The article refers to the history of Georgia’s autonomous republic of Abkhazia. Template:History of Abkhazia Official languages Abkhaz, with Russian having co-official status and widespread use by government and other institutions Political status De facto independent Capital Sukhumi Capitals coordinates President Sergei Bagapsh Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab Independence  â€“ Declared  â€“ Recognition From Georgia  23 July 1992  none Currency Russian ruble Official languages Abkhaz and...

Prehistoric settlement

Lower Paleolithic hunting-gathering encampments formed the first known settlements on the territory of modern-day Abkhazia. The earliest examples have been unearthed at the sites of Iashkhtva, Gumista, Kelasuri, and Ochamchire. Upper Paleolithic culture settled chiefly the coastline. Mesolithic and Neolithic periods brought larger permanent settlements, and marked the beginning of farming, animal husbandry, and the production of ceramics. The earliest artifacts of megalithic culture appeared in the early 3rd millennium BC and continued into the Bronze Age as the so-called dolmens of Abkhazia, typically consisting of four upright mass stones and a capstone, some of them weighting as much as 50 tones. A dolmen from the Eshera archaeological site is the best studied prehistoric monument of this type. Patriarchal society is believed to have emerged to replace matriarchate and pastoral economy seems to have begun to develop roughly at the same time. The Late Bronze Age saw the development of more advanced bronze implements, and continued into the Iron Age as a part of the Colchian culture (c. 1200-600 BCE), which covered most of what is now western Georgia and part of northeastern Anatolia. The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. ... Ochamchire (sometimes referred to as Ochamchira) is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, an autonomous republic in northwestern Georgia. ... The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... The Mesolithic (Greek mesos=middle and lithos=stone or the Middle Stone Age) was a period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae Scotland, Europes most complete Neolithic village. ... Megalithic tomb, Mane Braz, Brittany A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument either alone or with other stones. ... The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Poulnabrone dolmen in County Clare, Ireland For the french TV miniseries, see Dolmen (TV miniseries). ... The word tone is used in several different fields with different meanings. ... A patriarchate is the office or jurisdiction of a patriarch. ... Matriarchy is a form of society in which power is with the women and especially with the mothers of a community. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use) consisted of techniques for smelting copper and tin from naturally occurring outcroppings of ore, and then alloying those metals in order to cast bronze. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Colchian culture (circa 1200 to 600 BC) is a late Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of the western Caucasus, mostly in western Georgia. ... (Redirected from 1200 BC) Centuries: 14th century BC - 13th century BC - 12th century BC Decades: 1250s BC 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC 1210s BC - 1200s BC - 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC 1150s BC Events and Trends 1204 BC - Theseus, legendary King of Athens is deposed after... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... The Common Era is the period beginning with a year near the birth of Jesus, coinciding with the period from AD 1 onwards. ... Anatolia lies east of the Bosphorus, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Anatolia is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ...

Abkhazia in antiquity

Caucasus from 2000 to 600 BC

The written history of Abkhazia largely begins with the coming of the Milesian Greeks to the coastal Colchis in the 6th-5th centuries BC. They founded their maritime colonies along the eastern shore of the Black Sea, with Dioscurias being one of the most important principal centers of trade with the neighboring tribes, that of slaves not excluded. This city, said to be so named for the Dioscuri, the twins Castor and Pollux of classical mythology, is presumed to have subsequently developed into the modern-day Sukhumi. Other notable colonies were Gyenos, Triglitis, and later Pityus, arguably near the modern-day coastal towns of Ochamchire, Gagra, and Pitsunda, respectively. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (632x966, 133 KB) Caucasus durign the Hittites Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): History of Georgia (country) User:Kober... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (632x966, 133 KB) Caucasus durign the Hittites Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): History of Georgia (country) User:Kober... The lower half of the benches and the remnants of the scene building of the theater of Miletus, as it was on August 6, 2005. ... In ancient geography, Colchis (sometimes spelled also as Kolchis) (Greek: Κολχίς, kŏl´kĬs; Georgian: კოლხეთი, Kolkheti) was a nearly triangular district in Caucasus. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 6th century BC started on January 1, 600 BC and ended on December 31, 501 BC. // Monument 1, an Olmec colossal head at La Venta The 5th and 6th centuries BC were a time of empires, but more importantly, a time... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 5th century BC started on January 1, 500 BC and ended on December 31, 401 BC. // The Parthenon of Athens seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... Sukhumi (სოხუმი in Georgian, in Abkhaz language) is the capital of Abkhazia, a de facto independent state that is internationally recognised, however, as being part of Georgia. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... Classical or Greco-Roman mythology usually refers to the mythology, and the associated polytheistic rituals and practices, of Classical Antiquity. ... Destroyed shop in Sukhumi Sukhumi (Georgian: , Sokhumi; Abkhaz: , Aqwa; Russian: , Sukhumi) is the capital of Abkhazia, a de facto independent republic, which is internationally recognized as being an autonomous republic within Georgia. ... Pitsunda (Georgian: Bichvinta) is a resort town in Abkhazia, situated on the shore of the Black Sea 25 km south from Gagra. ... Ochamchire (sometimes referred to as Ochamchira) is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, an autonomous republic in northwestern Georgia. ... Gagra, View from the Black Sea Gagra is a city in the Abkhazia region of western Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. ...

