It's Morbin' time!
Sorry, wrong forum.
For those who don't know, I’ve posted the South and East Georgia critiques already. If you wanna see them, just go couple of pages back and check them out. My "critiques" have rather been suggestions and reviews to be honest. seems like this one might be just the same not gonna lie. Without further ado, today I'll talk about the West Georgia (also known in Late medieval times as Likhs Imereti and Imereti, in early medieval times as Egrisi and Apkhazeti and in antiquity Lazica and Colchis).
Okay so, about the west Georgia. My dear fatherland. To my opinion, it's probably the most important part of the country for it's survival. I'll explain later the reasons why is that so. Two of three Kartvelian peoples originated here in the western Georgia, those two being : Zans (Mingrelians and Lazs) and Svans. Here is a cultural-geographic map of Likhs Imereti:
View attachment 1199265
here you go.
The west Georgia is located between Greater and lesser Caucasus and Likhi ranges. Which gives it strategic defensive upper hand, more so than other two parts of Georgia ever had. mountain ranges are mostly covered in Woods and so is Kolkheti valley which, unlike east Georgian valleys, is not very fertile, only little chunks of it are. It is also covered in many swamps and rivers. So this is the reason why Mongols never went there and Turks only managed to subjugate it. Russians are only ones, since Byzantines, to manage incorporating this part of Georgia into their country and they didn't even use warfare, they annexed their vassal Georgian states one-by-one. Even if the conquerors managed to ever cross Likhi pass, people would abandon their settlements and go to hideouts in the woods and mountains. while the foreign armies were left to starve when they couldn't cross back to east or south Georgia, cause crosses between them would be blocked between by snow or flooded by rivers. For large group of people passing through Caucasus mountains is unimaginable, even if the warrior peoples like Svans that would kick your ahh in an instant didn't live there, U can't pass the Caucasus with an entire army, even Hannibal wouldn't manage to do that lol. All over the West Georgia there are couple a-dozen of rivers that swell up every year and are impossible to pass if locals remove the bridges. partisan warfare from locals and possible interactions with wild animals would be a major pain in ahh too, not to mention diseases passing down from flies and mosquitos. Did I forget to mention constant avalanches and landslides that are as common as rainfall here? Haha, I think now you understand what makes the west Georgia the best for survival of Georgian nation. The west and mountainous east has always been basis for Georgian survival and rebuilding, that what makes it so important.
Here I'll show the things I've talked about on the map below:
View attachment 1199266
This atrocity of a map might be a little confusing but It depicts western Georgia perfectly imo. I'd like if game makes it as hard and as costly as possible to conquer this piece of land. I think Paradox team did good job about landscaping the west Georgia. BUT, WE NEED IMPASSABLE LIKHI RANGE ! Please Tinto team, Likhi range is an imperative thing to add. The reason why the west Georgia and East Georgia were called “Likhs Imereti and Likhs Amereti” is also connected to Likhi range. In medieval Georgian “Likhs Imereti” means the “the other side of Likhi”, while “Likhs Amereti” means “this side of Likhi”. Georgians have always been aware of Likhi’s strategical significance.
About impassable terrain, Georgia is verry Mountainous, so there are many places that one would have a hard time getting to. many of those are already marked by Paradox team, but some are missing. I have suggestions though. lets view it on the map:
View attachment 1199267
Pink color might be ugly here, but I chose it for better visibility. About the topic itself - there should be impassable terrain between Lata and Bedia, a mountain range is between them. Same is true for Latali (I'll talk about this location later) and Lentekhi, there is a mountain range called "Svaneti range" between them, pass should be located from Lentekhi to Ushguli. Tsageri and Samegrelo have no points where they connect to each other, there is an enormous mountain called "Askhis mta" and a mountain range between them, so I think that adding impassable terrain here would increase accuracy as well. There are marshes around Rioni river between Guria and Mingrelia, so Poti is an only spot where these two would connect to each other. I've talked about next ones already in other two critiques I made about the South and East Georgia, nevertheless, I'll repeat it here too. Akhaltsikhe and Khikhani should have a passing connecting them. There should be no connecting points between Shorapani and Tori (Akhaltsikhe). And most important, Likhi range impassable terrain must be implemented between Surami (Tsagvli) and Shorapani, Katskhi (Skande).
About province map mode here is a map of my proposals:
View attachment 1199268So I in current version of the Tinto maps West Georgia has three provinces: Abkhazia, Imereti and Samegrelo. I suggest renaming Samegrelo to either Mingrelia or Odishi. Odishi is medieval Georgian word for Samegrelo, while Mingrelia is an English form of it. I also suggest adding two more Provinces - Guria to the south and Svaneti/Takveri to the north. I'll Explain why. So to be honest, there are way too few locations the map as it stands and if u add more of them, the need for new provinces appears. Representing Guria as Mingrelia is a crime against humanity, Guria should be a completely separate province. Gurians, who are Georgian-speaking, have very strong regional identity, way different than Mingrelian one, they are descendants of Meskhetians migrating westwards after Arab invasions, There are natural boundaries of the river Rioni, swamps around it and Paliastomi lake that separates these two from each other. Guria has also been an independent principality from 1460s onwards before it's annexation by Russia in 1829. So I think that giving Guria a province of it's own is a must. About Svaneti/Takveri, well this region doesn't have a real name of it's own so I had to come up with something. This one includes three historical-geographical entities of Georgia: Svaneti, Lechkhumi and Racha. Originally all three where settled by Svan speaking Peoples while rest of the west Georgia has been populated by Zans. I think having this province as a separate one is very logical. Imereti province, in its current state, is way too overcrowded. mountainous western Georgia is different than Imereti. Svans need to have a province of their own, like this, it's more interesting and strategical way to play. I’ll go on and review each and every one of my proposed provinces one by one.
