 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2024) |
| Part of a series on the |
| History of Georgia |
|---|
 |
The history of Adjara, a region in the South Caucasus, stretches from its initial Stone Age settlement through to its present day status as Georgia's Autonomous Republic of Adjara.
Archaeological evidence indicates the territory of Adjara has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age.[ citation needed ] The region was first occupied by the Moskhs, an old Georgian tribe, and subsequently became a province of Colchis from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. During the late 4th century BC, a portion of the area formed a county (saeristavo) within the Kingdom of Iberia. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Greek merchants colonized the coastal regions of Adjara, which later fell under Roman rule. Bathus (present-day Batumi) and Apsaros (modern Gonio) were prominent fortress-cities during this period. Archaeological excavations at Pichvnari, near the present-day town of Kobuleti, have revealed the ruins of a prosperous ancient village.
During the 2nd century AD, Bathus served as a significant military base for Roman legions, while Apsaros gained renown for its theatre. The early Christian era in Adjara is associated with figures such as Saint Andrew, Saint Simon the Canaanite, and Matata. Saint Matthias is believed to be buried in the Gonio fortress near Batumi. In the 2nd century AD, Adjara became part of the kingdom of Lazica. During this period, the fortress of Petra (Tsikhisdziri) played an important role in the Lazic War between the Byzantines and Persians from 542 to 562 AD.[ citation needed ]
In the 9th century, the region was divided between two Georgian states, Tao-Klarjeti and the Kingdom of Abkhazia. During the 11th century, Adjara became a part of the unified Georgian Kingdom and was governed by rulers of Samtskhe-Saatabago. The region faced turmoil during the 11th century due to invasions by the Seljuks and later in the 13th century by the Mongols. After the disintegration of the Georgian monarchy and subsequent internal conflicts, Adjara changed hands multiple times until it became a part of the Principality of Guria in 1535. The Genoese established one of their Black Sea trading "factories" at the fortified town of Gonio during this time.
In 1547, the province of Adjara fell to Ottoman raids, leading to the capture of Batumi. In 1564, Prince Rostom Gurieli of Guria managed to liberate the region, but Turkish rule was reestablished in 1582. Control changed hands again in 1609 when Prince Mamia Gurieli took control of Batumi, but by 1614, Guria lost the province to the Ottomans. Subsequently, the area was divided into two sanjaks under the authority of the Pasha of Childir (Akhaltsikhe). Many Adjarians sought refuge elsewhere in Georgia, while those who remained were converted to Islam.
Direct Ottoman control over Adjara was limited, and local Muslim Georgian nobility, including the Khimshiashvili, ruled as semi-autonomous beys. However, this arrangement changed with the centralizing tanzimat reforms implemented by the Ottoman government around 1850. These reforms sought to bring Adjara more closely under the empire's influence and were opposed by both the nobility and the peasantry. The nobility resented the loss of their privileges, while the peasantry opposed newly imposed taxes and conscription into the Ottoman army.[ citation needed ]
Throughout the 1840s, the Ottoman Porte had to deploy significant forces from neighboring pashaliks to quell a rebellion led by Kor-Hussein Bey (Khimshiashvili). Three revolts were defeated in 1840, 1844, and 1846, and Kor-Hussein was eventually sent as a prisoner to Constantinople. [1] Among the rebels was Hasan Hasbi, who had been dispatched by the Caucasian Imam Shamil in Adjara in 1845. He sought volunteers to support the struggle against Russian encroachment in Dagestan, and after the suppression of the Adjarian uprising, Hasbi managed to escape. [2] [3]
During the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, thousands of Adjarians were conscripted into the Ottoman army. [4] Batum was a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's defensive network during the latter war, hosting both a 25,000-strong army under Dervish-Pasha and warships patrolling the Black Sea coastline. The Russians attempted to dislodge the Turks from the Mukhaestate heights on April 14, 1877, but the Kobuleti Detachment under Lieutenant-General Oklobzhio made little progress. The Ottomans thwarted Oklobzhio's attempted advances at the clashes at Tsikhisdziri and the Sameba hills on June 11–12. However, in November, when Dervish Pasha's troops retreated to Batum after the fall of Kars, and General Komarov's Ardahan Detachment advanced to Batum, Oklobzhio managed to reclaim some positions. The subsequent attack on Tsikhisdziri on January 18, 1878, was unsuccessful, and the ceasefire thereafter ended Russian operations against Batum.
