Javakheti

{{Short description|Historical region}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Javakheti | settlement_type = Historical region | image_skyline = | image_alt = | image_caption = | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | etymology = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = Part of Historical Javakheti in modern international borders of Georgia.svg | map_caption = Map highlighting the historical region of Javakheti in Georgia | coordinates = | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | seat_type = Largest city | seat = [[Akhalkalaki]] | unit_pref = Metric   | area_footnotes = | area_urban_footnotes =  | area_rural_footnotes =  | area_metro_footnotes =  | area_magnitude =  | area_note = | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title =  | area_total_km2 = 2588 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 = | length_km = | width_km = | dimensions_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = (highest point: [[Didi Abuli]]) | elevation_m = 3300 | population_as_of = 2014 | population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2014">{{Georgian census 2014}}</ref> | population_total = 69,561 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | population_demonym = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website =  | footnotes = Javakheti is not an official subdivision of the [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]; it constitutes a [[historical region]] only. }}

'''Javakheti''' ({{lang-ka|ჯავახეთი}} {{IPA|ka|d͡ʒäväχe̞t̪ʰi|}}) or '''Javakhk''' ({{langx|hy|Ջավախք}}, ''Javakhk'')''{{efn|[[Classical Armenian orthography|Classical spelling]]: Ջաւախք}}''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rezvani|first1=Babak|title=Conflict and Peace in Central Eurasia: Towards Explanations and Understandings|date=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004276369|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=juziBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=javakheti+javakhk+armenian+georgian 1]|quote=...'''Javakheti''' (called Javakhk by Armenians).}}</ref> is a historical province in southern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], corresponding to the modern municipalities of [[Akhalkalaki]], [[Aspindza Municipality|Aspindza]] (partly), [[Ninotsminda]], and partly to the Turkey's [[Ardahan Province]]. Historically, Javakheti's borders were defined by the [[Kura (South Caucasus river)|Kura River]] (Mtkvari) to the west, and the Shavsheti, [[Samsari Range|Samsari]] and Nialiskuri mountains to the north, south and east, respectively. The principal economic activities in this region are [[subsistence agriculture]], particularly [[potato]]es and raising [[livestock]].

In 1995, the [[Akhalkalaki]] and [[Ninotsminda]] districts, comprising the historical territory of Javakheti, were merged with the neighboring land of [[Samtskhe]] to form a new administrative region, [[Samtskhe–Javakheti]]. As of January 2020, the total population of Samtskhe–Javakheti is 152,100 individuals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistical information about Samtskhe–Javakheti region |url=https://www.geostat.ge/regions/ |website=National Statistics Office of Georgia}}</ref> [[Armenians]] comprise the majority of Javakheti's population. According to the 2014 Georgian census, 93% (41,870) of the inhabitants in [[Akhalkalaki Municipality]] and 95% (23,262) in [[Ninotsminda Municipality]] were Armenians, with only tiny numbers of ethnic [[Georgians]] and [[Caucasus Greeks]] remaining.<ref name="Census 2014"/>

==Etymology== The name ''Javakheti'' consists of the root ''javakh'' with the Georgian suffix ''-eti'', commonly found in the names of countries and regions. ''Javakheti'' means the land of the [[Javakhians|Javakhs]] (an ethnic subgroup of Georgians).<ref>{{cite book |last=Gagloevi |first=Giorgi |title=Historical Regions of Georgia |year=2016 |publisher=Gori |isbn=978-9941-0-8493-5 |page=41}}</ref> The earliest mention of the name is believed to be from 785 BC, in the inscriptions of the [[Urartu|Urartian]] king [[Argishti I of Urartu|Argishti I]], as ''Zabakha''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Melkonyan|first=Ashot|title=Javakhk in the 19th century and the 1st quarter of the 20th century : a historical research|year=2007|publisher=National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Institute of History|location=Erevan|isbn=978-9994173075|page=36}}</ref>

== History ==

===Antiquity===

The ancient tribe of [[Meskhetians]] is the first known inhabitants of the area.<ref>Melikishvili, Giorgi, ''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'', Vol. 7, Tbilisi, 1984, p. 146.</ref>

In the sources, the region was recorded as ''Zabakha'' in 785 BC, by King [[Argishti I of Urartu|Argishti I]] of [[Urartu]] and, probably, meaning one of the ethnic groups of Urartu. According to [[Cyril Toumanoff]], Javakheti, together with [[Erusheti]], was part of the [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberian]] duchy of Tsunda from the 4th or 3rd century BC. Since 2nd century BC to 5th century AD this region was a part of an Armenian province - [[Gugark]], in [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Greater Armenia]].

