Georgians

TheGeorgians, orKartvelians(/kɑːrtˈvɛliənz/;Georgian:ქართველები,romanized:kartvelebi,pronounced[kʰaɾtʰʷelebi]), are a nation andCaucasianethnic groupnative to present-dayGeorgiaand surrounding areas historically associated with the Georgian kingdoms. Significant Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughoutRussia,Turkey,Greece,Iran,Ukraine, theUnited States, and theEuropean Union.
Georgians arose fromColchianandIberiancivilizationsofclassical antiquity; Colchis was interconnected with theHellenic world, whereas Iberia was influenced by theAchaemenid EmpireuntilAlexander the Greatconquered it.In the early 4th century, the Georgians became one of the first toembrace Christianityand now the majority of Georgians areOrthodox Christians, with most following their nationalGeorgian Orthodox Church,although there are small GeorgianCatholicandMuslimcommunities as well as a significant number ofirreligious Georgians. Located in theCaucasus, on thecontinental crossroads of Europe and Asia, theHigh Middle Agessaw Georgian people form aunifiedKingdom of Georgiain 1008 AD,the pan-Caucasian empire,later inaugurating theGeorgian Golden Age, a height of political and cultural power of the nation. This lasted until thekingdom was weakened and later disintegratedas the result of the 13th–15th-century invasions of theMongolsandTimur,theBlack Death, theFall of Constantinople, as well as internal divisions following the death ofGeorge V the Brilliantin 1346, the last of the greatkings of Georgia.
Thereafter and throughout theearly modern period, Georgians became politically fractured and were dominated by theOttoman Empireand successivedynasties of Iran. Georgians started looking for allies and found the Russians on the political horizon as a possible replacement for the lostByzantine Empire, "for the sake of the Christian faith".The Georgian kings andRussian tsarsexchanged no less than 17 embassies,which culminated in 1783, whenHeraclius IIof the eastern Georgian kingdom ofKartli-Kakhetiforgedan alliancewith theRussian Empire. The Russo-Georgian alliance, however, backfired as Russia was unwilling to fulfill the terms of the treaty, proceeding toannexthe troubled kingdom in 1801as well as the western Georgiankingdom of Imeretiin 1810.There were several uprisings and movements to restore the statehood, the most notable being the1832 plot, which collapsed in failure.Eventually, Russian rule over Georgia was acknowledged in various peace treaties with Iran and the Ottomans, and the remaining Georgian territories were absorbed by the Russian Empire in a piecemeal fashion through the course of the 19th century. Georgians briefly reasserted their independence from Russia under theFirst Georgian Republicfrom 1918 to 1921 and finallyin 1991from theSoviet Union.
The Georgian nation was formed out of a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners,dialectsand, in the case ofSvansandMingrelians, own regional languages. TheGeorgian language, with itsown unique writing systemand extensive written tradition, which goes back to the 5th century, is theofficial languageof Georgia as well as the language of education of all Georgians living in the country. According to theState Ministry on Diaspora Issues of Georgia, unofficial statistics say that there are more than 5 million Georgians in the world.
Georgians call themselvesKartveli(ქართველი,pl.Kartvelebiქართველები), their landSakartvelo(საქართველო), and their languageKartuli(ქართული).According toThe Georgian Chronicles, the ancestor of the Kartvelian people wasKartlos, the great-grandson of theBiblicalJapheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from theKarts, the latter being one of the proto-Georgian tribes that emerged as a dominant group in ancient times.Kartprobably is cognate with Indo-Europeangardand denotes people who live in a "fortifiedcitadel".Ancient Greeks(Homer,Herodotus,Strabo,Plutarchetc.) andRomans(Titus Livius,Cornelius Tacitus, etc.) referred to western Georgians asColchiansand eastern Georgians asIberians.
The term "Georgians" is derived from the country of Georgia. In the past, lore-based theories were given by the medieval French travellerJacques de Vitry, who explained the name's origin by the popularity ofSt. Georgeamongst Georgians,while travellerJean Chardinthought that "Georgia" came from Greekγεωργός("tiller of the land"), as when the Greeks came into the region (inColchis) they encountered a developed agricultural society.
However, asAlexander Mikaberidzeadds, these explanations for the wordGeorgians/Georgiaare rejected by the scholarly community, who point to thePersianwordgurğ/gurğān("wolf") as the root of the word.Starting with the Persian wordgurğ/gurğān, the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages.This term itself might have been established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspianregion, which was referred to asGorgan("land of the wolves").
Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited thesouthern Caucasusand northernAnatoliasince theNeolithic period.Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes.
The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to theancient GreeksandRomansasColchiansandIberians.East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th centuryBCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Colchian tribes) established the first Georgian state ofColchis(c.1350 BCE) before the foundation of theKingdom of Iberiain the east.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.
According toCyril Toumanoff, scholar of the Caucasian studies, theMoschiansalso were one of the early proto-Georgian tribes which were integrated into the first early Georgian state of Iberia.The ancient Jewish chronicle byJosephusmentions Georgians as Iberes who were also called Thobel (Tubal).David Marshall Langargued that the rootTibargave rise to the formIberthat made the Greeks pick up the nameIberianin the end for the designation of the eastern Georgians.
