Jump to content

Georgians

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 68.108.219.249 (talk) at 06:42, 15 November 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the population of Georgia (country), see Demographics of Georgia (country).
Georgians
ქართველები
Kartvelebi
File:Georges V de Georgié (cropped).jpg
File:Shota rustaveli qartuli.jpg
Total population
c. 7[1] — 8 million
Regions with significant populations
 Georgia 3,661,173[2] — 3,956,000[3]
 Russia198,944[4]
European Union European Union250,000 [citation needed]
 United States200,000 [citation needed]
 Israel72,000[5]
 Turkey91,500[1]
 Ukraine34,199[6]
 Greece23,159[7]
 Brazil20,750
 Azerbaijan14,900[8]
 Japan14,000
 Italy12,670
 Kazakhstan4,990[9]
 Singapore3,500
 France2,500
 Canada2,500
 Armenia1,105
 Argentina1,050
 Mexico1,000
 United Kingdom900
Languages
Georgian (including Mingrelian and Svan), Russian (about 10% of the population)[3]
Religion
Predominantly † Eastern Orthodox Christianity
(Georgian Orthodox Church) (83.9%)

also some Georgiano-Latin, Greek, and Armenian rites of the Roman Catholic Church (0.8%). Muslim minority (9.9%), chiefly Sunnis of the Hanafi school.[10] In diaspora (Chveneburis, Saingilo and Fereydanians) mainly Islam
Related ethnic groups
Laz

Template:Georgia (country)

The Georgians (Georgian: ქართველები, kartvelebi) are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.

The majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christian and largely adhere to the national autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church, which originated in the 4th century. There are also Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities in Tbilisi and Adjara.

The Georgian people went through a complex process of nation-formation and currently comprise a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialect and, in the case of Mingrelians and Svans, language. The Georgian language, with its own alphabet and long written tradition going back to the 5th century, is the language of literacy and education of all Georgians living in Georgia as well as the official language of the country. Georgian, Mingrelian and Svan, together with Laz spoken by the related Laz people form the Kartvelian language family.

Located at the edge of Europe, the Georgian people have fought to protect their Christian identity in the face of immense pressure from the neighboring Muslim empires. By the early 11th century they formed a unified kingdom which emerged as a dominant regional power until it was weakened by internal divisions following the death of George V the Brilliant, the last of the great kings of Georgia. To ensure its survival as a Christian kingdom, the country was soon forced to forge an alliance with the Russian Empire, which was viewed as a replacement for the fallen Eastern Roman Empire, Georgia's traditional ally. Eventually being annexed by Russia in 1801, Georgians briefly regained national independence from 1918 to 1921, and finally, in 1991 from the Soviet Union.

Etymology

Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi (ქართველები), their land Sakartvelo (საქართველო), and their language Kartuli (ქართული). According to The Georgian Chronicles, 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 Mingrelians-Lazes as Colchians.[11]

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 Anatolia since the Neolithic period.[12] Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes.[13] Some European historians of the 19th century (for example, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Paul Kretschmer) 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.[14][15] East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Moschians, Suanians, Mingrelians and others) established the first Georgian state of Colchis before the foundation of the Iberian Kingdom in the east.[16] 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.[17]

Proto-Georgian tribes:

  • The ancient Jewish chronicle by Josephus mentions Georgians as Iberes who were also called Thobel (Tubal).[18]
  • 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.[19]
  • 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 Meskhetians.[16][20] However, in the case of many tribes, this is often disputed among scholars, as many claim that many Colchian tribes were ancestors of the modern Abkhaz and Abaza, especially the Abasgoi, and assert that Colchis was an ethnically heterogeneous nation.
  • Iberians also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, in the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia.[16]

Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.[21][22]

According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:

Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer, Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom ... It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis, the earliest Georgian formation.[23]

Appearance

Alpine type of Georgian, Svan. Mestia (1888 -1900)

Georgians are classified as Caucasoids (Europoid or Europid),[24] and are often slender with brown hair and brown eyes.[25] Georgians who have historically lived in alpine areas of less sunny western Georgia — especially Mingrelians and Svans- tend to have lighter features, with higher frequency of blond hair and light blue or green eyes.

