The Abkhaz people, sometimes referred to as the Abkhazians, are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Abkhazia—a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the Caucasian War in the late 19th century. Many Abkhaz also live in other parts of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.
Ethnology
The
Abkhaz language belongs to the isolate Northwest Caucasian language family, also known as Abkhaz–Adyghe or Pontic family, which groups the dialectic continuum spoken by the
Abazins–Abkhaz (Abazgi) and
Circassians ("Circassians" in English).
Abkhazians are closely ethnically related to Circassians.
Classical sources speak of several tribes dwelling in the region, but their exact identity and location remain controversial due to Abkhaz–Georgian historiographical conflict.
Subgroups
There are also three subgroups of the Abkhaz people. The Bzyb (Бзыԥ, Bzyph) reside in the
Bzyb River region, and speak their
Bzyb dialect.
The Abzhui (Абжьыуа, Abzhwa) live in the
Kodori River region, and also speak their own dialect, which the Abkhaz literary language is based upon.
[ Finally, there are the Samurzakan who reside in the southeast of Abkhazia.][
]
History
Some scholars say the ancient Heniochi tribe were the progenitors of the Abkhaz. This warlike people came into contact with Ancient Greece through the colonies of Dioskourias and Pitsunda. In the Roman period, the Abasgoi are mentioned as inhabiting the region. These Abasgoi (Abkhaz) were described by Procopius as warlike, worshippers of three deities, under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Lazica. The Abkhazian view is that the Apsilae and Abasgoi are ancestors of the Abkhaz–Adyghe group of peoples.
Lazica was a vassal kingdom of the Byzantine Empire throughout most of its existence. Later the independent Kingdom of Abkhazia was established and the region became a part of the Georgian cultural world. The local nobility, clergy and educated class used Georgian as a language of literacy and culture. From the early 11th to the 15th century, Abkhazia was a part of the all-Georgian monarchy, but then became a separate Principality of Abkhazia only to be conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the region became a theatre of widespread slave trade and piracy. According to a controversial theory developed by Pavle Ingorokva in the 1950s, at that time a number of the North Caucasus pagan Abaza people tribes migrated from the north and blended with the local ethnic elements, significantly changing the region's demographic situation. These views were described as ethnocentric and having little historical support.[Chirikba 2003 pp. 6-8]
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Abkhazia became part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia as an autonomous unit, but was conquered by the Red Army in 1921 and eventually entered the Soviet Union as a Soviet Socialist Republic associated with the Georgian SSR. The status of Abkhazia was downgraded in 1931 when it became an Autonomous SSR within the Georgian SSR. Under Joseph Stalin, a forcible collectivization was introduced and the native communist elite purged. The influx of Armenians, Russians and Georgians into the growing agricultural and tourism sectors was also encouraged, and Abkhaz schools were briefly closed. By 1989, the number of Abkhaz was about 93,000 (18% of the population of the autonomous republic), while the Georgian population numbered 240,000 (45%). The number of Armenians (15% of the entire population) and Russians (14%) grew substantially as well.
The 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia followed by the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia left the Abkhaz an ethnic plurality of ca. 45%, with Russians, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, and Jews comprising most of the remainder of the population of Abkhazia. The 2003 census established the total number of Abkhaz in Abkhazia at 94,606.[ Georgians and Abkhazians. The Search for a Peace Settlement
(Notes and References section), by various authors, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, August 1998.] The de facto Abkhaz president Sergey Bagapsh suggested, in 2005, that less than 70,000 ethnic Abkhaz lived in Abkhazia.[ Bagapsh Speaks of Abkhazia's Economy, Demographic Situation. Civil Georgia. 10 October 2005]
At the time of the 2011 Census, 122,175 Abkhaz were living in Abkhazia. They were 50.8% of the total population of the republic.
In the course of the Syrian uprising, a number of Abkhaz living in Syria immigrated to Abkhazia.
Economy
The typical economy is strong on the breeding of cattle, beekeeping, viticulture, and agriculture.[
]
Religion
The Abkhaz people are principally divided into Abkhazian Orthodox Christian (the Abkhazian Orthodox Church is not recognized by any of the world Orthodox churches, but the territory is recognized as the Eparchy of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia of the Georgian Orthodox Church) and Sunni Muslim (Hanafi) communities,[ (prevalent in Abkhazia and Turkey respectively) but the indigenous non-Abrahamic beliefs have always been strong.][Johansons, Andrejs. (Feb. 1972) The Shamaness of the Abkhazians. History of Religions. Vol. 11, No. 3. pp. 251–256.] Although Christianity made its first appearance in the realm of their Circassian neighbours in the first century AD via the travels and preaching of the Saint Andrew,
Diaspora
Many Muslim Circassians, Abkhaz and Chechens migrated to the Ottoman Empire following revolts against Russian rule.
Genetics
The people closest genetically to the Abkhazians are the Abazins
Gallery
File:Abkhazia, Georgia — Bichvinta Cathedral.jpg|Pitsunda Cathedral, seat of Abkhazian Orthodox Church
File:Abkhaz-deputatklk.jpg|Abkhazs in the mid-19th century
Notable people
Literature
Politics
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Aslan Bzhania (born 1963), Abkhaz politician
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Alexander Ankvab (born 1952), Abkhaz politician
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(born 1939), member of Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia from 1990 to 1992
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(born 1959), mayor of Batumi from 1997 to 1999 and member of the Parliament of Georgia from 1999 to 2004
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Gennadi Gagulia (1948–2018), Abkhazian politician
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Hayreddin Pasha (1820–1890), Ottoman politician
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Mirab Kishmaria (born 1961), Abkhaz politician and army general
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Nestor Lakoba (1893–1936), Abkhaz communist leader
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Rauf Orbay (1881–1964), Turkish politician
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Raul Khajimba (born 1958), Abkhazian politician
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Rauf Orbay (1881–1964), Turkish naval officer and diplomat
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Shaaban Abash (1890–1943), rider in the Circassian cavalry regiment of the Caucasian native division during WWI
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Sergei Bagapsh (1949–2011), President of Abkhazia
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Vladimir Arshba (1959–2018), Abkhaz soldier and politician
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Vladislav Ardzinba (1945–2010), first de facto president of Abkhazia
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Abaza family a diaspora family that produced a large number of politicians
Other
See also
Notes
Sources
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David Marshall Lang, Caucasian Studies, University of London, 1964, Vol.1
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Roger Rosen, Georgia: Sovereign Country of the Caucasus, Odyssey, 2004,
Further reading
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L. Bitadze, "Anthropological History of Abkhazians", Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology, 2009