The peoples of the region were notable for their number and variety, as classical sources testify. Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny appreciate the multitude of languages spoken in Dioscurias and other towns. The mountainous terrain tended to separate and isolate local peoples from one another and encouraged the development of dozens of separate languages and dialects complicating the ethnic makeup of the region. Even the most well-informed contemporary authors are very confused when naming and locating these peoples and provide only very limited information about the geography and population of the hinterland. Furthermore, some classic ethnic names were presumably collective terms and supposed considerable migrations also took place around the region. Various attempts have been made to identify these peoples with the ethnic terms employed by classical authors. Some scholars identify Pliny the Elder’s Apsilae of the 1st century AD and Arrian’s Abasgoi of the 2nd century AD with the probable proto-Abkhaz- and Abaza-speakers respectively, while others consider them proto-Kartvelian tribal designations. The identity and origin of other peoples (e.g., Heniochi, Sanigae) dwelling in the area are also disputed. Archaeology has seldom been able to make strong connections between the remains of material culture and the opaque names of peoples mentioned by classical writers. Thus, controversies still continue and a series of questions remain open. Bust of Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos Halikarnasseus) was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - ca. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... (Redirected from 1st century AD) (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 99. ... Alexander the Great Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c. ... (1st century - 2nd century - 3rd century - other centuries) Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken in Georgia and Turkey. ... The Abaza language (Абаза Бызшва/Abaza Byzšwa) is a language of the Caucasus mountains in the Russian autonomous republic of Turkey, where the Roman alphabet is used. ... Georgian (also Kartvelian; Kartuli in Georgian) is the official language of Georgia, a republic in the Caucasus. ...

Ancient Georgian Kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia 600-150 BC.

Along with the rest of Colchis, Abkhazia was conquered by Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus between c. 110 and 63 BC, and then taken by the Roman commander Pompey. With the downfall of the Roman Empire, the tribes living in the region gained some independence, nominating their rulers who were to be confirmed by Rome. In the 3rd century AD, the western Georgian tribe of Lazoi came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. According to Procopius, the Abasgoi chieftains were also subdued by the Lazic kings. This kingdom was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine and Sassanid empires, culminating in the well-known Lazic War from 542 to 562. The war resulted in the decline of Lazica, and the Abasgoi in their dense forests won a degree of autonomy under the Byzantine authority. Their land, known to the Byzantines as Abasgia, was a prime source of eunuchs for the empire, and pagan until a mission sent by the emperor Justinian I (527-565) converted the people in Christianity, though at the 325 Council of Nicaea a bishop had attended from the port city of Pityus. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1312x894, 314 KB) Kingdom of Cholchis and Iberia Copyright© Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tbilisi Georgia (country) Colchis Caucasian Iberia... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1312x894, 314 KB) Kingdom of Cholchis and Iberia Copyright© Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tbilisi Georgia (country) Colchis Caucasian Iberia... In ancient geography, Colchis (sometimes spelled also as Kolchis) (Greek: Κολχίς, kŏl´kĬs; Georgian: კოლხეთი, Kolkheti) was a nearly triangular district in Caucasus. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Iberia was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC-5th century AD) corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. ... Mithridates VI of Pontus, (132 BC- 63 BC), called Eupator Dionysius, was the king of Pontus in Asia Minor and one of Romes most formidable and successful enemies. ... Traditional rural Pontic house A man in traditional clothes from Trabzon, illustration Pontus is the name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC 120s BC - 110s BC - 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC Years: 115 BC 114 BC 113 BC 112 BC 111 BC - 110 BC - 109 BC 108 BC... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC - 60s BC - 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC Years: 68 BC 67 BC 66 BC 65 BC 64 BC 63 BC 62 BC 61 BC 60... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Pompey, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir [1] (Classical Latin abbreviation: CN·POMPEIVS·CN·F·SEX·N·MAGNVS[2], Gnaeus or Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus) (September 29, 106 BC – September 29, 48 BC), was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman republic. ... The Roman Empire is the name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... The Common Era (CE), sometimes known as the Current Era or as the Christian Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year 1 on the Gregorian calendar. ... Egrisi (or Kolkheti) was a kingdom in the western part of Georgia, which flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It was covered the territory of the former kingdom Kolkha (Colchis) and the territory of modern Abkhazia). ... Procopius (in Greek Προκόπιος, c. ... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ... The Sassanid Empire in the time of Shapur I; the conquest of Cappadocia was temporary Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian) Dominant Religion Zoroastrianism Capital Ctesiphon Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr) First Ruler Ardashir I Last Ruler Yazdegerd III Establishment 224 AD Dissolution 651 AD Part of the History of... The Lazic War, or Egrisi Great War as it is known in Georgian historiography, refers to the twenty-year war between Byzantium and Iran Sassanid Empire for controlling the western Georgian Kingdom of Egrisi/ Lazica in 542-562. ... Events The plague killed upwards of 100,000 in Constantinople and perhaps two million or more in the rest of the Byzantine Empire (possibly exaggerated). ... For the area code 562 see Area Code 562 Events Nan Xiao Ming Di succeeds Nan Liang Xuan Di as ruler of the Chinese Nan Liang Dynasty. ... A eunuch is a castrated man; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past. ... Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale. ... This article is about the year. ... Events January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Events May 20 - First Council of Nicaea - first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church: The Nicene Creed is formulated, the date of Easter is discussed. ... The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicea in Bithynia (in present-day Turkey), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first ecumenical[1] conference of bishops of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine. ... Two bishops assist at the Exhumation of Saint Hubert, who was a bishop too, at the église Saint-Pierre in Liège. ...

