Abkhazians - small ethnic group, which is distinct from Georgian. On the language and the culture they relate to the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus and they are some of the the oldest the inhabitants of West Transcaucasia. In the early middle ages Abkhazian Kingdom there existed in at one time with the Georgian Kingdom. In 1860-th years Abkhaziya was included into the Russian Empire. During this period and soon after that time a significant the part of the Abkhazian population (which confesses the mixture of Islamic, Christian and heathen beliefs) was either evicted or freely moved into adjacent Turkey. Despite this emigration, at the beginning of the twentieth century Abkhazians still composed the majority on their native land. After the 1917 revolution Abkhaziya entered into the Soviet Union as a sovereign republic in the composition of what was called Transcaucasian Federation, and this status was confirmed in 1925 to year in the newly taken constitution of Abkhaziya. But in 1931 this status was lowered to the Autonomous Republic inside Georgia. The Caucasus , a region boardering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. ... Transcaucasia is the name given to a region south of the Caucasus Mountains that covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. ... The recorded history of Georgia dates back more than 4,000 years and the Georgian language is one of the oldest living languages in the world. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام, listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... The term Christian means belonging to Christ and is derived from the Greek noun Χριστός Khristós which means anointed one, which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word Moshiach (Hebrew: משיח, also written Messiah), (and in Arabic it is pronounced Maseeh مسيح). ... The Trans-Caucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TCDFR, Закавказская демократическая Федеративная Республика, ЗКДФР) (February 1918 — May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus after the October Revolution. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...
During the Soviet period (especially under Stalin) Abkhaziya underwent massive "Georgification": Abkhazians underwent discrimination in many spheres. L. Beria, the head of the Georgian Communist Party in 1930- yr. played very active role in implementing this policy. As a result the persentage of Abkhazians sharply changed during the life of two generations. By 1989 the number of Abkhazians was about 93000 (18 percent of the population of republic), while Georgian population was counted by 240000 (45 percent). Number of Armenians (15 percent of entire population) and Russians (14 percent) also substantially grew. Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ...
Modern Abkhazian historians insist that large areas of the region were left uninhabited, and that many Armenians, Georgians and Russians (all Christians) subsequently migrated to Abkhazia, resettling much of the vacated territory.
According to Georgian scholars modern Abkhazians are the descendants of the North Caucasian tribes (Adygey, Apsua), and are the ones who were moving down to Abkhazia from the North Caucasus mountains throughout the history and merging there with the existing Georgian population.
The Abkhazians' military defeat was met with a hostile response by the self-styled Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, an umbrella group uniting a number of pro-Russian movements in the North Caucasus, Russia (Chechens, Cossacks, Ossetians and others).
A major outburst of Abkhazian separatism occurred in 1989, touched off by the Georgian government's efforts to establish a branch of the Georgian State University in Sukhumi further exacerbated the situation (this branch was to replace the Georgian department of the Abkhazian university).
Over the next year, the Abkhazians, who received substantial political and military assistance from volunteers from the Confederation of the Mountain People of the Caucasus (CMPC) and at least some assistance from local Russian military units,[2] were able to launch a counteroffensive and gradually re-establish control over "their" republic up to the Russian-Georgian border.
Shevardnadze's protest that it was the Abkhazians who had violated the agreement seemed to fall on deaf ears, as did his charge that the Abkhazians had acted in response to what was virtually an invitation from the Russian Supreme Soviet and with the direct support of local Russian military commanders.
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