[[Saint Nino]] entered [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]] from Javakheti, one of the southern provinces of Iberia, and, following the course of the River Kura, she arrived in [[Mtskheta]], the capital of the kingdom, once there, she eventually began to preach Christianity, which culminated by [[Christianization of Iberia]].

One of the earliest Armenian sources, [[Faustus of Byzantium]] (the 5th century) writes: “[[Maskut]] King [[Sanesan]], extremely angry, was filled with hate for his tribesman, Armenian [[Khosrov III the Small|King Khosrow]], and gathered all of his troops—Huns, Pokhs, [[Tabasaran people|Tavaspars]], Khechmataks, Izhmakhs, Gats, Gluars, Gugars, Shichbs, Chilbs, Balasich, and Egersvans, as well as an uncountable number of other diverse nomadic tribes, all the numerous troops he commanded. He crossed his border, the great River Kura, and invaded the Armenian country.”<ref>{{cite book |date=1953 |script-title=ru:ИСТОРИЯ АРМЕНИИ |trans-title=History of Armenia |language=ru|location=[[Yerevan]], [[Armenian SSR]] |publisher=[[Armenian National Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences of Armenian SSR]] }}</ref>

In the 5th century during the rule of [[Vakhtang I of Iberia]] Javakheti was a province of Iberia and after his death his second wife the Byzantine princess settled in [[Tsunda]] (part of Javakheti).{{Sfn|History of Georgia|2012|p=55}}

=== Middle Ages === [[File:Rat'i Surameli, Duke of Javakheti and Kartli, wearing a sharbush and a front-opening qaba with tiraz, slightly before 1186, Vardzia, southern Georgia, Inv. No. 5246-262.jpg|thumb|[[Rat'i Surameli]], Duke of Javakheti and Kartli, wearing a ''[[sharbush]]'' and a front-opening ''[[qaba]]'' with ''[[tiraz]]'', slightly before 1186, [[Vardzia]], southern Georgia, Inv. No. 5246-262.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr Barry |title=A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus |date=2017 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Science |page=252, Fig. 19 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35061254}}</ref>]] In the struggle against the [[Arab rule in Georgia|Arab occupation]], [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagrationi]] dynasty came to rule over [[Tao-Klarjeti (historical region)|Tao-Klarjeti]] and established the [[Kingdom of the Iberians|Kingdom of the Iberians]]. Rulers of Tao-Klarjeti fought the Arabs from this region, and gradually incorporated surrounding lands of [[Meskheti|Samtskhe]] and Javakheti, along with a few other lands, into its territory.{{Sfn|History of Georgia|2012|p=192}}

10th century Armenian historian, [[Ukhtanes of Sebastia|Ukhtanes]], wrote about the family tree of Kyrion, the Catholicos of Iberia. The literal translation of this text is as follows: Kyrion “came from the Iberians in terms of country and lineage, from the region of the Javakhs.” There can be no doubt that Ukhtanes believed Javakheti to be part of Iberia, and the [[Javakhians| Javakhs]] to be Iberians.{{Sfn|Mravaltavi|2005|pp=269–272}} Z. Aleksidze examines the viewpoint of this historian and the enlightened Armenian society of the 10th century on the problem that interests us in depth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ca-c.org/c-g/2011/journal_eng/c-g-1-2/13.shtml#nazad43 |title=CA&CC; Press® AB |website=www.ca-c.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125154352/http://www.ca-c.org/c-g/2011/journal_eng/c-g-1-2/13.shtml |archive-date=2012-01-25}} </ref>