Medieval Abkhazia

As the Abasgoi tribe grew in relative strength, the name Abasgia came to denote much larger area populated by the various ethnic segments including Mingrelian- and Svan-speaking Georgian tribes, and subordinated to the Byzantine-appointed princes (Greek: archon, Georgian: eristavi) who resided in Anacopia and were viewed as major champions of the empire’s political and cultural influence in western Caucasus. Arabs penetrated the area in the 730s, but they never succeeded in conquering it. It was when the term Abkhazeti (i.e., "the land of the Abkhazians") first appeared in the Georgian annals, giving origin to the modern-day name Abkhazia, used in most foreign languages. The Megrelian language (Megruli ena in Georgian, Margaluri nina in Megrelian), sometimes called Mingrelian, is a language spoken in northwest Georgia. ... The Svan language (ლუშნუ ნინ, lushnu nin in Svan; სვანური ენა, svanuri ena in Georgian) is a language spoken in Northwest Georgia. ... Look up Archon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Eristavi (Georgian: ; literally, “head of the people”) was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine strategos and normally translated into English as duke. In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province. ... The New Athos Monastery New Athos (Geo. ... The Ethnolinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map Russia Georgia Azerbaijan (Azer. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب) are a heterogeneous ethnic group who are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, mainly found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... Centuries: 7th century - 8th century - 9th century Decades: 680s - 690s - 700s - 710s - 720s - 730s - 740s - 750s - 760s - 770s - 780s Years: 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 Significant Persons Anglo-Saxon poet Caedmon active Events Categories: 730s ...

Kingdom of Georgia under Queen Thamar. c. 1200s

Through their dynastic intermarriages and alliance with other Georgian princes, the Abasgian dynasty acquired most of Lazica/Egrisi, and in the person of Leon established themselves as "kings of the Abkhazians" in the 780s. With the Khazar help, Leon ousted the Byzantine authority and further expanded his kingdom, transferring his capital to the ancient Georgian city of Kutaisi. Although the questions of the nature of this kingdom's ruling family is still disputed, most scholars agree that the Abkhazian kings were Georgian in culture and language. In order to eliminate the Byzantine religious influence, the dynasty subordinated the local dioceses to the Georgian Orthodox catholicosate of Mtskheta. The kingdom is frequently referred in modern history writing as the Egrisi-Abkhazian kingdom due to the fact that medieval authors viwed the new monarchy as a successor state of Egrisi and sometimes used the terms interchangeably. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1350x1205, 79 KB) Kingdom of Georgia under Queen Thamar, 12th century Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1350x1205, 79 KB) Kingdom of Georgia under Queen Thamar, 12th century Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Tamar as depicted on a mural from Vardzia monastery Tamar (1160-1213), from the House of Bagrationi, was Queen of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. ... The Abkhazian Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Abkhazians refers to an early medieval feudal state in the Caucasus which lasted from the 780s until being united, through dynastic succession, with the Kingdom of the Georgians (see Tao-Klarjeti) in 1008. ... Centuries: 7th century - 8th century - 9th century Decades: 730s - 740s - 750s - 760s - 770s - 780s - 790s - 800s - 810s - 820s - 830s Years: 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 Events and trends: Charlemagne expands the Frankish kingdom by gains in Saxony, Bavaria and Spain. ... The Khazars were a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted Judaism. ... Kutaisi (Georgian: ; ancient names: Aea/Aia, Kutatisi, Kutaïssi ) is Georgias second largest city in the western province of Imereti. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... The Georgian Orthodox Church (full title Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, or in the Georgian language საქართველოს მართლმადიდებელი სამოციქულო ეკლესია Saqartvelos Samotsiqulo Avtokepaluri Martlmadidebeli Eklesia) is one of the worlds most ancient Christian Churches, and tradition traces its origins to the mission of Apostle Andrew in the 1st century. ... Catholicos (plural Catholicoi) is a title used by the head bishop of any of certain Eastern churches. ... Mtskheta is one of oldest cities of the republic of Georgia (in Kartli province of Eastern Georgia), near Tbilisi. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Succession of states. ...

The most prosperous period of the Abkhazian kingdom was between 850 and 950, when it dominated the whole western Georgia and claimed control even of the easternmost Georgian provinces. The terms "Abkhazia" and "Abkhazians" were used in a broad sense during this period – and for some while later – and covered, for all practical purposes, all the population of the kingdom regardless of their ethnicity. In 1008, the Bagratid ruler Bagrat III united the kingdoms of Abkhazia and Georgia into a single Georgian feudal state, which reached the apex of its strength and prestige under the queen Tamar (1184-1213). On one occasion, a contemporary Georgian chronicler mentions a people called Apsars. This source explains the sobriquet 'Lasha' of Tamar's son and successor George IV as meaning "enlightenment" in the language of the Apsars. Some modern linguists link this nickname to the modern Abkhaz words a-lasha for "clear" and a-lashara for "light", identifying the Apsars with the possible ancestors of the modern-day Abkhaz, though the exact identity and location of this tribe is unclear. Events April 20 - Guntherus becomes Bishop of Cologne. ... Events World Population: 250 Million. ... Events Olof, king of Sweden, is baptized. ... The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Ô±Ö€Ö„Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millenium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ... Bagrat III (ca. ... Tamar as depicted on a mural from Vardzia monastery Tamar (1160-1213), from the House of Bagrationi, was Queen of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. ... // Events Abbeville receives its commercial charter. ... May 30 - Battle of Damme; English fleet under William Longsword destroyes a French fleet off the Belgian port in the first major victory for the fledgling Royal Navy. ... Giorgi IV Lasha Giorgi IV Lasha (Lasha Giorgi; in Georgian: გიორგი IV ლაშა, ლაშა გიორგი) (1192-1223) from the House of Bagrationi, was king of Georgia in 1213-1223. ... Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken in Georgia and Turkey. ...

