Machabeli ( sing. ka, მაჩაბელი; pl. მაჩაბლები, ''Machablebi'') was a

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 ...

princely house (''

tavadi ''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia (country), Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually trans ...

'') which held a large fiefdom (''satavado'') in the province of

Inner Kartli Shida Kartli ( ka, შიდა ქართლი, , ; "Inner Kartli") is a landlocked administrative region (''Mkhare'') in eastern Georgia. It comprises a central part of the historical-geographic province of Shida Kartli. With an area of , Sh ...

(central Georgia) called

Samachablo Samachablo ( ka, სამაჩაბლო) is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia, which lies entirely within the disputed South Ossetia Region. The name ''Samachablo'' (literally, "of Machabeli") derives from the Georgian ...

after their family name. The origin of the family is not clear. According to a traditional account, they descended from one of the princes of the Abkhaz-Georgian feudal clan of

Anchabadze Anchabadze ( ka, ანჩაბაძე), also known as Achba ( ab, А́чба), is a Georgian and Abkhazian family, and the oldest surviving noble house originating in Abkhazia. History The Anchabadze family is supposed to have its roots in ...

who had fled the disorders in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

. Another version holds it that the Machabeli were an offshoot of the Tavkhelidze family who adopted their dynastic name after the village of Achabeti on the

Great Liakhvi River The Great Liakhvi ( ''Didi Liakhvi'', , ''Styr Lewakhi'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in the de facto independent region of South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (Mtk ...

where their initial domain was located. Beginning with the 15th century, the Machabeli grew in prominence and held various important posts at the court of the Georgian kings of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

. Their fiefdom, Samachablo, covered a significant portion of what is now

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

, and enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Kingdom of

from c. 1470 to 1800 when Georgia was annexed to

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...

. The Machabeli house was confirmed in princely dignity by the Russian

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

in 1850.Мачабели
Russian Biographic Lexicon. Retrieved on April 1, 2007.

References

* Хаханов А. С. (

Alexander Khakhanov Aleksandr Solomonovich Khakhanov (russian: Александр Соломонович Хаханов) born Aleksandre Khakhanashvili ( ka, ალექსანდრე ხახანაშვილი) (January 3, 1866 – May 25, 1912) was a Geo ...

)
князья Мачабели
In

М. 1893. Families of Georgia (country) Noble families of Georgia (country) Georgian-language surnames {{Georgia-noble-stub

See also

References