Adjara, known as Adjaristan during Turkish rule, was ceded to the Russian Empire on March 3, 1878. The transition brought significant changes to the region, particularly concerning Islam and loyalty to the imperial power.[ which? ]
In the face of Russian oppression of Islam, a considerable number of Muslims sought refuge in Turkey through a process of immigration known as Muhajiroba. The Ottoman Empire financially supported an insurgent organization called The Avengers which made attempts on the lives of Russian officers, officials, and Adjarian collaborators.
Following the Berlin Congress of 1878, Batum, the regional capital, was declared a free port. This declaration propelled Batumi's growth as an important seaport and industrial city by the late 1880s. The city's significance increased further at the turn of the 20th century when it became connected to the oil fields of Baku through the Baku-Batumi pipeline and a railway. The importance of Batumi was symbolized by the departure of the tanker ship "Markus" on June 22, 1892, which set sail from Batumi to Bangkok, Thailand and became the first oil tanker to traverse the Suez Canal.
During Russian rule, the region also witnessed social unrest during the Russian Revolution of 1905, with numerous strikes and violent crackdowns in Batum Oblast.
During World War I, Adjarian Muhajir, who had emigrated to Turkey, formed a division within the Turkish army. The Ottoman 37th Caucasian Division entered Batum following the evacuation of Russian forces on April 14, 1918.
In 1915, as part of the ongoing conflict with the Ottoman Empire, the Russian administration began deporting "refractory" Russian-subject Muslims from the Batumi region to interior Russian provinces. Georgian intellectuals expressed their protests, asserting that those deported were not Turks but Adjarians who were "Georgian despite their Muslim religion, and therefore loyal Russians."[ citation needed ] A thorough investigation, presided over by Grand Duke Georgi Mikhailovich, supported the Adjarians' loyalty, attributing allegations of disloyalty to Cossacks and Armenians who instigated confrontations with local Muslims.[ citation needed ] Eventually, Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolaevich met with Adjarian leaders and rewarded them for their loyalty. The investigation concluded on January 26, 1918, following the Russian Revolution of 1917. [5]
On January 12, 1919, British expeditionary forces initiated their landing at Batumi to replace the Turkish troops. Subsequently, the Council for Batum Region, under the leadership of the Russian cadet P. Maslov, was established as a provisional governing authority for Adjara from December 21, 1918, until April 28, 1919.
During this period, the Committee of the Liberation of Muslim Georgia, led by Memed Abashidze and Haidar Abashidze, actively advocated for the establishment of autonomy based on religious principles within Georgia's borders. A prototype parliament, known as the Mejlis, was convened to pursue this objective in Batum on September 13, 1919. Some pro-Georgian Adjarians supported autonomy despite the strong advocacy for union with Georgia by Abashidze's faction.[ whose? ] A smaller group called Seday Mileth (Turkish for "voice of people") also propagated pro-Turkish and pan-Turkish ideas.
The withdrawal of British troops from the Caucasus began on August 15, 1919. The divisional headquarters at Batum then transferred authority to Major General W. J. N. Cooke-Collis, the military governor of the region.[ citation needed ] Subsequently, on March 4, 1920, Cooke-Collis assumed command of the Inter-Allied Force stationed at Batum. However, by July 14, 1920, this force was withdrawn entirely from the city.[ citation needed ]
The British administration ceded the region to the Democratic Republic of Georgia on July 20, 1920. Subsequently, Bolsheviks and Russian agents orchestrated sabotage and terrorist acts. [6] In response, the Georgian government granted Adjara an autonomous status in the republic's inaugural constitution, initially drafted in July 1920 and formally adopted during the Red Army invasion of Georgia on February 21, 1921. [7]
Abkhazeti (district of Stockholm), Georgian Muslim district (district of Batumi), and Zakatala (district of Zakatala), which are integral parts of the Georgian Republic, shall enjoy the autonomy in the administration of their affairs.
