Mtiuleti ( ka, მთიულეთი; literally, "the land of mountains") is a historical province in

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 ...

, on the southern slopes of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

Mountains. It primarily comprises the White Aragvi Valley, and is bordered by

Gudamakari Gudamaq'ari (Gudamakari; ka, გუდამაყარი) is a small historical geographic area in northeast Georgia on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. Located along the river valley of Aragvi, it is bordered by Mtiul ...

on the east,

Khando Khando (russian: links=no, Хандо) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a Village#Russia, selo) in Chankovsky Selsoviet, Botlikhsky District, Republic of Dagestan, Russia. The population was 33 as of 2010. Geography ...

on the south, Tskhrazma on the west, and

Khevi Khevi ( ka, ხევი) is a small historical-geographic area in northeastern Georgia. It is included in the modern-day Kazbegi district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region (mkhare). Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains, it c ...

on the north. Mtiuleti occupies parts of modern-day districts of

Dusheti Dusheti () is a town in Georgia (country), Georgia, the administrative center of Dusheti Municipality, in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti mkhare, region, 54 km northeast of the nation's capital of Tbilisi. History Dusheti is on both banks of the small ...

and

Kazbegi Stepantsminda ( ka, სტეფანწმინდა; formerly Kazbegi, ), is a townlet in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of north-eastern Georgia. Historically and ethnographically, the town is part of the Khevi province. It is the center of ...

Mtskheta-Mtianeti Mtskheta-Mtianeti ( ka, მცხეთა-მთიანეთი, literally "Mtskheta-Mountain Area") is a region (Mkhare) in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and t ...

region (''

mkhare A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is usually translated as "region". According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into ...

''). A

townlet Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

(''daba'')

Pasanauri Pasanauri ( ka, ფასანაური, also spelled ''Passanauri'') is a small town ('' daba'') in Georgia, situated in the Dusheti district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region. Pasanauri lies about north of the nation’s capital of Tbilisi, at e ...

, famous for its

khinkali Khinkali ( ka, ხინკალი ''khink’ali'' , sometimes Romanized ''hinkali'' or ''xinkali'') is a very popular dumpling in Georgian cuisine. It is made of twisted knobs of dough, stuffed with meat and spices. Ingredients The filling ...

, is a traditional center of the region. In its original and narrower sense, Mtiuleti comprises a small historic mountainous community called Tskhavati. Since the 13th century, the neighboring valleys of Khado and

have also been frequently viewed as parts of Mtiuleti. According to a historic tradition, St. Nino, a female baptizer 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 ...

, preached

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

here in the early 4th century. We next hear of Mtiuleti and its people in connection with the Georgian campaign by the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

commander

Bugha al-Kabir Bugha al-Kabir (), also known as Bugha al-Turki (), was a 9th-century Khazar general who served the Abbasid Caliphate. He was of Khazar origin, and was acquired along with his sons as a military slave (''ghulam'') by al-Mu'tasim in 819/820.Gordo ...

, whose army assaulted the mountains of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

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 ...

in the 850s, but failed to force the Mtiuletians into submission. In the subsequent centuries, the Mtiuletians remained loyal subjects to the Georgian crown and joined the expedition sent by

Queen Tamar Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty ...

to subdue the rebellious mountainous clans in the early 13th century. Under Tamar, due its strategic location, Mtiuleti was placed under the administration of high-ranking Georgian officials such as Abulasan, a viceroy of Kartli, and Tchiaber, a chancellor 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 ...

. Later, in the early 14th century, Mtiuleti was contested between two powerful feudal houses, the

eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

s of the

Ksani The Ksani (, , ''Ĉysandon'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (''Mtkvari''). It is long, and has a drainage basin of .

and the

Aragvi The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinval ...

. Initially supported by the kings of Georgia, the former prevailed, but for a short time. Eventual winners, the eristavs of Aragvi, ruled the area until being dispossessed by the king of Georgia in 1743. From May to September 1804, Mtiuleti was a scene of an uneasy revolt against

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 ...

, which had annexed eastern Georgia in 1801. The uprising quickly spread to the neighboring mountainous regions, but was eventually suppressed by the Russian commander

Pavel Tsitsianov Prince Pavel Dmitriyevich Tsitsianov (russian: Павел Дмитриевич Цицианов), also known as Pavle Dimitris dze Tsitsishvili ( ka, პავლე ციციშვილი; —) was a Georgian nobleman and a prominent genera ...

after heavy fighting.

References

* Dj. Gvasalia, "Mtiuleti." In: ''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'', Vol. 6, p. 673.

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

: 1983. (in Georgian) * Kurtsikidze, Shorena & Chikovani, Vakhtang, ''Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries,'' Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008
Mtiuleti
''Georgian Tourism and Recreation Information System''. Accessed on December 11, 2006. {{coord, 42, 21, 07, N, 44, 41, 10, E, type:adm1st_source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Former provinces of Georgia (country) Historical regions of Georgia (country)