Studies of human genetics suggest that Georgian Y-DNA typically belongs to Haplogroup J2, also found in Greece and Italy, as well as Haplogroup G.[26]

Short history

Main article: History of Georgia (country)

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.[27] 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 to 4th centuries BC, which was finally won by the Kartlian tribes from the region of Mtskheta in Iberia. According to The Georgian Chronicles, 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. Parnavaz I would select Mtskheta as the capital and would utilize Persian institutions as a model of functioning.[28] Between 653 and 333 BC, both Colchis and Iberia were intertwined with the Iranian empires such as the Median Empire and later on the Persian Empire. At the end of the 3rd century BC, southern Iberia was annexed by Alexander the Great as part of the Greco-Macedonian empire to the south of the Caucasus.

Between the early 2nd century BC and the late 2nd century AD, both Colchis and Iberia, together with the neighbouring 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

Saint Nino is recognized for conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327.

The first decades of the 9th century saw the rise of a new Georgian state. Ashot Courapalate, of the royal family of Bagrationi, restored the Christian rule over the territories formerly captured by Arabs during their conquest of southernmost extremities of Europe. This set the stage for the formation of the first united Georgian monarchy at the end of the 10th century when Curopalate David invaded the Eastern Georgia. Three years later, after the death of his uncle Theodosius the Blind, King of Egrisi-Abkhazia, David's heir Bagrat III inherited the Abkhazian throne. In 1051, Bagrat also incorporated Tao-Klarjeti (Curopalatinate of Iberia) into his domain as a result of David's death. In 1058-1010, Bagrat annexed the easternmost parts of the present-day Georgia, thus becoming the first King of the united Georgia both eastern and western.

After the Islamic conquest of Persia by the Arabs, Georgia was in contact with newly emerging Muslim powers. One such power was the Turco-Persian Seljuq empire. The conflict against the Seljuq dynasty in Georgia was led by king David IV of Georgia of the Bagrationi royal family who inherited the throne in 1089 at the age of 16 after the abdication of his father George II of Georgia. In 1121, Seljuk Sultan Mahmud declared Jihad on Georgia and sent a strong army under one of his famous generals Ilghazi to fight the Georgians. Although significantly outnumbered by their Turkish counterparts, Georgians managed to defeat them in the Battle of Didgori and in 1122 took over Tbilisi to make it Georgia's capital.[29] 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 Muslim Shirvan became Georgia's client-state. That same year a big portion of Armenia was taken 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 1125 King David died, leaving Georgia with the status of a strong regional power. In Georgia, King David is called "the builder."[30]

However, one of the well known sovereigns of Georgia of that period was 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.[31]

The Empire of Trebizond 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. 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 Christian Orthodox values as well as chivalry, honor, 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 until reaching a new height under George V the Brilliant.

Modern history

In the 19th century, Georgia, involved by its powerful southern rivals namely Persia and the Ottoman empire, was annexed by the Russian Empire in violation of the Treaty of Georgievsk. Russo-Persian tension in fact culminated in the Treaty of Gulistan, in 1813, that effectively resulted in Persia (Iran) losing eastern Georgia to the Russian Empire.[32] Georgia would remain under Russian influence until Ilia Chavchavadze, a prince and a poet, founded the popular nationalist newspaper Iveria that supported a nationalistic Georgian identity. Georgian nationalists would later on promote Ilia by giving him a shrine at the Sioni Cathedral and use his image for their nationalistic goals.[33] In 1918, the nationalist movement succeeded and the First Republic was established. This democratic experiment was short-lived, as in 1921 a Bolshevik government was installed with the support of the invading Red Army. Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin the man most recognized for maintenance of the Bolshevik regime, was himself an ethnic Georgian.[34][35]

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. Under the administration of former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, in 2003 Georgia was dubbed one of the most corrupt nations in the world by Transparency International.[36] This further galvanized the popular discontent among Georgians, leading to the ouster of Shevardnadze in the bloodless Rose Revolution of November, 2003. A new wave of systemic reforms has started after the election of the new government and as a result, soon Georgia was named as the world's number one reformer by the World Bank.[37] These rapid advancements, however, saw a major setback in 2008 when the tensions between the Russian Federation and Georgia over territories of Ossetia, and Abkhazia led to the 2008 South Ossetia war.[38]

Geographic subdivisions and subethnic groups

Geographical subdivisions

Georgian youth in traditional costumes

The Georgians have historically been classified into various subgroups based on the geographic region which their ancestors traditionally inhabited.

