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Treasures of Georgia (Sakartvelo)

Written by Administrator
Thursday, 03 May 2007
Part1 History of Georgia and its people Georgia (Georgian: საქართველო, transliterated as Sakartvelo) is a country in Eurasia in the South Caucasus. It is bordered on the west by the Black sea, on the north by Russia, on the south by Turkey and Armenia, and on the west by Azerbaijan. A former republic of Soviet Union, and from 1990 to 1995 oficially known as Republic of Georgia, Georgia is an unitary, presidential republic. It is currently member of the United nations, the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Trade Organization and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Georgians consider themselves European, and after independence Georgia has sought political integration in Europe. Historically Georgia has ties with both Europe and Asia. Geographical classification of the country varies according to different sources[2]. Accordingly, Georgia can be regarded as a transcontinental nation on the border of Europe and Asia. Georgia has a unique historical and cultural heritage[3]. The ancient Georgian kingdom Colchis is known in Greek mythology as the destination of the Argonauts. The Georgian kingdom Iberia declared Christianity as a state religion in 327[4][5][6], making Georgia one of the oldest christian nations in the world. Georgian alphabet is a unique alphabet dating at least to the 4th century and still used in modern time. The first surviving literary texts in Georgian date from the first half of the 5th century, while Bible was translated into Georgian in the 5th century.[7]. In the begining of the 11th century Georgian lands were united into the Georgian Kingdom, which existed as a powerful christian kingdom until its dissolution in 1466. Geographically, Georgia is diverse and its natural resources are veracious. The mixture of Alpine zone in the Caucasus mountains and the subtropical Black Sea coast of western Georgia, the country is considered both an excellent ski resort and an excellent sea resort. Georgia has one of the oldest wine-making traditions in the world, and has been called the birthplace of wine, due to archaeological findings which indicate wine production back to 5000 BC. Part2 History The recorded history of Georgia dates back more than 4,000 years. Georgia in Antiquity Ancient Georgian Kingdoms of Colchis and IberiaTwo early Georgian Kingdoms of late antiquity, known to ancient Greeks and Romans as Iberia in the east of the country and Colchis in the west, were among the first nations in the region to adopt Christianity (in 337 AD, or in 319 AD as recent research suggests.). Colchis is the location of the Golden Fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts in the Greek myth and may have derived from the local practice of using fleeces to sift gold dust from rivers. Known to its natives as Egrisi or Lazica, Colchis often saw battles between the rival power of Persia and the Byzantine Empire, both of which managed to conquer Western Georgia from time to time. As a result, those Kingdoms disintegrated into various feudal regions in the early Middle Ages. This made it easy for Arabs to conquer Georgia in the 7th century. The rebellious regions were liberated and united into the Georgian Kingdom at the beginning of the 11th century. Starting in the 12th century the rule of Georgia extended over the significant part of the Southern Caucasus, including northeastern parts and almost the entire northern coast of what is now Turkey. Medieval Kingdom of Georgia at peak of its military dominance, 1184-1225The Georgian Kingdom reached its zenith in the 12th to early 13th centuries. This period has been widely termed as Georgia's Golden Age. The revival of the Georgian Kingdom was shortlived however, and the Kingdom was eventually subordinated by the Mongols in 1236. Thereafter, different local rulers fought for their independence from the central Georgian rule, until the total disintegration of the Kingdom in the 15th century. Neighbouring kingdoms exploited the situation and from the 16th century, the Persian Empire and the Ottoman Empire subordinated the eastern and western regions of Georgia, respectively. Tondo depicting Saint Mamas from the Gelati Monastery, 14th--15th centuriesThe rulers of regions, which remained partly autonomous, organised rebellions on various occasions. Subsequent Persian and Turkish invasions further weakened local kingdoms and regions. As a result of wars against the neighbouring countries the population of Georgia was reduced to 250,000 inhabitants at one point . Part3 In 1783 Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, according to which Kartli-Kakheti received protection by Russia. This, however, did not prevent Tbilisi from being sacked by the Persians in 1795. On December 22, 1800, Tsar Paul I of Russia, at the alleged request of the Georgian king George XII, signed the Proclamation on the incorporation of Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) within the Russian Empire. On January 8, 1801 Tsar Paul I of Russia, signed a decree on the incorporation of Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) within the Russian Empire[13][14] which was confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on September 12, 1801.