Okey so lets start with Imereti:
View attachment 1199269
Imereti is a part of west Georgia that has the closest cultural ties to the east Georgia. Imeretians are Georgian-speaking people themselves, they are a product of Kartlians gradually migrating towards west Georgia after Arab invasions. Imereti has historically been divided into two geographical and four cultural parts. Geographical ones being: Upper and Lower Imereti and cultural ones: Argveti (Margvi), Persati, Okriba and Vake (Samokalako). Upper Imereti is covered in hills and woods, while lower one is mostly just valleys. Cultural Ones are along these lines too, Argveti and Persati have high altitudes, while Vake and most Okriba, on the other hand, are located on lowlands. Location map mode also follows the cultural division of Imereti. Katskhi, Shorapani and more than a half of Skande are parts of Argveti. Vartsikhe is Persati, Sajavakho is Vake and Kutaisi is Okriba. Imereti the center of west Georgia and has the best strategic location there as well. It’s guarded by mountains on the three sides: from the north Greater Caucasus and its tributary ranges, from the south by Meskheti range and from the west by Likhi range. Lower part of Imereti has traditionally been more populated and developed, the abundance of noble families, such as: Chijavadze, Chiladze, Lortkipanidze, Agiashvili, Ghoghoberidze... also strengthens this argument. So, Sajavakho here should have around 20k pops and be grasslands, Vartsikhe should be around 10k and Kutaisi 30-35k. Skande should have around 10k pops, while Katskhi and Shorapani around 5-7k each. Katskhi is another new location I think should be added. This land has Historically been ruled by Tsereteli family. Katskhi has strategically important location, as it is on crossroads between Imereti, North Georgia, Kartli and savage tribes of North Caucasus such as Alans. Shorapani has the same strategical upper hand as well, it connects west, east and south Georgia to each other. Shorapani was controlled by Abashidze family for most of Kingdom of Imereti's existence (1478-1810). Abashidzes were considered as the most influential and powerful feudal lords of Imereti. King Solomon I (1752-1784) spent the entirety of his early years fighting to weaken those strong feudal lords from Abashidze and Eristavi of Racha families and end human trafficking ring around Georgia. Other location that propose on adding is "Sajavakho". Sajavakho is a little strip of fertile land, originally it was even larger, included parts of Samegrelo, but it was shortened later and Mingrelian parts are called "Sachilao" (name comes from a large feudal lord called Javakh Chiladze, who was owner of it). Sajavajho should be flatlands and producing wheat, Kutaisi instead should be hills and producing lumber (now it's producing wheat).
Let's jump to Mingrelia:
View attachment 1199270
About Samegrelo. As you can see I propose further on dividing Mingrelian locations, adding 3 more + giving Poti to Guria.
Mingrelians are members of Georgian sub-ethnic group that speaks their own Mingrelian language which is closely related other three Kartvelian languages, but is mutually intelligible with only Laz. It makes sense, as Lazs and Megrels are both Zans, they were only distanced after Meskhetians migrated from the east and separated these two. You might wonder, if that means that Georgians and Megrels are different groups or not, but no there not. It's confusing only because of English language error, for us Georgians it's not. Let me explain, so in last critique I've mentioned that Georgians are mix of three sub-ethnic groups, these three being: Karts, Svans and Zans (most Lazs don't consider themselves as Georgians though). Every one of them have their own language - Svans speak Svan language, Lazs - Laz language, Mingrelians - Mingrelian and Karts - Georgian. So that's the problem, Georgian language should of be named Kart, or Kartian language as it is in Georgian itself (Kart-uli), and word "Georgian" itself would better describe collective name for Kartvelian languages as it is in Georgian (Kartvel-uri). Kart = Georgian speaking, Kartvel = ethnic Georgian.
