Georgians

“ Such however is not the character of the Georgians of the country; and indeed a nation which that preserved its religion notwithstanding ages of persecution, and which has seized every opportunity of regaining its independence, has a just claim to some respect. ”

“ The Georgians, famous for their beauty, are the greatest dandies in the world. The young men, dressed in handsome and high-coloured tunics, well armed, show such extraordinarily slender and constricted waists that one is tempted to think they wear corsets. The leather belt round the middle of a young Georgian 127is strapped so tightly that he cannot use his legs freely. ”

“ But, after all, Georgia’s chief attraction lies in its people; the Georgians are not only fair to look upon, but they are essentially a lovable people; it is a true proverb that says, “The Armenian’s soul is in his head, the Georgian’s in his eyes;” to live among such gay, open-hearted, open-handed, honest, innocent folk is the best cure for melancholy and misanthropy that could well be imagined.
The language will occur to most people as a difficulty. Either Russian or Georgian carries the traveller from the Black Sea to the Caspian, even Turkish is pretty well known ”

“ The men of Georgia are renowned for their heroism, while the women of that country are the most beautiful in the world. The chief occupations of the Georgians are: pasturing, farming, jewelry work, silk-manufacturing, and wine-growing. The Georgians, taken as a whole, receive a considerable amount of education, and their newspapers, several of which are published at Tiflis, are very good. The leading paper is the “Iveria” (i. e., Georgia) . Tiflis, the traditional capital of Georgia, is a city of 180,000 inhabitants, among whom are 33,000 Georgians proper. ”

“ The Georgians are, all in all, one of the handsomest nations on the earth. But although I am a great admirer of women, I am compelled in this case to award the prize to the men instead of the women. This opinion is endorsed by all educated inhabitants of Georgia who have eyes, taste, and an impartial judgment. ”

“ They cannot conquer the brave, and active Circassians, but they have conquered the soft, and indolent Georgians. The Georgians are called Christians, but the Greek Church, which is the Russian religion, is a Christianity, laden with ceremonies and false doctrines. ”

“ They are always represented as adjoining on the Colchians to the east and southeast, so that they must evidently have inhabited the greater part of the modern province of Georgia. ... There is reason to believe that the modern Georgians—still called 'Virk' by their neighbours—are their descendants, and preserve, in the original seat of the nation, a name and a nationality which have defied the destroying touch of time for more than twenty-four centuries. ”

“ Thus Georgia lacks nothing to make her not only one of the most beautiful, but also one of the richest countries in the world. But the material position of the Georgians does not depend merely upon the richness of the land in which they live ”

“ The foreign policy of this Socialist Republic is better understood when a little of its history is known. The Georgians are a race of enormous antiquity. Their exact origin is still a matter of dispute amongst the savants. It is now generally believed they are descended from the ancient Babylonians. They are certainly not Slavs. Nor is their language a Slavonic language. They are usually a dark-skinned race, tall and graceful, with aquiline features and flashing black or dark brown eyes. [Pg 212] The typical Georgian man is superbly handsome, passionate in love and brave in war. ”

“ The condition of the Georgians is very similar to that of their neighbors the Circassians.
The Georgian women are very remarkable for beauty; but are said to be wanton, treacherous, and uncleanly. A great trade in female slaves has been carried on in Georgia. Fathers sell their children, brothers their sisters, and nobles their vassals. Jewish agents are continually traversing the provinces about Caucasus, seeking the fairest flowers for the harems of Turkey and Persia. A handsome, red-haired girl will sell in Constantinople for six or seven thousand piastres. ”

“ The Georgians were the only nationality to maintain their independence up to the end of the eighteenth century. Georgia existed as a State long before the Christian era; Alexander the Great conquered the country. In 1080 the Kingdom of Georgia was established by David III. Peter the Great of Russia, recognizing its importance, entered into an alliance with the kingdom, and in 1721 Russian and Georgian troops penetrated to Baku, the rich industrial district bordering on the Caspian Sea. ”

“ Of all the nations that populated the Caucasus, only the Georgians and Armenians had succeeded, some centuries before the birth of Christ, in establishing independent kingdoms. But being surrounded by powerful and warlike mountaineers and bounded on the south by the dominions of Persia and Turkey, the kingdoms of Georgia and Armenia had gradually fallen into decay, and therefore Georgia itself turned to Russia, as professing the same religion, with the request to be received into the empire. ”

“ The Church of Georgia is another branch of the Greek Church, which long enjoyed a virtually independent organisation. The Georgians appear to be the most ancient race inhabiting the Caucasus, having no affinity either with the Aryan or with the Turanian families. They are famous for having preserved a line of kings for two thousand years, reigning sometimes independently and at other times under the suzerainty of Persia, of the Eastern Empire, and of Turkey. ”

“ In particular, Georgians, even the commonest, have a most charmingly cordial way of saying to strangers, as they proceed on their journey, "I wish you well, sir." The negroes of Georgia, too, are extremely mannerly and polite, and appear always to be delighted to find opportunity for obliging anybody. ”

“ Students of ethnography may amuse themselves by making elaborate investigations into the origin and characteristics of the Khevsur, the Svan, the Pshav, the Osset, it is sufficient for us to know that all these peoples are, politically at least, Georgians, and have fought under the Kartvelian kings since the days of William the Conqueror. ”

“ But since their incorporation with the Russian empire, these relations have become greatly modified, and a more sharply defined middle class of merchants, traders and artisans has been developed. The power of life and death, formerly claimed and freely exercised by the nobles over their serfs, has also been expressly abolished. The Georgians are altogether at present in a fairly well-to-do condition, and under Russian administration they have become industrious, and have made considerable moral and material progress. ”

