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Khevsureti is a historic province in eastern Georgia, located along both the northern and southern slopes of the Great Caucasus Mountains. The name means a land of valleys in Georgian and first appears in the 15th century.
Geography
Comprising the small river valleys of the Ardoti, Shatili, Arkhoti and the Aragvi, the province borders with Chechnya and is included in the present day Dusheti district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, Georgia. The province covers 405.3 square miles (1050 km²), with a winter population of approximately 3,200 people. The largest villages are Barisakho and Shatili.
Ethnography
Formerly, Khevsureti, together with the neighboring area Pshavi, was called Pkhovi (Nowadays, these two provinces are usually mentioned by a common name Pshav-Khevsureti). Historically, the highlander communities of Khevsureti and the neighbouring areas enjoyed a degree of autonomy from the royal authorities. They were free of typical feudal relations and submitted directly to the monarch. They defended the borders and provided crack troops for the royal guards.
There has long existed a hypothesis that these Georgian highlanders were descendants of the last Crusaders because their folk culture – the material, social, and religious practices – greatly resembled a style of the Crusaders. Khevsur men, dressed in chain mail and armed with broadswords, wore garments decorated with crosses. They had a strict system of physical training in martial arts preserved as a warrior dance Khevsuruli, one of the finest examples of the Georgian choreography. They worshiped flags adorned with crosses and considered themselves permanent members of the army of the sacred flags and guards of Georgian kings. Their religion is a unique mixture of Georgian Orthodox Christianity and pre-Christian cults. They worship sacred places locally known as jvari (“cross’), khati (“icon”) or salotsavi (“sanctuary”). Apart of their religious character, these were the sites where the locals discussed and decided common matters such as raids against enemies, peace-making, appeals of various characters, etc. Even in a Soviet period of harsh restrictions against any religious activities, each year the Georgian highlanders, together with the group of self-appointed priests organized and performed peaceful crusade-pilgrimages. Some disobedience offered by the Khevsurs to the Soviet ideology was a reason for obligatory migration to the plain initiated by the government in the 1950s. As a result, many high-mountainous villages were deserted. Economic hardship of the last two decades also increased a tendency towards migration.
Traditions
As other mountainous areas of Georgia, Khevsureti is characterized by a great diversity of traditions and customs. They speak a local dialect of the Georgian language that resembles the literary Georgian of the Middle Ages and retain many of their ancient traditions including element of pagan religious rituals. Law of blood revenge was still alive in the 20th century.
The Encyclopædia Britannica reported in 1911 that many curious customs still prevailed among the Khevsurs, as for instance the imprisonment of the woman during childbirth in a lonely hut, round which the husband parades, firing off his musket at intervals. After delivery, food was surreptitiously brought to the mother, who was kept in her prison a month, after which the hut was burnt. One of the more striking features of the traditional cultures of Khevsureti was the premarital relationship known as sc’orproba (or c'ac'loba as it is known in Pshavi). A young couple could lie together during the night with a sword placed between them. Sexual intercourse between the pair was strictly forbidden. Any man who breached this rule was condemned to death.
Dozens of fortifications, sanctuaries and churches are scattered across the province. Chief of these are the Khakhmati fortress, Akhieli fortress, Lebaiskari fortress, Mutso fortress, Shatili fortifications, Gudani Cross, and the Anatori Cross.
See also
External links
"Khevsureti"