— Article 107, Georgian constitution
Amidst the Soviet invasion of Georgia, Turkish forces occupied Batumi on March 11, 1921, but were expelled seven days later by Georgian troops under the leadership of General Giorgi Mazniashvili. On March 19, Soviet rule was declared in Batumi. The territorial status of Adjara was acknowledged as part of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet-Turkish Treaty of Kars, signed on March 16, 1921.
The Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was declared by the Soviet government on July 16, 1921, following the region's cession from Turkey to the Bolsheviks. The cession was conditioned on the promise of autonomy for the region and particularly for Adjarian Muslims. The Treaty of Kars also stipulated that Turkey would have unobstructed access to the port of Batumi. [8]
That Turkey be assured free transit through the port of Batum for commodities and all materials destined for, or originating in Turkey, without customs duties and charges, and with the right for Turkey to utilize the port of Batum without special charges.
— Article VI.2, Treaty of Kars
The Adjarian ASSR was the only Soviet autonomy established on religious rather than ethnic grounds. [9] However, this distinction held little significance, as both Islam and Christianity faced repression during Stalin's rule. In April 1929, Muslim villagers in the mountainous regions of Adjara launched an armed uprising against compulsory collectivization and religious persecution. Soviet troops were deployed in response and swiftly quelled the revolt. Thousands of Adjarians were deported from the republic in the revolt's wake. [10]
After Georgia's first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections, President Zviad Gamsakhurdia appointed Aslan Abashidze as the head of Adjara's Supreme Council on March 15, 1991, with the hope that Abashidze would support the cancellation of the region's autonomous status. However, when Gamsakhurdia proposed the abolition of Adjarian autonomy, Abashidze called on the Adjarians, especially the Muslims in the area, to protest against it, leading to tensions with the central Georgian authorities.[ citation needed ]
On April 22, 1991, pro-Abashidze protesters stormed administrative buildings in central Batumi, demanding the immediate resignation of several officials. Gamsakhurdia, facing internal issues in Tbilisi, chose not to interfere in the events in Adjara. During the turmoil, Nodar Imnadze, Abashidze's deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet and a prominent supporter of Gamsakhurdia in Adjara, was killed under highly controversial circumstances. In Batumi's[ whose? ] version of events, Imnadze was shot by guards while attempting to enter Abashidze's office with a gun in his hands. Tbilisi-controlled media, on the other hand, published obituaries without specifying the cause of death. However, there have been claims that Imnadze was killed by Abashidze himself during an argument in his office.[ citation needed ]
Under Abashidze's control, Adjara experienced relative political stability and economic growth during the Georgian Civil War.[ citation needed ] Despite significant foreign investments and numerous financial projects, most Adjarians remained impoverished. On October 24, 1997, Adjara became a full member of the Assembly of European Regions (AER).
Relations between the central and regional authorities were strained, with the Adjarian leadership often refusing to pay taxes to the central budget. Abashidze took control of customs, Batumi seaport, and other strategic assets while establishing his semi-official armed units and ultimately controlling the Batumi-based 25th Brigade of Georgia's Defense Ministry. The central government criticized Abashidze for his pro-Russian stance and considered the Batumi-based Russian military unit as a base of power for the Adjarian leader.[ citation needed ]
During his rule from 1992 to 2003, Georgia's ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze made several attempts to reconcile with Abashidze, resulting in a compromise where Adjara obtained a more autonomous status, Abashidze agreed not to run for the presidency of Georgia, and Shevardnadze allowed Abashidze to retain power in Adjara. [11]
Abashidze's party, the Union of Democratic Revival of Georgia, initially cooperated with Shevardnadze's ruling Union of Citizens of Georgia party in the 1995 parliamentary elections but later broke ties after the polls.