Bagrat III of Georgia; of the House of Bagrationi

According to the Georgian chronicles, Queen Tamar granted the lordship over part of Abkhazia to the Georgian princely family of Shervashidze. According to traditional accounts, they were an offshoot of the Shirvanshahs (hence allegedly comes their dynastic name meaning "sons of Shirvanese" in Georgian). The ascendancy of this dynasty (later known also as Chachba by the Abkhaz form of their surname) in Abkhazia would last until the Russian annexation in the 1860s. Image File history File links Bagrat_III_of_Georgia_(Gelati_mural). ... Image File history File links Bagrat_III_of_Georgia_(Gelati_mural). ... Bagrat III (ca. ... The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Արքայական Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millenium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ... Coat of arms of the Shervashidze/Chachba family, 19th century Shervashidze (Abkhazian: Chachba) was a noble family in Abkhazia which, according to later sources, can be traced at least as far back as the twelfth century. ... // History The role of Shirvanshah (Shirvan) state in national development of Azerbaijan (especially of northern Azerbaijan) is hard to underestimate. ... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ...

The Genoese established their trading factories along the Abkhazian coastline in the 14th century, but they functioned for a short time. The area was relatively spared from the Mongol and Timur's invasions, which terminated Georgia's "golden age". As a result, the kingdom of Georgia fragmentized into several independent or semi-independent entities by the late 15th century. The Principality of Abkhazia was one of them. The Abkhazian princes engaged in incessant conflicts with the Mingrelian potentates, their nominal suzerains, and the borders of both principalities fluctuated in the course of these wars. In the following centuries, the Abkhazian nobles finally prevailed and expanded their possessions up to the Inguri River, which is today's southern boundary of the region. The Republic of Genoa, in full the Most Serene Republic of Genoa (known as the Ligurian Republic from 1798 to 1805) was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from ca. ... The medieval kingdom of Georgia first clashed with the advancing Mongol armies in 1220. ... Statue of Timur in Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan Tīmūr bin Taraghay Barlas (Chagatai Turkic: تیمور - Tēmōr, iron) (1336 – February 1405) was a 14th-century warlord of Turco-Mongol descent[1][2][3][4], conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1405... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... The Principality of Abkhazia emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the dissolution of the unified Georgian monarchy. ... Mingrelia (Samegrelo in Georgian) is a historic province in the western part of the republic of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi. ... The Inguri River Gorge in Svaneti The Inguri (Georgian: ენგური/Enguri; Russian: Ингури/Inguri) is a river in western Georgia. ...

The Ottoman rule

In the 1570s, the Ottoman navy occupied the fort of Tskhumi on the Abkhazian coastline, turning it into the Turkish fortress of Suhum-Kale (hence, the modern name of the city of Sukhumi). In 1555, Georgia and the whole South Caucasus was divided between the Ottoman and Saffavid Persian empires, with Abkhazia, along with all of western Georgia, remaining in the hands of the Ottomans. As a result, Abkhazia came under the increasing influence of Turkey and Islam, gradually losing its cultural and religious ties with the rest of Georgia. Significant Events and Trends Transition from the Muromachi to the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan Categories: 1570s ... Motto: دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem: Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299-1326) Bursa (1326-1365) Edirne (1365-1453) Constantinople (Istanbul) (1453-1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 Osman I  - 1918–1922 Mehmed VI... Destroyed shop in Sukhumi Sukhumi (Georgian: , Sokhumi; Abkhaz: , Aqwa; Russian: , Sukhumi) is the capital of Abkhazia, a de facto independent republic, which is internationally recognized as being an autonomous republic within Georgia. ... Events Russia breaks 60 year old truce with Sweden by attacking Finland February 2 - Diet of Augsburg begins February 4 - John Rogers becomes first Protestant martyr in England February 9 - Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake May 23 - Paul IV becomes Pope. ... South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan South Caucasus (also referred sometimes as Transcaucasus) is a name to the transitional region between Europe and Asia extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian seas. ... The Safavid Empire at its 1512 borders. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - Land of the Aryans[1]) and beyond. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the Quran, its principal scripture, whose followers, known as Muslims (مسلم), believe God (Arabic: الله ) sent through revelations to Muhammad. ...

Kingdom of Abkhazia, Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen

Towards the end of the 17th century, the principality of Abkhazia broke up into several fiefdoms, depriving many areas of any centralized authority. The region became a theatre of widespread slave trade and piracy. According to several Georgian scholars, it was when a number of the Adyghe clansmen migrated from the North Caucasus mountains and blended with the local ethnic elements, significantly changing the region's demographic situation. In the mid-18th century, the Abkhazians revolted against the Ottoman rule and took hold of Suhum-Kale, but soon the Turks regained the control of the fortress and granted it to a loyal prince of the Shervashidze family. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1333x1190, 83 KB) Kingdom of Cholchis and Iberia Copyright© Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bagrat III of Georgia Abkhazian Kingdom... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1333x1190, 83 KB) Kingdom of Cholchis and Iberia Copyright© Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bagrat III of Georgia Abkhazian Kingdom... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The flag of 18th-century pirate Calico Jack Piracy is robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. ... The Adyghe or Adygs are a people of the northwest Caucasus region, principally inhabiting Adygeya (23 %) (now a constituent republic of the Russian Federation) and Karachay-Cherkessia (11 %) (where they are named as Cherkess). Shapsigh Autonomous District, an autonomous district founded for Shapsigh (or Shapsugh) tribe living on the Black... North Caucasus in Russia The North Caucasus (sometimes referred to as Ciscaucasia or Ciscaucasus) is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

