Historical dictionary of Georgia

775 Pages·2007·21.59 MB·English

by  Alexander Mikaberidze

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EUROPE HISTORY M
HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF EUROPE, NO. 50 I
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“Dr. Mikaberidze’s Historical Dictionary of Georgiacontains nearly 800 inter-
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disciplinary entries on a variety of subjects from remote antiquity to the
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present.This remarkable achievement will surely become a standard reference
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not only for specialists of Georgia and Caucasia, but of the broader Russian, E
Soviet and post-Soviet, Middle Eastern, Black Sea and Inner Eurasian worlds.
Highly recommended!”
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—Steven Rapp, professor of history, Georgia State University, Atlanta
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Situated in the breathtaking Caucasus Mountains between the Black and the t
Caspian seas, the country of Georgia lies at the crossroads between Europe o
and Asia. It has gone through more upheaval and change in the last 15 years—
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the casting off of the Soviet regime, a civil war, two ethnoterritorial conflicts,
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economic collapse, corruption, government inefficiency, and massive emigra- c
tion—than most countries go through in 150 years. However, despite all its
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hardships, this resilient and ancient country, with thousands of years of wine-
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making, 3,000 years of statehood, and almost two millennia of Christianity, o

continues to survive. And with the current government reforms, life in Georgia D
promises to improve. r
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Alexander Mikaberidze has created an invaluable source that details the long
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and turbulent history of Georgia. Historical Dictionary of Georgia, through its
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chronology, glossary, introduction, appendixes, maps, bibliography, and
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hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important people, places, n
events, and institutions, traces Georgia’s history and provides a compass for
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the direction the country is heading.
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Alexander Mikaberidze, who is of Georgian descent, has taught history at

