Racha (also Račha, , ''Račʼa'') is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the

Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti ( ka, რაჭა-ლეჩხუმი და ქვემო სვანეთი, ''Rach’a-Lechkhumi da Kvemo Svaneti'') is a region (Mkhare) in northwestern Georgia with a population of 28,500 (2021), mak ...

region ( mkhare) as the municipalities of Oni and Ambrolauri. Racha occupies 2,854 km² in the north-eastern corner of western Georgia. Spurs of the Greater Caucasus crest separates Racha from the Georgian historical regions of Svaneti and Lechkhumi on the north-west and from

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 municip ...

on the south, while the main Caucasus ridge forms a boundary with Russia’s

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. On the east, Racha is bordered by breakaway South Ossetia, officially part of Georgia's Shida Kartli region.

History

Racha had been part of Colchis and Caucasian Iberia since ancient times and its main town Oni was said to have been founded by King Parnajom of Iberia in the 2nd century BC. Upon the creation of the unified Georgian kingdom in the 11th century, Racha became one of the duchies (saeristavo) within it. Rati of the Baghvashi family was the first duke ( eristavi) appointed by King Bagrat III. Descendants of Rati and his son Kakhaber, eponymous father of Racha's ruling dynasty of

Kakhaberisdze The Kakhaberidze, archaically Kakhaberisdze (pl. -''ebi'') ( ka, კახაბერი ��ე ��ბი literally "the sons of Kakhaber") was a noble family in medieval Georgia (country), Georgia which held sway over the highland northweste ...

, governed the province until 1278. In 1278 King

David VI Narin David VI Narin ( ka, დავით VI ნარინი, tr) (also called ''the Clever'') (1225–1293), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1245–1293. From 1259 to 1293, he ruled the kingdom of Imereti under the name David ...

abolished the duchy during his war against the Mongols. In the mid-14th century, the duchy was restored under the rule of the Charelidze family. The next dynasty of Chkhetidze governed Racha from 1465 to 1769. Vassals of the King of

, they revolted several times against the royal power. The 1678–1679 civil war resulted in the most serious consequences. In this war, Duke Shoshita II of Racha (1661–1684) supported Prince Archil, a rival of the pro- Ottoman Imeretian king Bagrat IV. On the defeat of Archil, Racha was overrun and plundered by an Ottoman punitive force. Under Rostom (1749–1769), the duchy became virtually independent from

. However, towards the end of 1769, King Solomon I of Imereti managed to arrest Rostom and to abolish the duchy. In 1784, King David II of Imereti revived the duchy and gave it to his nephew Anton. Local opposition attempted to use an Ottoman force to take control of Racha, but the victory of King David at Skhvava (January 26, 1786) temporarily secured his dominance in the area. In 1789, the next Imeretian king Solomon II finally abolished the duchy and subordinated the province directly to the royal administration.

Notable people

* Prokofy Dzhaparidze (Alyosha), a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

revolutionary and one of the

26 Baku Commissars The 26 Baku Commissars were Bolshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionary (SR) members of the Baku Commune. The commune was established in the city of Baku, which was then the capital of the briefly independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, and ...

. *

Ketevan Svanidze Ekaterine "Kato" Svanidze, '; russian: Екатерина Семёновна Сванидзе, ' (2 April 1885 – 22 November 1907) was the first wife of Joseph Stalin and the mother of his eldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili. Born in Racha, in we ...

, first wife of Joseph Stalin * Alexander Svanidze, Stalin's brother-in-law; executed in 1941

History

Notable people

See also