Even if a member of any of these subgroups moves to a different region, they will still be known by the name of their ancestral region. For example, if a Gurian moves to Tbilisi (part of the Kartli region) he will not automatically identify himself as Kartlian despite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are some Mingrelians who have lived in the Imereti region for centuries and are now identified as Imeretian or Imeretian-Mingrelians.

Last names from mountainous eastern Georgian provinces (such as Kakheti, etc.) can be distinguished by the suffix –uri (ური), or –uli (ული). Most Svan last names typically end in –ani (ანი), Mingrelian in –ia (ია), -ua (უა), or -ava (ავა), and Laz in –shi (ში).

Name Name in Georgian Geographical region Dialect
Imeretians იმერელი imereli Imereti Imeretian dialect
Kartlians ქართლელი kartleli Kartli Kartlian dialect
Megrelians მეგრელი megreli Megrelia Megrelian language
Svans სვანი svani Svaneti Svan language
Gurians გურული guruli Guria Gurian dialect
Adjarians აჭარელი achareli Adjara Adjarian dialect
Meskhetians მესხი meskhi Meskheti (Samtskhe) Meskhian dialect
Lechkhumeli ლეჩხუმელი lechkhumeli Lechkhumi Lechkhumian dialcet
Rachveli რაჭველი rachveli Racha Rachian dialect
Kakhetians კახელი kakheti Kakheti Kakhetian dialcet
Khevsurians ხევსური khevsuri Khevsureti Khevsurian dialect
Tushi თუში tushi Tusheti Tushetian dialect
Pshaveli ფშაველი pshaveli Pshavi Pshavian dialect
Mokhevians მოხევე mokheve Khevi Mokhevian dialect
Javakhians ჯავახი javakhi Javakheti Javakhian dialect

The 1897 Russian census (which accounted people by language), had Imeretian, Mingrelian and Svan languages separate from Georgian.[39] During the 1926 Soviet census, Mengrelians and Svans were accounted separately from Georgian.[40] Mingrelian and Svan languages are both Kartvelian languages and are closely related to the national Georgian.

Outside of modern Georgia

Laz people also may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to the London School of Economics' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans[41], Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs".[42]

Subethnic groups Name in Georgian Settlement area Language
(other than Georgian) 		Approximate number Difference(s) from mainstream Georgians
(other than location)
Shavshians შავში shavshi Turkey Shavsheti Imerkhevian dialect ?
Klarjians კლარჯი klarji Turkey Klarjeti Imerkhevian dialect ?
Lazs ლაზი lazi Turkey Chaneti (Lazistan) Laz language 50,000 (1970 est.)[43] Religion: Muslim
Chveneburi ჩვენებური chveneburi Turkey Black Sea coast,
Northwestern Turkey 		60,000 (1979)[44] Religion: Muslim
Ingilo ინგილო ingilo Azerbaijan Saingilo Ingiloan dialect 12,000 Religion: Muslim
Pereidneli (Fereydan Georgian) ფერეიდნელი pereidneli Iran Pereidani Fereidanian dialect

Linguistic subdivisions

The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.

