- Abashidze
Abashidze ( _ka. აბაშიძე) is a Georgian family and a former princely house. Appearing in the 15th century, they achieved prominence in the
Kingdom of Imereti in western Georgia in the late 17th century and branched out ineastern Georgia n kingdoms ofKakheti andKartli as well as the then-Ottoman-held southwestern region ofAdjara . After the Russian annexation of Georgian polities, the family was confirmed asKnyaz Abashidze ( _ru. Абашидзе) by theTsar ’s decree of 1825.History
The Abashidze family possibly derived from the medieval Georgian noble house of Liparitid-Orbeliani, but the family legend holds that it descended from an Abyssinian officer named Abash who had allegedly accompanied
Marwan ibn Muhammad ’sArab army to Georgia in the 8th century; Abash is said to have remained in Georgia and ennobled when he saved the life of a Georgian crown prince from a wolf.The first recorded account about the Abashidze dates back to the latter part of the 15th century. By the 1540s, they had already been in possession of a sizeable fiefdom within the Kingdom of Imereti located in its eastern part and called Saabashidzeo (სააბაშიძეო; literally, " [the land] of Abashidze"). The family reached a climax of its might at the turn of the 18th century, when it possessed 78 villages, several castles, fortresses, churches and monasteries as well as 1,500 serf households. Prince
Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze was not only the most powerful vassal of the crown of Imereti, but himself acted as a kingmaker and evende facto king from 1702 to 1707. The family branched out in eastern Georgia whenErekle II , King of Kartli and Kakheti, granted, in 1774, to his father-in-law Prince Zaal Abashidze and his male descendants estates in Kakheti. A minor branch was also established in Kartli. Earlier in the 18th century, one representative of the Imeretian line went over to the Ottoman government and settled atBatumi where his descendants attained to the office ofsanjak-bey .The Russian annexation of Imereti in 1810 brought the princedom of Saabashidzeo to an end. Henceforth, the family was equated to other noble families of the Russian Empire and confirmed as princes on
September 20 ,1825 . OnJuly 29 ,1876 , Prince Simon Abashidze (1837-1891) was granted the right to assume the surname and coat of arms of his father-in-law, the late Ukrainian nobleman Semyon Davidovich Gorlenko, for himself and his male-line descendants (Abashidze-Gorlenko, Абашидзе-Горленко), but he died without a male heir.The family has survived into the 21st century and has produced several notable writers, public figures and politicians.
Notable members
*
Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze
*Vaso Abashidze
*Kita Abashidze
*Memed Abashidze
*Grigol Abashidze
*Irakli Abashidze
*Aslan Abashidze References
*Christopher Buyers (March - September 2003). [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Georgia/abashidze.htm Abashidze] . RoyalArk. Accessed on
September 3 ,2007 .
*ru icon [http://www.sati.archaeology.nsc.ru/encyc_top/encyc15/term.html?act=list&term=309 Абашидзе] . In: Холюшкин Юрий Павлович. Титулованные Роды Российской империи. Accessed onSeptember 3 ,2007 .See also
*
List of Georgian princely families
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