Racha

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Racha

Racha (also Ratcha, Georgian

Georgian language

Georgian is the official language of Georgia , a country in the Caucasus .Georgian is the primary language of about 3.9 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad ....
: ????, Rac'a) is a historic province in Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
, in the mountainous northwestern part of the country. Comprising the present-day districts of Oni

Oni, Georgia

Oni is a town in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region , Georgia . Historically and ethnographically, it is part of Racha, a historic highland province in western Georgia....
and Ambrolauri

Ambrolauri

Ambrolauri is a town in western Georgia which serves as a mkhare capital of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and the center of the homonymous district....
, it is included in the region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti

Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti

Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti is a region in northwestern Georgia which includes the historical provinces of Racha, Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti ....
. It is bordered by the mountain-range of Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of Caucasus Mountains....
to the north and east, Imereti

Imereti

Lechkhumi

Lechkhumi is a historic province in northwestern Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni river and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley....
and Svaneti

Svaneti

Svaneti or Svanetia is a historic province in Georgia , in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svan people, an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians....
to the west. It is situated in the northern valley of Rioni river

Rioni River

The Rioni River 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....
and is surrounded by mountains.

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Encyclopedia

Racha (also Ratcha, Georgian

Georgian language

Georgia (country)

Oni, Georgia

Oni is a town in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region , Georgia . Historically and ethnographically, it is part of Racha, a historic highland province in western Georgia....
and Ambrolauri

Ambrolauri

Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti

Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of Caucasus Mountains....
to the north and east, Imereti

Imereti

Lechkhumi

Lechkhumi is a historic province in northwestern Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni river and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley....
and Svaneti

Svaneti

Rioni River

The Rioni River 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....
and is surrounded by mountains. Formerly, Racha included also a northwestern corner of the present day breakaway region of South Ossetia

South Ossetia

South Ossetia is a disputed region in the South Caucasus. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991 during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, it is governed by the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Republic of South Ossetia, which claims the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within t...
.

History

Racha had been part of Colchis

Colchis

In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgia , state monarchy and region in the Western Georgia , which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgians and its subgroups....
and Caucasian Iberia

Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Ancient Greece and Roman Empire to the ancient Georgia kingdom of Kartli corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia....
since ancient times and its main town Oni

Oni, Georgia

Oni is a town in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region , Georgia . Historically and ethnographically, it is part of Racha, a historic highland province in western Georgia....
was said to have been founded by King Parnajom of Iberia in the 2nd century BC. Upon creation of the unified Georgian kingdom in the 11th century, Racha became one of the duchies (saeristavo) within it. Rati of the Baghvashi

Baghvashi

The Liparitids , also known as Baghuashi , were a noble house in medieval Georgia , with notable members from the 9th to 12th centuries and famed for their powerful resistance to the consolidation of the Bagrationi Dynasty royal authority in the Kingdom of Georgia....
family was the first duke (eristavi

Eristavi

Eristavi was a Georgia feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine Empire strategos and normally translated into English language as "duke"....
) appointed by King Bagrat III

Bagrat III of Georgia

Bagrat III , of the Georgia Bagrationi dynasty, was Abkhazian Kingdom from 978 on and King of List of the Kings of Georgia from 1008 on. He united these two titles by dynastic inheritance and, through conquest and diplomacy, added some more lands to his realm, effectively becoming the first king of what is generally known as a unified Hist...
. Descendants of Rati and his son Kakhaber, eponymous father of Racha’s ruling dynasty of Kakhaberisdze

Kakhaberisdze

Kakhaberisdze were a noble family in medieval Georgia ruling over the northwestern provinces of Racha and Lechkhumi from the early 11th to the late 13th centuries....
, governed the province until 1278. In 1278 King David VI Narin

David VI Narin

Davit VI Narin , from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1245-1293. From 1259 to 1293, he ruled the kingdom of Imereti under the name Davit I as a vassal state of Georgia....
abolished the duchy during his war against the Mongols

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires#Contiguous Empires empire and the largest bar none. It emerged from the unification of Mongols and Turkic peoples tribes in modern day Mongolia, and grew through Mongol invasions, after Genghis Khan had been proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206....
. In the mid-14th century, the duchy was restored under the rule of the Tcharelidze family.

The next dynasty of Chkhetidze

Chkhetidze

Chkhetidze was a Georgia noble family known in west Georgia from the tenth century.It formed the following lines:*The Princes Chkheidze in Imereti, confirmed in the princely title under the Russian Empire in 1850 and 1861....
governed Racha from 1465 to 1769. Vassals of the King

Kingdom of Imereti

The Kingdom of Imereti was established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagration when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms....
of Imereti

Imereti

Imereti Province is a province in Georgia situated along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni river. It consists of the following Georgian administrative-territorial units:...
, they revolted several times against the royal power. The 1678-1679 civil war resulted in the most serious consequences. In this war, Duke Shoshita II of Racha (1661-1684) supported Prince Archil, a rival of the pro-Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
Imeretian king Bagrat IV

Bagrat IV of Imereti

Bagrat IV , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a kingdom of Imereti from 1589 to 1590. Bagrat was a son of Prince Rostom, a grandson of King Alexander II of Imereti....
. On the defeat of Archil, Racha was overrun and plundered by an Ottoman punitive force. Under Rostom (1749-1769), the duchy became virtually independent from Imereti

Imereti

Solomon I of Imereti

Solomon I , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was King of Imereti from 1752 to 1766 and again from 1768 until his death in 1784.Solomon was a son of Alexander V of Imereti by his second wife Tamar n?e Abashidze and succeeded upon his father's death in 1752....
managed to arrest Rostom and to abolish the duchy. In 1784, King David of Imereti revived the duchy and gave it to his nephew Anton. Local opposition attempted to use an Ottoman force to take control of Racha, but the victory of King David at Skhvava (January 26, 1786) temporarily secured his dominance in the area. In 1789, the next Imeretian king Solomon II

Solomon II of Imereti

Solomon II , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was the last King of Imereti from 1789 to 1790 and from 1792 until his deposition by the Imperial Russian government in 1810....
finally abolished the duchy and subordinated the province directly to the royal administration.

Eristavis of Racha

The Kakhaberisdze dynasty

Rati Baghvashi (early 11th century)

Kakhaber (I) (died 1088)
Niania (1088-1120)

1120-1175 – unknown dukes

Kakhaber (II) (1175-1210)

1210-1245 – unknown dukes

Kakhaber (III) (1245-1278)

The Tcharelidze dynasty

Aghbugha (14??-14??)

George I (14??-14??)

Tsatsi (14??-14??)

Kveli (14??-14??)

George II (14??-14??)

The Chkhetidze dynasty

John (1465-1485)

Kakhaber IV (1485-1510)

Bedian (1510-1534)

Shoshita I (1534-1565)

Papuna I (1651-1661)

Shoshita II (1661-1684)

Papuna II (1684-1696)

Shoshita III (1696-1731)

Gregory (1731-1741)

Vakhtang (1741-1749)

Rostom (1749 - 1769)

The Bagrationi dynasty

Anton (1784, first rule)

George III (1784-1787)

Anton (1787-1789, second rule)

Racha

History

Eristavis of Racha

See also