[15][16] The Georgian envoy in Saint Petersburg reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice-chancellor Prince Kurakin.[17] In May 1801, Russian General Carl Heinrich Knorring dethroned the Georgian heir to the throne David Batonishvili and deployed a government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev.[18] The Georgian nobility did not accept the decree until April 1802 when General Knorring compassed the nobility in Tbilisi's Sioni Cathedral and forced them to take an oath on the imperial crown of Russia. Those who disagreed were arrested temporarily.[19] In the summer of 1805, Russian troops on the river Askerani near Zagam defeated the Persian army and saved Tbilisi from conquest. In 1810, after a brief war,[20] the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti was annexed by Tsar Alexander I of Russia. The last Imeretian king and the last Georgian Bagrationi ruler Solomon II died in exile in 1815. From 1803 to 1878, as a result of numerous Russian wars against Turkey and Iran, several territories were annexed to Georgia. These areas (Batumi, Akhaltsikhe, Poti, and Abkhazia) now represent a large part of the territory of Georgia. The principality of Guria was abolished in 1828, and that of Samegrelo (Mingrelia) in 1857. The region of Svaneti was gradually annexed in 1857--59. The Soviet period After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia declared independence on May 26, 1918 in the midst of the Russian Civil War. The parliamentary election was won by the Georgian Social-Democratic Party, considered to be a party of Mensheviks, and its leader, Noe Zhordania, became the prime minister. In 1918 a Georgian--Armenian war erupted over parts of Georgian provinces populated mostly by Armenians which ended due to British intervention. In 1918--19 Georgian general Giorgi Mazniashvili led a Georgian attack against White Army led by Moiseev and Denikin in order to claim the Black Sea coastline from Tuapse to Sochi and Adler for independent Georgia. The country's independence did not last long, however. In February 1921 Georgia was attacked by the Red Army. Georgian troops lost the battle and the Social-Democrat government fled the country. On February 25, 1921 the Red Army entered the capital Tbilisi and installed a puppet communist government led by Georgian Bolshevik Filipp Makharadze, but the Soviet rule was firmly established only after the 1924 revolt was brutally suppressed. Georgia was incorporated into the Transcaucasian SFSR uniting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The TFSSR was disaggregated into its component elements in 1936 and Georgia became the Georgian SSR. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia declared independence on May 26, 1918 in the midst of the Russian Civil War. The parliamentary election was won by the Georgian Social-Democratic Party, considered to be a party of Mensheviks, and its leader, Noe Zhordania, became the prime minister. In 1918 a Georgian--Armenian war erupted over parts of Georgian provinces populated mostly by Armenians which ended due to British intervention. In 1918--19 Georgian general Giorgi Mazniashvili led a Georgian attack against White Army led by Moiseev and Denikin in order to claim the Black Sea coastline from Tuapse to Sochi and Adler for independent Georgia. The country's independence did not last long, however. In February 1921 Georgia was attacked by the Red Army. Georgian troops lost the battle and the Social-Democrat government fled the country. On February 25, 1921 the Red Army entered the capital Tbilisi and installed a puppet communist government led by Georgian Bolshevik Filipp Makharadze, but the Soviet rule was firmly established only after the 1924 revolt was brutally suppressed. Georgia was incorporated into the Transcaucasian SFSR uniting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The TFSSR was disaggregated into its component elements in 1936 and Georgia became the Georgian SSR. The Georgian-born communist radical Ioseb Jughashvili was prominent among the Russian Bolsheviks, who came to power in the Russian Empire after the October Revolution in 1917. Jughashvili was better known by his nom de guerre Stalin (from the Russian word for steel: сталь). Stalin was to rise to the highest position of the Soviet state and to rule ruthlessly. ( more ) !
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