DiauehiinAssyriansources andTaochiin Greek lived in the northeastern part ofAnatolia. This ancient tribe is considered by many scholars as ancestors of the Georgians.Modern Georgians still refer to this region, which now belongs to present-day Turkey, asTao-Klarjeti, an ancient Georgian kingdom. Some people there still speak the Georgian language.
Colchians in the ancient western Georgian polity of Colchis were another proto-Georgian tribe. They are first mentioned in the Assyrian annals ofTiglath-Pileser Iand in the annals ofUrartianking Sarduri II, and also included western Georgian tribe of theMeskhetians.
Iberians, also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, lived in the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia.
Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.
According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:
An FTDNA collection of Georgian Y-DNA suggests that Georgians have the highest percentage ofHaplogroup G(39.9%) among the general population recorded in any country. Georgians'Y-DNAalso belongs toHaplogroup J(32.5%),R1b(8.6%),L(5.4%),R1a(4.2%),I2(3.8%) and other more minor haplogroups such as E, T and Q.
Georgian is the primary language for Georgians of all provenance, including those who speak otherKartvelian languages:Svans,Mingreliansand theLaz. 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 CE. Today, Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languagesSvanandMingrelianare languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-ChristianKingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unifiedKingdom of Georgiaemerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom,Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country known asKingdom of Iberiaeffectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.
All of these languages comprise theKartvelian language familyalong with the related language of theLaz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.
Georgian dialectsincludeImeretian,Racha-Lechkhumian,Gurian,Adjarian,Imerkhevian(in Turkey),Kartlian,Kakhetian,Ingilo(in Azerbaijan),Tush,Khevsur,Mokhevian,Pshavian,Fereydan dialect in IraninFereydunshahrandFereydan,Mtiuletian,MeskhetianandJavakhetiandialect.
According to Orthodox tradition,Christianitywas first preached in Georgia by theApostlesSimon and Andrew in the 1st century. It became the state religion ofKartli (Iberia)in 319or 326.At the same time, in the first centuries A.D., the cult ofMithras,paganbeliefs, andZoroastrianismwere commonly practiced in Georgia.The conversion of Kartli to Christianity is credited toSt. NinoofCappadocia. Christianity gradually replaced all the former religions except Zoroastrianism, which become a second established religion in Iberia after thePeace of Acilisenein 378.The conversion to Christianity eventually placed the Georgians permanently on the front line of conflict between the Islamic and Christian world. Georgians remained mostly Christian despite repeated invasions by Muslim powers, and long episodes of foreign domination.
As was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts.MedievalGeorgian culture was greatly influenced byEastern Orthodoxyand theGeorgian Orthodox Church, which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion.  These included churches and monasteries, works of art such asicons, andhagiographiesof Georgian saints.
Today, 83.9% of the Georgian population, most of whom are ethnic Georgian, follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity.A sizable GeorgianMuslimpopulation exists inAdjara. This autonomous Republic borders Turkey, and was part of theOttoman Empirefor a longer amount of time than other parts of the country. Those Georgian Muslims practice the SunniHanafiform of Islam. Islam has however declined in Adjara during the 20th century, due to Soviet anti-religious policies, cultural integration with the national Orthodox majority, and strong missionary efforts by the Georgian Orthodox Church.In the early modern period, converted Georgian recruits were often used by the Persian and Ottoman Empires for elite military units such as theMameluks,Qizilbash, andghulams. TheIranian Georgiansare all reportedly Shia Muslims today, whileIngiloy(indigenous to Azerbaijan),Laz(indigenous to Turkey),Imerkhevians(indigenous to Turkey), andGeorgians in Turkey(who descend from Georgian immigrants) are mostlySunniMuslim.
There is also a small number ofGeorgian Jews, tracing their ancestors to theBabylonian captivity.
In addition to traditional religious confessions, Georgia retainsirreligious segments of society, as well as a significant portion of nominally religious individuals who do not actively practice their faith.
TheGeorgian cuisineis specific to the country, but also contains some influences from otherEuropean culinary traditions, as well as those from the surrounding Western Asia. Each historical province of Georgia has its own distinct culinary tradition, such as Megrelian, Kakhetian, and Imeretian cuisines. In addition to various meat dishes, Georgian cuisine also offers a variety of vegetarian meals.
The importance of both food and drink toGeorgian cultureis best observed during a Caucasian feast, orsupra, when a huge assortment of dishes is prepared, always accompanied by large amounts of wine, and dinner can last for hours. In a Georgian feast, the role of thetamada(toastmaster) is an important and honoured position.
In countries of the formerSoviet Union, Georgian food is popular due to the immigration of Georgians to other Soviet republics, in particular Russia. In Russia all major cities have many Georgian restaurants and Russian restaurants often feature Georgian food items on their menu.
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 aGurianmoves toTbilisi(part of theKartliregion) he will not automatically identify himself asKartliandespite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are someMingrelianswho have lived in theImeretiregion 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). MostSvanlast names typically end in –ani(ანი),Mingrelianin –ia(ია), -ua(უა), or -ava(ავა), andLazin –shi(ში).
The1897 Russian census(which accounted people by language), had Imeretian,SvanandMingrelianlanguages separate fromGeorgian.During the 1926 Soviet census, Svans and Mingrelians were accounted separately from Georgian.Svan and Mingrelian languages are bothKartvelian languagesand are closely related to the nationalGeorgian language.
Laz peoplealso may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to theLondon School of Economics' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans,Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs".
Throughout history Georgia also has extinct Georgian subdivisions