Abkhazia during the Georgian Golden Age and Renaissance
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Saturday, 30 June 2007
By George Nikoladze
Reign of Queen Tamar was the peak of Georgia’s might in the whole
history of the nation. In 1194-1204 Tamar’s armies crushed new Turkish
invasions from the south-east and south and launched several successful
campaigns into Turkish-controlled Southern Armenia. As a result, most
of Southern Armenia with the cities of Karin, Erzinjan, Khelat, Mush
and Van, was put under Georgian control. Although not included into
Georgian Crown lands and left under nominal rule of local Turkish Emirs
and Sultans, Southern Armenia became a protectorate of the Kingdom of
Georgia.
The temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 to the Crusaders
left Georgia the strongest Christian State in the whole East
Mediterranean area. The same year Queen Tamar sent her troops to take
over the former Byzantine Lazona and Paryadria with the cities of
Atina, Riza, Trebizond, Querasunt, Amysos, Kotyora, Heraclea and
Sinopa. In 1205, the occupied territory was transformed into the Empire
of Trebizond with Tamar’s’ relative Prince Alexius Comnenus crowned
Emperor. Although officially called an Empire the new state was
Georgia’s dependency for more than two hundred years. In 1210 Georgian
armies invaded northern Iran (today’s Iranian Azerbaijan) and took the
cities of Marand, Tebriz, Ardebil, Zenjan and Kazvin putting part of
the conquered territory under Georgian protectorate. That was the
maximal extent of Georgia throughout her history. During the described
period of time Queen Tamar was addressed as `The Queen of Abkhazians,
Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and Armenians, Shirvan-Shakhine and
Shakh-in-Shakhine, The Sovereign of the East and West’. Georgian
historians often refer to her as `Queen Tamar the Great’.
According to the Georgian chronicles, Queen Tamar granted the lordship
over part of Abkhazia to the Georgian princely family of Shervashidze.
According to traditional accounts, they were an offshoot of the
Shirvanshahs (hence allegedly comes their dynastic name meaning "sons
of Shirvanese" in Georgian). The ascendancy of this dynasty in Abkhazia
would last until the Russian annexation in the 1860s.
The Genoese established their trading factories along the Abkhazian
coastline in the 14th century, but they functioned for a short time.
The area was relatively spared from the Mongol and Timur’s invasions,
which terminated Georgia’s golden age. As a result, the kingdom of
Georgia fragmentized into several independent or semi-independent
entities by the late 15th century. The Principality of Abkhazia was one
of them. The Abkhazian princes engaged in incessant conflicts with the
Mingrelian potentates, their nominal suzerains, and the borders of both
principalities fluctuated in the course of these wars. In the following
centuries, the Georgian nobles of Abkhazia finally prevailed and
expanded their possessions up to the Inguri River, which is today’s
southern boundary of the region.