Okay so back to the main topic from my rant, So there are 6 locations in Samegrelo province of current version of Tinto maps, those ones being: Bedia, Anaklia, Tsalenjikha, Poti, Ozurgeti and Batumi. I think Guria should be a separate province, taking Poti, Ozurgeti and Batumi locations with it, I'll talk about Guria later. After those changes Mingrelia would have been left with only 3 locations, more should be added imo. Let's divide Poli location into two, as I did on the map, make Poti part of Guria province and Tsikhegoji entirely different Megrelian location. Tsikhegoji is located near Imereti and is mostly flatlands, I think fruits would be a good bet for a raw material there, but honestly idk. People here would be Majority Mingrelian, not minority, please change it. There would’ve been around 25k people here. Lets move on, about "Anaklia" location, I divided it into two - Zugdidi and Samurzakano locations. These two are divided by Enguri river, Mingrelian people here have historically been different from each other. Anaklia location should be renamed as Zugdidi, because Anaklia has, for most of the time, been a small settlement, while Zugdidi was the center of principality of Mingrelia. Samurzakano to west of Zugdidi is a flatland, I think there is a whole lot of woods there. About population, Bedia and Anaklia both have about 60k population both in current preview of the game. Samurzakonano is between these two and has both of their territories, Abkhazian locations also have way too much population (I'll talk about it later). so what I think should done here is - Zugdidi - 25-30k people, Samurzakano - 20-25k, Bedia 10k. Samurzakano had more people living there than entire Abkhazia before XX century. Also in both Bedia and Samurzakano population should be almost entirely Megrelian, as Abkhazian migrations to the east started much later. About Tsalenjikha and Chkondidi (Tchkondidi, i don't know if a Georgian letter "ჭ" is spelled as "Ch" or "Tch"). I think Tsalenjikha should be divided into two. Chkondidi location was suggested by one of my fellow Georgian gamers here, I agree with him, Chkondidi and territory around it has been significant location for much Megrelian history. Firstly, it was a center of one of most powerful and wealthy Georgian Orthodox church eparchies. Secondly, It has an insignificant strategical location connecting Lechckumi and therefore, entire north western Georgia to Samegrelo proper. This place was called "Salipartiano" and after feeble Lechkhumian feudal lords, from the Lower Strad of “Aznauri” class, Chikovani family, got hold of "Salipartiano" they became the most powerful nobles of west Georgia and eventually, became second Dadiani dynasty, meaning, Princes of Samegrelo themselves, overthrowing the first Dadiani dynasty that ruled it from 11th century. I think legumes should be produced here, this place is located on hills and is covered in woods. Population would be around 7-8k. About Tsalenjikha, leave everything just the same. Chkondidi and Tsikhegoji would have had some Georgian pops and Zugdidi Svans.
Next one up is Guria:
View attachment 1199271
So as you guys see, I don't suggest changing Guria that much. Well, if don't count bringing it into existence. As I've already said a couple of times, I think that Guria should be a different location that Samegrelo and should incorporate three different locations: Poti, Batumi and Ozurgeti.
As I've already said Guria was an independent principality from XV century. It was still nominally part of kingdom of Imereti. Guria was ruled by Gurieli family which is a branch of Vardanisdze family. Vardanisdze (Vardanidze) family ruled three major Georgian provinces by 1337: Svaneti, Samegrelo (Dadiani first dynasty) and Guria (Gurieli). In the end, they remained only here. Guria itself is Georgian-Speaking and is separating two Zan speaking peoples from each other. Then again, Guria is a product of Meskhetians migrating westwards after Arab invasions, same is true about Achara, Shavsheti and Klarjeti.
Out of three locations I've mentioned in Guria two should be left as it is. One, Poti would get much smaller in size that would also shrink it's population to 2-3k people. Poti should also be made as a marsh and a raw material would probably be fish. Poti itself has historically been contested location between princes of Samegrelo and Guria. According to Julius von Klaproth, XIX century German ethnographer, Poti was at times part of Guria, at times part of Mingrelia, before late XVI century when it was concurred by Ottomans.
Next province is Svaneti/Takveri:
View attachment 1199264
Svaneti/Takveri should be a province in mountainous north-west Georgia that incorporates 3 historical Georgian regions: Svaneti, Lechkhumi, Racha. all three are divided into different parts. I'll talk about Svaneti first.
Svans are third subgroup of Georgian nation, they've always lived in mountainous West Georgia and Abkhazia. Svans are probably the most prideful, warlike, stubborn and resilient people of all Georgia, they make code of honor and brotherhood as their main mottos of life. They fought the feudalism the longest out of all Georgian people and in the end, after some concessions here and there, they won. I highly recommend reading a book called "Free Svaneti" composed and published by Svan scholar, named Egnate Gabliani (1881-1937) in 1927, where he talks about these issues. Svan language is the hardest and most distant to other three Kartvelian languages. What were boundaries of Svaneti hasn't been defined until much later on. Today it’s divided into three parts: Upper Svaneti, Lower Svaneti and Kodorian Svaneti. These three are represented as Ushguli, Lentekhi and Lata on current Tinto maps version. I'll review every single one of them. I'll start with Lower Svaneti.
