The Sanni ( ka, სანები) are mentioned by
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
(1st century BC/1st century AD),
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
(1st century AD) and
Arrian (2nd century AD) as a people settling near
Trebizond (in today's
Turkish Black Sea Region).
In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, their territory extended to the north-east until the river
Ophis, and covered both the littoral and the mountainous hinterland. Pliny grouped together the Sanni who lived in the region of Trebizond and the
Heniochi as one single nation.
He also mentions other Sanni, living further on the
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 ...
littoral, past the mouth of the
Rioni
The Rioni ( ka, რიონი, ; , ) is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti (near ancient Phasis). The city ...
.
According to
Theodoret of Cyrrus (5th century AD), the Sanni and
Lazi were two different tribes. In the first centuries AD, Sanni people living in the region of Trebizond were paying tribute to the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. However, they tried to avoid heavy direct taxation and later left the coastal areas for the mountains. In the 6th century, Procopius still mentions them as living near the source of the Boasi (today the Chorokhi, or
Çoruh River
The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'', tr, Çoruh, hy, Չորոխ ''Ch’vorokh'', el, Άκαμψις, ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İs ...
).
There have been various interpretations of the ethnonym in Georgian literature;
some scholars, such as
Simon Kaukhchishvili
Simon Kaukhchishvili ( ka, სიმონ ყაუხჩიშვილი) (October 1, 1895 in Kutaisi – May 11, 1981 in Tbilisi) was a Georgian historian and philologist known for his critical editions of old Georgian chronicles; Doctor of H ...
, suggest that it is related to the name "chan" or its variants, long present in Greek mythological narratives about Colchis; others, among them
Arnold Chikobava
Arnold Chikobava ( ka, არნოლდ ჩიქობავა) (March 14, 1898 – November 5, 1985) was a Soviet Georgian linguist and philologist best known for his contributions to Caucasian studies and for being one of the most activ ...
, see it as derived from the name still given to
Mingrelian people
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, sama ...
in the
Svan language
Svan ( ''lušnu nin''; ka, სვანური ენა, tr) is a Kartvelian language spoken in the western Georgian region of Svaneti primarily by the Svan people. With its speakers variously estimated to be between 30,000 and 80,000, the U ...
''Zan'' (see also
Zan language
The Zan languages, or Zanuri ( ka, ზანური ენები) or Colchidian, are a branch of the Kartvelian languages constituted by the Mingrelian and Laz languages. The grouping is disputed as some Georgian linguists consider the two ...
).
In the opinion of S. Dzhanashia, ''San'' was indeed an endonym of ancient
Colchians, which later evolved into the forms ''Zan'' in the north of Colchis (
Mingrelia) and ''Chan'' in the southern part (which would become
Lazistan
Lazistan ( lzz, ლაზონა, Lazona; ka, ლაზეთი, Lazeti, or ჭანეთი ''Ç'aneti''; ota, لازستان, Lazistān) is a historical and cultural region of the Caucasus and Anatolia, traditionally inhabited by the Laz ...
).
The form ''Τζάνοι'' (''Chani'') can be found in Byzantine authors such as
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...
, but ''Sanni'' can be found as recently as the 12th century.
Today, ''Chani'' is still used as an ethnonym for the
Laz people
The Laz people, or Lazi ( lzz, ლაზი ''Lazi''; ka, ლაზი, ''lazi''; or ჭანი, ''ch'ani''; tr, Laz), are an indigenous ethnic group who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Black Sea Region, Turkey and Georgia (countr ...
.
References
*გეორგიკა. ბიზანტიელი მწერლების ცნობები საქართველოს შესახებ, ს. ყაუხჩიშვილის გამოც., ტ. 3, თბ., 1965
*''მიქელაძე თ.,'' ძიებანი კოლხეთისა და სამხრეთ-აღმოსავლეთი შავიზღვისპირეთის უძველესი მოსახლეობის ისტორიიდან (ძვ. წ. II-I ატასწლეულები), თბ., 1974;
*''ჯანაშია ს.,'' თუბალ-თაბალი, ტიბარენი, იბერი, შრომები, ტ. 3, თბ., 1959.
{{Ancient Georgians
Ethnic groups in Georgia (country)
Ancient peoples of Georgia (country)
Tribes in Greco-Roman historiography