Tusheti
Tuschetien even Tusheti ( Georgia თუშეთი) is a historical region in eastern Georgia . It is located in the Greater Caucasus and borders Chechnya to the north and Dagestan to the east, and the former Georgian provinces of Kakheti and Pshawi - Chewsuretia to the south and west . The population consists mainly of Indian ink , a sub-ethnic group of the Georgians . Today Tusheti belongs to the Georgian region of Kakheti.
history
Historically comprised Tuschetien four settlements on mountains of Alasani -Tals: Zowa, Gometzari, Chagma and Piriqiti Tuschetien. Today it belongs to the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region and includes ten villages, of which Omalo is the largest and also the administrative center.
Archaeological excavations and rock drawings bear witness to the millennia-old Indian culture. The first inhabitants of the region were non-Christian Georgians from Pchowi (i.e. from Pshawi and Chewsuretia ), who in the 330s during their rebellion against the forced Christianization by the Iberian King Mirian III. fled to the uninhabited mountain region. Still, they had to convert to Christianity and submit to the Georgian kings. In the 8th to 9th centuries, the Indian ink adopted Christianity at least 500 years later than the other Georgians, not least because of their economic and cultural connection to the rest of Georgia, but lived their own faith relatively independently. They fought against the missionaries and defended their pagan faith. There is only one church in the whole of Tusheti - there are small sanctuaries in the great outdoors, the so-called " Chati ", where sacrifices are made to nature spirits in the pagan tradition and many non-Christian traditions are maintained.
.JPG)
After the collapse of the unified Georgian Kingdom, Tushetia came under the rule of Kakheti in the 15th century . In the course of their history, the Tushes have often provided military support to the Georgian kings. They were valued as daredevil fighters in Georgia and successfully fended off numerous enemy attacks on Georgia. In the 16th century Zowa was settled by the North Caucasian people of the Bats . King Levan of Kakheti made the land of the Alwani valley available to the Bats in return for their military support in the fight against the Persians. The descendants of the Bats are also called Zowa-Tuschen. They are strongly assimilated and mostly speak both Georgian and Bats, which is only spoken in the village of Semo Alwani today.
In 1801 there were 1,019 families in Tushetia, in 1860 there were 786, in 1931 only 379. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union , a revolt against the Soviet regime took place in Tushetia , which was connected with larger revolts in the neighboring region of Ingushetia . In 1959 the Soviet government closed the kolkhoz in Tushetia for political reasons . Most of the Indian ink therefore had to move down from the mountains to the plains, to the villages of Semo- and Kvemo-Alwani.
economy
The Indian ink traditionally live from sheep breeding. Indian cheese and Indian wool were famous for their quality and were exported to Europe and the Soviet Union. Sheep farming is still the most important source of income in the Tushetan highlands. The shepherds spend the summer months in the mountains and live in the lower villages of Semo Alwani and Kwemo Alwani in winter. Their culture and tradition is similar to that of other Georgian hill tribes such as the Chewsurs .
The fire or defense towers of Tusheti
The mighty defense towers from the 12th-13th centuries are characteristic of Tusheti . Century. Various towers were erected: observation towers that were used to report threatened attacks to the population of Tushetia and the Georgian inland in the shortest possible time by means of message fires, and residential towers that offered the population refuge and protection. The enemies of the Indian ink were sheets from Dagestan. When enemies approached, their arrival was signaled by fire and smoke signals made in the towers and the information passed on.
