Mukhrani ( ka, მუხრანი, originally Mukhnari
უხნარი i.e., "
oak-grove") is a historical lowland district in eastern
Georgia, currently within the borders 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, north of the town of
Mtskheta
Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...
. It lies within the historical borders of
Kartli, bounded by the
Kura River, and its two affluents:
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
Aragvi.
History
Strategically located on major transit routes traversing ancient and medieval Georgia, easily irrigable and fertile, Mukhrani was an economically advanced area and, in some sense, a link between Kartli’s lowland and highland districts.
In the 2nd-4th centuries AD, the area was home to
Dzalisi
Dzalisi ( ka, ძალისი) is a historic village in Georgia, located in the Mukhrani valley, 50 km northwest of Tbilisi, and 20 km northwest of Mtskheta.
It is the ''Zalissa'' ( el, Ζάλισσα) of Ptolemy ( AD 90–168) who mentions it ...
, one of the most important settlements of
Caucasian Iberia. Medieval Georgian annals describe Mukhrani as a forested area greatly favored by the Georgian kings as a hunting ground. We then hear of the noble family of Dzaganisdze being in possession of this district from the 8th/9th century to 1123 when the king
David IV confiscated it. Mukhrani became a flourishing sector of the royal domain, and its portion was subsequently donated by the crown to the monastery of
Shio-Mghvime and the cathedral of
Sveti-Tskhoveli.
In 1512, Mukhrani passed, in hereditary ownership, to a collateral branch of the
Bagrationi royal dynasty of Kartli. This occurred when the district was scrounged from King
David X of Kartli by his younger brother
Bagrat
Bagrat ( hy, Բագրատ, in Western Armenian pronounced Pakrad, ka, ბაგრატ) is a male name popular in Georgia and Armenia. It is derived from the Old Persian ''Bagadāta'', "gift of God".
The names of the Armenian Bagratuni and ...
in reward for crucial assistance against the neighboring Georgian ruler
George II of Kakheti. Henceforth, the lord of Mukhrani came to be known as the ''Mukhran-
Batoni'', and the branch of Bagrations which held it as the
Bagrationi-Mukhraneli (some members of which were later naturalised in Russia as the "Princes Bagration-Moukransky"). As royal authority declined, Mukhrani evolved into an autonomous
seigneury called a ''
satavado'', that is "a holding of
tavadi",
[ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', pp. 46-7. ]Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
, . or Georgian principality. It was known as ''Samukhranbatono'', i.e., "
he land
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
of Mukhran-Batoni."
The chief settlement of this princedom was Shios-Ubani, since the 1770s known as the village of Mukhrani, while a
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
built at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Ksani early in the 16th century served as a principal stronghold in the area. Other villages over which the ''Mukhran-Batoni'' held sway were Aghaiani, Kandagiani, Tezi, Okami and, for a certain period of time, Lamisqana and Gremiskhevi. The autonomous status of Mukhrani lasted until the Russian Empire, Russian annexation of eastern Georgia in 1801, but was not fully abolished until the 1840s.
[ "სამუხრანბატონო" (''Samukhranbatono''). In: ''k’art’uli sabch’ot’a ents’iklopedia'' (Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia), vol. 9, p. 40. Tbilisi: 1985.]
References
{{Georgian historical regions
Former provinces of Georgia (country)
Historical regions of Georgia (country)
Former principalities
States and territories established in 1512
States and territories disestablished in 1801