Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of
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 ...
, formerly known as
Odishi
Odishi ( ka, ოდიში) was a historical district in western Georgia, the core fiefdom of the former Principality of Mingrelia, with which the name "Odishi" was frequently coterminous. Since the early 19th century, this toponym has been su ...
. It is primarily inhabited by the
Mingrelians
The Mingrelians ( xmf, მარგალეფი, margalefi; ka, მეგრელები, tr) are an indigenous Kartvelian-speaking ethnic subgroup of Georgians that mostly live in the Mingrelia ( xmf, სამარგალო, sam ...
, a subgroup of
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 ...
.
Geography and climate
![Nikanor Chernetsov, Maison du prince Dadian en Mingrelie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Nikanor_Chernetsov%2C_Maison_du_prince_Dadian_en_Mingrelie.jpeg)
Mingrelia is bordered by the secessionist region of
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 ...
to the north-west,
Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Geography
Situated o ...
to the north,
Imereti
Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...
to the east,
Guria
Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital.
Geography
...
to the south and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
to the west.
Administratively, the historic province of Mingrelia is incorporated joined with the northern part of the neighboring mountainous province of
Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Geography
Situated o ...
to form the
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti ( Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, ...
region, the capital of which is Mingrelia's main city,
Zugdidi
Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilom ...
.
[Tim Burford ]
As it is the case with most Black Sea coastal areas of Georgia, Mingrelia's climate is
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
with frequent rains. The coastal areas have many
marshlands
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
despite the Soviet Georgian authorities' efforts to dry them up. These marshlands contain many rare birds and animals not found in other parts of the country. For this reason, substantial part of the territories is protected by the Georgian law as part of the Colchetian Nature Reserve.
History
In ancient times Mingrelia was a major part of the kingdom of
Colchis
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia (country), Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians a ...
(9th-6th centuries
BC) and its successor
Egrisi
In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
(4th century BC-6th century
AD). In the 11th-15th centuries, Mingrelia was a part of the united
Kingdom of Georgia
The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...
. From the 16th century to 1857, the independent Principality of Mingrelia was under the rule of the
House of Dadiani
The House of Dadiani ( ka, დადიანი ), later known as the House of Dadiani- Chikovani, was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Mingrelia.
The House of Dadiani
Th ...
. Between 1568 and 1803, it was vassal of Ottoman Empire.
In December 1803, the principality came under the patronage of 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. ...
by an agreement between the
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 ...
and the Megrelian Prince
Grigol Dadiani
Grigol Dadiani ( ka, გრიგოლ დადიანი; 1770 – 23 October 1804), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia from 1788 to 1804, with intermissions from 1791 to 1794 and in 1802 when his position was filled by his riv ...
. The last adult Prince, David Dadiani, died in 1853, leaving his wife
Ekaterine as regent for his young son,
Niko Niko may refer to:
People
The given name is sometimes a short form of Nikola, Nikolas, Nikolaos or others.
* Nikō (1253–1314), Japanese Buddhist disciple of Nichiren
* Niko (musician), American musician active from 2002
* NiKo (born 199 ...
. However, in 1867, the principality was abolished and absorbed into the Tsarist Russian Empire.
Prince Niko Dadiani officially renounced his rights to the throne in 1868.
Plant specimens of ''
Astrantia colchica
''Astrantia'' is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae, native to Central, Eastern and Southern Europe and the Caucasus. There are several species, which have aromatic roots, palmate leaves, and decorative flowers. They are comm ...
'' were found on Mt. Kwira in Mingrelia in 1894 by the Russian botanist
Nikolai Albov
Nikolai Mikhaylovich Albov (russian: Николай Михайлович Альбов; 15 October 1866, in Pavlovo, Gorbatov region, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, Imperial Russia – 6 December 1897, in La Plata, Argentina) was a Russian botani ...
.
From 1918 to 1921, Mingrelia was part of the
Democratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...
(DRG). In 1921, Georgia was
Sovietized
Sovietization (russian: Советизация) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modelled after the Soviet Union. This often included ...
and later became part of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, as the
Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
. On 9 April 1991, independence was restored to Georgia, of which Mingrelia is now part.
The first President of the
post-Soviet
The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...
Georgia,
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად გამსახურდია, tr; russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1 ...
, was a Megrelian. After the violent
coup d'etat of 21 December 1991 – 6 January 1992, Mingrelia became the centre of a civil war, which ended with the defeat of Gamsakhurdia's Megrelian supporters. Even so, this region was unmanageable by the central government throughout the presidency of
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for ...
(1992–2003). The fact that the Georgian refugees from the Abkhazian war zone (who are considered by Georgians as victims of ethnic cleansing) are mostly Mingrelians has contributed to the region's instability. In 2004, following the
Rose Revolution
The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...
of November 2003, newly elected Georgian President,
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. , who vowed to resolve the conflict with the breakaway region of Abkhazia, disarmed groups of Megrelians who tried to fight a guerrilla war against the Abkhazians by incursions from Mingrelia.
See also
*
Mingrelian Affair
The Mingrelian affair, or Mingrelian case (russian: Мингрельское дело, ''mingrel’skoe delo''; ka, მეგრელთა საქმე, ''megrelt’a sak’me''), was a series of criminal cases fabricated in 1951 and 1952 in ...
*
Principality of Mingrelia
The Principality of Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელოს სამთავრო, tr), also known as Odishi and as Samegrelo, was a historical state in Georgia ruled by the Dadiani dynasty.
History
The principality emerged out of a ...
*
List of Princes of Mingrelia
Principalities Princes and dukes of Guria
* Kakhaber I Gurieli c. 1385–1410
*Mamia Gurieli c. 1450–1469
*Kakhaber II Gurieli 1469–1483
* Giorgi I Gurieli 1483–1512
*Mamia I Gurieli 1512–1534
*Rostom Gurieli 1534–1564
*Giorgi II Guriel ...
References
External links
MINGRELIASamegrelo
{{Authority control
Former provinces of Georgia (country)
Historical regions of Georgia (country)
Caucasus
Historical regions