Abashidze's Revival Party had thirty members in the Georgian parliament[ when? ] and was seen as a moderate opposition to the central government in Tbilisi. Following the fraudulent elections of 2003 and the subsequent Rose Revolution in Georgia, Abashidze referred to the ouster of Shevardnadze in November 2003 as "a violent coup d'état".[ citation needed ]
| | This section needs additional citations for verification .(April 2024) |
On November 23, 2003, following Shevardnadze's fall, Aslan Abashidze declared a state of emergency in Adjara. Despite this, Adjara participated in the Georgian presidential elections held on January 4, 2004, which were won by Mikheil Saakashvili. Subsequently, President Saakashvili demanded that the Adjarian leader adhere to the Georgian constitution and initiate a disarmament process.
In May 2004, tensions escalated as Abashidze claimed that Georgian forces were preparing to invade the region. In response, his forces demolished bridges that connected Adjara with the rest of Georgia. On May 4, local oppositional demonstrations were dispersed under a state of emergency, but this action only served as a catalyst for even larger demonstrations later in the day. Thousands of people across Adjara gathered in Batumi to demand Abashidze's resignation.
On May 6, the situation reached a turning point when local protesters took control of central Batumi, and Georgian Special Forces entered the region to disarm pro-Abashidze groups. Concurrently, negotiations were held with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Igor Ivanov. As a result of overnight talks, Mr. Abashidze ultimately resigned from his position and departed the country for Moscow.
On May 7, 2004, direct Georgian presidential rule was implemented in Adjara, establishing a 20-member Interim Council responsible for governing the Autonomous Republic until fresh local elections could be conducted. Levan Varshalomidze was designated as the Chairman of the Interim Council.
Regional parliamentary elections were held on June 20, in which the party "Victorious Adjara", endorsed by President Saakashvili, secured 28 out of 30 seats in the local legislative body. The remaining two seats were occupied by the Republican Party, former allies of Saakashvili. Allegations of vote-rigging were raised by the Republicans, who obtained less than 15 percent of the vote. On July 20, the Adjarian Supreme Council confirmed Varshalomidze's appointment as the Chairman of the Autonomous Republic's government.
The regional policy pursued by both central and local governments centered around encouraging foreign investments in the area, which prompted an extensive privatization campaign initiation.[ specify ]
The Russian military presence in Batumi also posed a significant regional security threat. Following Russia's promise to withdraw from its base at the 1999 Istanbul OSCE summit, prolonged Russia-Georgia negotiations on the subject remained a significant source of tension until the base was eventually vacated in 2008.[ citation needed ]
Batumi, historically Batum or Batoum, is the second-largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest, 20 kilometers north of the border with Turkey. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and gambling, but the city is also an important seaport and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town.
Adjara or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, is a political-administrative region of Georgia. It is in the country's southwestern corner, on the coast of the Black Sea, near the foot of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, north of Turkey. It is an important tourist destination and includes Georgia's second most populous city of Batumi as its capital. About 350,000 people live on its 2,880 km2 (1,110 sq mi).
Aslan Abashidze is the former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia. He served in this capacity from 18 August 1991 to May 5, 2004. He resigned under the pressure of the central Georgian government and mass opposition rallies during the 2004 Adjara crisis, and has since lived in Moscow, Russia. On January 22, 2007, the Batumi city court found him guilty of misuse of office and embezzlement of GEL 98.2 million in state funds, and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment in absentia. He also faces a charge of murder of his former deputy, Nodar Imnadze, in 1991.
The Georgian Civil War lasted from 1991 to 1993 in the South Caucasian country of Georgia. It consisted of inter-ethnic and international conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as the violent military coup d'état against the first democratically-elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and his subsequent uprising in an attempt to regain power.
Levan Varshalomidze is a Georgian politician and the Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara from 2004 to 2012. He assumed office on 20 July 2004, following the resignation of Aslan Abashidze—who had run the region in defiance to the central government of Georgia—during the 2004 Adjara crisis.