So, Lower Svaneti has the mildest nature out of these three, where landslides are much more common then avalanches, not as common as in Lechkhumi to south though. Most of lower Svaneti is located around Tskhenistskali river (which is called "Lashkhvir" in Svan) and it's tributaries. Lower Svaneti is divided into three parts: Lashkheti, Cholouri and Lentekhi, lower Svan dialects are similarly divided into same three groups of the same names. Lashkheti is a name for upper part of Lower Svaneti, it was ruled by Lashkhishvili family at first, then by Gelovani family, after they were expelled from Upper Svaneti by the locals in early XVI century. Choluri is in the middle of The Lower Svaneti and was controlled By Gardapkhadze family, while Lentekhi was a kingly domain and no feudal lord resided there, it was like Kiziki was for Kakhetian kings, a stronghold which provided strategical safety as well as number of skilled soldiers and workers for the king. depiction of lower Svaneti by Tinto team is good, I wouldn't wanna change anything, probably except for adding impassable terrain between Lentekhi and Latali (View on map 3) as Lower and Upper Svaneti have historically been distanced by those mountains between them.
Upper Svaneti is located on much higher Altitudes than Lower Svaneti. Between Greater Caucasus and Svaneti ranges around river Enguri and it's tributaries, nature here is stunning, but harsh and avalanches are common. This part was always the center of the duchy of Svaneti, were dukes of the region, called "Eristavs", were appointed by the kings of Georgia to rule in their name. Eristavs, all around Georgia, had high autonomy but were more of overlords for the local pops, rather than, Feudal lords, this reality changed after the break up of the kingdom of Georgia, when "Tavadi" social class and “Satavado” political entity, a semi-independent brutal feudal lordships, emerged. Despite this, Eristavi title was hereditary, only given by the king nominally. Same was true for Eristavs of Svaneti, who came down from, beginning in XI century, from Vardanidze family, but in XIV century they became disobedient to the monarchy. so the king Bagrat V used force of Meskhetian and Klarjetian warriors in 1360-ies, marched through Svaneti, shackled Vardanisdzes, stripping them of power and appointed loyal Gelovani family as new Eristavs. Since that point, Eristavs of Svaneti were loyal to the kings of Georgia and then Imereti, before early XVI century, when the title was abolished after the local Svans overthrew last Eristavi - Abesalom Gelovani. Since then, Upper Svaneti stayed as a part of kingdom of Imereti only nominally. Upper Svaneti is divided into two, separated by "Bali" ridge, the one to east, is called "Upper than Bali Svaneti" and the one to the west - "Lower than Bali Svaneti". After the abolishment of Eristavi of Svaneti title by Svans from the "Upper than Bali Svaneti", this part of the region became known as "Free Svaneti". People here organized themselves into a confederation of clans which was deprived of any centralized government, that means, no wars, no taxes and no feudal lords - a literal libertarian dream society lol, while some weaker feudal clans, "Aznaurs", were let be, their titles remained as only nominal, those clans have had no political or social power over commoners, these two classes had completely equal political rights, the only difference is that these "Aznaurs" developed into warrior class called the coolest name ever - "Vargs" and became sellswords around Georgia. "Lower than Bali Svaneti", however, became Mingrelian domain, two rival noble (Tavadi) houses remained here - house Richgviani and house Dadishkeliani, both subservient to Principality of Mingrelia. In early XVIII century Dadeshkelianis murdered whole Richgviani family in cold blood and became brutal feudal lords establishing Principality of Svaneti in "lower than Bali" region, hence stopping paying homage to Mingrelia (They tried to conquer "Free Svaneti" as well, but got their ahhs kicked by 50 or so people that lived there haha). I dumped this whole history on you, to state why I think that Ushguli location should be divided into two - Latali and Ushguli. Latali would be where 'Dadishkeliani Svaneti" was located, while Ushguli where "Free Svaneti" was. I'd be happy if there would be releasable nations of these two (If there is even such a thing as a "Releasable Nations" in "Project Caesar") or historical events that would make those two to pop up. Latali would have 4k pops, while Ushguli 3k. Both of them are mountainous and deeply forested. Stone as a raw material in upper Svaneti is good, but I'd suggest adding gold in Latali as one. Svans have historically been known for obtaining gold from river beds with goat fur.
