The Kists ( ka, ქისტები ''kist'ebi'', ce, Kistoj, Kisti, Nokhcho, Nakhcho) are a
Chechen subethnos in
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 ...
. They primarily live in the
Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th ...
, in the
eastern Georgia
Eastern Georgia ( ka, აღმოსავლეთ საქართველო, ''aghmosavlet' sak'art'velo'') is a geographic area encompassing the territory of the Caucasian nation of Georgia to the east and south of the Likhi and Meskhe ...
n region of
Kakheti, where there are approximately 9,000 Kist people. The modern Kists are not to be confused with the historical term ''Kists'', an ethnonym of Georgian origin, which was used to refer to the
Ingush people
The Ingush (, inh, ГIалгIай, translit=Ghalghaj, pronounced ) per Oxford dictionary "a member of a people living mainly in Ingushetia in the central Caucasus." Ingushetia is a federal republic of Russian Federation. The Ingush are predomin ...
in the Middle Ages.
Origins
The Kist people's origins can be traced back to their ancestral land in lower
Chechnya. In the 1830s and 1870s they migrated to the eastern Georgian
Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th ...
and some adjoining lands of the provinces of
Tusheti
Tusheti ( ka, თუშეთი) is a historic region in northeast Georgia.
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 eas ...
and
Kakheti. Named "Kists" (ქისტები) in
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
, they are closely related culturally, linguistically and ethnically to other Nakh-speaking peoples such as Ingushes and Chechens, but their customs and traditions also share many similarities with the eastern Georgian mountaineers.
Around the same region of Georgia, there is also a related but still different community of
Nakh origin called
Bats
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...
.
In 1886, a total of 2,314 Kists were recorded as living in Georgia. In the
Russian Imperial Census of 1897, there were 2,502 Chechens living in Georgia, of which 2,397 lived in the Tionetskiy District (which included the Pankisi Valley). In the Soviet Census of 1939, the number of Chechens living in Georgia was recorded at 2,533 people.
Geographic distribution
Currently there are six Kist villages in Pankisi: Duisi, Dzibakhevi, Jokolo, Shua Khalatsani, Omalo (different from the village of
Omalo
Omalo ( ka, ომალო) is a principal village in the historical region of Tusheti, Georgia. Administratively, it is part of the Akhmeta District in Kakheti. It lies between the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the Pirikita Range of Tushet ...
in Tusheti), and Birkiani. The Kist community remains quite small and are scattered across northeast Georgia, but in the past decade the number of residents in the Pankisi area has at least doubled due to an influx of refugees from neighboring
Chechnya.
In 1989, it was calculated that Pankisi was about 43% Kist, 29% Georgian and 28% Ossetian, but many of the Ossetians later fled as a result of the more hostile situation due to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.
History
The early history of the Kist people is not well known and there are few sources mentioning their traditions, culture and history. The only historical sources available about the ethnic Kists in the area of Pankisi are found in the Georgian press, dated in the 1880s by E. Gugushvili, Zakaria Gulisashvili, Ivane Bukurauli, and Mate Albutashvili (ethnic Kist).
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the Kists were the only Chechens in the Soviet Union who were not
ethnically cleansed by Stalin in 1944.
During the
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War (russian: Втора́я чече́нская война́, ) took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 ...
, the Kists gave shelter to about 7,000 refugees from
Chechnya.
Religion
The majority of Kists adhere to religion made up of syncretized
Sunni Muslim beliefs with animistic
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
. Small pockets of
Christian Kists still remain in Pankisi, Tusheti and Kakheti. To this day, the Kists worship the
Khevsur sacred places (''jvari'') and make sacrifices to the
Anatori jvari near the Khevsureti village of
Shatili
Shatili ( ka, შატილი, ''Šat’ili'' ) is a historic highland village in Georgia, near the border with Chechnya. It is located on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus mountains, in the historical Georgian province of Upper Khevs ...
