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 (Georgian: 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
neighboring 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. |