The flag of Adjara is a flag of Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara. It displays seven dark blue and white stripes, with the national flag of Georgia shown in canton. The flag was adopted on 20 July 2004 by the Supreme Council of Adjara. It also bears some similarities to the Flag of Greece.
The Adjara crisis, also known as the Adjarian revolution or the Second Rose Revolution, was a political crisis in Georgia's Adjaran Autonomous Republic, then led by Aslan Abashidze, who refused to obey the central authorities after President Eduard Shevardnadze's ouster during the Rose Revolution of November 2003. The crisis threatened to develop into military confrontation as both sides mobilized their forces at the internal border. However, Georgia's post-revolutionary government of President Mikheil Saakashvili managed to avoid bloodshed and with the help of Adjaran opposition reasserted its supremacy. Abashidze left the region in exile in May 2004 and was succeeded by Levan Varshalomidze.
The Adjarians, also known as Muslim Georgians, are an ethnographic group of Georgians indigenous to Adjara in south-western Georgia. Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kvemo Kartli, and Kakheti, as well as in several areas of neighbouring Turkey.
The Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, Provisional National Government of South West Caucasia or Kars Republic was a short-lived nominally-independent provisional government based in Kars, northeastern Turkey. Born in the wake of the Armistice of Mudros that ended World War I in the Middle East, it existed from December 1, 1918 until April 19, 1919, when it was abolished by British High Commissioner Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe. Some historians consider it to have been a puppet state of the Ottoman Empire.
The Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Georgian SSR, established on 16 July 1921. On 10 December 1990, it was renamed into the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, it became part of the independent Georgia.
Memed Abashidze was a Georgian politician, writer and public benefactor. An eminent leader of Muslim Georgian community of Adjarians, he was a major proponent of pro-Georgian orientation in Adjara and one of the architects of the region's autonomy within Georgia. He became a victim of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge.
The Republican Party of Georgia, commonly known as the Republicans, is a political party in Georgia active since 1978. Until March 2016, the party was a part of the Georgian Dream coalition that won the 2012 election, defeating the United National Movement. Currently it is in opposition to Georgian Dream as part of the UNM-led Strength Is in Unity coalition.
Batumi is the capital city of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia, located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.
Ahmed Bey, subsequently Ahmed Paşa was a Muslim Georgian nobleman of the Khimshiashvili clan from Adjara, which he ruled as an autonomous ruler (bey) under the Ottoman Empire after 1818. He played a notable role in the Caucasian theatre of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29) in which he failed to recapture Akhaltsikhe for the Ottomans, but checked Russian attempts to invade Adjara. Subsequently, Ahmed abandoned his earlier clandestine diplomacy with the Russians and served loyally to the Ottoman government as a commander in Kars and Erzurum. He died fighting the Kurdish insurgents in 1836.
Makhinjauri is a small town (daba) in Adjara, Georgia, with the population of 735 according to the 2014 census. It is located on the Black Sea coast, 5 km north of Batumi, the capital of Adjara, and functions as a seaside resort. Until the opening of Batumi railway station in 2015, Makhinjauri station was the one serving Batumi. Administratively, Makhinjauri was part of the Khelvachauri district from 1959 to 2011 and of the city of Batumi since 2011.
Aslan-Beg Abashidze (1877–1924) was a Muslim Georgian nobleman and general in the service of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Like his brother Memed Abashidze, he was one of the principal champions of pro-Georgian orientation in the largely Muslim region of Adjara, heavily contested during and immediately after World War I. After Soviet takeover of Georgia in 1921, Abashidze fled to Turkey, where he died in unclear circumstances.
Roman Dumbadze was a Georgian military commander, who led a mutiny during the 2004 crisis in Adjara. From 2008, he resided in Russia, where he was shot dead in 2012.
The Batum oblast was a province (oblast) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with the Black Sea port of Batum as its administrative center. The Batum oblast roughly corresponded to most of present-day southwestern Georgia, and part of the Artvin Province of Turkey.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Batumi, Georgia.
Legislative elections were held in Adjara, an autonomous republic within Georgia, on 22 September 1996. Voters elected the 80-member Supreme Council in the region's second legislative elections since Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.