The Russian rule

The Russian annexation of two major Georgian kingdoms between 1801 and 1810 facilitated the empire’s expansion far into the Caucasus region. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812, in 1810, a Russian force took hold of Suhum-kale and installed their protégé Sefer Bey (Georgi), who agreed to incorporate Abkhazia as a vassal principality within the Russian empire, as a prince. Initially, the Russian control hardly extended beyond Suhum-kale and the Bzyb area, with the rest of the region chiefly dominated by the pro-Turkish Muslim nobility. In a series of conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and the North Caucasian tribes, the Russians acquired possession of the whole Abkhazia in a piecemeal fashion between 1829 and 1842, but their power was not firmly established until 1864, when they managed to abolish the local princely authority. The two ensuing Abkhaz revolts in 1866 and 1877, the former precipitated by the heavy taxation and the latter incited by the landing of the Turkish troops, resulted in the next significant change in the region’s demographics. As a result of harsh government reaction allegedly 60% of the Muslim Abkhaz population, although contemporary census reports were not very trustworthy — became Muhajirs, and emigrated to the Ottoman possessions between 1866 and 1878. The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812 was one of many wars fought between Imperial Russia and Ottoman Empire. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Sefer Ali-Bey Shervashidze (also known by the Christian name of Giorgi Shervashidze) was a prince of the Principality of Abkhazia from 1810-21. ... Foto by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Bzyb River is a river in Abkhazia, in Western Caucasus. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Muhajirism was the emigration of Muslim indigenous peoples of the Caucasus into the Ottoman Empire and Middle East following the Caucasian War. ...

Modern Abkhazian historians insist that large areas of the region were left uninhabited, and that many Armenians, Georgians and Russians subsequently migrated to Abkhazia, resettling much of the vacated territory. This version of events is strongly contested by Georgian historians who argue that the local groups of the Georgian people always constituted the majority in Abkhazia. Either way, at the beginning of the 20th century ethnic Abkhaz were a minority in the region. The Encyclopædia Britannica reported in 1911 that in Sukhumi (population at the time 43.000), two-thirds of the population were Mingrelian Georgians and one-third were Abkhaz. In 1881, the number of the Abkhaz in the Russian Empire was estimated at only 20,000. Those Abkhaz who remained in Abkhazia were declared by the Russian government a "guilty people" and "temporary population" and deprived of the right to settle in the coastal areas. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Meanwhile, in 1870, bound peasants, including slaves, were liberated in Abkhazia as a part of the Russian serfdom reforms. This reform triggered the moderate development of capitalism in the region. Tobacco, tea and subtropical crops became more widely grown. Industries (coal, timber) began to develop. Health resorts started to be built. A small town of Gagra, acquired by a German prince Peter of Oldenburg, a member of the Russian royal family, turned to a resort of particular tourist interest early in the 1900s. 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: in fact, hunger and harsh winters were realities for the average European in the... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... // Economic development The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were times of crisis for Russia. ... This box:      Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately or corporately owned and operated for profit, in which investment is determined by private decision, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Tea leaves in a Chinese gaiwan. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood... Gagra, View from the Black Sea Gagra is a city in the Abkhazia region of western Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. ... Peter of Oldenburg and his wife Olga Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (Peter Friedrich Georg von Holstein-Gottorp, Duke of Oldenburg) (1868-1924) was the first husband of Nicholas IIs younger sister. ... // First flight by the Wright brothers, December 17, 1903. ...

In the Russian revolution of 1905, most Abkhaz remained largely loyal to the Russian rule, while Georgians tend to oppose it. As a reward for their allegiance, tsar Nicholas II officially forgave the Abkhaz for their opposition in the 19th century and removed their status of a "guilty people" in 1907. This split along political divisions led to the rise of mistrust and tensions between the Georgian and Abkhaz communities which would further deepen in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was an empire-wide struggle of both anti-government and undirected violence. ... Monomakhs Cap symbol of Russian autocracy, the crown of Russian grand princes and tsars Czar and tzar redirect here. ... Nicholas II of Russia (May 18, 1868–July 17, 1918)[1] (Russian: , Nikolay II) was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Poland,[2] and Grand Duke of Finland. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political events in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the system of autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal Provisional Government (Duma), resulting in the establishment of the Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ...

Abkhazia from 1917 to 1921

Abkhaz delegation in Tbilisi, 1918

The Bolshevik coup in October 1917 and the ensuing Russian Civil War forced the major national forces of South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – to unite into fragile federative structures. Abkhaz leaders created, on November 8, 1917, their own post-revolutionary body, Abkhaz People’s Council (APC), but Abkhazia became embroiled into a chaos of the civil unrest. It was torn between supporters of the short-lived Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, a pro-Bolshevik faction, a pro-Turkish nobility, and a pro-Georgian Menshevik group. Image File history File links Abkhazdelegation. ... Image File history File links Abkhazdelegation. ... Bolsheviks (Russian: IPA , derived from bolshinstvo, majority) were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction[1] at the Second Party Congress in 1903 and ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) United States of America Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000... South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan South Caucasus (also referred sometimes as Transcaucasus) is a name to the transitional region between Europe and Asia extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian seas. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... Leaders of the MRNC. The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (MRNC; also incorrectly referred to as the Mountaineers Republic of the Northern Caucasus) (1917-1920) was a short-lived state situated in the Northern Caucasus, now forming the republics of Chechenya, Ingushetia and Dagestan of the Russian Federation. ... Leaders of the Menshevik Party at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm, Sweden, May 1917. ...

