), who live predominantly in northwestern Georgia (Samegrelo); the Laz (????), who live predominantly in southwestern Georgia (Ajara) and in the northeastern Turkey (in the Rize and Artvin regions); and the Svans (?????) of the Svaneti region of Georgia. These four ethnic groups within the greater Georgian ethnicity are differentiated by language. The Kartveli speak Kartuli (what the English speaking world calls Georgian), the Mingrelians speak Megrelian, the Laz speak Laz, and the Svans speak Svan. These four related languages comprise the entirety of the South Caucasian language group. The majority of Mingrelians and Svans are bilingual in their native language and in Kartuli, while the majority of the Laz are bilingual in their native language and either Kartuli or Turkish.

Within the group called Kartveli, Georgians further distinguish themselves into regional ethnographic subgroups:

These subgroups, however, exist for historical and geographical reasons; each would consider itself to be Kartveli, the ethnic group which gives the country, Sakartvelo, its name, and would speak the same language.

Notable Georgians (selection)

See List of Georgians for a more complete listing, including notable people with Georgian heritage.

Kings and chieftains

Bagrat III, King of United Georgian Kingdom
Bagrat III, King of United Georgian Kingdom
Queen Tamar of Georgia
Queen Tamar of Georgia

Prince Ilia Chavchavadze
Prince Ilia Chavchavadze

Literature & the arts

Niko Nikoladze
Niko Nikoladze

Military

Prince Alexander Chavchavadze
Prince Alexander Chavchavadze

Music

George Balanchine (Balanchivadze)
George Balanchine (Balanchivadze)
Sopho Khalvashi
Sopho Khalvashi

http://www.nuts4chic.com/PA%20STORIES/Katie%20Melua/Katie%20Melua%20onstage-3_250.jpg

Veriko Anjaparidze
Veriko Anjaparidze

Actors

Philosophy & religion

St Grigol Peradze
St Grigol Peradze

Politics

Evgen Gvaladze
Evgen Gvaladze

Sports

Gallery of Georgian people

<gallery>

Image:Stalin1.jpg| Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953

Image:Ill3.jpg| Ilia Chavchavadze, writer, poet, journalist and lawyer.

Image:Prince Bagration.jpg|General Bagrationi

Image:Simonika Bagration Mukhraneli.jpg|Regent Prince Simon Bagrationi

Image:Chavchavadze bagrationi georgians.jpg|Georgian Prince Iakob Chavchavadze and Prince Bagrationi-Mukhraneli

Image:Franz Xavier Winterhalter. Princess Catherine Dadiani.jpg|Countess Catherine Dadiani

Image:Kasbeg.jpg|19th century Georgian writer Alexander Kazbegi

Image:Kote abkhazia.jpg| General Kote Abkhazi

Image:TL019520.jpg|Georgian prima ballerina Nino Ananiashvili

Image:020208 1.jpg|Georgian actor Levan Abashidze

Image:ESC 2007 - Sopho Khalvashi - Visionary Dream.jpg|Sopho Khalvashi, the first artist to represent Georgia at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Image:John_Shalikashvili.jpg|General Shalikashvili, retired general who served as US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993 to 1997

Image:Katie Melua at signing.jpg|Katie Melua, highest selling European female artist in 2006.

Image:Georgian woman.jpg|Georgian performer from Sukhushvili Dance Company

</gallery>

Notes

See also

External links

an:Pueblo cheorchián az:Gürcül?r be-x-old:??????? bs:Gruzijci cs:Gruzíni de:Georgier es:Georgianos eo:Kartveloj fr:Géorgiens hr:Gruzi it:Georgiani he:??????? ka:?????????? lt:Gruzinai hu:Kartvéliek ja:????? pl:Gruzini ro:Georgieni ru:??????? sk:Gruzínci sr:???????? sh:Gruzijci fi:Georgialaiset sv:Georgier tr:Gürcüler uk:???????




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