Florida State University and Mississippi State University and lectured on o
strategy and policy for the U.S. Naval War College.
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For orders and information please contact the publisher
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
ALEXANDER MIKABERIDZE
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5580-9
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 ISBN-10: 0-8108-5580-1
Lanham, Maryland 20706 90000
1-800-462-6420 • fax [phone]
9 780810 855809
www.scarecrowpress.com
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HISTORICALDICTIONARIES OFEUROPE
Edited by Jon Woronoff
1. Portugal, byDouglas L. Wheeler. 1993. Out of print. See No. 40.
2. Turkey, by Metin Heper. 1994. Out of print. See No. 38.
3. Poland, by George Sanford and Adriana Gozdecka-Sanford. 1994.
Out of print. See No. 41.
4. Germany, by Wayne C. Thompson, Susan L. Thompson, and
Juliet S. Thompson. 1994
5. Greece, by Thanos M. Veremis and Mark Dragoumis. 1995
6. Cyprus, by Stavros Panteli. 1995
7. Sweden, by Irene Scobbie. 1995. Out of print. See No. 48.
8. Finland, by George Maude. 1995. Out of print. See No. 49.
9. Croatia, by Robert Stallaerts and Jeannine Laurens. 1995. Out of
print. See No. 39.
10. Malta, by Warren G. Berg. 1995
11. Spain, by Angel Smith. 1996
12. Albania, by Raymond Hutchings. 1996. Out of print. See No. 42.
13. Slovenia, by Leopoldina Plut-Pregelj and Carole Rogel. 1996
14. Luxembourg, by Harry C. Barteau. 1996
15. Romania, by Kurt W. Treptow and Marcel Popa. 1996
16. Bulgaria, by Raymond Detrez. 1997. Out of print. See No. 46.
17. United Kingdom:Volume 1,England and the United Kingdom;
Volume 2,Scotland,Wales,and Northern Ireland,by Kenneth J.
Panton and Keith A. Cowlard. 1997; 1998
18. Hungary, by Steven Béla Várdy. 1997
19. Latvia, by Andrejs Plakans. 1997
20. Ireland, by Colin Thomas and Avril Thomas. 1997
21. Lithuania, by Saulius Suziedelis. 1997
22. Macedonia, by Valentina Georgieva and Sasha Konechni. 1998
23. The Czech State, by Jiri Hochman. 1998
24. Iceland, by Gu∂mundur Hálfdanarson. 1997
25. Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Ante Cuvalo. 1997
26. Russia, by Boris Raymond and Paul Duffy. 1998
27. Gypsies (Romanies), by Donald Kenrick. 1998
28. Belarus, by Jan Zaprudnik. 1998
29. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, by Zeljan Suster. 1999
30. France, by Gino Raymond. 1998
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31. Slovakia, by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. 1998. Out of print. See
No. 47.
32. Netherlands, by Arend H. Huussen Jr. 1998
33. Denmark, by Alastair H. Thomas and Stewart P. Oakley. 1998
34. Modern Italy, by Mark F. Gilbert and K. Robert Nilsson. 1998
35. Belgium, by Robert Stallaerts. 1999
36. Austria, by Paula Sutter Fichtner. 1999
37. Republic of Moldova, by Andrei Brezianu. 2000
38. Turkey,2nd edition, by Metin Heper. 2002
39. Republic of Croatia, 2nd edition,by Robert Stallaerts. 2003
40. Portugal,2nd edition, by Douglas L. Wheeler. 2002
41. Poland,2nd edition, by George Sanford. 2003
42. Albania,New edition, by Robert Elsie. 2004
43. Estonia, by Toivo Miljan. 2004
44. Kosova, by Robert Elsie. 2004
45. Ukraine, by Zenon E. Kohut, Bohdan Y. Nebesio, and Myroslav
Yurkevich. 2005
46. Bulgaria, 2nd edition, by Raymond Detrez. 2006
47. Slovakia, 2nd edition, by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. 2006
48. Sweden, 2nd edition, by Irene Scobbie. 2006
49. Finland, 2nd edition, by George Maude. 2007
50. Georgia, by Alexander Mikaberidze. 2007
51. Belgium, 2nd edition,by Robert Stallaerts. 2007
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Historical Dictionary
of Georgia
Alexander Mikaberidze
Historical Dictionaries of Europe, No. 50
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2007
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SCARECROWPRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Awholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright ©2007 by Alexander Mikaberidze
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mikaberidze, Alexander.
Historical dictionary of Georgia / Alexander Mikaberidze.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of Europe ; no. 50)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5580-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-5580-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Georgia (Republic)–History–Dictionaries. I. Title.
DK675.4.M55 2007
947.58003–dc22 2006025051
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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To my fellow countrymen
Patrie fumus igne alieno luculentior
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Contents
Editor’s Foreword (Jon Woronoff) ix
Preface xi
Reader’s Note xv
Acronyms and Abbreviations xvii
Maps xix
Chronology xxvii
Introduction 1
THE DICTIONARY 55
Appendix A Sovereigns and Governments of Georgia 671
Appendix B Population 685
Appendix C Economic Activity 687
Appendix D Regions of Georgia 691
Glossary 695
Bibliography 699
About the Author 733
vii
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Editor’s Foreword
Few countries have fought so long and so hard to affirm their right to
statehood as Georgia—a tiny republic squeezed between the Black Sea
and the Caspian Sea and in the vicinity of great empires. Its emerging
principalities and kingdoms have had to struggle to achieve a semblance
of unity and then fight even harder to maintain independence from—
among others—the Greeks and Romans, the Byzantines and Persians,
the Mongols and Turks, and then the Russians, in the guise of an em-
pire, a soviet republic, and at present a state. That there is an indepen-
dent Georgia today—even one shorn of regions that once belonged to
it—is a bit of a miracle. And it is hardly surprising that even within its
borders there are regions that have broken away or might seek to do so.
This helps to explain why present-day Georgia has so many political,
economic, and social problems. But it has overcome even more serious
challenges in the past and just may do so again.
Georgia is not a big country, and its population is not particularly
numerous, but it has an amazingly complicated history and rich cul-
ture. Thus, to do it justice, a somewhat larger volume than normal was
necessary. This historical dictionary starts with an extensive chronol-
ogy that follows the many twists and turns of a very long history and
one that keeps generating events at an astounding pace. This is fol-
lowed by an introduction that presents the country and its people and
summarizes its history. Then comes the dictionary section—an unusu-
ally large one, containing about 780 entries on important persons,
places, and events, and on politics, the economy, society, religion, and
culture. The appendixes provide lists of dynasties and rulers—kings,
presidents, and prime ministers—and pertinent demographic and eco-
nomic details. Given the dearth of literature (especially in English),
the bibliography is particularly important to help readers follow up on
aspects of particular interest.
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