The third Svaneti is kodori gorge one. This place, along with whole Abkhazia, was inhabited by Svan Tribes such as probably Misimians, Sanigs and Apshilae since anticity. Svans were replaced by Abkhazians gradually all around Abkhazia from V-VI-th centuries onwards, when their ancestors, Abasgoi arrived here and Kicked them back into mountains. Presence of Svans near the Black sea are testification of their presence, for example the name of the capital city "Sokhumi" is derived from Svan word for hornbeam tree -Tskhum, which is an older version of the name (the funniest thing is that the center of another separatist region of Georgia - Tskhinvali, also derives from hornbeam tree - Tskhinvali, rtskhila means hornbeam in Georgian, Tskhinvali itself - something like "hornbeam place"). Same is true for the Kodori gorge. Which is called "Dali" by Svans themselves. While I must admit that I was wrong that Svans lived here continuedly before 2008, pointed out by
@giorgi1999, Abkhazians only arrived here in XVI century after their princes conquered it from Mingrelians. It seems like most of Svans left this place, because they didn't want to pay taxes to Abkhaz princes and were forced to settle down in upper Svaneti because of Abkhaz migration. The theory that Svans lived here before that is provable thanks to much evidence: Svan ethnologist and a priest - B. Nizharadze (1852-1919), mentions that, in Dali (Lata location) there are many abandoned villages, in some of them severally damaged towers still stood, for those who don't know, Svans are infamous for their towers, while Abkhaz-Adyghe people have never been known for tower constructions. Nizharadze also believes that some surnames are descended from Dali gorge: he writes: “In Chubakhevi community, in the village of Tsaleri there is a family named Gvarmiani. The Gvarmianis repeatedly state even today that their ancestors originally came from Dali’s Gorge”. One of the most famous and distinguished ethnologist and historian, Roland Topchishvili (b. 1949) in his book - "Svaneti and Its Inhabitants" states - "When did Kodori (Dali) George Svans possibly move to Enguri Gorge Svaneti and particularly which villages did they settle? Several kins state to be originally from Kvemo (Below) Bali Svaneti and settled in Zemo (Upper) Bali Svaneti according to the narratives. This migration might have occurred in the XV-XVI centuries when the central, unified, Georgian state broke up into many kingdom-principalities and weakening of the central control minimized the feudal relations in Kvemo (Below) Bali Svaneti (or the upper part of Enguri Gorge) which caused in its turn the revival of territorial tribal relations in social attitudes". So I think that Lata location would be Svan-speaking even back in XIV century. Abkhaz people themselves, who migrated here after, XV century, were forced to leave Kodori gorge (Lata) by Russians in 1860-ies and instead of them, Svans arrived here from Upper Svaneti in 1890-ies. There are practically no hints of Abkhazian toponyms anywhere in Kodori gorge, While same is not true for Svan and Mingrelian ones. Svan toponyms include - Tsebelda, Lata, Gentsvishi, Omaraishara, Chkhalta... Also the last point, 5k population for Lata is way too high I think, Even in best situation Kodori gorge could feed more than 1,5k people in middle ages.
Okay, I think I've talked enough about Svans. Lets move on to my fatherland, Lechkhumi (Tsageri location). But first, a photo of stunning Svaneti and it's towers:
View attachment 1199263
Lechkhumi is another West Georgian mountainous location (View on map 8). It's represented as "Tsageri" in "Project Caesar" current preview. I a subjectively biased towards this part of Georgia, because I'm originally from here, I'm Lechkhumian, even though both me and my father were born here in Tbilisi. So I do have some incite about it. Lechkhumi is a really small place, it's divided between three parts - Tskhenitskali gorge, Lajanuri gorge and Rioni gorge. all three have same identity today, but in the past Lajanuri and Rioni parts where called Skvimnia in Greek and Chkhvimnia in Georgian, Tskhenistskali parts were called Takveri. Takveri later became the collective name for Lechkhumi and Racha and name Chkhvimnia was expanded to Tskhenistskali gorge. Since then Lechkhumi (from Chkhvimnia) remained, geographically, all the same.
Warning! If you are interested in Lechkhuimian history, read next paragraph, if not, skip ahead!
Lechkumi didn't have much significance before the fracturing of Georgia in XV century. It was mostly known as a treasury store and capable warrior source for much united of Georgia's history. But for the Kingdom of Imereti it had more strategical significance for many reasons. Firstly it has good locations, between trade roads from North Caucasus and Svaneti, than it's good defense base because it's just north of the capital city of Kutaisi and then again, it was source of capable warriors and workers. This is why even though, in ideal situation it couldn't support it, Lechkhumi had many powerful feudal lords throughout history. For example Inasaridze and Lashkhisvili families were very powerful early on. Lashkhishvils controlled Lajanuri gorge, while Inasaridzes Rioni gorge. Gelovani family migrated from Svaneti in XVI century and remained the most steadily powerful clan before XX century. Lechkhumi was ruled by a person with a title of "Lechkhumistavi", which means a head of Lechkhumi. This title was given by Bagrationi kings before late XVI century, after which it was given by Dadiani princes of Mingrelia. Lechkhumistavi was a powerful person as it seems. For example Lechkhumistav Khosia Lashkhisvili (held the title between 1660-1671) was one of the most influential and powerful person around Georgia at the time. He supported Kartlian king Vakhtang V against the Vamek III Dadiani and organized the murder against him. He also overthrew the king of Imereti with a help of his wife - Darejan and some guy with a surname of "Chuchunashvili" king of Imereti. But then he overthrew Chuchunashvili, murdered queen Darejan with his own hands and Helped Bagrat IV get his throne. It would be interesting to see him in the game in some way, I suggest event that makes him pop up I think him, Levan Dadiani and Solomon I are the most interesting political figures of the west Georgia at those periods. After that Lashkhisvils and Inasaridzes lost all their power as they became disloyal to both the kings and Dadians after that. in 1671 Lechkhumistavi tytle was already held by a person from a new feudal dynasty - Akhvlediani. The name of his was Khosia Akhvlediani. Akhvledianis were loyal to the king that's why they were made as "Tavads" and "Lechkhumistavs" to be a stepping stone in Lechkhumi for the monarch. It seems like Akhvledianis were given a title stripped from Lashkhisvils and lands stripped from Inasaridzes. At the Same time, other two noble families emerged here - Asatiani and Chikovani ones. Chikovans became "Tavads" because they literally overthrew Dadiani family and became princes of Mingrelia themselves. While Asatianis emerged because they were close to Chikovans. Since than Lechkhumi was part of Mingrelia before it was annexed by Russia in 1867. Akhvledianis were loyal to the kings, Asatians and Chikovans to the prince of Mingrelia while Gelovans were intermediatory between these two.
