ABKHAZIANS AND OSSETIANS IN GEORGIA

HISTORY AND NOWADAYS
May 30, 2009


Speech of Iulon Gagoshidze, Dr. Art History, Georgian National Museum, State Minister on Diaspora Affairs, Georgia at symposium on

Georgia at the Crossroads of European and Asian Cultures
Culture as a tool for the mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue

The Harriman Institute at Columbia University
New York, NY
May 4, 2009

The actualization of the issue of Abkhazians and Ossetians towards Georgia is associated with the collapse process of the Soviet Union. Twenty years ago a few person could know that in some place in Caucasia, in one of the Republics of the Soviet union, called The Soviet Republic of Georgia, subsisted the territorial-administrative formations of ,,Abkhazia” and ,,The South Ossetia”, the first under the status of the Autonomous Republic and the second under the status of the Autonomous District.

Today the situation is changed. Today, after the Russian-Georgian war the world learnt that specified regions are occupied by Russian troops, that this occupation is being continued by the violation of all international standards and rules, despite of the fact that the ,,independence” of Abkhazia and the South Ossetia, declared by Russia, was recognized by no one except Hamas, maybe by Nicaragua.

Along with the military occupation of Georgia, in order to justify its aggression against Georgia, Russia has launched the informational war. Russia is trying to convince the world as if the regions occupied by it never consisted in Georgia, just like Saakashvili treacherously attacked Tskhinvali and if not the Russian tanks, peacefully Ossetians living there could not avoid the genocide from Georgian side. The Western media as well, unfortunately, quite frequently, in accordance with claim unchangeably repeats the Russian version of the Russian-Georgian war reason. It is hard to say how it can be explained, by the authors’ ignorance, indifference, or in the effect that Russia is generously financing its informational war.

But I am not going to unmask all those lies that are abundantly presented in the fabricated publications through the request of Russian officials. I’ll simply try to follow Abkhazians’ and Ossetians’ settlement and living history on the territory of Georgia along with you and to speak about how they occurred to be induced in a bloody conflict.

Let’s start with Ossetians. In the North Caucasia Ossetians are the only Iranian speaking nation, but anthropologically, by culture and according to the ethno-psychological signs, they are typical Caucasians. This ethnic ,,bifacial” nature is caused therewith that in their ethnogeny Iranian speaking nomads of the Eurasia steppes took part, as well as Caucasian autochthonic population. Ossetians’ direct Iranian speaking ancestors – Ass and Allans appeared in the steppes of the North Caucasia in 1st century A.D. and went into history as incomparable horsemen warriors, who were horrendous to all Near East in the 1st-4th centuries. From time to time their troops robbed Parthia, Armenia, Eastern provinces of Rome, even Egypt. But it is notable that they never robbed the kingdom of Kartli (Iberia). The point is that to get from the North Caucasia to the Near East was possible only through Dariali pass and Dariali pass was controlled by Georgians. So Allans, without making agreement with the authorities of Kartli kingdom could not arrange neither their robbery incursions, nor could manage the regular trading-economic contacts with the Anterior Asia, by which both sides were equally interested.

Ties between Georgia and Allans has not ceased hereafter, when in the 9th-10th centuries, in the west part of the North Caucasia, on the steppes Allans established a vast kingdom, which Byzantines mentioned as Allania and Georgians as Ovseti.

Christianity in Ovseti-Allania was spread by the king of Abkhazs Giorgi II, who ruled in the West Georgia (in Abkhazia) in 922-957. That’s why almost all terms associated with Christianity in Ossetian language is borrowed from Georgian (dzuar – jvari, morkho-markhva, Tarangelos-Mtavarangelozi, Mikalgabirta-Mikelgabrieli, Giorguba-Giorgoba, etc.). The most vivid reflection of the close relations between Allania-Ovseti and Georgia were ruling line weddings, especially in the 11th-12th centuries: Georgian kings Giorgi I (1014-1027), Bagrat IV (1027-1072), Giorgi III (1156-1184) took in marriage Ovsetian princeses, Queen Tamar’s (1184-1210) husband Davit Soslan was the heir of the throne of Ovsetian kingdom.

The state of Allania-Ovseti was destroyed first by Mongols in the 13th century and then, at the end of the 14th century smashed by Tamerlan. The main multitude of Allan-Ossetians was constrained to seek shelter in the mountainous gorges of the central Caucasus, while the plain of the ancient Allania at that time was occupied by reinforced Kabardinians.

