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Tusheti, or Tushetia, is a historic region in northeast 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....
.

Geography
Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains is a Mountain range in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:...
, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya
Chechnya

The Chechen Republic , or, informally, Chechnya , sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , Chechnia, Chechenia or Nox?iyn, is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia....
 and Dagestan
Dagestan

The Republic of Dagestan , older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subjects of Russia of the Russia ....
 to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti
Kakheti

Kakheti is a province in Eastern Georgia . It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west....
 and Pshav-Khevsureti to the south and west, respectively. The population of the area is mainly ethnic Georgians called Tushs or Tushetians .

Historically, Tusheti comprised four mountain communities of the Alazani
Alazani

The Alazani is a river that flows through the Caucasus.It is the main tributary of the Kura in eastern Georgia , and flows for 351 km. Part of its path forms the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, before it meets the Kura at the Ming??evir Reservoir....
 Valley.






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Tusheti, or Tushetia, is a historic region in northeast 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....
.

Geography


Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains is a Mountain range in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:...
, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya
Chechnya

The Chechen Republic , or, informally, Chechnya , sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , Chechnia, Chechenia or Nox?iyn, is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia....
 and Dagestan
Dagestan

The Republic of Dagestan , older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subjects of Russia of the Russia ....
 to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti
Kakheti

Kakheti is a province in Eastern Georgia . It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west....
 and Pshav-Khevsureti to the south and west, respectively. The population of the area is mainly ethnic Georgians called Tushs or Tushetians .

Historically, Tusheti comprised four mountain communities of the Alazani
Alazani

The Alazani is a river that flows through the Caucasus.It is the main tributary of the Kura in eastern Georgia , and flows for 351 km. Part of its path forms the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, before it meets the Kura at the Ming??evir Reservoir....
 Valley. These are Tsova, Gometzari, Chaghma and the Piriq’iti Tusheti (formerly known as Pharsman's Tusheti). Included in the present day Akhmeta
Akhmeta

Akhmeta is a very old village in the Kakheti province of Georgia . It is the home for Zurab Zviadauri, gold medalist in judo....
 raioni, Kakheti
Kakheti

Kakheti is a province in Eastern Georgia . It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west....
 region, Georgia, the area comprises ten villages with Omalo
Omalo

Omalo is a principal village the Tusheti province of Georgia . It lies between the Caucasus Mountains and the Pirikita Range of Tusheti. Due to Omalo's high mountain location on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the absence of well-maintained roads, it is largely isolated from the rest of Georgia for most of th...
 being the largest.

History


The first who inhabited the province were the pagan Georgians from Pkhovi
Pkhovi

Pkhovi , also known as Pkhoet'i , is a Middle Ages term for the mountainous district in northeast Georgia comprising the latter-day provinces of Pshavi and Khevsureti along the upper reaches of the Aragvi, and in three alpine valleys just north of the main crest of the Greater Caucasus ....
 who took refuge in the uninhabited mountains during their rebellion against Christianization implemented by the 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....
n king Mirian III
Mirian III of Iberia

Mirian III in 4th century AD, , was King of eastern Georgian Kingdom of Caucasian Iberia . In 327 A.D., King Mirian became the first Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church monarch of Georgia and established Christianity as the official state religion....
 in the 330s. Subsequently, they were forcibly converted to Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 and subdued by the Georgian kings. After the collapse of the unified Georgian monarchy, Tusheti came under the rule of Kakheti
Kakheti

Kakheti is a province in Eastern Georgia . It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west....
an kings in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the North Caucasian
North Caucasus

The North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus, Ciscaucasia or Forecaucasia, is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia....
 Bats people
Bats people

The Bats people or the Batsbi are a small Nakh languages-speaking community in Georgia who are also known as the Ts?ova-Tush after the Ts?ova Gorge in the historic Georgian province of Tusheti , where they settled after migrating from the North Caucasus in the 16th century....
 (relatives of the Chechens and Ingush
Ingush

Ingush may refer to:* The Ingush language* The Ingush people, an ethnic group of the North Caucasus...
es) began settling in the Tsova Gorge of Tusheti. King Levan of Kakheti
Levan of Kakheti

Levan also known as Leon , of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a List of sovereigns of Kakheti of Kingdom of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1518/1520 to 1574....
 (1520-1574) granted them the lands in the Alvani Valley in exchange for their military service. Known to the local Georgians as the Tsova-Tushs, they have a high degree of assimilation and are typically bilingual using both Georgian and their own Bats language
Bats language

Bats is the language of the Bats people, a Caucasus minority group, and is part of the Nakh languages family of Caucasian languages. It had 2,500 to 3,000 speakers in 1975....
s. Nowadays, the latter is spoken only in a village Zemo Alvani.

During the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 invasion
Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 kilometer front ....
 of Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, a minor anti-Soviet revolt took place in the area in 1942-1943, seemingly linked to the similar but more large-scale events in the neighbouring Ingushetia
Ingushetia

The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. The republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg....
.

Culture


Traditionally, the Tushs are sheep
Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
 herders. Tushetian Gouda (cheese)
Gouda (cheese)

Guida is a yellow cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, but its name is not Protected Designation of Origin....
 cheese and high quality wool was famous and was exported to Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. Even today sheep and cattle breeding is the leading branch of the economy of highland Tusheti. The local shepherds spend the summer months in the highland areas of Tusheti but live in the lowland villages of Zemo Alvani and Kvemo Alvani in wintertime. Their customs and traditions are similar to those of other eastern Georgian mountaineers (see Khevsureti
Khevsureti

Khevsureti is a historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia . They are the branch of Kartvelian people located along both the northern and southern slopes of the Great Caucasus Mountains....
).

One of the most ecologically unspoiled regions in the Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
, Tusheti is a popular mountain-trekking venue.

See also

  • Keselo
    Keselo

    Keselo is a small medieval fortress just above the village of Omalo in Tusheti . Its location is dazzling, surrounded by northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains....
  • Omalo
    Omalo

    Omalo is a principal village the Tusheti province of Georgia . It lies between the Caucasus Mountains and the Pirikita Range of Tusheti. Due to Omalo's high mountain location on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the absence of well-maintained roads, it is largely isolated from the rest of Georgia for most of th...
  • Shenako
    Shenako

    Shenako is a highland village in the eastern Georgia mkhare of Kakheti.Shenako located on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, in the historical-geographical area of Tusheti, some 100 km northeast of the Districts of Georgia of Akhmeta, close to the border with Dagestan, Russia....


External links

  • Peter Nasmyth (2006), , page 121-140, ISBN 1845112067