Locals of Lechkhumi were originally the Svans that have slowly been Georgianized sometime after the forming of the Kingdom of Georgia (year 1008). According to historian Geronti Gasviani (1929-2012), Kartisation of Lechkhumi should've only ended around or after break up of the kingdom of Georgia, precisely when Georgian-speaking people in, XV century from Imereti and in XVI century from south Georgia, migrated to Lechkhumi Georgia people migrated northwards , while most of other Georgian scholars don't agree with him, everyone acknowledges, that Lechkhumi once was Svan-speaking. What's the issue though, is whether or not Lechkhumians still spoke that language during the start date. Okay so toponyms are not a major help here, cause we have already established that Svan toponyms are here old, but we can't know exactly when were they named. All we know that Georgian toponyms are the newer ones. The only thing that might make this issue a bit clearer is family names of locals. So family names are a major thing around Georgia, especially in Lechkhumi. Here if someone shares your surname then u are probably related. Georgian surnames even have regional varieties. For example - Dze, Shvili and Eli endings are Georgian (Kartian) ones, Ia, Ua, Ava are Mingrelian ones and Ani, Iani, Uani, Ovani are Svan ones. Well, this is true only from XIV century onwards, before that every region had surnames with same endings as Svaneti (Samegrelo still has though, cause Ia, Ua, Ava are just shortened versions of Iani, Uani and Ovani). In Lechkhumi most of surnames have Svan endings. Same is true for my surname as well, Akhvlded-iani (Akhvild was probably Svan male name). Some Lechkhumians even have family names that only can be understood though Svan language, for example, Mushkudiani means descendant of a smith. While all this is true, most of those Svan-sounding names are of people that migrated here from Svaneti between XIII-XVIII centuries, not locals. I won't go through those surname histories here, but if you are interested in the issue I would recommend reading "Lechkhumian family and personal names" by Roland Topchishvili. Those few surnames that can be traced back to Lechkhumi even before Svan migrations, are mostly Georgian sounding, for example - Inasaridze, Nemsadze, Nemsitsveridze, Kurashvili, Kruashvili, Silagadze, Sanikidze, Ugrekhelidze, Shekishvili ets. even those, Svan-sounding, surnames, like: Akhvlediani and Kvariani, that can't be traced back to Svaneti, have probably migrated to Lechkhumi from there we just don't have any proof yet. This means that by XII century Lechkhumi was already Georgianized. But I still think that in XIV century It would be still Svan majority as - firstly, Georgian speaking Lechkhumians were just Georgianized Svans, thanks to migrations, most of folks there in XIV century would have been directly from Svaneti.
Another issue is that 3k population for Lechkhumi is too low. I'll explain why. Even though Lechkhumi is mountainous, it has much milder weather than Svaneti, it can support agriculture, fishing (Lechkhumi means place of the fishes in Mingrelian), Tsageri was major center for Georgian Orthodox church, kings of Georgia used this location as a storehouse for their treasure, there is a much more room for population settlement. as I've already mentioned, all settlements Lechkhumi are built around three major rivers, all three gorges could support around 3k people each during middle ages. There were no censuses during this time there, but there are still ways to help us determine how much people would be living here through time. Historically, more people lived in Lechkhumi than in Svaneti for the reasons mentioned above. for example, much latter in XIX century, Lechkhumi uezd, which included both Svaneti and Lechkhumi, had the population of around 50k people. 17k of those folks lived in Svaneti, while 33k in Lechkhumi. The ratio was 2-1 between these two. in early XVIII century there were 2k Lechkhumians in the military force of the principality of Mingrelia. population of Lechkhumi would probably was probably even lowest in history, at the time because in Georgia population decreased dramatically since XV century. I believe, in XIII century around 8k people would live here.
I like the fact that Wine is a raw good produced here though, nice touch. This is probably the only product that comes from Lechkhumi for sale in other parts of the country. there are 3 major types of Grape that are grown here: Usakhelouri, Tsolikouri and Ojaleshi. We can conclude that wine production has always played a big role here according to historical evidence. "According to the register of Tsageri Eparchy", which was composed in XVI century, the annual agricultural income of the church from it's land and peasants included - 320 "goros" (10,240 liters) of wine, around 10 Tons of wine, which is not much but if we consider that this was only produced by 64 households (around 360 people) and Tsageri eparchy was only a small landowner there, when the most of the land and the peasant was the property of the king and 4 or so feudal houses at the time the real amount would be much higher. Here is a map of winemaking districts of Tsageri municipality (around 80% of Lechkhumian territory).