“ In publishing these notes I have had but one object—to excite the curiosity of my fellow-countrymen; the means of gratifying this curiosity are indicated in the bibliographical section. Georgia is practically unknown to the British public; well-educated people know that the country is famous for its beautiful women, but [vii] they are not very sure whether those charming creatures live under Persian, Turkish, or Russian rule, while not one person in a thousand knows that the Georgians and Circassians are distinct peoples. ”

“ Between the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the frontiers of Turkey and Persia, there are only three native peoples who deserve our consideration, viz.:—
The latter total is made up as follows:—
There are also many Georgians in Turkey, and a few in Persia. The numerous local appellations given above mean no more than Yorkshireman, Cornishman, or Aberdonian do to us. If I succeed in impressing upon my readers the fact that there is a politically homogeneous region stretching from the steppe of Baku to the Black Sea, my labour will not have been fruitless. ”

“ The Persians live in a quarter by themselves, and it is by no means the cleanest part of the city. The Georgians preserve their dress and language, and, though entirely peaceful, are said to maintain the same hatred to Russia as when fighting to preserve their independence. ”

“ We saw them among the men as well as among the women; and we saw more handsome men than women, perhaps for the reason that men were much more numerous. The Georgians are a fine race of people, and so are all the natives of the Caucasus. The mountain air all the world over has a reputation for developing strength and intelligence among those who breathe it.
"Since the occupation of Georgia and the other parts of the Caucasus by Russia, the people are no longer sold as slaves for Turkish masters. Whatever may be the faults of the Russian rule, it is certainly far in advance of that of Turkey. ”

“ The representative branch of the race has always been the Karthlians. It is now pretty well established that the Georgians are the descendants of the aborigines of the Pambak highlands, and that they found their way to their present homes from the south-east some four or five thousand years ago, possibly under pressure from the great waves of Aryan migration flowing from the Iranian tableland westwards to Asia Minor and Europe. ”

“ The possibility of Armenians, Georgians and Lesghians consenting to combine into one homogeneous state is not to be thought of; but there is no reason why the descendants [168] of the three sons of Targamos, great-great-grandson of Noah, should not, if they were free, form a defensive alliance for the protection of common interests; the Lesghians have, in past times, done good service against both Persians and Turks. In any case, Georgia has a frontier which she is quite able to defend, and she could always count upon the assistance of the mountaineers on the northern side of the Caucasus. ”

“ Again Persia stretched out her hand over Georgia, and proved a formidable menace to the existence of the kingdom, until, owing to the severe pressure of the Turks on the one side and of the Byzantine Greeks on the other, she found it expedient to relax her grasp. The Georgians, seizing the opportunity, appealed (571) to the Byzantine emperor, Justin II. who gave them a king in the person of Guaram, a prince of the Bagratid family of Armenia, conferring upon him the title, not of king, but of viceroy. Thus began the dynasty of the Bagratids, who ruled until 1803. ”

“ They spoke among themselves in the Georgian tongue, evidently discussing the democratic institutions of Great Britain, and then the priest said to me, “They keep us down, they don’t educate us; they forbid us to have schools; they call us savages. What do you think of us Georgians—aren’t we an unhappy nation? I 178myself am not an educated man. I finished the seminary, and then the Russian teacher said, ‘Georgian, that is a dog’s language,’ and I gave up learning. But these,” said he, pointing to his companions, “are as ignorant as the sheep, they know nothing. ”

“ It contains about 800 square versts. The country very hilly, and covered with large forests, containing excellent timber for ship-building. The soil is exceedingly fertile, the products are the same as those of Imiretia and Mingreila. The population, which consists of Georgians, and some Armenians, amounts to 36,700 souls. The population is divided into classes of princes, nobles, &c., as in Georgia. ”

“ These Greeks speak Turkish and are learning Russian; their versatile genius enables them to change nationality as we take a change of air. They are excellent miners and road engineers; the fine chaussée which has recently been completed up the valley of the Toporovan river to Akhalkalaki was constructed by the skilled labour of Greek workmen. The small number of Georgians who are included in our area are found, as would be expected, in the valley of the Kur. ”

“ Art. X. — Those of the Georgian subjects who shall desire to settle with their families in Russia may do so freely; and, vice versa, the Russians may settle in Georgia. Again, in like manner, those who shall not be contented with having changed their country may again return on either side. Those amongst the subjects or soldiers of one or the other power who shall have deserted shall be reciprocally given up; even in the event of war with the Porte, the Georgians who shall be made prisoners, whilst serving in the enemy's ranks, shall be given up to the Czar ”

“ Conterminous with the Northern Mingrelian dialects of the Georgian, and the Absné dialect of the Circassian. Less like any of the other Georgian dialects than they are to each other. The Suanians call—
Themselves, S`wan. The Caratschai Turks, Ows. The Absné, Mibchaz. The Irôn, Sawi-ar. The East Georgians, M`karts. The West Georgians, Mimrel. The Mingrelians, Mumgrel.
Descent.—As the Georgians may reasonably be considered to be the aborigines of the locality which they, at [Pg 113] present, inhabit, they come before us as an ancient people. ”

“ Pichegru was found strangled in prison, April 6, and 12 of the conspirators, including Georges, were executed, and others imprisoned, June 22. Moreau was exiled and went to America; in 1813 he was killed before Dresden.
Georgia. Called by the Russians Grusia, a considerable country of Asia, situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian, to the north of Armenia, and forming a government of Russia. The Georgians are skilled in the bow, and are thought to be the best soldiers in Asia. Georgia was formerly one kingdom, the inhabitants of which were Christians ”

“ The natives are a fine-looking race, the Georgian women, like the Circassians, being celebrated for their beauty. The Georgian language, together with that of the Mingrelians, Lazes, and other Caucasian peoples, seems, according to the latest researches, to form a perfectly distinct linguistic family. ”