In the mid-10th century, part of Javakheti was incorporated into [[Kingdom of Abkhazia]]. In 964 [[Leon III of Abkhazia]] extended his influence to Javakheti, and during his reign the [[Kumurdo Cathedral]] was built.<ref name="Eparchy of Shemoqmedi">{{cite web|url=http://www.shemoqmedi.ge/Shemoqmedi%20site%20english/geo%20church%20monastery/Kumurdo.htm|title=Kumurdo Church|publisher=Georgian patriarchate, Eparchy of Shemoqmedi|access-date=5 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721030203/http://www.shemoqmedi.ge/Shemoqmedi%20site%20english/geo%20church%20monastery/Kumurdo.htm|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.ge/~lika/ancient/kumurdo/kumurdo_show.htm|title=Kumurdo|publisher=Parliament of Georgia|access-date=5 March 2011}}</ref> In subsequent centuries, Javakheti remained in the hands of the [[Kingdom of Georgia#Unification of the Georgian State|unified Georgian monarchy]] and had a period of significant development, during which numerous bridges, churches, monasteries, and royal residences (Lgivi, Ghrtila, Bozhano, [[Vardzia]], etc.) were built. This territory suffered greatly from the invasions of [[Alp Arslan]] in 1064. In 1118, the Seljuks again invaded Javakheti and killed its ruling Georgian feudal lord, {{ill|Beshken II Jaqeli|ka|ბეშქენ II ჯაყელი}}. However, King [[David IV of Georgia|David the Builder]] managed to take revenge on them and defeat them.{{Sfn|History of Georgia|2012|p=356}}

In 1245, Javakheti came under the control of the [[Toreli]] feudal family. In 1268, Javakheti was annexed by the principality of [[Samtskhe-Saatabago]], ruled by the [[House of Jaqeli]]. In 1587, the region, along with the entirety of the Principality, was occupied by the [[Ottoman Empire]] becoming the [[Childir Eyalet]]. The area's population was devastated by the [[Turco-Mongol]] incursions. In 1484, [[Yaqub bin Uzun Hasan]] of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] devastated the principality. Islam began to spread in the area among both Georgians and Armenians.

In the XVI century, as mentioned, the [[Ottoman Empire]] conquered the region of Javakheti. Toward the end of the same century, in an effort to maximize tax collection, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] authorities conducted a comprehensive population survey of the area. According to the data obtained from this survey, it is evident that [[Georgians]] made up approximately 90 – 95 % of Javakheti’s population during the 16th century. Therefore, claims by certain Armenian scholars, publicists, and political commentators suggesting that Javakheti was historically part of the Armenian domain prior to the 19th century are not supported by historical evidence.{{Sfn|Abuladze|1983|pp=28–29}}

As the Georgian Church began to lose influence in the area, many Georgians became [[Islam|Muslim]], the process is also known as [[Turkification]] of [[Meskhetians]] (then [[Meskhetian Turks]]).<ref>Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, p. 195.</ref>

===Russian Empire=== In the first third of the 19th century, following the [[Russo-Persian War (1804-1813)]] and the [[Russo-Persian War (1826-1828)|Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828]], Russia conquered the [[Southern Caucasus]], and most of Georgia, along with the rest of the Caucasus, was incorporated within the [[Russian Empire]]. When the Russians conquered Javakheti it was home to 1,716 [[Armenians]] (67.7%), 639 [[Meskhetian Turks|Muslim]] (25.2%), and 179 [[Georgians|Georgian]] families (7.1%). Many of the Muslim families chose to resettle in the Ottoman Empire following the Russian annexation of the region. The Tsarist government initiated a plan to resettle its new frontier with [[Qajar Iran|Iran]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Turkey]] with Armenians who they deemed to be loyal. In total some 90,000 Armenians from the [[Ottoman Empire]] and 40,000 Armenians from [[Qajar Iran]] resettled in the Russian Caucasus, primarily the [[Armenian Oblast]].<ref name=Gammer2004 /> In 1829 some 7,300 Armenian families (58,000 people) resettled in [[Meskheti]], Javakheti, and [[Trialeti]].<ref>[[:ru:Исторические миграции армянского населения|Migration of Armenians]] (Russian).</ref> Armenians moving to [[Trialeti]] were joined by Turkish-speaking [[Caucasus Greeks]] known as [[Urums]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Turcology in Mainz |last1=Boeschoten |first1=Hendrik |last2=Rentzsch |first2=Julian |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-447-06113-1 |page=142 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtW6cox7CIUC&q=Turcology+in+Mainz |access-date=9 July 2011}}</ref> Armenians moving to Javakheti were joined by a number of [[Doukhobors]], a spiritual Christian sect from Russia. In the early 20th century, a large number of [[Armenians|Armenian]] refugees from the [[Armenian genocide]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]], and [[Doukhobor]] sect members of [[Russian Empire]], settled the region.