View attachment 1199660
The only historical-geographical region of Svaneti-Takveri that is left is Racha. So Racha is another Georgian-speaking region of mountainous west Georgia. It's divided into two parts: lower and upper Racha. Upper Racha also is divided into two, the Ghebi locality and the rest. Ghebi is the highest settled part of Racha. This part of Georgia is represented as Tsesi location on the game map. I think is should be divided into two according to Upper/lower Racha distinctions. Ghebi and Tsesi locations. The population of Tsesi should be around 7k and of Ghebi around 4k people. lumber would have been a raw good in Ghebi location.
So Racha was Georgianized early on because of Georgian migrations after Arab invasions. So population in Tsesi should be Georgian. But in Ghebi Georgian with Svan minority as Ghebi settlement and villages around it was controlled by Svans until in XV century the most powerful nobles of Racha at the time, Japaridzes (who were of Svan background themselves), didn't start a war with Svans and made them concede these parts after Japaridzes and other Racha-Lechkhumian feudal lords murdered 700 Svans in cold blood. Since then people there gradually became Georgian-speakers. Most of Rachan surnames are also of Svan origins much like Lechkhumi.
Racha has never been an independent principality itself. In middle ages Racha was part of Takveri duchy, which was disbanded in XV century, when Lechkhumi became a direct domain of Bagrationi king. After that point, Racha became a duchy of its own before annexation of Kingdom of Imereti by Russia in 1810. Duchy of Racha was ruled by Eristavs of Racha, who came down from different noble families. At first Eristavs were from Charelidze family, but later from Chkheidze one. There was a chance for Racha to become Principality of its own, as Eristavs were firstly loyal to the kings, but after the weakening of the monarchy and main rivals of Eristavs - Japaridzes, Duchy of Racha became increasingly powerful, but king Solomon I ( I mentioned him before) was able to defeat Eristavs and Abashidzes as restore the power of King for some time.
Overall, I like the depiction of Racha by Tinto team, the things I'd like to change is - divide Tsesi into two parts, make them culturally Georgian. That's all.
The last province - Abkhazia:
View attachment 1199844
This is Abkhazia. I can write a ton about it's history, historical demographics and ethnology, but yeah I don't wanna make this thread political. We all know whom really this land belongs to - Yeah, it belong to the glorious nation of NORTH MACEDONIA ! Seriously though, I won't, wanted but I won't. I don't wanna come out as subjective chauvinist here, I really don't. I'll just make brief overview.
Abkhazia is a province in the farthest west of Georgia. It has been part of Georgia since antient times. On Tinto map current Abkhazia map has 4 locations: Pitsunda (Bichvinta), Anacopia, Sokhumi and Lata. while I believe that borders of locations are perfectly drawn, I think that province borders should be changed. Lata should be part of a new, Svaneti/Lechkhumi location, I think I've already talked about this issue enough. Instead of it Costa should be made a part of Abkhazia, as it was a part of Abkhazian duchy, under the kingdom of Georgia, before Ubykhs (Jiks in Georgian) migrated there. I've actually talked about Abkhazia a bit when I reviewed Mingrelia and Svaneti. I can tell you that those folks didn't live past Kodori river at the time. The principality of Abkhazia was established in XV century and slowly expanded to the east. when they expanded the local Mingrelian and Svan pops usually migrated to east. I show you this phenomenon to you on the map:
View attachment 1199854
so this is a root that Abkhazians took, they migrated to the mountains first than to the sea-side. here is a Georgian language text regarding the issue:
View attachment 1199856
Also Abkhazians were not Christians, they followed their own folk religion. Then most of them converted to Islam, but most of Muslim Abkhazians left for Turkey after Caucasian wars. Some Abkhazians are Muslims to this day (around 20% of them). Some Abkhazians (around 20% of them) still practice Abkhazian native paganism, while others were ether converted to Christianity in XIX century, or are just Mingrelians assimilated into Abkhazian society. The note I presented above states that the center of an eparchy went from Bichvinta (Pitsunda) to Kutaisi, because there were no Christians left there. Ubykhs and Abazas were not Christians as well. Both practiced their folk religion at first, then Islam. Circassians were only Christians except for Ossetians in North-east Caucasus, that is only the small fraction of population, mostly noble were really Christian.
It's good seeing Abazas near black see, but the wouldn't have been living in Costa location, they lived in Bichvinta (Pitsunda) instead and from there they migrated to the north Caucasus, because they were driven out from there by Ubykhs who, on the other hand, were driven out from there lands in the north by Shapsugs (Circassian tribe). This migration started in early XIV century, Many Abazas would already lived in North Caucasus. If we are being real though, Abazas were not thing before their migration to north Caucasus. They were just two different tribes of Abkhazians. Here I'll present you two maps of the change in ethnic make up of north-west Caucasus between XIV and XVI centuries, with this one I want to illustrate migration of Abazas :
View attachment 1199862
View attachment 1199863
Another Issue i have with the depiction of Abkhazia is population around it. Guys Abkhazia is and was Mountainous forested lands where people mostly lived in tribalistic lifestyle, even feudalism didn't fully form there. Peasant and Mingrelian were same words in Abkhazian as they had no concept of peasantry themselves at first. Abkhazia couldn't support a big amount of population. Abkhazia's geographical features is the reason why Georgian princes and kings were not able to fully integrate locals into ether Georgian orthodox church or social structure. There after, I think that the population in Bichvinta (Pitsunda), Sokhumi and Anacopia should be at least two times less. So that's it, it was all a should say about Abkhazia
My other suggestions:
please, change names of some locations into correct Georgian form, at least when Georgia controls them. Pitsunda - Bichvinta, Sukhumi - Sokhumi or Tskhumi. Tskhumi is medieval version of the name that's what it was called at the time.