In March 1918, local Bolsheviks under the leadership of Nestor Lakoba, a close associate of Joseph Stalin, capitalized on agrarian disturbances and, supported by the revolutionary peasant militias, kiaraz, won power in Sukhumi in April 1918. The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, which claimed the region as its part, sanctioned the suppression of the revolt and, on May 17, the National Guard of Georgia ousted the Bolshevik commune in Sukhumi. Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Nestor Lakoba Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba (Russian: Нестор Аполлонович Лакоба) (1 May 1893 – 28 December 1936) was an Abkhaz Communist leader and a victim of the Great Purge. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Flag of the Transcaucasian Federation. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ...

Meanwhile, a short-lived Transcaucasian federation came to an end and the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) was proclaimed on May 26, 1918. On June 8, a delegation of the APC negotiated, in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, a union with Georgia, which gave autonomy to Abkhazia. All domestic affairs were to be under the jurisdiction of the APC, while the central government established the office of Minister of Abkhazian Affairs and the post of the Governor-General of Abkhazia. Abkhaz deputies gained three of 28 seats preserved for ethnic minorities in Georgia’s parliament. Motto: None Anthem: Dideba Zetsit Kurtheuls (Praise Be To The Heavenly Bestower of Blessings) Capital Tbilisi Largest city Tbilisi Official language(s) Georgian Government Chairman of the Government Parliamentary democracy Noe Zhordania Independence - Declared - Formerly From the Russian Empire May 26, 1918 Transcaucasian Federation Population c. ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი ) is the capital and largest city of the country of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) River, at . ...

Nestor Lakoba, an Abkhaz Bolshevik leader

The relations between the central and autonomous authorities were soon clouded by the abortive landing, on June 27, 1918, of a Turkish force supported by the Abkhaz nobles, J. Marghan and A. Shervashidze. Georgia responded with the arrest of several Abkhaz leaders and the limitation of the autonomous powers of the APC that precipitated some sympathies from the Abkhaz to the Russian White forces which engaged in the sporadic fighting with the Georgians in the north of Abkhazia. The reaction was even harsher when the Abkhaz officers of the Georgian army, Commissar Marghania and Colonel Chkhotua, staged a failed coup in October 1918. On October 10, the APC was disbanded and Abkhazia's autonomy was abrogated for six months. A new Abkhaz People's Council, elected on March 20, 1919, adopted an act of Abkhazia's autonomy within the framework of the DRG, the status confirmed in the Constitution of Georgia adopted on February 21, 1921, on the eve of the Soviet invasion of Georgia. Image File history File links Lakoba. ... Image File history File links Lakoba. ... Nestor Lakoba Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba (Russian: Нестор Аполлонович Лакоба) (1 May 1893 – 28 December 1936) was an Abkhaz Communist leader and a victim of the Great Purge. ... The White movement, whose military arm is known as the White Army (Белая Армия) or White Guard (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as Whites (Белые, or the derogatory Беляки) or White Russians (a term which has other meanings) comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the... The Sochi conflict was a three-party border conflict which involved the counterrevolutionary White Russian forces, Bolshevik Red Army and the Democratic Republic of Georgia each of which sought the control over the Black Sea town Sochi and the adjacent region. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for full calendar). ... Combatants Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, Republic of Turkey Democratic Republic of Georgia Commanders Anatoli Gekker, Mikhail Velikanov, Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze, Kazım Karabekir Giorgi Kvinitadze, Giorgi Mazniashvili, Valiko Jugheli Strength ~50,000 (Red Army) ~35,000 Casualties Unknown, dead estimated at 5,500 Soviet soldiers Unknown, dead estimated at 3...

Soviet Abkhazia

Georgia and Abkhazia in 1921-1931.

Despite the 1920 treaty of non-aggression, Soviet Russia’s 11th Red Army invaded Georgia on February 11 1921, and marched on Tbilisi. Almost simultaneously, 9th (Kuban) Army entered Abkhazia on February 19. Supported by the local pro-Bolshevik guerillas, the Soviet troops took control of most of Abkhazia in a series of battles from February 23 to March 7, and proceeded into the neighboring region of Mingrelia. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (935x597, 149 KB)Georgia in 1921 Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts Compare File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (935x597, 149 KB)Georgia in 1921 Copyright©2004 Andrew Andersen Source: Atlas of Conflicts Compare File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Democratic Republic of Georgia The Treaty of Moscow (Russian: , Georgian: , Moskovis khelshekruleba), signed between Soviet Russia (RSFSR) and the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) in Moscow on May 7, 1920, granted Georgia de jure recognition of independence in exchange of the promise not to grant asylum on Georgian soil... State motto: Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! Translation: Workers of the world, unite! Capital Moscow Official language Russian Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until November 7, 1917 November 7, 1917 December 12, 1991 (dissolution) Area  - Total  - Water (%) Ranked 1st in the USSR 17,075,200 km² 13% Population  - Total   - Density Ranked 1st in the... The 11th Soviet Red Army was a contingent of the then newly created Russian Red Army improvised by the Bolsheviks. ... Kuban (Russian: ) is a region of Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between Ukraine and the Caucasus. ...

