Tusheti

Infobox Region of Georgia
name = Tusheti
fullname = Tusheti Region
fullname_local = თუშეთის მხარე
fullname_tran = Tushetis Mkhare
governor = Petre Tsiskarishvili
area = 896
administrative

historical

Tusheti, or Tushetia, is a historic region in northeast Georgia.

Geography

Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti and Pshav-Khevsureti to the south and west, respectively. The population of the area is mainly ethnic Georgians called Tushs or Tushetians ( _ka. tushebi).

Historically, Tusheti comprised four mountain communities of the Alazani Valley. These are Tsova, Gometzari, Chaghma and the Piriq’iti Tusheti (formerly known as Pharsman's Tusheti). Included in the present day Akhmeta raioni, Kakheti region, Georgia, the area comprises ten villages with Omalo being the largest.

History

The first who inhabited the province were the pagan Georgians from Pkhovi who took refuge in the uninhabited mountains during their rebellion against Christianization implemented by the Iberian king Mirian III in the 330s. Subsequently, they were forcibly converted to Christianity and subdued by the Georgian kings. After the collapse of the unified Georgian monarchy, Tusheti came under the rule of Kakhetian kings in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the North Caucasian Bats people (relatives of the Chechens and Ingushes) began settling in the Tsova Gorge of Tusheti. King Levan of Kakheti (1520-1574) granted them the lands in the Alvani Valley in exchange for their military service. Known to the local Georgians as the "Tsova-Tushs", they have a high degree of assimilation and are typically bilingual using both Georgian and their own Bats languages. Nowadays, the latter is spoken only in a village Zemo Alvani.

During the German invasion of Soviet Union, a minor anti-Soviet revolt took place in the area in 1942-1943, seemingly linked to the similar but more large-scale events in the neighbouring Ingushetia.

Culture

Traditionally, the Tushs are sheep herders. Tushetian "Gouda (cheese)" cheese and high quality wool was famous and was exported to Europe and Russia. Even today sheep and cattle breeding is the leading branch of the economy of highland Tusheti. The local shepherds spend the summer months in the highland areas of Tusheti but live in the lowland villages of Zemo Alvani and Kvemo Alvani in wintertime. Their customs and traditions are similar to those of other eastern Georgian mountaineers (see Khevsureti).

One of the most ecologically unspoiled regions in the Caucasus, Tusheti is a popular mountain-trekking venue.

See also

* Keselo
*Omalo
*Shenako

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw9_Eiz8noE Watch the viedo with Tushetian music and landscapes.]
* [http://www.tushetipa.ge/ Tusheti National Park - official website]
* Peter Nasmyth (2006), [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1845112067&id=hzibjwOkl9wC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&ots=CVuthpmE5d&dq=Tusheti&sig=VJKVbUFcife9LsmgvcYZYs2jLtE#PPA122,M1 Walking in the Caucasus - Georgia: A Complete Guide to the Birds, Flora and Fauna of Europe's] , page 121-140, ISBN 1845112067
* [http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/bats.shtml The Bats people]
* [http://www.caucasus-pictures.blogspot.com/search/label/Tusheti Photos of Tusheti]

Historical regions of Georgia