Imerkhevi (, ) is a valley in the north of the

Şavşat Şavşat ( ka, შავშეთი, tr) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region, between the cities of Artvin and Kars on the border with Georgia at the far eastern end of Turkey. History According to Rayfield, in 790 ...

district in the Artvin Province of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, along the border with Georgia. There are 15 villages in this area, inhabited by ethnic

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

, who speak a local

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

of the Georgian language.

History

Imerkhevi was historically one of the subregions that made up Shavsheti, a medieval Georgian fiefdom on the upper course of the Imerkhevi or Berta river, east of Nigali, west of the Arsiani Range (Yalnızçam) and bounded by

Adjara Adjara ( ka, აჭარა ''Ach’ara'' ) or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara ( ka, აჭარის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა ''Ach’aris Avt’onomiuri Resp’ublik’a'' ...

on the north. Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 439.

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 sc ...

. After these territories were conquered by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in the 16th century, Imerkhevi (İmerhev) became a ''

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian language, Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησι� ...

'' and its people gradually converted to Islam. The territory was acquired by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

through the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. Shavsheti and Imerkhevi were organized into the Shavsheto-Imerkhevsky circuit (''uchastok'') as part of the

Batum Oblast Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

. As of 1886, the circuit had a population of 18,319, of which 41.2% were Georgians, 51.3% Turkified Georgians, and 7.0% Armenians. Following the turmoil of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–1918) and the short-lived independence of Georgia (1918–1921), Imerkhevi became a part of

according to the territorial rearrangements in the 1921 treaties of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

Population

Imerkhevians from Tskalsimeri (Marr, 1910)

The population of Imerkhevi is largely composed of ethnic Georgians, who inhabit 14 hamlets around Meydancık, formerly known as Diobani. These settlements have both official Turkish and unofficial Georgian names. They are Balıklı (Tskalsimeri), Maden (Badzgireti),

Demirci Demirci is a town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 59,314, of which 21,230 live in the town of Demirci. The district covers an area of , and the town lies ...

(Daba), Dereiçi (Dasamoba), Erikli (Agara),

Çukur ''Çukur'' () is a Turkish psychological thriller television series directed by Sinan Öztürk, and written by Gökhan Horzum and Damla Serim. It premiered on 23 October 2017 and concluded on 7 June 2021 with a total of 131 episodes (four seasons ...

(Chikhori), Sebzeli (Jvariskhevi), Çağlayan (Khevtsvirili), Çağlıpınar (Khokhlevi), Yeşilce (Manatba), Oba (Ube), Dutlu (Surevani), Yağlı (Zakieti), Tepebaşı (Ziosi), and Çiçekli (Tsetileti). Putkaradze, Tariel (2005)
იმერხევის სოფლები ("The villages of Imerkhevi")
. ''Çveneburi'' – Gürcü Kültür Evi. The

Imerkhevians Imerkhevians ( ka, იმერხეველები), are an ethnographic subgroup of Georgians who speak Imerkhevian dialect (''imerkheuli'') of Georgian language, which shares many common features with the neighboring Adjarian. Tuite, Kevin ...

are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

, closely integrated with the Turkish society. Almost all are bilingual in Georgian and Turkish. The Georgian dialect spoken in the area is known as Imerkhevian (''imerkheuli'') and shares many common features with the neighboring Adjarian. Tuite, Kevin (1998)
''Kartvelian morphosyntax: number agreement and morphosyntactic oritntation in the South Caucasian languages''
p. 178. Lincom Europa. Reflecting some internal differentiation persisting in Turkey's Georgian community, the Imerkhevians claim a different origin from the Georgians in the

Borçka Borçka ( lzz, ბორჩხა, translit=Borçxa; ka, ბორჩხა, translit=Borchkha or ) is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia. Borçka is reached by a winding road up ...

area, who have adopted an inclusive Adjar identity. The first who brought the local culture to a scholarly attention was Nicholas Marr, who, while on an expedition in Shavsheti in 1910, collected folk literature and ethnographic information from several villages along the Imerkhevi river.

References

{{Reflist Tao-Klarjeti Geography of Artvin Province History of Artvin Province Historical regions of Georgia (country)

History

Population

See also

References