On March 4, Soviet power was established in Sukhumi, with the formation of the Abkhazian Soviet Socialist Republic (Abkhazian SSR), subsequently recognized by the newly established Communist regime of the Georgian SSR on May 21. On December 16, however, Abkhazia signed a special "union treaty" delegating some of its sovereign powers to Soviet Georgia. Abkhazia and Georgia together entered the Transcaucasian SFSR on December 13 1922 and on 30 December joined the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Abkhazia's ambiguous status of Union Republic was written into that republic's April 1, 1925 constitution. Paradoxically, an earlier reference to Abkhazia as an autonomous republic in the 1924 Soviet Constitution^[1] remained unratified until 1931 when Abkhazia's status was reduced to an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Georgian SSR. Except for a few nobles, the Abkhaz did not participate in the 1924 August Uprising in Georgia, a last desperate attempt to restore the independence of Georgia from the Soviet Union. This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... State motto: პროლეტარ ყველა ქვეყნისა, შეერთდით! Official language Georgian since 1978 Capital Tbilisi Chairman of the Supreme Council Zviad Gamsakhurdia (at independence) Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until February 25, 1921 December 30, 1922 April 9, 1991 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 10th in former Soviet Union 69,700 km² -- Population  - Total (1989)  - Density Ranked... The Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic was a short-lived (1922-1936) Soviet republic, consisting of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which were traditionally known as the Transcaucasian Republics in the Soviet Union. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Soviet redirects here. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. ... The 1924 Soviet Constitution legitimated the December 1922 union of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR, and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... August Uprising in Georgia was an unsuccessful popular uprising against the Bolshevik occupation in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in August 1924. ...

During the Stalin years, a purge was carried out against Communist Party officials and intelligentsia of Abkhaz provenance on the orders of Lavrentiy Beria, then-the Party Secretary in Transcaucasus and himself a native of Abkhazia, in order to break a resistance to forced collectivization of land. The Abkhaz party leader Lakoba suddenly died shortly after his visit to Beria in Tbilisi in December 1936. There was a strong suspicion that he was poisoned by Beria who declared Lakoba an "enemy of the people" posthumously. The purges in Abkhazia were accompanied by the suppression of Abkhaz ethnic culture: the Latin-based Abkhaz alphabet was changed into Georgian and all the native language schools were closed. Stalin’s five-year plans also resulted in the resettlement of many Russians, Armenians, Georgians, and Greeks into Abkhazia to work in the growing agricultural sector. // At the fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1927, Stalin attacked the left by expelling Trotsky and his supporters from the party and then moving against the right by abandoning Lenins New Economic Policy which had been championed by Nikolai Bukharin and Alexei... The Great Purge is the name given to campaigns of repression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s which included a purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ... Communist Party of Abkhazia, political party in the Georgian break-away republic of Abkhazia. ... The notion of an intellectual elite as a distinguished social stratum can be traced far back in history. ... Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Georgian: ლავრენტი ბერია; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия; 29 March 1899 – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and chief of the Soviet security and police apparatus. ... Collective farming is an organizational unit in agriculture in which peasants are not paid wages, but rather receive a share of the farms net output. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term enemy of the people (Russian language: враг народа, vrag naroda) was a fluid designation under the Bolsheviks rule in regards to their real or suspected political or class opponents, sometimes including former allies. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... Abkhaz alphabet. ... Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the USSR or Piatiletkas (пятилетка) were a series of nation-wide centralized exercises in rapid economic development in the Soviet Union. ...

The repression of the Abkhaz was ended after Stalin's death and Beria's execution (1953), and Abkhaz were given a greater role in the governance of the republic. As in most of the smaller autonomous republics, the Soviet government encouraged the development of culture and particularly of literature. A new script, based on Cyrillic, was devised for Abkhaz, Abkhaz schools reopened; and administration put largely in the Abkhaz hands. Ethnic quotas were established for certain bureaucratic posts, giving the Abkhaz a degree of political power that was disproportionate to their minority status in the republic. This was interpreted by some as a "divide and rule" policy whereby local elites were given a share in power in exchange for support for the Soviet regime. In Abkhazia as elsewhere, it led to other ethnic groups — in this case, the Georgians — resenting what they saw as unfair discrimination and disregard of the rights of majority, thereby stoking ethnic discord in the republic. 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced , also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... In politics and sociology, divide and rule (also known as divide and conquer) is a strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy. ...

The following three decades were marked by attempts of the Abkhaz Communist elite to make the autonomous structures more Abkhaz, but their efforts constantly met resistance from the Georgians. Abkhaz nationalists attempted on several occasions, most notably in 1978, to convince Moscow the autonomous republic to be transferred from Georgia to the Russian SFSR. That year, the Abkhaz organized a series of indoor and outdoor rallies in response to the mass demonstrations of Georgians who succeeded in winning for their language a constitutional status of the official language of the Georgian SSR. Although the Abkhaz request of the secession from Georgia was rejected Moscow and Tbilisi responded with serious economic and cultural concessions, appropriating an extra 500 millions rubles over seven years for the development of infrastructure, and cultural projects such as the foundation of the Abkhaz State University (with Abkhaz, Georgian, and Russian sectors), a State Folk Ensemble in Sukhumi, and Abkhaz-language television broadcasting. Even though these concessions eased tensions only partially, they made Abkhazia one of the most prosperous regions of Georgia, the wealthiest Soviet republic of that time. The favorable geographic and climatic conditions were successfully exploited to make Abkhazia a destination for hundreds of thousands of tourists, gaining for the region a reputation of "Soviet Riviera." 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. ... Riviera is usually used in reference to a coastal area. ...