Other things, I know Kabardia is not in West Georgia (at list yet,
) but, guys I think Circassians would be already mass migrating to the east, so I think that Kabardian culture should exist on the map. Circassians united in early XIV century under the kingdom of Inal the great, Kabardia was part of it.
here is ethic map of Caucasus revised by me:
View attachment 1199877
I've already talked about ethnic compositions the provinces and locations around Caucasus should rather have if you are interested just read my other two critiques. I didn't mention that Adharis didn't live here in Caucasus. Adharis lived in modern day Iranian Azerbaijan rather than republic of Azerbaijan, which was mostly inhabited by Tats at the time. Completely different group. Tats are Persian-Speakers, Adharis on the other hand, had a language of their own, probably related to the ancient Median language.
So that's it, seems like after 4 weeks of work I've finally finished working on my critiques, I've spent countless hours reading sources and writing the review itself, I remember writing South Georgia critique like it was 100 years ago, even though only couple of weeks passed haha, "I was there Gandalf, 3000 years ago!". Can't lie it was amazing, I had lost of fun, mostly while reading the literature. God do I love the complexity and the history of my nation. Mountains are so amazing man, they make one small nation so diverse and interesting, even I if I wasn't Georgian I'd be stunned by it.
I'll probably only post a sole follow up, writing down the sources. I'm too lazy to do that now. Feel free to ask questions and criticize me! Thanks for you dear attention fellow nerds!
On the ending note, here's a pivture of Svan country man from XIX century:
View attachment 1199888
Here is list of West Georgian Noble families from:
Imereti:
- Abashidze
- Agiashvili
- Bagrationi (The kings)
- Chijavadze
- Chiladze
- Chkheidze
- Dgebuadze
- Eristavi of Bari (Chkheidze)
- Gabashvili
- Ghoghoberidze
- Iashvili
- Khidirbegishvili
- Kipiani
- Lionidze
- Lortkipanidze
- Machabeli
- Mikadze
- Mikeladze
- Mkheidze
- Nizharadze
- Palavandishvili
- Tsereteli
- Tsulukidze
Racha:
- Charelidze
- Eristavi Of Racha
- Garakanidze
- Gelovani
- Iashvili
- Inasaridze
- Japaridze
- Kipiani
- Kotridze
- Kuchaidze
- Lashkhishvili
- Mikeladze
- Mkheidze
- Tsulukidze
Lechkhumi:
- Akhvlediani
- Asatiani
- Charkviani
- Chikovani
- Gelovani
- Inasaridze
- Kipiani
- Kruashvili
- Kvariani
- Lashkhisvili
- Mandaria
- Nemsadze
- Palavandishvili
Svaneti:
- Charkviani
- Dadishkeliani
- Devdariani
- Gardapkhadze
- Gelovani
- Goshteliani
- Ioseliani
- Japaridze
- Kipiani
- Kurdiani
- Lashkhisvili
- Nizharadze
- Richgviani
- Zhorzholiani
Guria:
- Beridze
- Gugunava
- Gurieli (The Prince)
- Eristavi of Guria (Shervashidze)
- Jakeli
- Machutadze
- Maksimenishvili
- Manvelashvili
- Nakashidze
- Shalikashvili
- Tavdgiridze
Mingrelia:
- Anchabadze
- Apakidze
- Beridze
- Chichua
- Chikovani
- Chiladze
- Chkotua
- Dadiani (The Prince)
- Dgebuadze
- Gamsakhurdia
- Goshadze
- Jaiani
- Jolia
- Kochakidze
- Kordzaia
- Mikadze
- Mikeladze
- Mkheidze
- Paghava
- Shelia
Abkhazia:
- Anchabadze (Georgian) (Achba - in Abkhazian language)
- Aredba (Abkhazian)
- Chaabalurkhva (Abkhazian) (Sotishvili - in Georgian language)
- Chkotua (Mingrelian)
- Dziapsh-Ipa (Abkhazian) (Zepishvili - in Georgian language)
- Emukhvari (Abkhazian)
- Gechba (Abkhazian)
- Inal-Ipa (Abkhazian) (Inalishvili - in Georgian language)
- Marshania (Mingrelian)
- Shervashidze (The prince, Georgian) (Chachba - in Abkhazian language)
- Tsanba (Abkhazian)
.jpg)
-en.svg.png)