Right in the mountainous part of the central Caucasus, as a result of confluence-mixing of Allan-Ossetians with the aboriginal Caucasian mountaineers, the present day Ossetian ethnos was formed in the 15th-17th centuries, which encloses two sub-ethnoses: Irs (Iron) and Digors. Digors substitute the west part of the Ossetians’ resettlement territory, where in the 17th-18th centuries, Islam was spread under the influence of Kabardinian seigniors, while Irs, whose name today became entirely the self-term of Ossetians (Iron) and Ossetia (Iriston), are the sole nation in North Caucasus, who represent the confessors of Christianity.

In the 17th century Iron-Ossetians started peaceful migration in the alpine gorges of the northern part of the central Georgia. This action was sanctioned by the central authorities of Georgia, as well as by Georgian feudals, concerned by the increasing of serf-peasants. Around the end of the 18th century, in the springs of the rivers Tergi, Ksani, Liakhvi, Aragvi, Jejora and Kvirila, the number of Ossetian new settlers made 4000 households. Ossetians movement into Georgia through the paved way was continued in the 19th-20th centuries too, when Georgia was already conquered by Russians and Ossetian settlements in internal territories of Georgia, in Trialeti, Borjomi-Bakuriani and Kakheti emerged as well. In 1989 the population of Ossetians in Georgia reached 164000 and among ethnic minorities living in Georgia, Ossetians, after Azerbaijanians, Russians and Armenians took the fourth place. The process of Ossetians lodging in Georgia was not always peaceful: indigent mountainy Ossetians, every time, when they had an opportunity, used to rob, startle, throw out from the villages and even kill unarmed Georgian peasants without any esteem.

In 1774-1781 North Caucasian Ossetians, together with Kabardinians became the guardians of Russia. Ossetians liberated from the Kabardinian feudals’ guardianship started to settle from the gorges of Caucasus in the lowlands of the river Tergi edges, from where Russians expelled Ingushians. Ossetians became reliable allies of Russian authorities in Caucasia and Ossetia – the foothold of Russian imperialistic ideas. The encouragement and usage of Ossetians for fighting first against Kabardinians and Ingushians and afterwards against Georgians, from the side of Russia was only divide ed impera policy fulfillment and nothing more, otherwise the fate of Ossetians and Ossetia, as well as the fate of Ingushians and other Caucasian ethnoses, among which some of them are even totally wiped out ,,by dint of” Russia did not disturb Russia.

In 1801 the kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti turned out to be consisting in Russia and since then among Ossetians settled in Georgia and native Georgian population Russian administrators became the mediators, who, at every turn, in a conflict situations always supported Ossetians. At the very beginning of the 19th century Russians snap away from Tbilisi government the territory of historical Dvaleti which was at the upper loin of the river Ardon and which always constituted as the part of Georgia and today appears as a part of the Russian federation – North Ossetia. Yet in 20-ies of the 19th century, for marking Georgian territories inhabited with Ossetians, Russians established the term ,,South Ossetia”, where the insidious design of further dismember and disbandment of Georgia is enclosed. Here is implied the following: there exists Ossetia, divided into two parts – into the North and the South Ossetia, the unification of which is just the point of time. It’s worthwhile that in recent Russian language publications a new term - ,,Trialeti Ossetia” emerged as well and hereby professedly was expressed the appetite of all three ,,Ossetias” unification, which should devastate Georgia. It’s fitty to the point and we should say as well that Ossetians’ compact settlements in Trialeti are relatively new formations. These settlements were framed in reliance of Trialeti mountain pastures (summer pastures), belongings to Shida Kartli Georgian villages, which, under 1866 reform were passed to Ossetians, living there under the refugee (leaseholders) status fairly free of charge. Ossetians had to pay 3 rubles for desiatina (apr.12000sq.m), while the law forced Georgian peasants to buy one desiatina of his own land for 60 rubles.

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http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11939&Itemid=132

South Ossetians Elect Parliment

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/europe/01ossetia.html?_r=1

MOSCOW — Voters in the breakaway territory of South Ossetia on Sunday elected a Parliament loyal to the Moscow-backed president, Eduard Kokoity, consolidating his control in the region that precipitated the war last August between Russia and Georgia.

South Ossetia’s new Parliament will be dominated by the Edinstvo, or Unity, Party, which won about 60 percent of the votes, based on an early count.

Critics complained that election officials had shut out Mr. Kokoity’s rivals, who blame him for the slow pace of reconstruction in the separatist capital.

On Sunday, officials reported a turnout of more than 56,000 voters.

South Ossetia’s prewar population was about 70,000.

Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgia’s minister of reintegration, called the results illegitimate.

“There are very few people left there,” he said. “Besides the fact that Georgians are not there, there are no ethnic Ossetians there. This is just an attempt to legitimize the Kokoity regime.”

The president’s opponents have suggested that he plans to change the Constitution so that he can run again after his second term ends, in 2011.