All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Ethnologue: Georgian
  2. ^ Georgian Census 2002
  3. ^ a b Central Intelligence Agency of United States (May 17, 2011). "CIA World Factbook:Georgia". The World Factbook (CIA). Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  4. ^ Russian Census 2002: Population by ethnicityTemplate:Ru icon
  5. ^ Ethnic Groups of Israel
  6. ^ Ukrainian Census 2001
  7. ^ 2001 Greek census
  8. ^ Azerbaijan Census 1999
  9. ^ Kazakhstan Census 2009
  10. ^ CIA — The World Factbook — Georgia — People — Religions — 2002 Census
  11. ^ Braund, David. Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC-AD 562, pp. 17-18
  12. ^ The Georgians, David Marshal Lang, p 19
  13. ^ The Georgians, David Marshal Lang, p 66
  14. ^ Georgia A Sovereign Country of the Caucasus, Roger Rosen, p 18
  15. ^ The Making of the Georgian Nation, Ronald Grigor Suny, p.4
  16. ^ a b c Cyril Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p 80
  17. ^ Cyril Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p 58
  18. ^ The Complete Works, Jewish Antiquities, Josephus, Book 1, p 57
  19. ^ The Georgians, David Marshal Lang, p 58
  20. ^ The Georgians, David Marshal Lang, p 59
  21. ^ Charles Burney and David Marshal Lang, The Peoples of the Hills: Ancient Ararat and Caucasus, p. 38
  22. ^ Cyril Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p 57
  23. ^ CToumanoff. Cyril Toumanoff, Studies in Christian Caucasian History, p 69,84
  24. ^ Blumenbach , De generis humani varietate nativa (3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quoted e.g. in Arthur Keith, Blumenbach's Centenary, Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1940).
  25. ^ The New Book of Knowledge — Grolier, Encyclopedia G. Article: GEORGIA, Republic of, By Alec Rasizade
  26. ^ Sajantila, Aantti "DNA Diversity in Europe" Department of Human Molecular Genetics, National Public Health Institute. Helsinki, Finland:2009
  27. ^ BRAUND, D., Georgia in antiquity: a history of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia 550 BC – AD 562, Oxford University Press, 1996
  28. ^ Frederik Coene (2009). The Caucasus: an introduction. Taylor & Francis. pp. 95–6.
  29. ^ Ronald Grigor Suny (1994). The making of the Georgian nation. Indiana University Press. pp. 36–7.
  30. ^ Frederik Coene (2009). The Caucasus: an introduction. Taylor & Francis. p. 113.
  31. ^ Liz James (1997). Women, men, and eunuchs: gender in Byzantium. Routledge. pp. 100–101. ISBN 9780415146852. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  32. ^ India. Foreign and Political Dept. (1892). A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds, Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries: Persia and the Persian Gulf. G. A. Savielle and P. M. Cranenburgh, Bengal Print. Co. pp. x (10).
  33. ^ Peter Nasmyth (2006). Georgia: in the mountains of poetry. Taylor & Francis. pp. 140–41.
  34. ^ James Minahan (2002). A - C. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 10.
  35. ^ Donald Rayfield (2005). Stalin and His Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 16–17.
  36. ^ Serge Matulich, David M. Currie (2008). Handbook of frauds, scams, and swindles: failures of ethics in leadership. CRC Press. pp. 28–9.
  37. ^ Georgia Is Top Reformer, World Bank Says
  38. ^ Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr (2009). The guns of August 2008: Russia's war in Georgia. M.E. Sharpe. p. 64.
  39. ^ Template:Ru icon Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г.
  40. ^ Template:Ru icon ССР ГРУЗИЯ (1926 г.)
  41. ^ Dr Mathijs Pelkmans
  42. ^ Pelkmans,Mathijs. Defending the border: identity, religion, and modernity in the Republic of Georgia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2006, pg. 80
  43. ^ Hewsen, Robert H. "Laz - Orientation". World Culture Encyclopedia. The census of 1945 cited 46,987 Laz speakers but did not count Turkish-speaking Laz and is certainly an undercount. The Soviet census of 1926—the last one in which the Laz are mentioned—listed 643 ethnic Laz in Ajaria and 730 Laz speakers. Catford (1970) estimated the total number of Laz at about 50,000, but there is no question that they are gradually becoming assimilated to the Turkish population at large.
  44. ^ Peter A. Andrews & Rüdiger Benninghaus (1989), Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, Vol. 1, p. 174. Reichert, ISBN 3882264187.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgians&oldid=460738217"