The Abkhazian War

Main article: Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate at the end of the 1980s, ethnic tension grew between the Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. Many Abkhaz opposed this, fearing that an independent Georgia would lead to the elimination of their autonomy, and argued instead for the establishment of Abkhazia as a separate Soviet republic in its own right. The dispute turned violent on 16 July 1989 in Sukhumi. Sixteen Georgians are said to have been killed and another 137 injured when they tried to enroll in a Georgian University instead of an Abkhaz one. After several days of violence, Soviet troops restored order in the city and blamed rival nationalist paramilitaries for provoking confrontations. The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Georgia declared independence on 9 April 1991, under the rule of the former Soviet dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Gamsakhurdia's rule became unpopular, and that December, the Georgian National Guard, under the command of Tengiz Kitovani, laid siege to the offices of Gamsakhurdia's government in Tbilisi. After weeks of stalemate, he was forced to resign in January 1992. He was replaced as president by Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister and architect of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Shevardnadze inherited a government dominated by hardline Georgian nationalists, and although he was not an ethnic nationalist, he did little to avoid being seen as supporting the government figures and powerful coup leaders who were. April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia (Georgian: ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია) (March 31, 1939 - December 31, 1993) was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era. ... Tengiz Kitovani (b. ... Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი ) is the capital and largest city of the country of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) River, at . ... Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (Georgian: ედუარდ შევარდნაძე, Russian: Эдуа́рд Амвро́сьевич Шевардна́&#1076...

On 21 February 1992, Georgia's ruling Military Council announced that it was abolishing the Soviet-era constitution and restoring the 1921 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Many Abkhaz interpreted this as an abolition of their autonomous status. In response, on 23 July 1992, the Abkhazia government effectively declared secession from Georgia, although this gesture went unrecognized by any other country. The Georgian government accused Gamsakhurdia supporters of kidnapping Georgia's interior minister and holding him captive in Abkhazia. The Georgian government dispatched 3,000 troops to the region, ostensibly to restore order. Heavy fighting between Georgian forces and Abkhazian militia broke out in and around Sukhumi. The Abkhazian authorities rejected the government's claims, claiming that it was merely a pretext for an invasion. After about a week's fighting and many casualties on both sides, Georgian government forces managed to take control of most of Abkhazia, and closed down the regional parliament. February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Motto: None Anthem: Dideba Zetsit Kurtheuls (Praise Be To The Heavenly Bestower of Blessings) Capital Tbilisi Largest city Tbilisi Official language(s) Georgian Government Chairman of the Government Parliamentary democracy Noe Zhordania Independence - Declared - Formerly From the Russian Empire May 26, 1918 Transcaucasian Federation Population c. ... July 23 is the 204th day (205th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 161 days remaining. ...

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). Hundreds of volunteer paramilitaries from Russia (including the then little known Shamil Basayev) joined forces with the Abkhazian separatists to fight the Georgian government forces. Regular Russian forces also reportedly sided with the secessionsts. In September, the Abkhaz and Russian paramilitaries mounted a major offensive after breaking a cease-fire, which drove the Georgian forces out of large swathes of the republic. Shevardnadze's government accused Russia of giving covert military support to the rebels with the aim of "detaching from Georgia its native territory and the Georgia-Russian frontier land". The year 1992 ended with the rebels in control of much of Abkhazia northwest of Sukhumi. Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus (Russian: Конфедерация горских народов Кавказа) is a militarized political organization composed of militants from the North Caucasian republics of the Russian Federation. ... North Caucasus in Russia The North Caucasus (sometimes referred to as Ciscaucasia or Ciscaucasus) is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. ... Chechen can mean: Chechen people, an ethnic group Chechen language Related to Chechnya This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The Ossetians (oss. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The conflict remained stalemated until July 1993, when the Abkhaz separatist militias launched an abortive attack on Georgian-held Sukhumi. The capital was surrounded and heavily shelled, with Shevardnadze himself trapped in the city.

Although a truce was declared at the end of July, this collapsed after a renewed Abkhaz attack in mid-September. After ten days of heavy fighting, Sukhumi fell on 27 September, 1993. Eduard Shevardnadze narrowly escaped death, having vowed to stay in the city no matter what, but he was eventually forced to flee when separatist snipers fired on the hotel where he was residing. Abkhaz, North Caucasians militants and their allies committed one of the most horrific massacres^[2] of this war against remaining Georgian civilians in the city known as Sukhumi Massacre. The mass killings and destruction continued for two weeks, leaving thousands dead and missing. September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Georgian civilians hiding from Abkhaz separatist militants near Sukhumi The Sukhumi Massacre took place on September 27, 1993, during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. ...

The separatist forces quickly overran the rest of Abkhazia as the Georgian government faced a second threat: an uprising by the supporters of the deposed Zviad Gamsakhurdia in the region of Mingrelia (Samegrelo). In the chaotic aftermath of defeat, almost the entire non-Abkhazian (mainly ethnic Georgians) population fled the region by sea or over the mountains escaping a large-scale ethnic cleansing initiated by the victors. Many thousands died — it is estimated that between 10,000-30,000 ethnic Georgians and 3,000 ethnic Abkhaz may have perished — and some 250,000-300,000 people were forced into exile.

During the war, gross human rights violations were reported on the both sides, and the atrocities committed by the Abkhaz forces and their allies are recognized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Summits in Budapest (1994), Lisbon (1996) and Istanbul (1999) as the full-scale ethnic cleansing campaign against the Georgian population. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. ... Nickname: Paris of the East, Pearl of the Danubeor Queen of the Danube Location of Budapest in Hungary Country Hungary County Pest Mayor Gábor Demszky (SZDSZ) Area    - City 525,16 km²  - Land n/a km²  - Water n/a km² Population    - City (2006) 1,695,000  - Density 3570/km... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Lisbon  - Subregion Grande Lisboa  - District or A.R. Lisbon Mayor Carmona Rodrigues  - Party PSD Area 84. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: Konstandinúpoli, historically known in English as Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and economic center. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia. ...

See also

• Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

References

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of Abkhazia . Image File history File links Wikimedia-logo. ... Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ...

• Abkhazia profile / history