An 1886 report found 63,799 people living in Javakheti, of which 46,384 were Armenians (72.7%), 6,674 Russians (10.5%), 6,091 Turks (9.5%), and 3,741 Georgians (5.9%). The [[Russian Empire Census]] of 1897 found 72,709 people in Javakheti, of which 52,539 were Armenians (72.3%), 6,868 were Turks (9.4%), 6,448 were Georgians, and 5,155 were Russians (7.1%).

By 1916, the ethno-religious composition of the Javakheti region (Akhalkalaki Uyezd) was the following:<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1917 год |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1917 |edition=72nd |publication-place=Tiflis |pages=206–213 |language=Russian |trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104233151/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |archive-date=4 November 2021}}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" !Nationality !Urban !Rural ! colspan="2" |TOTAL |- |[[Armenians]] |6,151 |76,624 |82,775 |77.2% |- |[[Georgians]] |265 |10,039 |10,304 |9.6% |- |[[Russians]] |429 |7,113 |7,542 |7.0% |- |[[Shia Muslims]] |0 |5,431 |5,431 |5.1% |- |[[Kurds]] |0 |904 |904 |0.8% |- |[[Jews]] |204 |0 |204 |0.2% |- !TOTAL !7,055 !100,118 !'''107,173''' !100.0% |}

=== Brief independence === Following the [[Russian Revolution]], Javakheti was incorporated into the short-lived [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]], however, it was strongly disputed by the [[First Republic of Armenia|Democratic Republic of Armenia]] which claimed the region on grounds of history and ethnography. [[Richard G. Hovannisian|Hovannisian]], a notable historian on the topic of the interwar republic of Armenia, describes the fate of the more than eighty-thousand [[Armenians in Georgia|Armenians]] of Javakheti after the region's occupation by the [[Ottoman army]]:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|volume=2|location=Berkeley|pages=151–152|oclc=238471}}</ref><blockquote>Thirty thousand had perished as the result of the [[Caucasus campaign|Turkish occupation]], and those who survived were starving. Some mothers attempted to save their daughters by offering them as wives to Georgian militiamen and soldiers ... hundreds of women and children were pressed into servitude in the adjacent Muslim districts. All roads leading away from Akhalkalak were strewn with the bodies of fleeing Armenians. In September ... of the more than 80,000 Armenians in the county at the beginning of 1918, only 40,000 were left and that these were rapidly succumbing to famine, foreign marriages, concubinage, or to even worse fates. Although the Tiflis government regarded Akhalkalak as an integral part of the Republic of Georgia ... it did nothing to relieve the agony.</blockquote>[[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]] during the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] discussions on the fate of the independent Transcaucasian republics assessed the ethnographic situation in the southwestern ''uezds'' of the Tiflis Governorate:<ref>Britain, Cab 27/37, E.C. 2525.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=The Republic of Armenia|date=1971–1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-01805-2|volume=1|location=Berkeley|pages=267|oclc=238471}}</ref><blockquote>Along the line marking the proposed northeastern boundary of Armenia, the counties of Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe fell on the Georgian side, even though, it was stated, they were populated primarily by the Armenian descendants of refugees from Turkey: “On the grounds of nationality, therefore, these districts ought to belong to Armenia, but they command the heart of Georgia strategically, and on the whole it would seem equitable to assign them to Georgia, and give their Armenian inhabitants the option of emigration into the [[Wilsonian Armenia|wide territories assigned to the Armenians towards the south-west]].”</blockquote>

