Gachiani ( ka, გაჩიანი) was a historical city and district in Lower Iberia/

Kvemo Kartli Kvemo Kartli ( ka, ქვემო ქართლი, az, Aşağı Kartli) or "Lower Kartli", is a historic province and current administrative region (mkhare) in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is the regional capital. Location Kvem ...

in southeast

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Its exact location and boundaries remain unclear.

History

The medieval tradition of

Leonti Mroveli Leonti Mroveli ( ka, ლეონტი მროველი) was the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, presumably an ecclesiastic. ''Mroveli'' is not his last name, but the adjective for the diocese of Ruisi, whose bishop he probably was.Rayfie ...

ascribes the foundation of Gachiani to an eponymous mythic lord, Gachios, son of

Kartlos Kartlos () is the eponymous ancestor of the Georgians (Kartvelians) in Georgian mythology, more specifically of the nation of Kartli (Caucasian Iberia). Kartlos is introduced in the medieval Georgian Chronicles (''Kartlis Tskhovreba''), presumab ...

. The 10th-century

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n historian

Ukhtanes of Sebastia Ukhtanes of Sebastia ( hy, Ուխտանես Սեբաստացի, ''Ukhtanes Sebastatsi'') (c. 935-1000) was an Armenian historian and prelate. Educated at the Monastery of Narek under the tutelage of its founder Anania, he eventually attained to the ...

places Gachiani (''Gajenaget'') in what he refers to as the Plain of Georgians (''Vrac' Dašt'') and considers it to be a later name of the earlier town of Tsurtavi (''C'urtaw'').Nina G. Garsoïan (1999), ''L'Église arménienne et le grand schisme d'Orient'', p. 340. Peeters Publishers, . On the other hand, the early 18th-century Georgian scholar

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, ''Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''Ge ...

locates Gachiani on the right bank of the river Ktsia. The land of Gachiani was one of the marshlands between ancient Iberia (Georgia) and Armenia and changed its masters more than once in the course of history. It formed part of the Iberian

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

of Samsvhilde in the 4th-3rd century BC, but its southwest portion was annexed to the Armeno-Georgian principality of Gogarene in the 4th century, and then briefly fell under the Armenian Bagratid control in 888 and 914/8.

Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia ...

''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 499.

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...

1967 Its later history is essentially the same as that of Samshvilde and the district southwest of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

in general. Currently, Gachiani is a name of the predominantly Azerbaijani-populated village in Georgia's Gardabani district.

References

Former provinces of Georgia (country) Historical regions of Georgia (country) {{Georgia-geo-stub