Adjarians

The Adjarians (Georgian: აჭარლები) are an ethnographic group of Georgians living mainly in Adjara in south-western Georgia and speaking the Adjarian dialect of the Georgian language.

Adjarians
აჭარლები
Ačarlebi
  Distribution of the Adjaran dialect
Languages
Adjaran dialect of Georgian language
Religion
Georgian Orthodox Church (majority)
Sunni Islam (minority)
Part of a series on
Georgians
ქართველები
The
Kartvelian
people
Nation
Georgia
Ancient Kartvelian people
Subgroups
Culture
Languages
Religion
Symbols
History of Georgia

The Adjarians had their own territorial entity, the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, founded on 16 July 1921 as the Adjara ASSR. After years of post-Soviet stalemate, the region was brought closer within the framework of the Georgian state in 2004, retaining its autonomous status.

Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kvemo Kartli, and Kakheti, as well as in several areas of neighbouring Turkey.

In the 1926 census, Ajars were categorized as a distinct ethnic group. In the 1939 census, they were included in the same category as Georgians.[1] Today, most Adjarians considered themselves Georgians, but many Georgians see Muslim Adjarians as second-class "Turkicized" Georgians.[2][3][1]

History
Main article: History of Adjara
Adjarian men's clothing

Many Adjarians converted to Islam in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Ottomans ruled over southwestern Georgian lands.[4]

The Georgian population of Adjara had been generally known as Muslim Georgians until the 1926 Soviet census listed them as Adjarians, separate from the rest of Georgians, counting 71,426 of them.[5] In subsequent censuses (1939–1989), they were listed with other Georgians, as no official Soviet census asked about religion. In the 1920s, the suppression of religion and compulsory collectivization led to armed resistance against Communist authorities by Adjarians.

In 1989, during an anti-Soviet demonstration in Batumi, Zviad Gamsakhurdia said to thousands of Adjarians: "Dear Adjarians, you are also Georgians!" According to some commentators, by using "also", Gamsakhurdia excluded Adjarians from the state building process.[6][7] Others considered that there was nothing unusual about this statement.[8] During the first free parliamentary elections, Gamsakhurdia's coalition (Round Table – Free Georgia) won a landslide victory with 54% of the vote. However, in the Ajara region, the coalition only received 24% of the votes, because of Gamsakhurdia's public statements against the region's autonomy.[9][10]

Ajarians (like Ossetians and Abkhazians) benefit from a special regime to claim Russian citizenship with an expedited application process, perceived as Russian interference in its internal affairs by Georgia.[11]

Religion

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-establishment of Georgian independence accelerated the Christianization of Adjarians, especially among the young, under the government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia.[12][13][14][15] However, a number of Adjarians, particularly in and around Khulo, remain Sunni Muslim.

Language

The Adjarians speak Adjarian, a Georgian dialect related to the one spoken in the neighbouring northern province of Guria, but with a number of Turkish loanwords. Adjarian also possesses many features in common with the Zan languages (Mingrelian and Laz), which are sisters to Georgian and are included in the Kartvelian language group.

Famous Adjarians

See also
  • Chveneburi, ethnic Georgians in Turkey many of whom are of Adjarian heritage
  • Laz people, Kartvelian-speaking ethnic subgroup of Georgians

Notes
  1. Toft, Monica Duffy (2003). The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory (PDF). Princeton University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-691-12383-7.
  2. "Ajarians | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. de Waal, Thomas (2 November 2018). The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-19-068311-5.
  4. Bennigsen, Alexandre; Wimbush, S. Enders (1986). Muslims of the Soviet Empire: A Guide. Indiana University Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-253-33958-4.
  5. Lorimer, Frank (1946). "The Population of the Soviet Union: History and Prospects" (PDF).
  6. "Peripheral affects: shame, publics, and performance on the margins of the Republic of Georgia". www.academia.edu. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. Masalkini, Giorgi (2020). Polyethnicity and Polyreligiousness of Georgia – Threat or an Advantage to Treasure (PDF). ISBN 978-9941-490-02-6.
  8. Khalvashi, Tamta; Batiashvili, Nutsa (March 2009). “Can a Muslim be Georgian”. International Conference on Central Eurasian Studies: Past, Present and Future.
  9. Wheatley, Jonathan. Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution : Delayed Transition in the Former Soviet Union. Post-Soviet Politics 290704146. Aldershot [etc.]: Ashgate, 2005: 229
  10. Jessica Preston (7 October 2016). "Pig Heads and Petty Hooliganism National Identity and Religious Freedom in the Republic of Georgia". The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development. 2 (1). ISSN 2429-2133.
  11. German, Tracey C.; Bloch, Benjamin (2006). "The South Ossetia Conflict: Collision of Georgian and Russian Interests". Politique étrangère. Printemps (1): 51–64. doi:10.3917/pe.061.0051. ISSN 0032-342X.
  12. Kahraman, Alter (2021). "Azeris and Muslim Ajarians in Georgia: The Swing between Tolerance and Alienation". Nationalities Papers. 49 (2): 308–325. doi:10.1017/nps.2020.7. ISSN 0090-5992.
  13. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Georgia : Ajarians". Refworld. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  14. "Ajarians". Minority Rights Group. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  15. George Sanikidze and Edward W. Walker (2004), Islam and Islamic Practices in Georgia. Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. University of California, Berkeley Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

References
  • Nugzar Mgeladze (Translated by Kevin Tuite). Ajarians. World Culture Encyclopedia. Accessed on 1 September 2007.
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