===Soviet era=== Georgia came fully under [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] control in 1921, and Javakheti, along with other former Georgian territories, became part of the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]]. The remaining Muslim minority in Javakheti, also known as "[[Meskhetian Turks]]", were deported to [[Uzbekistan]] in 1944 during the regime of [[Stalin]].<ref name="Gammer2004">{{cite book|author=Moshe Gammer|title=The Caspian Region, Volume 2: The Caucasus|date=25 June 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-77541-4|pages=24–}}</ref>

===Modern Georgia=== Currently [[Armenians]] form the ethnic majority in the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id%3D235 |title=Armenians in Javakheti |access-date=February 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708124400/http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=235 |archive-date=July 8, 2011}}</ref> Since independence many members of the [[Doukhobor]] community have left for Russia.<ref name=Gammer2004 /> Ecological migrants from Adjara are also present.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lyle |first1=Justin |title=Resettlement of Ecological Migrants in Georgia |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/140733/Working_Paper_53_en.pdf |access-date=12 October 2023 |agency=European Center for minority issues |publisher=ECMI}}</ref>

==Current situation== Between 2006 and 2011, 220km of the highway from Kvemo Kartli to Samtskhe-Javakheti was improved as part of a program of the [[United States|US]] [[Millennium Challenge Account]] to more effectively link the region with the rest of Georgia.<ref name="MCC2013">{{cite web |title=Rehabilitating the Samtskhe-Javakheti Road in Georgia |url=https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/evalbrief-011013-geo-sj-roads |website=Millennium Challenge Corporation |access-date=12 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> In more recent years, a railway line has been constructed to run between [[Kars]], [[Turkey]] to [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]] via the area (see: [[Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway]]), which opened in 2017. The Armenian population of Javakheti was opposed to this rail link because it excludes and isolates [[Armenia]]. There is already another railroad linking Georgia, Armenia and Turkey, which is the [[Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway]] line. The existing line is in working condition and could be operational within weeks, but due to the [[Turkish–Azeri blockade of Armenia|Turkish blockade of Armenia since 1993]], the railroad is not operational.

==See also== * [[Armenians in Georgia]] ** [[Armenians in Samtskhe-Javakheti]] * [[List of Armenian ethnic enclaves]]

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography== *{{cite book | author = Lalayan, Yervand | script-title=hy:Ջաւախք |trans-title=Javakhk' | url = https://archive.org/details/Javakhk | year = 1895 | publisher = Azgagrakan Handes [Ethnographic Review] | language = hy | author-link=Yervand Lalayan }} *{{cite book |last=Abuladze |first=Tsisana |title=Turkish Sources for the History of Samtskhe-Saatabago in the First Quarter of the 16th Century |year=1983 |publisher=Mecniereba |location=Tbilisi |language=ka }} * {{Cite book |last1=Lortkipanidze |first1=Mariam |url=https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/71346 |title=History of Georgia in four volumes, vol. II - History of Georgia from the 4th century to the 13th century |last2=Japaridze |first2=Otar |last3=Muskhelishvili |first3=David |last4=Metreveli |first4=Roin |year=2012 |isbn=978-9941-19-585-3 |location=Tbilisi |publisher=National Academy of Sciences of Georgia |ref={{sfnref|History of Georgia|2012}} }} *{{cite book | title = Mravaltavi: Philological and Historical Researches, Vol. XXI | author = K. Kekelidze Institute of Manuscripts | year = 2005 | publisher = National Centre of Manuscripts; K. Kekelidze Institute of Manuscripts | location = Tbilisi | issn = 1512-0619 | url = https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/259100 | ref = Mravaltavi }}

{{Authority control}} [[Category:Javakheti| ]] [[Category:Former provinces of Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Historical regions of Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Armenian irredentism]]