, which is located at the Georgian-Chechen border. The Anatori jvari was also considered sacred by Chechens in
Maisti and
Melkhisti. Highlanders from both the northern Caucasus and Georgia participated together in religious celebrations until the borders were closed. Although today the Kists pray in the
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in the village of
Duisi , ce, Дуй-Юрт
, image_skyline = ПIаьнказ чIаж.jpg
, imagesize = 300
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_seal =
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Georgia (country)
, pushpin_label_position = bottom
, pushpin_map ...
, they also pray at the sites of old, now-ruined Christian sanctuaries. The Christians among them and some Folk followers pray in
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...
church in the village of
Joqolo and attend the religious celebration
Alaverdoba in the
Alaverdi Monastery
Alaverdi Monastery ( ka, ალავერდის მონასტერი) is a Georgian Eastern Orthodox monastery located from Akhmeta, in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia. While parts of the monastery date back to 6th century, th ...
of Kakheti. Additionally, Kists celebrate
Tetri Giorgoba, a local variation of
St George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sai ...
.
When the Kists first arrived in the valley in the early 19th century from Chechnya and Ingushetia, their religious practices included both Islam and their original
Nakh religion, with some overlap with the indigenous beliefs of their highland Georgian neighbors. There were also Christian influences. In the latter half of the 19th century, the Russian government pressured the Kists to convert to Orthodox Christianity, and there were various episodes of mass baptisms and church construction. In 1902, Kists who had remained Muslim constructed a mosque in Duisi, but the Russian government refused to recognize it. The Duisi mosque was forcefully closed, along with other religious structures after the Bolshevik revolution, and not reopened until 1960. Sanikidze notes that many Kists, regardless of their designation, have a mix of Muslim, Christian and indigenous religious practices.
The position of Islam strengthened among the Kists in the Soviet period, in part because "wandering"
mullahs continued to proselytize and managed to persuade many to convert to Islam, a process that continued into the 1970s. In sum, over the years considerable numbers of Kists became Christian, but most of those who did later reconverted to Islam. Even so, until around 1970, a considerable part of the villagers of Jokolo, Omalo, and Birkiani were Christian, and a Christian chapel was built in Omalo in the 1960s. In the 1970s, however, many Christians in Jokolo and Omalo returned to the Islamic faith. Only Birkiani has a majority Christian population today. Birkiani has two mosques as of 2022. There is also a small community of Kists in Kakheti (a region of Georgia bordering on the Gorge), mainly in the city of Telavi, who consider themselves Orthodox Christians.
Traditions
The Kists remained faithful to their family traditions and customs. To this day, they identify themselves as Chechen, and for official purposes declare themselves of Georgian nationality. They are typically bilingual in
Chechen and
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
.
The Kists represent the majority of the population in all Kist villages of the Pankisi Gorge, with the exception of a few Georgian families. In the Northern Caucasus, the Chechens and to a certain extent the Ingush officially registered father's names as family names. The Kists did not follow this practice. Instead, after migrating to Georgia, the Kists started adding the Georgian endings to their patrimonial names, particularly suffix -''shvili'' (meaning "child" in Georgian), or sometimes suffix -''dze'' (which means "son" in Georgian), or still other times the Georgian suffix -''uli'' (indicating "belonging to" or "descended from"). In this manner, Kist family names were established.
A family's guest was treated with great respect. Men, usually the eldest man of the family, would greet the guest. The guest would then be seated in the most honorable place. The guest was not simply the guest of one particular family, but of the whole village and, in some cases, the whole canyon. Even today, this tradition is strictly maintained.
See also
*
Vainakh
The Nakh peoples, also known as ''Vainakh peoples'' (Chechen/Ingush: , apparently derived from Chechen , Ingush "our people"; also Chechen-Ingush), are a group of Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cult ...
References
*Die Völker des Caucasus nach den Berichten der Reisebeschreiber
*Universal Geography, Or, A Description of All the Parts of the World, vol. 1
*Shorena Kurtsikidze & Vakhtang Chikovani, ''Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries'', Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008.
Notes
External links
*
*
Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic SurveyEthnic Groups in Georgia #5 - Kists ''The Georgian Times''. April 11, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kist People
Ethnic groups in Georgia (country)
Nakh peoples
Sub-ethnic groups
Peoples of the Caucasus